[camiller]

@accordioneur 203954 wrote:

I was really riding to get a picture for drevil’s photo scavenger hunt, and without thinking I took my usual wormhole that allows me to minimize my riding on Rt. 29 to get into downtown Falls Church. I ride on Lawton Street, which parallels Rt. 29 (Lee Hwy/Washington St.). At the back corner of Madison Park there’s a path that connects into the parking lot of a business on Rt. 29.
On my ride tonight I used the wormhole on the way there, but took the street on the way back. See https://www.strava.com/activities/4568838130

Needless to say, along the way I picked up the park that I ride around to get to the wormhole. Please forgive the night-time photo of the sign that says that the park closes at dark.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]22116[/ATTACH]

I love it when I trip over things when I least expect it or am looking for something else.

[camiller]

@LeftyLaura 204105 wrote:

Point of clarification, must the sign say “Park” Today I went on a France lark to Bordeaux. Do tot lots, recreation areas, or athletic fields count as parks?

The sign must contain the word “park” on the sign. So to clarify, if the recreation field is listed as a park and has “park” in its name on the sign then it can be used for #parkfinder. I did have some exceptions in the rules, like not using a cemetery even if “park” is in its name.

[camiller]

@consularrider 204081 wrote:

I went by soooooo many parks (probably 20 or 30) on today’s ride, but only took two park sign photos. I had intended to use Ft Totten Park, but I got there after sunset and they didn’t want me riding around. The gate post didn’t include the work “Park.” It’s from 1898 when it was military base, not a park.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]22166[/ATTACH] Taken just to be sure I had a park sign for today’s entry.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]22167[/ATTACH] Hempstead Lake State Park, Nassau County, the one I listed on my Strava entry.

I share your problem of seeing a lot of different parks on my rides. Some people like to stop and restart their rides to use each park in a day. Others decide on capturing a single park for the daily ride. Because of the different ways people approach the #parkfinder I have two different awards – most parks and most average miles per park. Personally I don’t like to stop and take a picture every few feet or miles so I just pick one park (or public art, or history sign or wormhole etc. a day). Of course my parks finds don’t count since I am sponsoring the prize. I am just in awe at all the parks around us, some in our own “backyards” that we did not even know were there until we started looking for parks.

[camiller]

@Serdar 204056 wrote:

Hi. I have a question. Is that OK to find and post the parks that were found in the previous years?

You can use any park that you visit this year even if you went to the same park last year.

[camiller]

Wormhole under University Blvd to go from the Chain Bridge Road trail towards Van Dyke Park, avoiding a busy intersection with cars coming from multiple directions.ATTACH=CONFIG]22169[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]22180[/ATTACH]

[camiller]

1/5/2021
National Bird Day

I went out for my bike ride today with an open mind to finding birds. I was surprised to find so many birds – none of them live. (They live ones flew too fast for me to get out my camera to capture them.) My favorite bird today was found in Van Dyke Park in Fairfax City. I had stopped to admire an unexpected metal piece of art with a bird and noticed what looked like the outline of an Owl in the missing bark of a tree. (You said to use your imagination!) [ATTACH=CONFIG]22160[/ATTACH]

[camiller]

1/4/2021 – Italian Restaurant
Dolce Vita on Fairfax Blvd in Fairfax City
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22094[/ATTACH]

[camiller]

This wormhole, I’ll call the Long Branch Stream Valley wormhole, crosses over the Long Branch Valley Stream and connects two neighborhoods on Pickett Road in Fairfax.[ATTACH=CONFIG]22089[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]22181[/ATTACH]

[camiller]

This wormhole, I’ll call Long Branch Stream Valley wormhole crosses over the Long Branch Stream and connects two neighborhoods on Pickett Road in Fairfax.[ATTACH=CONFIG]22088[/ATTACH]

[camiller]

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.

[camiller]

@josh 199574 wrote:

Aren’t those the people who visited the least parks per mile (for both groups), i.e. those the most miles per park? E.g. Matt W has 3.38 miles per park (or ~.296 parks per mile) so he should be winning the >30 park category (I assume, I didn’t run numbers for everyone). Or is the award for the reciprocal of what you stated?

Josh, I wanted to recognize the people that, on average, rode the furthest distance to get to each park. I kept stumbling over the wording when I was doing the calculations and I still managed to write it backwards. I’ve corrected the post (hopefully). Thanks for catching my error.

[camiller]

First, I want to thank everyone who participated. We had 46 people participate in ParkFinder. I have heard from a number of people that they enjoyed ParkFinder because it gave them a destination for some of their rides and people have found some interesting parks that they were not aware of before or they had passed many times and never took notice of the park.

I am going to award 3 prizes.

1. Person that visited the most parks: Matt W. road his bike 947 miles visiting 280 parks
2. Person that averaged the most miles per park. I split this into two groups: visited 6 – 30 parks and visited more than 30 parks
   • 6-30 parks was Kilgore T who rode 355 miles to visit 8 parks (average of 44 miles per park)
   • greater than 30 parks was Alan A who road 2063 miles to visit 49 parks (average of 42 miles per park)

I want to thank everyone for playing. I enjoyed seeing and learning about a lot of parks, both in and out of the United States. I hope to visit some of those parks and hopefully you will as well.

[camiller]

@matteblack 199279 wrote:

I agree 100%!! It has made FS2020 even more fun and exciting — kudos to camiller for coming up with this pointless prize idea!

If this is a pointless prize next year, I highly recommend those not playing along to participate, it’s gotten me out of the same ol’ route routine, allowed me to rediscover places I had long forgotten and made cycling in NoVA enjoyable again.

Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad people have been enjoying the game. It has been interesting to see the variety of different parks people have found. I have especially enjoyed learning about some of our more unique parks in the area.

[camiller]

I’m planning on coming

[camiller]

BAFS has definitely changed my riding behavior. This is my fifth year doing BAFS. Through BAFS I have met so many great people that have become my riding buddies. As a result of these friendships I have ridden a lot more miles and have traveled by bike to a lot of new to me places. During FS I am committed to getting out every day, even on yucky days when I would not normally ride. Getting out every day has taught me that I really can ride in most kinds of weather and it is generally not as bad as I had anticipated. (Ice is an entirely different story.) The new point structure has also pushed me to riding at least ten miles (for almost all of my rides). Also, since I am riding every day I have been exploring new areas so that I don’t get totally bored by riding the same route.

(I also have a keener interest in the weather so I can try to time my rides to avoid the worst of the weather on a particular day. )

[Author]

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