Freezing Saddles 2021 – Daily Photo Scavenger Hunt

[bigredboiler]

3/15/21 – Christmas Lights

Thank goodness for daylight savings time….much easier to go ride in the dark and look for Christmas lights (without having to get out too early).
I did find a surprising number of them out there; generally subtle vs extravagant.
Here is one of the better ones I found; In Fairlington area:

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[CaseyKane50]

3/15/21 – Christmas Ornaments or Lights

Frosty appropriately dressed and armed with snowballs on Del Ray Avenue.

[CBGanimal]

3/15/21 – Christmas Ornament or lights

Sneaked into a courtyard to get this pic…I did know the neighbor though

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[accordioneur]

3/15/21 – Christmas Ornaments or Lights

I’ve been slacking on this contest lately, but jumped back in today. Here’s a house in North Arlington which still has a Christmas wreath on the door. I’ve noticed that quite a few houses in my neighborhood are still lighting their Christmas lights even as we approach springtime – perhaps they feel a little extra cheer is warranted in these times.

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[drevil]

Hi everyone! First off, I just want to say thanks so much to all of you that have been playing the photo scavenger hunt. I love, love, love the creativity and thought people have put into their photo captures. I learned a lot of things, including new destinations and options for eating.

It’s been fun coming up with things to hunt for; sometimes it was easy, but most times I put a bit of thought into it. A lot of my evenings since January 1st went something like this:

1. Plop into my office chair,
2. Open a folder with 17ish bookmarks then read through some of them,
3. Formulate ideas of what people could look for. I wanted to try to keep it related (even if it was a stretch) to something that happened that day in history.
4. After I came up with an idea, I’d go to maps and see if I could find the thing somewhere.
5. I’d usually go over to my wife and we’d discuss if she thought it was a good idea or not. I have about a 66% success rate with her.
6. I’d think about how easy or difficult it would be to find for people in different areas (which included Madrid and southern PG).
7. I’d spent time photoshopping a pic if there wasn’t a good bike related one out there that I liked.
8. Finally, I’d post it on the forum, then copy it over to Facebook.

I also want to thank my wife Jo M for doing almost all the scoring. After the first week, I began to realize what a bear it would be to regularly tally the scores. I was even telling her that I would stop scoring because it was too much work for me, but she volunteered to do it. After a week, she also realized it was a lot of work, but has been keeping it up so far. She’s awesome, so give her an air/no-contact high-5 if you ever see her out on your rides.

Scoring
So I said in my original post that I was going to add the points where each LIKE = 1 point. With 2700+ posts in the thread, I have decided that I will no longer do that. It’s too much work, and I’m not getting paid here . I have reached out to the WABA forum techies, but even if they have a secret way to export the results, I’m pretty sure it still won’t happen.

Thus, we’re just going to count the points that you have acquired through your pics. Sorry if you took the time you took to like others’ posts in hopes that it would boost their score, but I see now there is no reasonable way for me to do this.
If you got .25 for a post, it’s because it didn’t meet all the rules or wasn’t what we were looking for.

Corrections
If you think there was an error in your scoring of your pic (i.e., no points or not enough), then please send a private message ASAP on the forum to me (Drevil) and JoM with the following info:

1. The URL to your post (which you can get by clicking on the # on the top right of your post)
2. What the issue is
3. How many points you think you should get

I’ll ask a favor here. If we’re missing a point or two here or there, but you don’t think you’re in the top 3 (see next section below), then it’d be super cool if you just let it pass. As I said, it’s a lot of work and if we get hit up with a lot of point corrections that don’t matter in the whole scheme of things, then that’s less riding time. Thank you!

Prizes
It’s not about the prizes, is it? Well, I’m still working on the designs, but here’s what you’ll get if you played:

1. 1 point or more – a few custom stickers
2. 20 points or more – #1 and a custom patch
3. Top 3 scorers – #1 and 2, and a Buff/gaiter from my stash

I think the coolest part will be the patches, since I’ve never designed one before. When I’m finished and the items come in, I’ll post where and when you can meet me. I’ll try to go to coffee clubs around the area. I’ll also work with those that are understandably concerned about COVID for an alternate way of getting you the prizes.

Anyways, a few more days until Freezing Saddles ’21 is over. I’m sad to see it ending, but happy I got to be a part of it. Also, I’m really excited that I’ll get to go mountain biking again, which is my first love, but it doesn’t get you a lot of miles/points for FS :p

Happy hunting!

[Boomer Cycles]

The Christmas Spirit is alive and well in Del Ray, Alexandria VA!

Sent from Boomer_Cycles via my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cvcalhoun]

@drevil 209861 wrote:

Hi everyone! First off, I just want to say thanks so much to all of you that have been playing the photo scavenger hunt. I love, love, love the creativity and thought people have put into their photo captures. I learned a lot of things, including new destinations and options for eating.

Many thanks to you for sponsoring this one! I rather suspected it had involved a lot of work, even not counting the impossible task of counting “likes.”

I hadn’t been biking at all frequently since I stopped commuting to work or going much of anywhere else. I’d hoped that joining Freezing Saddles would help, but since my team has been down around 29th of 31, just biking for miles didn’t provide much motivation. But this contest is what has gotten me out every day of Freezing Saddles. I’m not looking forward to Saturday, when I’ll have to find some other way of motivating myself.

[Kbikeva]

3/15/21 Christmas Decorations

Our area has pretty strict HOA provisions so I wasn’t sure what I’d find. I know I’ve seen a couple of holdovers as recently as last week but the nice weather this past weekend might have ‘finished’ them off. So this is what I found — Icicles still hanging in Fox Mill area of Herndon.

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[Kbikeva]

Huge thank you to both you and Jo, Drevil. I’m willing and happily able to throw in some $$ via Venmo to you to help subsidize cost of patches.

I’m like Carol – this is the challenge that got me out every day. It also kept me up late at night wondering what the next day’s challenge would be. Then it cavorted through my dreams as the many routes I ride were trying to match up with the desired target. I found myself looking at everything differently and thinking, “I need to remember THAT in case drevil asks for it.” Of course, today when it was Christmas stuff I couldn’t remember WHERE I’d last seen them. Fortunately my riding partner, LeftyLaura, is very patient. VERY patient.

Carol, if you want I will text you random stuff to find. Not sure where you’d post it, but I’m happy to do that!

[CaseyKane50]

Hi everyone! First off, I just want to say thanks so much to all of you that have been playing the photo scavenger hunt. I love, love, love the creativity and thought people have put into their photo captures. I learned a lot of things, including new destinations and options for eating.

Ricky, this was a fun contest. Thank you for your creative. It was always a challenge and definitely opened my eyes to what is out there. Who knew there were so many stars, balloons, and peace signs.

I also want to thank my wife Jo M for doing almost all the scoring. After the first week, I began to realize what a bear it would be to regularly tally the scores. I was even telling her that I would stop scoring because it was too much work for me, but she volunteered to do it. After a week, she also realized it was a lot of work, but has been keeping it up so far. She’s awesome, so give her an air/no-contact high-5 if you ever see her out on your rides.

Jo, your score keeping was awesome! The format of the contest definitely made your job quite difficult. A truly impressive job – well done!

[Catedrew]

@drevil 209861 wrote:

Hi everyone! First off, I just want to say thanks so much to all of you that have been playing the photo scavenger hunt. I love, love, love the creativity and thought people have put into their photo captures. I learned a lot of things, including new destinations and options for eating.

I also want to thank my wife Jo M for doing almost all the scoring. After the first week, I began to realize what a bear it would be to regularly tally the scores. I was even telling her that I would stop scoring because it was too much work for me, but she volunteered to do it. After a week, she also realized it was a lot of work, but has been keeping it up so far. She’s awesome, so give her an air/no-contact high-5 if you ever see her out on your rides.

Anyways, a few more days until Freezing Saddles ’21 is over. I’m sad to see it ending, but happy I got to be a part of it. Also, I’m really excited that I’ll get to go mountain biking again, which is my first love, but it doesn’t get you a lot of miles/points for FS ��

Happy hunting!

Thank you so much for doing this – both you and your wife! As a brand new member of Freezing Saddles, this photo scavenger hunt has been one of my daily delights, and I really appreciate the time and effort you put into it – thanks so much!

Catie (catedrew)

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[Catedrew]

@tomacsh 209748 wrote:

3/14/21–Scientist
United Therapeutics FTW on Celebrate Science Day (headquartered in downtown Silver Spring).
Great list of names on their Biowalk of Fame, but I’ll highlight Dr. Charles Drew; Arlington, VA, native, who discovered how to separate plasma from red blood cells, and from whom I now have 2 degrees of separation thanks to my FS teammate [mention]Catedrew [/mention]who is his great-niece! Thanks to Dr. Drew for his life work and highest regards to his whole family [emoji471]

This is so cool! I never knew that Uncle Charlie was immortalized here – I’ll have to go find it. Yay!!

[Catedrew]

@CaseyKane50 209769 wrote:

3/14/21 – Scientist

Dr. Charles R. Drew –

“Dr. Charles Richard Drew broke barriers in a racially divided America to become one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. His pioneering research and systematic developments in the use and preservation of blood plasma during World War II not only saved thousands of lives, but innovated the nation’s blood banking process and standardized procedures for long-term blood preservation and storage techniques adapted by the American Red Cross.

Ironically, the Red Cross excluded African Americans from donating blood, making Drew himself ineligible to participate in the very program he established. That policy was later modified to accept donations from blacks, however the institution upheld racial segregation of blood, which throughout the war Drew openly criticized as “unscientific and insulting to African Americans.””

From the American Chemical Society.

Yay Uncle Charlie!

[Catedrew]

@DCAKen 209756 wrote:

3/14/21 – Scientist

This monument is dedicated to Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, a system of alternative medicine. Hahnemann was a 19th century German physician and chemist and is the first foreigner not associated with the American Revolution to be honored by sculpture in Washington.

The monument could also be see as a reflection of the evolution of the perception of science. Now, homeopathy is seen by many as a pseudoscience (statements beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method). But at the memorial’s unveiling in 1900, the ceremony was attended by President McKinley and many medical professionals.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

This is cool – where is it?

[cvcalhoun]

@Kbikeva 209867 wrote:

Carol, if you want I will text you random stuff to find. Not sure where you’d post it, but I’m happy to do that!

There has actually been some talk about trying to have a Springing Saddles. The big issue has been that Freezing Saddles requires a whole lot of time and effort from volunteers, and I doubt many of them would be willing to start up again so soon after the last bout. However, if you felt like running a scavenger hunt, that could be done independently of points, and could just be run on this forum. I suspect that Henry could be induced to make it a sticky under General Discussion. That way, it would be for more than just me. And it wouldn’t require all the volunteers to set up teams, run the back end, etc. I suspect there are others who would want to participate.

[Author]

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