Freezing Saddles 2021 – Daily Photo Scavenger Hunt

[drevil]

EDIT 3/23/21 – FINAL RESULTS POST: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?18102-Freezing-Saddles-2021-Daily-Photo-Scavenger-Hunt&p=210265#post210265
EDIT 3/17/21 – FINAL WEEK POST HERE: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?18102-Freezing-Saddles-2021-Daily-Photo-Scavenger-Hunt&p=209861#post209861

I love taking photos, and having a goal usually ups the fun factor, so I’m doing a daily photo scavenger hunt.

Every night, I’ll post something you have to take a picture of the next day (along with the date). I’ll try my best to post before midnight.

It might be an object (a stop sign), a theme (something blue), specific (e.g., a bike laying on the ground), vague (e.g., confusion), a mish-mash of those, or none of those.

Rules:

1. Obvs, you should be a participant in Freezing Saddles ’21
2. It has to be on a bike ride on the day it was requested
3. It has to be posted on the day for which it was requested, i.e., 12:01 AM EST to 11:59 PM EST for the day it was requested. Sorry, I won’t count ones that aren’t posted for the day it was requested. That’s part of the challenge
4. The reason I say “for the day it is requested” is because I might do requests a few days ahead of time, but don’t take and/or post the pic until that day comes.
5. It has to be posted here on the forum in this thread
6. There should be text either in the title or in the post with the date and the found object/theme. Another option is to “Reply With Quote” the post with the request, i.e., simply click that button on the bottom right of my request so it is quoted above your picture
7. Description, short backstory or location are optional (but nice). That said, if your pic is abstract or not obviously relatable to my request, please explain (e.g., I ask for “happiness”, and you post a pic of a tennis ball you found on a ride, please explain how that tennis ball = happiness)
8. It has to be a picture you took, so if you’re in it, it either has to be a selfie or done with a self-timer
9. Only one pic/day. Please don’t pad by adding more than one pic/day
10. It has to be a picture, not a video
11. Let’s stick to things you find out there during your ride, and not things that you bring or make yourself (unless otherwise specified). Example 1: if I say find “2021”, don’t scratch it into dirt. Example 2: if I say find a flower, don’t bring a flower with you on your ride and take a pic of that. This kinda takes the fun out of looking for things, which is the whole point. (Rule added on 1/2/21)
12. Unless specified otherwise, your bike does not have to be in the photo. (Rule amended on 1/4/21)
13. Found item needs to be clear and discernible (or legible if text) in the picture. If you are using Tapatalk and are having trouble posting pics that are large enough, let us know and I/we can try to help you with it. (Rule added on 1/3/21)
14. Filters are OK, but no obvious/blatant photoshopping… not that I know anything about such things

Photoshop? by bikecentric, on Flickr

Scoring: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kgsAzaLIXN-IJMjscyNnQTNvWEp__VzgGBSkJDYrTfs/edit?usp=sharing

1. If you follow all the rules above, it’s 1 point/picture. I’ll like your pic if I have added the point to the tally sheet.
2. If I feel like you haven’t met all the rules, I’ll give you .25 points for the effort (Added on 1/11/21)
3. I’ll keep a tally with your forum name. I may reach out to you via the forum’s messaging, or ask you to reach out to me in a post in this thread.
4. EDIT ON 3/17/21: THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN ANYMORE -> At the end of FS, every like in each of your pic posts = +1 point. I’ll add these up at the end
   So for example, your pic has met all the conditions at the top, and has 3 likes. That will add 4 points (1 for the pic +3 for the likes) to your pot.

Notes:

1. Prizes TBD
2. Contest starts 1/1/21 and goes until the last day of FS ’21
3. Some of these will be hard. Fret not, some will be easy, so skip those days that are too difficult
4. Don’t ever ever ever ever do anything that can put you in danger or will result in hurting yourself. I promise I won’t ask for any pics of you riding on the Beltway
5. I might post pics, but mine don’t count in the contest

EDIT 3/17/21 -SEE FINAL WEEK POST HERE: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?18102-Freezing-Saddles-2021-Daily-Photo-Scavenger-Hunt&p=209861#post209861

Topic

[CaseyKane50]

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights” (+1 point for including biker)

View from the Wilson Bridge looking down on Jones Point Park.

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[cvcalhoun]

@Indiana 208278 wrote:

At risk of displaying my ignorance, what’s a danger panda?

Description of Danger Panda is at this link.

[cvcalhoun]

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights” (+1 point for including biker)

I thought this one would be easy. Obviously, easiest place to photograph a cyclist is on a trail. So I just need to find a high spot next to or over a trail. And I know just the one–a trail goes up a hill right next to the Capital Crescent Trail. And this will also give me a chance to enjoy my vaccinated status, because I’ve been avoiding the trail during the pandemic.

So I head on down the CCT. And I’m wondering why I’m not seeing other cyclists. I mean, it’s not that cold. And not that windy. And there are a lot of joggers out, but almost no cyclists.

And then I reach the DC border, and figure it out. Although the Montgomery County portion of the trail was clear and dry pavement, the DC section was nonstop rutted ice. And of course, my carefully planned perch was just over the DC line, meaning anyone cycling there was going to have to be someone willing to cycle on ice. I climbed the hill (very gingerly, because my balance isn’t good), but thought I might not see a cyclist for a very long time.

And just as I reached the top, I heard a cyclist behind me. I just barely had time to grab my phone from my pocket and open the camera before he arrived. I didn’t really have time to aim, but I pointed the camera in what I vaguely hoped was the right direction, and began repeatedly pressing the button as fast as I could.

Given all that, I was pleased with how this photo came out.

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[DCAKen]

@Steve O 208266 wrote:

Well, Pluto, of course, is no longer a planet.

It’s considered a dwarf planet

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[Kbikeva]

@drevil 208258 wrote:

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights” (+1 point for including biker)

On 2/20/1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington. 211 years later, one of my favorite albums – Give Up – was released by the band The Postal Service in 2003. On this album is a song called “Such Great Heights” and it is the theme for the photo hunt for the day.

On your ride, 229 years after the original Postal Service was created, take a creative photo from a high vantage point looking downwards, whether atop a bridge, overlook, or somewhere else that’ll give you a great overhead view. Bonus point if there is a clearly discernible biker in the photo. BTW, no selfies/danger pandas for this hunt.

Happy hunting!

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From this photo you can see the W&OD behind the trees. It looks like it’s nice and clear. And it is. Right there. So I got excited and rode down to go across to the trail and get a closer up but overhead photo. And found out that to the left, it becomes an ice rink of frozen ruts and to the right, same thing. I gingerly worked my way across the frozen section to the left to see if the next bridge area was better but duh-bridges cast shadows which means they didn’t melt enough yesterday and there’s NO melting today. Just in case there were some hardier folks out there though, I cycled back to my perch several times (love climbing up the garage ramps), but there was no cyclist to be seen. On the other hand, there are Capital Bike Share bikes in the photo, so that should count for something?

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[Kbikeva]

@CBGanimal 208271 wrote:

From my 3rd story balcony I waited for a cyclist…score!

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Did you bike to your balcony? Seriously though, nice view!

[DCAKen]

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights”

The Taft Bridge takes Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek at a maximum height of 130 feet and has a tremendous vista of the park below. Today, with a combination of cold, wind, and poorly plowed trail, there were few trail users. I waited about ten minutes before a lone cyclist appeared.

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[LhasaCM]

2/20 – High places (+1 with cyclist)

Not a lot of other bikers out today. After taking an “easy” photo from the MBT over M, I went to the dead end sidewalk side of the NY Avenue bridge over the MBT, which has plexiglass covering the sides. This was one of the clearer spots on the bridge – the planet mural bikedavid posted yesterday is along the right.

After a few minutes of waiting in the wind I managed to spot a cyclist coming down the trail. Barely visible through the plexi and shadows of the sculpture on the bridge itself, but hooray for hi-vis!

[bikesnick]

@drevil 208258 wrote:

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights” (+1 point for including biker)

Like [mention] cvcalhoun [/mention] I thought this would be easy on a bridge over the W&OD trail. Ha. It was windy! and some ice/slush spots, and not many cyclists. I was happy to get this after waiting several minutes while trying to keep my bike from blowing over.
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[rumipumi]

2/20 “such great heights” + biker

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[karenbikes2]

@drevil 208258 wrote:

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights” (+1 point for including biker)

On 2/20/1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington. 211 years later, one of my favorite albums – Give Up – was released by the band The Postal Service in 2003. On this album is a song called “Such Great Heights” and it is the theme for the photo hunt for the day.

On your ride, 229 years after the original Postal Service was created, take a creative photo from a high vantage point looking downwards, whether atop a bridge, overlook, or somewhere else that’ll give you a great overhead view. Bonus point if there is a clearly discernible biker in the photo. BTW, no selfies/danger pandas for this hunt.

Happy hunting!

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2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights”
Capital Bikeshare bikes waiting forlornly for hearty riders willing to brave the frigid north wind [emoji100] Kept circling in the parking garage hoping that someone would take a Capital Bikeshare out for a spin, or another cyclist would ride by, but no such luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kbikeva]

@bikesnick 208289 wrote:

Like [mention] cvcalhoun [/mention] I thought this would be easy on a bridge over the W&OD trail. Ha. It was windy! and some ice/slush spots, and not many cyclists. I was happy to get this after waiting several minutes while trying to keep my bike from blowing over.
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Our (Reston area) portion of the trail seems to be the last to get cleared (well, besides the part west of Smith Switch). The people who normally ride through Reston/Herndon on a Saturday were doing Zwift today, I think! If enough bike commuters depended on it out here, that might change, but I’m not holding my breath!

[Kbikeva]

@karenbikes2 208292 wrote:

2/20/21 – Overhead Picture from “Such Great Heights”
Kept circling in the parking garage hoping that someone would take a Capital Bikeshare out for a spin, or another cyclist would ride by, but no such luck.

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Argh – we should have coordinated better and met there. I would have been your model biker, and you mine!

[historygeek]

2-20-21 overhead pic from such great heights (with cyclist). UMD has a few elevated walkways. This was taken from one attached to a parking garage.

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[camiller]

2/20/2021 Photo from Great Height

I knew I wasn’t going to have much of an opportunity to catch a cyclist from a great height as the only two places I could get any height on my ride were in the Fairfax Corner parking garage (no cyclists anywhere to be found) and the Monument Drive bridge over I-66 (better not be any cyclist on the interstate). This photo shows west bound I-66 at Monument Drive.

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[Author]

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