Pointless Prize Thread 2021

[secstate]

Without naming names, I can think of several pointless prize sponsors and winners who rarely post on the forum. I’m not sure how well forum posting tracks pointless prize participation. Would be curious to hear from last year’s PP sponsors about that.

It does seem like one particular reindeer game (which shall not be named) that requires constant forum participation fizzled out during the competition last year.

Agreed, overall forum participation is down. Too bad, as the quality of posts is generally high, and having a repository of good threads on things like bike tires and maintenance is more valuable than disorganized posts on Facebook and Twitter hashtags that are quickly lost and forgotten.

[Steve O]

@secstate 202937 wrote:

Too bad, as the quality of posts is generally high, and having a repository of good threads on things like bike tires and maintenance is more valuable than disorganized posts on Facebook and Twitter hashtags that are quickly lost and forgotten.

I agree with this, except for the fact that finding older stuff on this platform can be really hard…or impossible.

[Char Miller]

I propose a pointless price for visiting and photoing (and pointing) to the four points (corners) of the DC boundary.

Even more pointless prize for pointing out all points in one pointless ride.

[sjclaeys]

After careful consideration, the Beerneuring Meister has decided that it would not be prudent to hold Beerneuring this year. Although some breweries will likely continue to have outside seating, having a contest that incentivizes gathering in public would not be responsible. Having said this, please do what you can to support your local small breweries through the winter. Almost all of them offer beer to go and some even deliver. Which would you rather get delivered, something you don’t need from a gigantic company or beer from a local brewery? Also, as noted, some may continue to have outdoor seating, so if you conclude that it is safe to do so, that is an option too. Life is too short to drink bad beer.
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[jrenaut]

@sjclaeys while the beerneuring challenge is one of my favorite parts of the game, I fully support your decision. The lack of breweries is really going to make BAFS tough for me – in prior years, I could get the kids to go for long-ish bike rides if we bribed them with candy and screen time at breweries, where we could also warm up before venturing back. This year it’s going to be tough to motivate them with no destination/reward.

Have you thought about changing the rules instead of cancelling? Instead of tasting on-site, you get the point for doing curbside pickup at a brewery?

[drevil]

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
3. It has to be posted on the day for which it was requested
4. It has to be posted here on the forum in this thread: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?18102-Freezing-Saddles-2021-Daily-Photo-Scavenger-Hunt&p=203165#post203165
5. There should be text either in the title or in the post with the date and the found object/theme. Description or location are optional (but nice)
6. 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
7. Only one pic/day
8. It has to be a picture, not a video
9. Filters are OK, but no obvious/blatant photoshopping… not that I know anything about such things

Photoshop? by bikecentric, on Flickr

Scoring:

1. If you follow all the rules above, it’s 1 point/picture.
2. At the end of FS, every like in each of your pic posts = 1 point

Notes:

1. Prizes TBD
2. Some of these will be hard. Fret not, some will be easy, so skip those days that are too difficult
3. 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
4. I might post pics, but mine don’t count in the contest

[accordioneur]

@drevil 203164 wrote:

Photoshop? by bikecentric, on Flickr

It’s clearly Photoshop because the fox wouldn’t have been using such a long lens at that distance

[accordioneur]

@Char Miller 203086 wrote:

I propose a pointless price for visiting and photoing (and pointing) to the four points (corners) of the DC boundary.

Even more pointless prize for pointing out all points in one pointless ride.

Thanks for sponsoring a prize! I love the idea of a Pointless Prize about Points!

I recommend you specify how you want people to report their rides – for example, using a particular hashtag in their Strava entries, or by creating a thread on the forum where people can report their rides.

[rcannon100]

Calvinball has begun. See facebook page

[cvcalhoun]

@rcannon100 203199 wrote:

Calvinball has begun. See facebook page

You might want to link to the Facebook page. I’m not seeing it on the Freezing Saddles Facebook page I’m a member of.

[rcannon100]

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Freezing Saddles 2021: CoVid Edition: DMV

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2497564127026657

With thanks to the volunteer admin 😮

[historygeek]

New Deal Landmark Pointless Prize

There’s so much history around us, and I, for one, am going to need biking destinations (since they can’t all be coffee shops and breweries this year). For those days when it’s too cold to stop outside for long enough to eat or drink– here’s a pointless prize for visiting New Deal projects.
What it is: During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans. Federal programs, including the CCC, WPA, and others, came to be collectively known as the New Deal. Projects ranged from new trails in parks to municipal buildings to recording folk music and oral histories. I’m defining this broadly– so if it’s federally funded and from the 1930s, we’ll count it.
The rules:
Take a bike-related pic at your favorite New Deal site. Post it in the “New Deal Pointless Prize” channel. Prizes awarded for:
Visiting the most New Deal sites by bike (and posting each to the channel).
Best New Deal Pic.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Prize for best historical description.

Need help getting started? Go to https://livingnewdeal.org/map/ to find a map of New Deal sites. But don’t limit yourself to these. Want to travel to a location where a famous artist lived while working for the WPA? Go for it. The site of a great music performance funded by a federal arts program? That counts.

[Steve O]

@rcannon100 203212 wrote:

Freezing Saddles 2021: CoVid Edition: DMV

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2497564127026657

With thanks to the volunteer admin 😮

Being someone who never really uses FB, will the use of a hashtag make it easier or harder to find the posts related to Calvinball? I don’t see them “floating to the top.” In my feed, posts seem to be chronological from most recent and all mixed together. So people who post pictures or recommend coffee shops or organize rides will have their posts displayed along with all the others. I don’t know if or how one could create a “side thread” or something that pulls the Calvinball posts out separately from all the other FS posts. Sorry for my ignorance.

[Judd]

@historygeek 203246 wrote:

New Deal Landmark Pointless Prize

There’s so much history around us, and I, for one, am going to need biking destinations (since they can’t all be coffee shops and breweries this year). For those days when it’s too cold to stop outside for long enough to eat or drink– here’s a pointless prize for visiting New Deal projects.
What it is: During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans. Federal programs, including the CCC, WPA, and others, came to be collectively known as the New Deal. Projects ranged from new trails in parks to municipal buildings to recording folk music and oral histories. I’m defining this broadly– so if it’s federally funded and from the 1930s, we’ll count it.
The rules:
Take a bike-related pic at your favorite New Deal site. Post it in the “New Deal Pointless Prize” channel. Prizes awarded for:
Visiting the most New Deal sites by bike (and posting each to the channel).
Best New Deal Pic.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Prize for best historical description.

Need help getting started? Go to https://livingnewdeal.org/map/ to find a map of New Deal sites. But don’t limit yourself to these. Want to travel to a location where a famous artist lived while working for the WPA? Go for it. The site of a great music performance funded by a federal arts program? That counts.

I love this prize. There are several sidewalks in my hometown with a WPA stamp on them.

Folks looking to score some points on a long ride should ride down to the rest area at the Mount Vernon Estates and read the signs there.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SarahBee]

@historygeek 203246 wrote:

New Deal Landmark Pointless Prize

There’s so much history around us, and I, for one, am going to need biking destinations (since they can’t all be coffee shops and breweries this year). For those days when it’s too cold to stop outside for long enough to eat or drink– here’s a pointless prize for visiting New Deal projects.
What it is: During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for Americans. Federal programs, including the CCC, WPA, and others, came to be collectively known as the New Deal. Projects ranged from new trails in parks to municipal buildings to recording folk music and oral histories. I’m defining this broadly– so if it’s federally funded and from the 1930s, we’ll count it.
The rules:
Take a bike-related pic at your favorite New Deal site. Post it in the “New Deal Pointless Prize” channel. Prizes awarded for:
Visiting the most New Deal sites by bike (and posting each to the channel).
Best New Deal Pic.
The Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Prize for best historical description.

Need help getting started? Go to https://livingnewdeal.org/map/ to find a map of New Deal sites. But don’t limit yourself to these. Want to travel to a location where a famous artist lived while working for the WPA? Go for it. The site of a great music performance funded by a federal arts program? That counts.

Fun fact- WPA also constructed the Pittsburgh Zoo. If you happen to head that way during FS, check out the carvings on some of the enclosures.

[Author]

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