Feedback for New Event Idea?

[mello yello]

Poor books! Maybe they can print a sheet with the tear-off strips, the ones you used to see at grocery stores with classifieds and the phone # on the tear-off portions.

Sounds like a neat thing. I think it’d be relatively straightforward to have everybody tag their stop in a google map at the start point, and have the race organizer share the map with all participants at the start of the race.

[Steve O]

Do it. Double up with a post-event refreshment gathering, and I think you have a winner.

Others have had good success with creating events and rides: Bicycle Fun Club, Midnight Saddles, Boundary Stone ride, highly popular Donut Rides, etc.
The trick is to get the word out far and wide and keep hyping it.

[Judd]

Do it. Everything good in the cycling community here is because someone had an idea, advertised it and didn’t worry if 1 person showed up or 100 did.

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[bobco85]

Just had this idea pop into my head (warning: you are about to see a brief glimpse into my thoughts): looking at your original request of using books got me thinking, if each person has a distinct page #, then each person is going to end up with a nonsensical “story” based on those pages. This gets me thinking, it’s not about the books themselves, how about the writing?

What if, instead of a page # from a book, each location would have a bunch of random words/phrases (maybe on cards?), and the order would be designated by the location (each location gets a number that denotes the position of that word/phrase in a story). Each participant would grab one part at random from each location, and at the end of the ride, everyone would tell the story based on the parts they found.

It’d be like a mashup of Mad Lib with the words/phrases coming from something like Cards Against Humanity (see Steve O’s cycling version for added hilarity).

Quick example:
Story: (rider name) set out on a bike ride. First, they put on (#1 clothes) and ate (#2 food). Partway through their ride, they encountered (#3 group) which made them feel (#4 adjective). Finally, (rider name) made it to the bar and drank (#5 beverage) until they (#6 action). The end.

Picking up cards at random from each location, Judd ends up with this story:
Judd set out on a bike ride. First, they put on coveralls-that-don’t-cover-all and ate raspberries stolen from the MVT by Steve O. Partway through their ride, they encountered a pack of pathletes which made them feel sticky. Finally, Judd made it to the bar and drank nectar of the cycling gods until they forgot how to clip out of their pedals. The end.

[Emm]

I’d totally show up to this. And Bobco85’s idea is great too!

Maybe make it teams if enough people sign up so it can have a social aspect? I don’t think that’d speed anything up, but it would make it more fun to bike around and hang out with at least one other person.

[cmj7gh]

All good suggestions – thanks!

I like the idea of having it end at a bar, but I assume that’d mean we’d have to give them a heads’ up that we’re coming (and schedule a date that works for them), and everyone would have to be of legal drinking age. I liked the one bikearlington event that I went to at New District brewing in Shirlington. Any other nominations?

Think 3 hours is a good time period? Think ‘Arlington’ is a good enough boundary? or should it expand to include more of the W&OD, Hains Point, etc?

[Judd]

@cmj7gh 160210 wrote:

Hains Point

It should be entirely at Hains Point.

[Judd]

@cmj7gh 160210 wrote:

All good suggestions – thanks!

I like the idea of having it end at a bar, but I assume that’d mean we’d have to give them a heads’ up that we’re coming (and schedule a date that works for them), and everyone would have to be of legal drinking age. I liked the one bikearlington event that I went to at New District brewing in Shirlington. Any other nominations?

Think 3 hours is a good time period? Think ‘Arlington’ is a good enough boundary? or should it expand to include more of the W&OD, Hains Point, etc?

My serious answer is that *most* places can usually accommodate our bicycle crowds without prior warning as long as it’s not the type of place where there is a hostess that seats tables. Fast casual dining places typically work great. Places with patios are awesome. Brewpubs work well.

[mello yello]

Suggest New District Brewing…. Bike and dog friendly and WABA / BTWD have had events there before… plus, it’s my friend’s business, and I like to plug it. I may even benefit from it eventually… full disclosure.

[trailrunner]

When I used to do a lot of trail running, I was going to (but never did) organize something similar on a local network of trails. The only twist I had was that I was going to assign different point values to each location. I forget the details, but it was some sort of scrabble-based system. Each checkpoint was a letter, and some letters gave you more points based on their scrabble value. The idea was to put a layer of thought into it — should I go for two easy, but low-value letters that are close by, or go for the high-value X that’s further away? I was trying to avoid making it a race won by the fastest, yet keep it relatively simple. Not sure how well the idea would have worked in practice.

[LhasaCM]

@trailrunner 160217 wrote:

When I used to do a lot of trail running, I was going to (but never did) organize something similar on a local network of trails. The only twist I had was that I was going to assign different point values to each location. I forget the details, but it was some sort of scrabble-based system. Each checkpoint was a letter, and some letters gave you more points based on their scrabble value. The idea was to put a layer of thought into it — should I go for two easy, but low-value letters that are close by, or go for the high-value X that’s further away? I was trying to avoid making it a race won by the fastest, yet keep it relatively simple. Not sure how well the idea would have worked in practice.

That sounds like something I did with a few friends back in 2004(?) and Pandamania. There were 150 pandas scattered around town, and we did a scavenger hunt to find (and take a picture with) as many as we could and get back to whatever point at a certain time. Points were awarded based on the number assigned to the panda, which was alphabetical (I think) from whatever the artist had titled it (so one location could have numbers 2, 47, and 135 nearby). As a result, there was some strategy involved to maximize points beyond “here’s where the most look to be on the map.”

[cmj7gh]

I like the idea of weighting checkpoints a lot, but that would mean someone would have to plan it and wouldn’t be able to participate (or would have an advantage)

what if we just said “anything outside of Arlington is worth double”?

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[trailrunner]

@cmj7gh 160221 wrote:

I like the idea of weighting checkpoints a lot, but that would mean someone would have to plan it and wouldn’t be able to participate (or would have an advantage)

what if we just said “anything outside of Arlington is worth double”?

Not necessarily. Just assign the points spontaneously when you reveal them on the map the morning of the event. You could eyeball the checkpoints that look further out and give them a higher value. Or take the fourth letter from each person’s book and use that as the Scrabble letter for each checkpoint. Or draw numbers 1-20 from a hat for each checkpoint when you post the map. It doesn’t have to be perfect or clever. Once the map and values for each checkpoint are revealed, people can stay and examine the map to optimize their route, or they can just ride and do it by the seat of their pants.

I liked the idea of keeping it within a relatively small area like Arlington.

[TwoWheelsDC]

So….an Alleycat?

[mello yello]

@TwoWheelsDC 160223 wrote:

So….an Alleycat?

But you can’t call it that or all the messengers will show up and kick all our butts.

Last one I did involved easter eggs and Mapei jerseys, and was put on by someone who went by “Spud”. Fun times.

[Author]

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