Pointless Prize – ParkFinder

[camiller]

2021 Rules for #parkfinder

These instructions were posted to the tread for 2021 Pointless Prizes. I am just copying the rules so that they show up in the #ParkFinder thread for people that find the Point Prize from this thread. Good Luck and have fun exploring your communities.

PARKFINDER Pointless Prize

Back by popular demand, I will sponsor a ParkFinder Pointless Prize. There will be at least two categories:

– Person that visits the most parks
– Person with the most average miles per park

Per Dictionary.com a Park is defined as “an area of land, usually in a largely natural state, for the enjoyment of the public, having facilities for rest and recreation, often owned, set apart, and managed by a city, state, or nation”.

Therefore, it must be a public park. It can be a local, state or national park. The word Park must be in the sign (last year I came upon a few parks that did not have a sign) and it must be the kind of park used for recreation. (for example, no cemeteries, parking lots, businesses with park in their name, or neighborhood names unless it is a park in the neighborhood with the same name.) You all know the kind of park I am looking for for the game.

You can only get credit for one park per ride and you cannot repeat any park during the game. You must take a picture of your bike with the park sign and then post it in your Strava feed. Be sure tag your ride with #Parkfinder in the title so it can be counted the computer wizards.

Last year’s winners were Matt W, Kilgore T, and Alan A. Since we did not have an ending Happy Hour we still need to find each other so I can give you your prize. You can also send me a private message with your address and I can mail it to you.

Here is the link to 2021 ParkFinder standings: https://freezingsaddles.org/pointless/hashtag/parkfinder

Below are the rules for 2020. (No need to read any further for 2021)

It is always fun to find new destinations using your bike as your mode of transportation. Our area has a lot of parks, including national, state, regional, county and local community parks. Some parks are easy to find and some are truly hidden gems. For example, there is a park less than a mile from my house that we found by accident. We were out walking in a neighborhood and stumbled on Fairfax Villa Park. While I wouldn’t recommend someone drive for miles to use this park (there are better, more interesting parks nearby) we use this park’s trails when we want to go for a quick shady short walk.

Here are the rules:

1. The park must be a national, state, regional, county or local community park that is open to the public at all times during the hours the park is open.
2. The park must be referred to as a “park” and must have a sign designating it as a park.
3. You must arrive at the park by bike. For example, if you drive your car to a park as a launching point for a bike ride you can not use the launching point park as your park for the pointless prize.
4. While you can visit the park as frequently as you would like, you can only count the park one time for Freezing Saddles.
5. Take a picture of your bike with the park sign. (Sorry, no park sign, no park point.)
6. Include #FS2020ParkFinder and the name of the park in your Strava title and post a picture of the park sign in your Strava feed.
7. You will only receive credit for one park for each Strava ride. If you go to multiple parks within a day, each park must be accounted for on separate Strava rides.

I hope you can find a few new parks in your travels by bike. If there is something special that you would like to share about the park, especially the smaller, less known parks (has multiple walking trails, great picnic shelters, can rent boats) you can include it in the “description” section so the rest of us can learn more about the park and, perhaps, decide to make that park as destination.

Have fun finding new parks for recreation and relaxation!!

Topic

[Boomer Cycles]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 009: Bon Air Park (Rose & Ornamental Tree Gardens)
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200115/39db787fd1e86795e5b4059fc5241aa5.plist[/IMG][IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200115/f6cb31e7e5653b2760dd0bcb971e691d.plist[/IMG]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 010: 4MR Park

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[Boomer Cycles]

[Retracted] – 011: Poplar Heights (private park w/ public access to open sports field)
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/b984adeb59df9c710dac215bf221331c.plist[/IMG]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 012: West End Park (W&OD mile 7 pedestrian bridge over RT 7)
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/66649f6d42d6af28762eff810cff598f.plist[/IMG]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 013: Lincoln Park
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/f33b1e7dad5c8f21be58be11e1bcc705.plist[/IMG]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 014: Andrew Ellicott Park (home of the original DC western boundary stone)
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/63b2e47d7e788d266e95c72ff2e890c4.plist[/IMG]

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[Boomer Cycles]

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/9adac34e4f0b65886dbfa6d3558d1a5c.plist[/IMG]
#FS2020ParkFinder – 014: Andrew Ellicott Park (continued)

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/6253c3cb9035e01db99ddbe1a2f170fd.plist[/IMG] #FS2020ParkFinder – 015: Tuckahoe Park

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/3575eb6b58a68b026afb1f8b8ba40782.plist[/IMG]
[Retracted] – 016: Highline Park (dedicated open, green space with public feeder trail maintained by Arlington County to provide non-motorized access to W&OD and Custis trails).

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[Boomer Cycles]

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/2e06de0aac2a4973430d1e31599a7481.plist[/IMG]#FS2020ParkFinder – 017: Lacey Woods Park

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/e0cc9f575f216861600192826e496a7b.plist[/IMG] #FS2020ParkFinder – 018: Quincy Park (Arlington VA)

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/61534300670576e6ef89b9d3be0cfb54.plist[/IMG]
#FS2020ParkFinder – 019: James Hunter Park (Arlington VA)

#FS2020ParkFinder – 020: Courthouse Plaza Park

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[Boomer Cycles]

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/8c210921319d1127dd1ce3dc5f49b2be.plist[/IMG] #FS2020ParkFinder – 020: Courthouse Plaza Park (continued)

#FS2020ParkFinder – 021: Claredon – Barton Pop Up Park (Courthouse in Arlington VA)

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/f94b11c4a42124b57fc4e2ac631f35c9.plist[/IMG]
[Retracted] – 022: Claredon Day Care Center Park (courtesy of Claredon Presbyterian Church)

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[Boomer Cycles]

#FS2020ParkFinder – 023:
Hayes Park

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/e957e82ce4479aa48a2238c7d850040f.plist[/IMG]
#FS2020ParkFinder – 024: Oak Grove Park

#FS2020ParkFinder – 025: Westover Park

#FS2020ParkFinder – 026: East Falls Church Park

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[camiller]

There have been some questions on the ParkFinder pointless prize. I have amended the criteria to clarify and address the issues that were raised. Please amend your Strava submission accordingly.

Hope you are having fun searching for parks on your bike travels!!

[Boomer Cycles]

@camiller 196861 wrote:

There have been some questions on the ParkFinder pointless prize. I have amended the criteria to clarify and address the issues that were raised. Please amend your Strava submission accordingly.

Hope you are having fun searching for parks on your bike travels!!

What about privately-owned parks that are open to the “public” and jointly managed with some public entity? Public-private partnerships are a key strategy to maintain and grow open spaces, especially in urban areas where market forces dictate build, build, build. IMHO all open spaces open to the public are worthy of support, where government purchases and management are not sufficient in the face of development pressures.
Many of the connector trails that people on bikes (and peds, scooters, etc) use on a daily basis flow throw privately owned real estate managed under public-private partnerships. Do we not want to support this?
I respectfully submit that the purpose of the open space, public access, be the discerning factor, and not the ownership model.

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[Boomer Cycles]

What is a protected area […such as a “park]?
A protected area is a clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values. (IUCN Definition 2008)

https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about

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[Boomer Cycles]

What is “public open space?” (Wikipedia)

A public open space is defined as an open piece of land both green space or hard space to which there is public access.

Public open space is often referred to by urban planners and landscape architects by the acronym ‘POS’. Varied interpretations of the term are possible.

‘Public’ can mean:
– owned by a national or local government body
– owned by ‘public’ body (e.g. a not-for-profit organization) and held in trust for the public
– owned by a private individual or organization but made available for public use or available public access, see privately owned public space (POPS)

‘Open’ can mean:
– open for public access
– open for public recreation
– outdoors, i.e. not a space within a building
– vegetated

Depending on which of these definitions are adopted, any of the following could be called Public Open Space:
– a public park
– a town square
– a greenway which is open to the public but runs through farmland or – a forest
– a public highway
– a private road with public access

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[Steve O]

@Boomer2U 196831 wrote:

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200116/3575eb6b58a68b026afb1f8b8ba40782.plist[/IMG]
#FS2020ParkFinder – 016: Highline Park (connector trail to W&OD and Custis trails from Westover)

This is not a park. Highland Park/Overlee Hills is the name of a neighborhood in Arlington. It’s like calling Ballston a park.

[Boomer Cycles]

@Steve O 196904 wrote:

This is not a park. Highland Park/Overlee Hills is the name of a neighborhood in Arlington. It’s like calling Ballston a park.

Google and Arlington County disagree with you…it’s dedicated open space maintained by the County, including a connector trail to public pathways, with full time public access. That is the epitome of “public open space” (aka “park”).
[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200117/023168b1a2e56c3b3a5325eb67f0dfd2.plist[/IMG]

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[Boomer Cycles]

@Steve O 196904 wrote:

This is not a park. Highland Park/Overlee Hills is the name of a neighborhood in Arlington. It’s like calling Ballston a park.

I don’t know anyone who would call Ballston a “park”

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[camiller]

@Boomer2U 196892 wrote:

What about privately-owned parks that are open to the “public” and jointly managed with some public entity? Public-private partnerships are a key strategy to maintain and grow open spaces, especially in urban areas where market forces dictate build, build, build. IMHO all open spaces open to the public are worthy of support, where government purchases and management are not sufficient in the face of development pressures.
Many of the connector trails that people on bikes (and peds, scooters, etc) use on a daily basis flow throw privately owned real estate managed under public-private partnerships. Do we not want to support this?
I respectfully submit that the purpose of the open space, public access, be the discerning factor, and not the ownership model.

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While I don’t disagree that open space is important and that there may be many models for ownership, finding just any open recreational space was not the intent of this game. The intent of the ParkFinder pointless prize was to recognize and locate our public national, state, regional and local “parks”. In that manner, everyone is on the same playing field and the “green space” is not subject to interpretation. This country has a lot of green spaces that are not called “parks”. We have wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, national forests, natural environment areas and other similar entities. We also have private businesses that own and manage recreation areas (eg., various resorts and ski slopes). We also have county recreation centers, golf course and public schools grounds. Those open areas are not called ‘parks” and, in the spirit of the game, I am only looking for things that are “parks”. In addition, just because an entity has “park” in its name does not make it a “park”. An example being Woodmont Park Apartments in Alexandria.

I just want this to be a fun game. I, for one, am enjoying discovering new parks around me. I have found several new (to me) places to have a picnic, read a book, take a hike or play on the swings. My game-my rules. That being said, people are on the honor system to only submit items that meet the defined criteria as I cannot police everyone’s entries. Be safe, enjoy meeting up with people and enjoy riding your bike!

[camiller]

@G-Daddy 196495 wrote:

Seeing more pictures pop up in this thread of smiling faces without bikes in the frame.

The OP does state: “You must take a picture of your bike with the park sign.”

Not sure how lenient the Keeper of this Pointless Prize will be on this stipulation, but wanted to call it out so there aren’t disappointed Frozen Saddlites!

There is no requirement to post pictures on this thread. The requirement is to post pictures of the bike with the park sign on Strava. Sometimes, in addition to posting picture of my bike with the park sign, I have posted additional pictures of the park. I am assuming that is what is going on with some of the non bike and park pictures posted on this thread.

[Author]

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