[josh]

@drevil 204580 wrote:

1/9/21 – Balloon. Happy hunting!

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I wanted to find a commemorative marker for Blanchard’s flight, which took off from Washington Square/Washington Prison Yard, but I couldn’t find anything like that. You all are stuck with a boring store awning — “Flower & Balloon Boutique”.

[josh]

@obscurerichard 204523 wrote:

What’s the Strava club for this team? As soon as I get that information, Team 23 will be back on the leaderboard.

Pulled it off CBGanimal’s strava: https://www.strava.com/clubs/820877

[josh]

@cvcalhoun 204520 wrote:

Pretty much any photo editing program has a function called “rotate” that allows you to move the photo so that it’s upright.

It’s a little more than that, it looks like vbulletin does (or at least did) funky stuff with their image uploads. Well, they claim it’s a feature not a bug 😎

For me, when I had a photo I’d taken in portrait (on my Android phone) orientation, I’m pretty sure I had to rotate it three or four times (I know, it doesn’t make sense) 90 degrees and re-upload until the orientation (as displayed on the forums) was correct. It certainly wasn’t intuitive.

[josh]

@Kbikeva 204511 wrote:

Queston to the #wormhole world. I don’t usually use Strava so this is all new to me. When I use a # for a wormhole, should the hashtag be only #FSWORMHOLE ? Or should we attach the name we’ve given it to that hashtag (example: #FSWORMHOLEBACK9)? In other words, how is it easiest for you, LuisFilipe, to find them? I am (sort of) playing several of the pointless prize games (really what occurs to me each day to do), so do I hashtag all of them in my Strava ride name? If I put all of that in the Strava ride name, do I also need to put something in the description? And if I take my photos while on my ride and include them in the Strava upload, does that give the host the info he/she needs (in addition to the hashtag)?

I’m under no illusion I’ll amass the most points and I’m not playing for that. At the same time, I’m grateful that you and others are offering up these games as it keeps things interesting and motivating, so I want to make sure I’m not making it more difficult for the people who are kind enough to host a pprize!

For most of the hashtag-based pointless prizes, they’re based on the same basic logic and a simple leaderboard (on the Freezing Saddles website) can be generated. In that sense, the competition is based on whatever single hashtag the sponsor decides the competitors should use, e.g. “#joshspointlessprize”. As someone stated in the HH last night, the hashtag must be in the ride title, not the description or photo captions. The Freezing Saddles site can then display a leaderboard like this:
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From here, the sponsor can easily see who’s winning (assuming that winning is based on number of rides with the hashtag, which is the way most of these hashtag-based prizes have operated). Whatever hashtag LuisFilipe has decreed you all should use, is the one you should use — without modification. It looks like (at least some of) your activities are going to the leaderboard. Note that the organizer might also mandate additional things competitors have to do, e.g. post something in a forum thread, or document it with photos. If they want to audit that sort of aspect, it’s on themselves to do. These leaderboards take a lot of work out of the scoring for a sponsor.

However, at its core, the (case-insensitive) hashtag just needs to be in the ride title, and posting things in a Facebook group or here is an additional requirement imposed by the sponsor. I’d also add that all this isn’t directly caused by Strava or anything, it’s how the Freezing Saddles app creates the leaderboards.

[josh]

@drevil 204396 wrote:

1/8/21 – Bell (but not on a bike)

Your wish is my command!
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[josh]

@bikesnick 204314 wrote:

Another moon of Uranus, Titania, is a block away.

Didn’t you hear drevil?

drevil wrote:

PS – no derrieres. This is a family friendly hunt!

[josh]

@QuikAF77 204305 wrote:

I enjoy racing gravel, cyclocross, and XC Mtn.

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This looks like road to me.

[josh]

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Sunrise over industrial stuff (higher res here)

[josh]

@drevil 204261 wrote:

1/7/21 – Moon

On January 7, 1610, Galileo discovered 3 of the moons of Jupiter. Creative entries encouraged, but if your photo of your “moon” is not apparent, please explain. Happy hunting!

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Earth’s Moon (with birds) from the George C. Platt Memorial Bridge (higher res photo for better moon observation)

[josh]

Unfortunately this wormhole isn’t applicable to most of you (it’s in Philadelphia), but I thought it was pretty cool. I also didn’t document it photographically, so I’ve done my best with Google Streetview.
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Map representation

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Looking at the path from the sidewalk on Ridge Ave

Context: you’re heading south on Ridge Ave, which is convenient but you’re getting buzzed by a lot of cars and you want to get down to the Schuylkill River Trail (MUP alongside the river). You hop up on the curb, then notice a narrow path between a cemetery and a wall. Take it until ends, climb down a ~2 foot drop, then hug the narrow strip of grass alongside West Hunting Park Ave until it gets too narrow as it goes under a cemetery road bridge. Hop into the road, take the lane and then cross Kelly Drive at the light to access the SRT.

[josh]

@drevil 204117 wrote:

1/6/21 – Small Business that features beans.

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I tried to figure out the connection between beans and a beauty salon, but my search came up blank. Fun fact — four ancient Roman families have bean names (Cicero, Lentulus, Fabius, and Piso).

[josh]

@AnthonyClayman 204013 wrote:

The guy who is no 1 right now lives and bikes in Belgium…

Don’t worry, his miles don’t actually count. Here’s a post that indicates they’re invalid:

rcannon100 wrote:

ALL MILES FROM BRUSSELS PROHIBITED.

[josh]

@drevil 203953 wrote:

1/5/21 – on National Bird Day, take a pic of a bird. Let your imagination fly. Happy hunting!

It’s a little too cold for an actual flamingo, so I present to you:
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[josh]

@drevil 203817 wrote:

1/4/21 – In honor of National Spaghetti Day, take a pic of an Italian restaurant, preferably one you like and/or serves spaghetti. Caveat is that it can’t have “zz” or “Garden” in the name or the sign. Happy hunting!

I forgot to include the bike, but that rule has since been rescinded, so I’m safe.
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Villa di Roma: I believe the sign in the window qualifies, although in retrospect the partially cropped-out rooftop sign may have been a better choice. Also, I haven’t actually been to any Italian restaurants up here (yet), but I figure that something in the Italian Market is most likely decent (at least).

[josh]

@Boomer2U 203722 wrote:

Question: is the Furnance Mtn route doable on a road bike w/ 28mm tires? Or better done on a gravel bike with 32+ mm tires?

I don’t remember the gravel being super chunky the couple of times I’ve been out there, but I’m sure you’ll have a better time with 32+ tires. On the other end, Taylorstown Road is paved, and also Loyalty Road, but of course you can easily link it up to other Loudoun County gravel (e.g. Downey Mill Road just over Catoctin Creek), or the C&O towpath. Every time I’ve been out there I’ve been on a gravel/CX bike with chunky tires (probably 35mm or 38mm).

[Author]

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