Pointless Prize: KOT and QOT

[Judd]

Chasing King of the Mountain and Queen of the Mountain segments on Strava is so passe. All of the elite Freezing Saddles participants are now competing to be King of the Trail or Queen of the Trail. Being KoT or QoT is easy. All you have to do is volunteer to take care of the parks and trails that provide safe places and beautiful views while you’re on your bike. I’ll post opportunities to score points here and encourage others to do the same. Points are available for any activity involving improving a trail, a park or a waterway.

Points will be awarded for the following and are subject to arbitrary additions and awards of bonus points:
Reporting a problem about a trail – 1 point (Example would be a 311 report or contacting NPS when the shutdown is over)
Solo act of goodness – 2 points (Example would be stopping to clear glass from a trail, remove a branch or “Lumberjacking” an issue)
Attending a trail advocacy meeting – 4 points (Example would be new Long Bridge meetings or Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail meetings)
Taking out the trash at a National Park during the shutdown – 5 points (I hear Belle Haven Park could use some help right now)
Taking someone for a ride on a trail that they’ve never ridden before – 5 points
Volunteering for an event – 5 points (Example would be cleanups, invasive removal or maintenance events)
Organizing an event – 15 points (Example is Sarah Bee’s Anacostia River Trailcleanup this Saturday

To score points, post a description of the awesome thing you did along with a picture. Slam that stem on your carbon fiber trash grabber and get to work. The King of the Trail and the Queen of the Trail will win a super neat prize to be determined, which I promise is not a framed picture of Lord of the Mark.

The official leaderboard is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ehDM7UpJs2hVvBvXQ3NiUlqRaBmnyRFx9VHit09uni4/edit?usp=sharing

Topic

[Judd]

@CBGanimal 188700 wrote:

So Lordofthemark is not being totally truthful! After Kitty’s farewell party I caught him in the act of removing a scooter from the Rt 50 trail on his way home!!!

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Ken gets two points for moving a scooter out of the way. One additional point has been awarded for saying thank you to Chris B. 3 points!

[Judd]

@ChristoB50 188751 wrote:

A new trash stretch for me today — and it called for the RBQPB — the Really Big Quick Pick Bag!
The steep, bushy uphill slope alongside the ramp up from MVT to 14th Street Bridge.
I had tak —er, borrowed— a large kitchen bin liner from the office a few days back, keeping it along with grocery bags in my pannier — for just such a situation.

Alas, the bag was not nearly big enough (nor strong enough) to get all the trash there, but I got lots of the biggest junk (huge swaths of plastic sheeting) and more than a lot of smaller stuff…
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Then on the ride home, a Lumberjacking opportunity; a scooter prominently occupying the bike lane on S. Potomac Avenue, shortly before crossing 4MR stream.
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Chris B gets two points for a solo act of trail cleaning. Double points are awarded for super sizing the cleanup near the 14th St Bridge. Two more points for expert scooter relocation services. 6 points!

[Judd]

@LhasaCM 188757 wrote:

On our way home this lovely evening, M and I took advantage of what the wind gathered at the “under Franklin” exit on the MBT to fill a couple of supplied bags with trash for the nearby receptacle.

Before:
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After:
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Chris M gets two points for a cleaning up the MBT. One additional point has been added for utilizing child labor. Three points!

[Judd]

@LhasaCM 188804 wrote:

More superquick wind and #kidical aided cleanup at the MBT/8th/Franklin connection. (M didn’t have the patience for the after picture – though there wasn’t too much more this morning as can be seen.) Also found some rusty nails in our favorite cycletrack in NoMa that would’ve ruined someone’s day.

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Two points for a trail clean up and two more points for clearing nails from the cycletrack. Two more bonus points for you to consider putting the nails back for all of the cars that park in the cycletrack everyday. 6 points!

[Judd]

We’ve got four days to go until the end of the KOT/QOT Competition. Standing are updated here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ehDM7UpJs2hVvBvXQ3NiUlqRaBmnyRFx9VHit09uni4/edit?usp=sharing

Erin maintains her third place position in the QOT standings:

Participant Queen
Chris W 89
Josephine 77
Erin 42
Robyne 28
Sarah Bee 20
Samantha 18
Millie 15
Jo 15
Kate 12
Jessica 6
Carol 4
Neve 1

Chris M is still within striking distance of Chris B

Participant King
Chris B 112
Chris M 96
Casey 62
Steve O 39
Ken L 36
Ricky 31
Sam 29
Mr Happy 28
Leo 22
Boomer 17
Jeff L 15
Dana 15
Coppertop 15
Collier 15
Bob 15
Andy 12
HF 7
Adam 7
Ken N 3

[Steve O]

Hey, do I get points for attending the BPAC meeting? I know you saw me.

[Judd]

@Steve O 188818 wrote:

Hey, do I get points for attending the BPAC meeting? I know you saw me.

Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that you were there.

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[KWL]

@Judd 188821 wrote:

Hmm, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that you were there.

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Wait! If Steve O was there, I might have been there as well. Or, perhaps I MEANT to be there…someday. Really. Maybe next month’s meeting.

[LhasaCM]

Yesterday, I did a little “light Lumberjacking” near the NE Branch Trail – removing branches like this one from the path between the main trail and the College Park Aviation Museum.

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This small effort came in handy today. I took the family on a sightseeing adventure in PG County – if by sightseeing, you’ll accept a first-time trip for the missus and M through the NW Branch Trail detour on the way to Olive Garden for never-ending stuffed pasta (there’ve been WAY too many OG commercials on Nickelodeon lately), a first time trip for all of us on the trail alongside Wells Run (Garmin’s routing did not say anything about the stairs), showing the missus the “not-quite-so”-newly opened connection for the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail in Riverdale, and showing the family the aforementioned connecting trail between the College Park Aviation Museum and the NE Branch Trail (for the missus – it was a less stressful route across Campus Drive to catch the Metro heading home after the museum outing).

[Emm]

As my final request for QOT points I submit this: I have to miss the freezing saddles closing happy hour so that I can become a better advocate for cyclists and pedestrians. I’ll be hanging out with Bike/Walk Arlington’s @Henry and Katy L that night, learning all about pedestrian safety issues. I’m hoping to use the info I learn in this course, the smart cycling class, and the LCI course that are part of the program I’m in to help me better contribute meaningfully to BPAC and the Friends of the MVT.

Chris W is also attending this training with me, so she deserves all the points too.

[ChristoB50]

My final Trail Love / Trash Vendetta of FS2019… (but certainly not the last of 2019!)
It wasn’t a biking day, due to some conflicts so this called for some CB-QPB’s… Car Based Quick Pick Bags!
I stopped near my usual stretch of 4MR and ended up filling 3 bags, picking up a VW hubcap, a pizza box and a rusty bike chain!
To make it a perfect finale, @Judd came riding by as I’d finished… Happy Birthday, Judd!

Waving farewell to FS2019…
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[Judd]

@ChristoB50 188972 wrote:

My final Trail Love / Trash Vendetta of FS2019… (but certainly not the last of 2019!)
It wasn’t a biking day, due to some conflicts so this called for some CB-QPB’s… Car Based Quick Pick Bags!
I stopped near my usual stretch of 4MR and ended up filling 3 bags, picking up a VW hubcap, a pizza box and a rusty bike chain!
To make it a perfect finale, @Judd came riding by as I’d finished… Happy Birthday, Judd!

Waving farewell to FS2019…
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19842[/ATTACH]

It was a very fitting end to Freezing Saddles to run in to Chris with a haul of trash on Four Mile Run.

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[ChristoB50]

@Judd 188976 wrote:

It was a very fitting end to Freezing Saddles to run in to Chris with a haul of trash on Four Mile Run.

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Kinda looks like I’m flippin’ the bird with my left hand — which I am — TO THE TRASH!

[Judd]

@LhasaCM 188872 wrote:

Yesterday, I did a little “light Lumberjacking” near the NE Branch Trail – removing branches like this one from the path between the main trail and the College Park Aviation Museum.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19830[/ATTACH]

This small effort came in handy today. I took the family on a sightseeing adventure in PG County – if by sightseeing, you’ll accept a first-time trip for the missus and M through the NW Branch Trail detour on the way to Olive Garden for never-ending stuffed pasta (there’ve been WAY too many OG commercials on Nickelodeon lately), a first time trip for all of us on the trail alongside Wells Run (Garmin’s routing did not say anything about the stairs), showing the missus the “not-quite-so”-newly opened connection for the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail in Riverdale, and showing the family the aforementioned connecting trail between the College Park Aviation Museum and the NE Branch Trail (for the missus – it was a less stressful route across Campus Drive to catch the Metro heading home after the museum outing).

Chris M gets two points for Diet Lumberjacking. A bonus point is awarded because the Lumberjacking involved wood. Another 10 points are awarded for taking both Mrs. CM and MM on a new trail. 13 points!

[Judd]

@Emm 188967 wrote:

As my final request for QOT points I submit this: I have to miss the freezing saddles closing happy hour so that I can become a better advocate for cyclists and pedestrians. I’ll be hanging out with Bike/Walk Arlington’s @Henry and Katy L that night, learning all about pedestrian safety issues. I’m hoping to use the info I learn in this course, the smart cycling class, and the LCI course that are part of the program I’m in to help me better contribute meaningfully to BPAC and the Friends of the MVT.

Chris W is also attending this training with me, so she deserves all the points too.

Erin gets 5 points for working on some walking and biking certifications.
Chris W gets gets for points for getting her learn on too.

[Author]

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