Pizzaneuring

[lordofthemark]

Here’s what I got, for this year’s pointless prize.

As anyone who follows the local Alexandria urbanist discourse on Bluesky (so, I think, none of you here) knows, the fact that Alexandria, and specifically the Del Ray and Old Town areas, have a bizarre and growing number of pizza places, “is a thing”.

So, I thought, why not a Freezing Saddles prize?

The rules. Take a picture of your bike, helmet, or similar evidence you biked there, with some pizza, and post it to the forum in this thread. It must be at a commercial pizza place (not at home) and must be for consumption on premises (not delivery or take out). It should be at a place whose focus is pizza (if there is uncertainty or dispute as to what places count, I will be the final arbiter). Only one visit per place counts, and if a chain, only one visit to any place in the chain (note similarity to beerneuring rules) Though I encourage visits to independents or local chains, not national chains.

It does NOT have to be in Alexandria, because, you know, fairness. It can be anywhere on the globe.

The person with the most entries wins.

However in the event of a tie, the person with the most pics in Alexandria (City, not “fake Alexandria”) wins (can include West Alexandria, does not have to be Old Town or Del Ray) If anyone posts a pic from Brooklyn NY, I will likely add that in to the Alexandria number, because I can.

The prize is yet to be determined, but assuredly will be something pizza related.

#pizza

Topic

[Sunyata]

There was a WashPo article a couple of months ago about the best Pizza in the DMV… I have been thinking about doing a pizza/brew ride at some point in the near future. This might just jump start that for winter instead of the spring!

[jrenaut]

It’s too bad Motown Square isn’t still serving out of Mess Hall, you could hit them and City State in one super bike friendly stop

@Sunyata 226397 wrote:

There was a WashPo article a couple of months ago about the best Pizza in the DMV… I have been thinking about doing a pizza/brew ride at some point in the near future. This might just jump start that for winter instead of the spring!

[CaseyKane50]

Great idea. Here is a relative new one in Alexandria for folks to try.

[randomduck]

I’m finding the tiebreak bias toward Alexandria a bit off-putting given it is a global contest.

Just sayin’…

[cvcalhoun]

Well, it’s not actually global–it’s only for the DMV area.

However, trust me, this is the least of the ways we Marylanders routinely get disrespected. I recall a competition for most laps around a particular course located in Virginia. And this year, we have one for the Ross Hill Loop, which appears to be entirely in DC.

Of course, anyone who doesn’t like this is free to offer a prize for visiting sites located entirely within Maryland. We can make those Virginians work hard if they want to win that one! @randomduck 226588 wrote:

I’m finding the tiebreak bias toward Alexandria a bit off-putting given it is a global contest.

Just sayin’…

[randomduck]

@cvcalhoun 226589 wrote:

Well, it’s not actually global–it’s only for the DMV area.

Is it, though? There are folks who play who are certainly not located in the DMV. And to quote the post establishing this prize: “It does NOT have to be in Alexandria, because, you know, fairness. It can be anywhere on the globe.” (Emphasis mine, of course.)

@cvcalhoun 226589 wrote:

And this year, we have one for the Ross Hill Loop, which appears to be entirely in DC.

As the sponsor of said prize (for the second year running) I launched it to give DC folk a fair shake at a local prize (to them) and a loop that’s not pancake flat (looking at you, Hains Point). And the prize, itself, isn’t geofenced: anyone can play, even though they kinda, sorta have to ride in Rock Creek Park to make it happen.

As the Pizzaneuring prize says “it can be anywhere on the globe,” so technically a rider could participate only going to pizza shops in Naples, Tokyo, Helsinki, Bogota, or Hoboken.

So to ask the unasked question: are the pointless prizes with no true geographic limitations geofenced? Kinda asking tongue-in-cheek, kinda asking seriously.

[Meh]

@randomduck 226590 wrote:

So to ask the unasked question: are the pointless prizes with no true geographic limitations geofenced? Kinda asking tongue-in-cheek, kinda asking seriously.

Not seeing why they should be?

I mean I reckon if someone local goes to MSA and rides at -30C it’s perfectly valid for the lowest temp competition; if someone goes to Connecticut and gets hot oil pizza that should be fine too?

[lordofthemark]

@randomduck 226588 wrote:

I’m finding the tiebreak bias toward Alexandria a bit off-putting given it is a global contest.

Just sayin’…

A. I will be rather surprised if we actually end up in a tie?

B. You may not have been spending time in Alexandria urbanist Bluesky. This is deep into meme territory. We have agreed that the only thing Alexandria has in greater surplus than unhinged NIMBYs, Confederate street names, and obscure historical markers, is pizza places. I was thinking of restricting the prize to just Alexandria, but thought better of it (perhaps at the strong suggestion of coffee club folks) So my thought is that yeah, pizza places in Seattle or St Pete or Belgium should count, but I still want to pay homage to the Alexandria meme.

I mean I could have come up with some complicated scoring mechanism, like double points for Alexandria or something, but I think simpler scoring mechanisms are better in a friendly competition

To note, fairness is always modified by power “If anyone posts a pic from Brooklyn NY, I will likely add that in to the Alexandria number, because I can.”

Edit: Idea. If the concern is Maryland being dissed, here’s an added rule. In the unlikely event that we end up in a global pizza tie, the prize will go to the person with the highest number X+Y, where X is the number of pizza places in the City of Alexandria, and Y is the number of rides to pizza that also went to a meadery in Hyattsville. This would be totally fair and unbiased, right?

[lordofthemark]

@Meh 226594 wrote:

Not seeing why they should be?

I mean I reckon if someone local goes to MSA and rides at -30C it’s perfectly valid for the lowest temp competition; if someone goes to Connecticut and gets hot oil pizza that should be fine too?

They will first have to explain to me exactly what hot oil pizza is – I note that I forgot to actually specify definitions of what IS a pizza. Hmmm.

[consularrider]

@lordofthemark 226603 wrote:

They will first have to explain to me exactly what hot oil pizza is – I note that I forgot to actually specify definitions of what IS a pizza. Hmmm.

There’s still time to amend/clarify the rules

[cvcalhoun]

Given that it took us 36 pages to define what a bicycle is, I’m not sure you want to raise that question with regard to pizza. @lordofthemark 226603 wrote:

They will first have to explain to me exactly what hot oil pizza is – I note that I forgot to actually specify definitions of what IS a pizza. Hmmm.

[Judd]

This might be the pointless prize I play this year seeing as I am in ground zero of the Alexandria pizza boom.

@lordofthemark 226389 wrote:

Here’s what I got, for this year’s pointless prize.

As anyone who follows the local Alexandria urbanist discourse on Bluesky (so, I think, none of you here) knows, the fact that Alexandria, and specifically the Del Ray and Old Town areas, have a bizarre and growing number of pizza places, “is a thing”.

So, I thought, why not a Freezing Saddles prize?

The rules. Take a picture of your bike, helmet, or similar evidence you biked there, with some pizza, and post it to the forum in this thread. It must be at a commercial pizza place (not at home) and must be for consumption on premises (not delivery or take out). It should be at a place whose focus is pizza (if there is uncertainty or dispute as to what places count, I will be the final arbiter). Only one visit per place counts, and if a chain, only one visit to any place in the chain (note similarity to beerneuring rules) Though I encourage visits to independents or local chains, not national chains.

It does NOT have to be in Alexandria, because, you know, fairness. It can be anywhere on the globe.

The person with the most entries wins.

However in the event of a tie, the person with the most pics in Alexandria (City, not “fake Alexandria”) wins (can include West Alexandria, does not have to be Old Town or Del Ray) If anyone posts a pic from Brooklyn NY, I will likely add that in to the Alexandria number, because I can.

The prize is yet to be determined, but assuredly will be something pizza related.

[arlcxrider]

@cvcalhoun 226609 wrote:

Given that it took us 36 pages to define what a bicycle is, I’m not sure you want to raise that question with regard to pizza.

Every Pointless Prize seems to descend into legalistic hairsplitting about “the rules.” Like what constitutes “public art.”

[cvcalhoun]

Yeah, and ultimately it is in the judgment of whoever sponsors the prize–no one else’s opinion matters. And the sponsor can even make determinations after the fact. Given that every person who sponsors a prize is a volunteer and pays the cost of the prize from their own funds, I am not about to question how they run their competition–not even in one instance in which a determination was made after the fact to disregard one of my entries. @arlcxrider 226616 wrote:

Every Pointless Prize seems to descend into legalistic hairsplitting about “the rules.” Like what constitutes “public art.”

[lordofthemark]

@arlcxrider 226616 wrote:

Every Pointless Prize seems to descend into legalistic hairsplitting about “the rules.” Like what constitutes “public art.”

As much fun as 50 pages of talmudic debate on what constitutes “pizza” would be, I don’t think I have the bandwidth for it this year. I expect to use menu descriptions and/or yelp, in cases of uncertainty. But certainly side chatter on what is or is not pizza is welcome.

[Author]

Replies