Geocaching with NaviCache - Cache Details: Rhythm Method

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Rhythm Method

by Dad and the Dynamic Duo (Finds: 4 Score: 16.5) (Hidden: 1 Score: 4.5)

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Spy on this Cache

Coordinates (WGS-84 datum)
N 41° 45.995' W 088° 23.756'
This may not be the actual cache coordinate.

Sugar Grove, Illinois 60554
United States Near By Caches

Hidden On: 11 Jan 2004
Waypoint (Landmark): N00D85
Open Cache:  Personal use only
Cache type:  Multi-Part
Cache size:   Micro

Difficulty: (moderate)
Terrain: (easy)

Misc: No drinking water! No restrooms (water closets) available Pets are allowed. Parking is available No fees!

Comments:
Update 9/11/2004: The final stage is now a larger micro.

Update 6/27/2004: It appears that the recent heavy rains have taken the cache. I was in the area setting up a new cache, went to check on this one and was unable to find it. I was going from memory so I may have missed it but feel pretty confident it is missing.

Have you ever struggled to find a 1/1 cache that newbies find in 5 minutes without a GPSr? Have you ever left something of value by mistake at the cache site? Have you ever entered the wrong coordinates in your GPSr? Have you ever forgotten to mark your car and found yourself lost?

If you have ever wondered about these mysteries and why they happen, this 2-part multi-cache is for you!

Additional maps for this cache available at:

Despite all the silliness of the 1970s such as the pet rock and the mood ring, the era refueled an interest in the science and study of biorhythms.

In appreciation for all the Geocaching community has given to us over the past two and a half years, we have embarked on a lengthy and involved study using the scientific method to determine how biorhythms affect caching. But we need your help before we publish our findings for the World to review.

About Biorhythms
The human life is subject to well defined biological rhythms known as circadian cycles. Some of them, such as the bodily temperature, the cardiac frequency, the hormones production etc., are well know by the physicians, and some other have for the human life a particular interests such as Physical, Intellectual, and Emotional cycles:

The Physical cycle of duration 23 days, influences the physical factors like the muscular force, the reflex promptitude etc;
The Emotional cycle of duration 28 days, controls the emotionality, the sensibility, humor, etc.;

The Intellectual cycle of duration 33 days, regulates the ability of learning, the memory, the concentration etc.

Each of them is represented by a sinusoidal curve. The curves oscillate from the maximum value 100 (i.e. perfect state) to the minimal value -100 (i.e. bad state).

When curves intercept the horizontal axis, although the value vanishes as to show an indifferent state, they are considered days of great instability because of the high slope of the curve that implies a rapid variation of the level.

Such a method can be used in the sport of Geocaching in order to decide which team's player to lead with the GPSr or which is the better day to plan a caching marathon. Imagine if you could compare your biorhythm graph with that of geogil and Dairy. You could determine if it was worth getting up at the crack of dawn to try to beat them to a FTF.

The Hypothesis
We postulate that the our own natural circadian cycles, also known as biorhythms, have an impact on our caching abilities.

Testing the Hypothesis

	Experiment Number 1: Gone Fishin' by Spyderuser on July 28, 2002

The charts to the right present our biorhythm charts on the day of our search (indicated by green vertical line). As you can see, young George's cycles were in a much higher state than the elder George or Collin. In fact Collin was having a critical day with respect to his intuitive cycle. It is no wonder that young George had the force on this one.

	Experiment Number 2: Playing Favorites #2: Ice Cream by 4losophy on September 13, 2003

Again, the charts to the right present our biorhythm charts on the day of our search (indicated by green vertical line). The charts give little insight as to George's failure three days earlier yet give Collin a decisive advantage on the day of the find.

	Experiment Number 3: Hard as Pi by Markwell August 3 through 11, 2002

The final charts presents George's biorhythm charts during the period of days which we searched for this 4-part multi(day) cache (indicated between the green vertical lines). Looks like George's circadian cycles were well prepared for the task at hand.

Conclusion
Our initial experiments seem to indicate that our hypothesis may be correct. However, our data has been gathered from a limited population. We are enlisting the help of our fellow cachers to build the population.

To get credit for this find you need to do two things: Find the cache, sign the enclosed logbook AND go to the Web-O-Rhythm page and create your own chart(s) as of the day of your find so that you can upload it to your log OR if you do not feel comfortable providing your birth date in public, indicate that preference in the log.

Hint: You can save the chart like you would any other graphics file in your browser. For example, Internet Explorer users can right click over the image and choose Save As.

Please let us know what you think. We hope you have as much fun doing our cache as we did putting it together. Growing up, we had the BioMate biorhythm "calculator" pictured below except ours had a blue silk (or was it Qiana?) bag.

To use it, you disengaged the gearing by moving down the slider at the bottom of the device. You then set your birth date and rotated the cycle gears all to zero. Upon engaging the gears, you could use the thumb wheel to roll forward to a future date. I seem to recall that you had to manually keep track of how many years you had rolled forward and use a table provided in the instructions to account for leap years. If nothing else, it made for interesting small talk at the fondue party!

Happy Caching,

George, George and Collin

Email Dad and the Dynamic Duo

Clue decoding tables - Top letter or symbol decodes to bottom letter or symbol:

!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?	@	!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/

Clues: decode

First Stage
Zvpeb jvgu pbbeqvangrf gb svany fgntr>

Last Stage
Fvzvyne pbagnvare nf gur svefg fgntr ohg gjvpr gur fvmr>

Add a Log Entry

CACHE LOGS - May contain hints(spoilers)! decode

14 Feb 2004 by unk (Finds: 1 Score: 4.5) (Hidden: 0 Score: 0)
Open Log: Personal use only

Out with Genius Loci, Hutt and Greenback on a very nice day for caching. Not too cold, and quite a bit of sunlight. Hutt braved the way to finding this one. Nice cache - thanks

14 Feb 2004 by Genius Loci (Finds: 2 Score: 6.5) (Hidden: 0 Score: 0)
Open Log: Non-commercial use only

First of all, I fully concur with Greenback - this is a MUST FIND cache! Not only is the final physical cache hide top-notch and the BioRhythms stuff quirky and fun, but the opportunity to participate in a scientific quest for knowledge puts this stash right up there with my most favorite caches EVER. Stunning job, D&tDD - this is a real gem!!!!

I don't usually keep the coords for Navicache-only hides with me when I go out caching (especially this far from my home) so it was really lucky that I happened to be out with Hutt, Unk, and Greenback. Greenback knew of this stash and (knowing my taste for excellent geocaches) steered us slightly off our intended path to include a hunt for 'Rhythm Method'.

When we closed in on the final coordinates I had a sudden, intuitive idea about where the stash was hidden; or maybe it was just a darn good intellectual guess. I reckon Hutt had the same thought, as he beat me to that spot and starting looking in depth. It was a cold day and the ground was covered with snow, and somehow, Hutt missed finding the cache (although he'd checked the right spot). We'd discovered a freshly killed rabbit carcass on the way to the cache, and while looking, Hutt kept mumbling something about expecting to surprise a vicious, blood-stained critter, so I guess he gave the hiding spot only a cursory look. I half-heartedly inspected a few other likely hiding places before Hutt and I decided to re-check that first location, and yes, there it was (the cache, not the critter). Clearly, we should have trusted 'the Force' in the first place!

Upon return to the warmth of my parlor, I read the cache description at leisure and anxiously plotted my BioRhythm chart (posted here with day of Find marked in dark green). I'll let the renown scientific team of Dad and the Dynamic Duo be the final critics of my results, but at this point, I'm convinced that my BioRhythms bear little or no correlation with my ability to locate geocaches.

Here's my interpretation: Just a week before finding 'Rhythm Method' I had my WORST EVER day of geocaching (that day is marked with the orange line on my chart) when I found just two out of eight hunts. Two lines on my chart are characteristically low that day - but two are pretty high. On the day I found 'Rhythm Method' (which was a good day for me, scoring 14 of 15 hunts) THREE lines were low and one was high. So, I would have expected even worse results than on my worst day ever. In short, if I'm interpreting the data correctly - BioRhythms are a bunch of hooey!

Now don't get me wrong; I love the mysterious, romantic, and pseudo-scientific crap as much as any other Gypsy. Just consider the meaning of my geocaching name, or this cache log: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?luid={BC843E06-A73C-46DA-8030-E16609FB631E} But, in my case, D&tDD's fascinating Hypothesis and their noble attempt to correlate BioRhythms with geocache Finds just plain doesn't work.

Although I remain highly skeptical of BioRhythms, I have no reservations whatsoever about the excellent quality of this wonderfully creative geocache. So, throw out your trendy BioMate calculator and grab your trusty GPSr and go hunt this cache - you owe it to science to participate in one of Chicagoland's premier geocaching experiments! This stash ranks among those most highly approved by the GLISGP (Genius Loci Institute for the Study of Geocaching Phenomena); it is a MUST FIND indeed! - Genius Loci ('the Guardian Spirit of a Place')

Genius Loci BioRhythm chart

20 Jan 2004 by weBikeIL (Finds: 1 Score: 4.5) (Hidden: 0 Score: 0)
Open Log: Personal use only

Thanks for the very interesting cache. Found on Sunday with Greenback.

18 Jan 2004 by greenback (Finds: 23 Score: 88.5) (Hidden: 18 Score: 63.5)
Open Log: Personal use only

Dad and the Dynamic Duo always setup the best caches. So when I discovered this baby out there I knew it was a MUST FIND situation and to think I was able to be first to find too! Thanks for the fun challenge.
[Modified 2004-01-21 10:22:54]

Greenbacks web-o-rhythm

16 Jan 2004 by greenback (Finds: 23 Score: 88.5) (Hidden: 18 Score: 63.5)
Open Log: Personal use only

I think this is the most amazingly impressive cache description I've ever seen.

11 Jan 2004 by Dad and the Dynamic Duo (Finds: 4 Score: 16.5) (Hidden: 1 Score: 4.5)
Open Log: Personal use only

I haven't cross-posted our established caches so thought I'd make this one Navicache exclusive for a bit to see how it goes.

Hope you enjoy it...started out as a way to use an old Palm and then went from there!

George

My Web-O-Rhythm for January 11, 2004

!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?	@	!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/

!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?	@	!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/

!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	:	;	<	=	>	?	@	!	"	#	$	%	&	'	(	)	*	+	,	-	.	/