BAFS 2020 teams and rules discussion

[awitt]

I’m a pretty competitive person but I’m not a great athlete and don’t have unlimited amounts of time to ride. I want to contribute to my team as much as possible but I don’t plan to try to win the individual competition. Of course I want a point system that is most beneficial for riders like me. I vote for keeping the cap at 100 and adding the declining points system. 100 miles a week was a stretch for me so it encouraged me to ride more. 150 is well out my range so it wouldn’t serve as a goal for me and I might ride less. A little data analysis might help set a cap that works for the most people. Does anyone know what the average miles per week across all players and weeks was last year (with cap) and the year before (no cap)?

[consularrider]

@Jim B 194523 wrote:

Jim? Which Jim?

Bob James? But no one can beat him!

[jrenaut]

@Brownws 194525 wrote:

Thanks!

She rides on her own bike (with me or her mom) about 6 miles a day. So assuming last year’s rules, would that give her team 100 (or 110) points before any other riding is considered? Presumably she would acknowledge that or some lower level when registering and could be put on a team (ideally with me — do you guys do “baggage”) that would know she may not max out the point every week.

She’d need her own Strava account to be on a team. A better option would be the Pointless Kid Leaderboard, where she can have her miles tracked without a separate account.

[Brownws]

Thanks, that wouldn’t be too much of a hurdle though. I loaded on an old phone this morning and it looks like it will load rides over WI-FI

[jrenaut]

@Brownws 194540 wrote:

Thanks, that wouldn’t be too much of a hurdle though. I loaded on an old phone this morning and it looks like it will load rides over WI-FI

I think it’s best we do not collect any personal information from anyone under 13 – Congress in their infinite misunderstanding of the internet passed some laws that really heavily restrict what you are and aren’t allowed to collect and by doing so have protected approximately zero children but made sites, even huge ones, just disable accounts for children (this is why so many websites make you click “I’m over 13”). Since I am aware of these laws but do not know how to follow them, unless someone else is an expert, I think it’s best we don’t pull data for kids. That was the point of the Pointless Kids – it was using the parent’s account and a made up name for the kid so we don’t get into this mess.

[obscurerichard]

@jrenaut 194542 wrote:

I think it’s best we do not collect any personal information from anyone under 13 – Congress in their infinite misunderstanding of the internet passed some laws that really heavily restrict what you are and aren’t allowed to collect and by doing so have protected approximately zero children but made sites, even huge ones, just disable accounts for children (this is why so many websites make you click “I’m over 13”). Since I am aware of these laws but do not know how to follow them, unless someone else is an expert, I think it’s best we don’t pull data for kids. That was the point of the Pointless Kids – it was using the parent’s account and a made up name for the kid so we don’t get into this mess.

Please do not give a child under 13 years old their own Strava account – it would be a violation of their terms of services and it would put us in a bad position regarding liability. If a child is 13 or older they can sign up for their own Strava account and I think that they should be eligible to participate if so. That would be in the spirit of our all-ages community where we welcome riders young and old.

Last year we said that children under 15 could participate in the Pointless Kids related prizes by riding with an adult with a Strava account, and having the parents tag their ride with #withkidCodename and then the software will parse out the code names and track them. It’s also possible to track kid-related rides where you tow them in a trailer or ride tandem with them by using a #kidical tag in your Strava ride title. 15 or 16 seems like a pretty good cut-off for being counted in the #withkid cohort to me.

My very eager 12 year old turns 13 in mid-January, so I advised her that this year she would have to be part of the Pointless Kids competition but next year she would have the option of entering as a full-blown participant (assuming we allow it) as she will be 13 and eligible to sign up for her own Strava account.

[BobCochran]

Pardon my asking, but when does registration begin for 2020?

Thanks so much

Bob

[creadinger]

Just wanted to say – thanks for everyone having this discussion. I look forward to the summary post, where I can see what all was decided and don’t have to try to sift through all of the above on my own.

[Brownws]

@jrenaut 194539 wrote:

She’d need her own Strava account to be on a team. A better option would be the Pointless Kid Leaderboard, where she can have her miles tracked without a separate account.

Thanks,

Can a “Friend of BAFS” tag her codename with rides? My spouse isn’t interested in registering but would like to help the little one rack up points.

[jrenaut]

@Brownws 194595 wrote:

Thanks,

Can a “Friend of BAFS” tag her codename with rides? My spouse isn’t interested in registering but would like to help the little one rack up points.

Currently, no. It wouldn’t be impossible to do it that way, but it introduces some complexities that I’m not sure we’re prepared to manage. I’ll think about it a bit and see if I can come up with a solution.

An alternate plan for you is to recruit your spouse. YMMV, but I got MY spouse to compete by introducing her to the Beerneuring contest.

[Jessica Hirschhorn]

@Steve O 193824 wrote:

There is a formula that accounts for fractional mileage, so it’s actually a smooth curve (6.5 miles is worth more than 6.3, and that differential is greater than the difference between 8.5 and 8.3, as it should be).
It also counts <1 mile ride days (not enough to qualify for a sleaze), but without the 10-point day bonus. I don't know if these ever happen, though. If someone is playing the game, once they decide to ride they are going to go at least a mile one would think.

NO fractional miles. If it weren’t for the need to “round up” how would all my neighbors know that they were living around (and around and around) the corner from a lunatic wearing ski goggles?

[rcannon100]

@Brownws 194595 wrote:

“Friend of BAFS”

We call these “Slackers”

[obscurerichard]

@Brownws 194595 wrote:

Thanks,

Can a “Friend of BAFS” tag her codename with rides? My spouse isn’t interested in registering but would like to help the little one rack up points.

As long as this person joins the main Freezing Saddles 2019 team, and authorizes Strava to read their rides, and tags the ride with a #withkidCodename, the ride will count. We sync rides for everyone who is on the main team. The query that compiles the summary miles does not discriminate among riders on exactly one official competition team in addition to the main team, as the individual and team leaderboards do.

[obscurerichard]

@jrenaut 194597 wrote:

Currently, no. It wouldn’t be impossible to do it that way, but it introduces some complexities that I’m not sure we’re prepared to manage. I’ll think about it a bit and see if I can come up with a solution.

An alternate plan for you is to recruit your spouse. YMMV, but I got MY spouse to compete by introducing her to the Beerneuring contest.

@jreneaut and I gave contrary answers here, and I think he’s partially right.

I think the last part of the magic is that this person would have to authorize the Freezing Saddles application to read their rides.

[jrenaut]

@obscurerichard 194602 wrote:

@jreneaut and I gave contrary answers here, and I think he’s partially right.

I think the last part of the magic is that this person would have to authorize the Freezing Saddles application to read their rides.

I thought we adjusted all the leaderboards to only pull rides from people who are on real teams, so that if you aren’t on a team you only show on the Friends of BAFS leaderboard. But it’s kinda late on Sunday night of a big 4 day weekend, and I’m too tired to go check the code.

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