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@rcannon100 170203 wrote:

Your missing CalvinBall. Any chance you can link to the individual games?

Today’s rule is that CalvinBall is not included.

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Here is the first cut at the list of 2018 Pointless Prizes declared so far, along with brief descriptions thereof. Quite a few of these require further definition by their sponsor; I encourage the sponsors to provide the details soon. I have also provided a list of some Pointless Prizes from last year which haven’t yet been sponsored for this year. If you’re itching to offer a Pointless Prize but haven’t come up with any ideas, please feel free to re-use one of last year’s ideas.

Updated 12/31/17

2018 Pointless Prizes
Loopy for Arlington (bentbike33) – Arlington Loop Rides
Rookie of the Year (Judd) – Best rookie rider
Spirit Award (Judd) – Best spirit
Frozemon Hunter (LeprosyStudyGroup) – Collect elusive Frozémon
Beerneuring (sjclaeys) – Drink beer & ride bikes
Dirty Ride (drevil) – Mountain biking #dirtyride
Most team pix together (CBGAnimal) – Team pictures
Sock Game (sunyata) – Best socks #sockgame
Social Butterfly (sunyata) – Participation in group event
Infiltrator (sunyata) – Infiltrate other teams’ events
In The Beginning Was the Deed! (lordofthemark) – Use of infrastructure expansions
Golden Ingot (Vicegrip) – Longest January 1 ride
Points per Mile (chuxtr) – MAX(points/mile)
Coffee Rides (chuxtr) – Distinct coffee rides #FS2018coffeeride
Doughneuring (kwarkentien) – Donuts, donuts & more donuts #fs2018donut
Bike Decorating – You light Up My Bike (Wheels&Wings) – Winter Decorations
Bike Decorating – Swipe-Right (Wheels&Wings) – Valentines Decorations
Taste-testing (Wheels&Wings) – TBD
Fine, divine and asinine signs (Wheels&Wings) – Interesting signs on the road
Guardian Angels/Bike Samaritans (Wheels&Wings) – Helping others #fs2018bs
London Bridge (Wheels&Wings) – Spectacular falls
Climbing (Bob James) – Most climbing
Write a Caption (SteveO) – Best photo caption
Paul Revere Rider (edelwiess) – Sleaze rides around midnight
Michigander “You Call THAT a Snow Day?” (Kitty) – Rides on snow days
Taste the Rainbow (Kitty) – Bikeshare bikes
Kidical Mileage (LhasaCM) – Rides with children #kidical
Rock Steady (CAPTJohnC) – Regular riding
Strava Art (Allan C) – Art
Wiggle Lord (LeprosyStudyGroup) – Wiggly ride

Some Former Year Prizes Not Yet Sponsored for 2018
Winning Team Points
Winning Team Days
Every Day Riders
Top Points Male
Top Points Female
Ride Titles
Tortoise

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I plan on donating all the money I get from selling the Freezing Saddles email list, as soon as the funds are transferred from Nigeria.

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You goal-oriented people impress me. I’m not much on setting goals, for as my grandmother used to say, “דער מענטש טראַכט און גאָט לאַכט”, which translates as, “Man makes plans, and God laughs.” Certainly, the fates would have laughed had I set any goals at the beginning of 2017.

That having been said, I’m hoping in 2018 to continue building/re-building my speed and endurance.

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@Steve O 169732 wrote:

Since I am opting out of FS2018, someone else will need to take on the task of organizing the Pointless Prizes.

SteveO and I effected a peaceful transfer of power this morning at HDCC. I am the new Pointless Potentate.

cvcalhoun, please PM me so we can work out the details.

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@Steve O 169809 wrote:

I will be at HDCC on Dec 20 if you can make it. Otherwise it shouldn’t be hard to meet up in or near the ‘hood.

OK. I’ll probably see you at HDCC tomorrow.

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Due to too much overlap with chuxtr’s coffee prize, the “Drink the Swamp” Pointless Prize is hereby cancelled.

SteveO, I might be willing to take over as Pointless Prize Potentate. Would like to speak with you about what’s involved, as well as how best to conceal solicitation and acceptance of bribes.

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@Kitty 169183 wrote:

The Michigander “You call THAT a snow day?!” Prize, will be back for its much-anticipated 3rd season.

Rolls eyes at more Michiganda. Since mid-Westerners are always telling us how tough they are, maybe we need to level the playing field by making anyone from the mid-West do all their rides in shorts and short sleeve jerseys.

Unless you’re from the mid-West and being social, in which you are allowed to use arm warmers.

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@Steve O 169212 wrote:

If we change nothing, how do we discern this?

SteveO, I think you can stop arguing your point now, as the IT scorekeeping potentates declared several pages ago that they’re going to keep scoring as-is for this year. The good news is that you won the argument! They’re going to collect data needed to discern the impact of potential scoring changes, opening the door to all manner of scoring improvements (addressing your question quoted above). The bad news is that it looks like you’ll have to put up with a season of “boooorrrringgg” status quo before you get to see your cool ideas come to fruition.

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@Sunyata 169181 wrote:

Just a reminder that the biggest cyclocross party of the season is happening THIS SUNDAY!

I know the weather is looking a little chilly, but we will have fire pits, indoor (heated) registration, indoor (heated) bathrooms, free beer, and tons of fun!

Sign up and race or just come out and spectate. Either way, you will have a blast!

Pre-registration closes on Thursday, so hurry up and get signed up!

I have music practice in Nokesville at 2 PM. Since the event is almost along the way I hope to stop by for a bit and spectate.

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@hozn 169178 wrote:

Yeah, I think let’s get the social stuff worked out on the backend and have new proposed scoring system(s) for next year implemented as an alternative leaderboard this year. We need to decide on officially 2019 BAFS scoring before registration opens. Probably at the end of March is when we should do that.

Excellent idea! Collecting the appropriate data will allow the community to assess the impacts of possible scoring changes. That way an informed decision can be made, rather than going with a last-minute, shoot-from-the-hip, bait-and-switch approach to evolving the game.

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@ginacico 169139 wrote:

Just the messenger:

2. No social scoring. It’s inequitable, and a lot of people think it’s downright weird and creepy to the point of being a deal killer. That discussion needs to stop or people will bail.
3. Demote the individual leaderboard.
4. The team scoring system has to be simple, data based, and transparent. Nobody wants to do advanced math to understand their ranking. (If it’s built into the software, just have a place where it’s explained.)
5. Everything else is pointless prizes. Maybe not so many of them that the competition is drowned out by noise.
6. The endless agonizing pregame forum “discussion” drives people away every year. It is a primary cause for people who play but don’t have an online presence, and don’t care to meet in person. Even more regular members hope this annual “tradition” dies down and results in minimal changes. It’s NOT a community builder. Disable Steve O’s account for Nov-Dec if necessary. (Sorry. Not.)
7. Go ride your bike with people you like. Have a drink. Win. (thanks, americancyclo)

I’m with gina and AFhokie on this one. I think we’re going too far in trying to legislate a particular way to play the game.

SteveO mentioned earlier that he regards New Coke as a positive example because the company experimented and learned from it. Well, what they learned was that people had a tremendous affinity for the existing product – far more than the company had realized – and to leave well enough alone. Or, to put it another way,

There’s a reason why DC is 2800 miles away from Silicon Valley:
DC bureaucrat – “I will put in place many convoluted rules to in an attempt legislate how people behave, distorting their natural preferences and the market”
Silicon Valley entrepreneur- “Hey, I’ve got a product that people like. Let’s run with it!”

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I can’t humble brag about my resting heart rate – except that once, for about an hour, I got it all the way down to zero.

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@ginacico 168941 wrote:

Whoa, that’s not “bread” 😮 I hope to be there, then back to Alexandria for the Scottish Walk at 11am.

I read the event announcement and said, “darn, that’s the same day as the Scottish Christmas Walk”, which I’ve already committed to attending. You are inspiring me to try to figure out a way to do both – though I have the added complication of a non-cyclist to coordinate with.

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@Edelweiss 168908 wrote:

Last year I was in the UP on a ski trip when FS17 began; I rode my Mom’s bike at Midnight on New Year’s Eve/Day, then had pre-arranged with a bike shop in the UP to test ride a fat tire bike every day after skiing. I gave the owner a 6-pack of Fat Tire beer at the end of the week. It also earned me the coveted title of winner in the COLDEST-COLDEST ride, as it was about 7 below zero for a few of my rides. You can ride in your ski pants, just not your ski boots.

-200 points right there.

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