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Sorry for the late posting. We lost our internet for a couple of days and then work was busy.

On MLK Jr Day I joined the Proteus Velo Club (College Park, MD) in shoveling some of the local and not-as-local trails after that last storm. We started at Proteus. First we went south on the Trolley Trail, which is a backbone for bicycle commuters and users of all types in our community. We cleared the snow and slush that the plows had left in 7 intersections along this trail. Then we headed further south to Bladensburg and the ART. I personally cleared the straight wooden bridge that you see in the photos here, and the three of us then cleared the very long, twisting, wooden boardwalk so that there was at least one good-sized lane along the entire length.

Afterwards, I ate some dumplings and remembered the awesome Chinese New Year ride that Komorebi organized a couple of years ago.

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Last photo was by Greenbelt.

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Of course I’m not competing, but here’s a photo dump.

Dumplings
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Pie
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Bubble Tea
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Mead (aka the Glamour Shot)
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I’m interested as long as it’s no longer precipitating. Rode the TT and the ART today – both still need some help!

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From the Proteus Velo Club/Greenbelt:

Hi, Jeff L here. Instead of Monday lunch laps in the Greenbelt Park, I’m going to do a ride from about 11am-2pm on Monday MLK day to scout, and, if needed, clear snow and ice from some of the trouble spots on the Anacostia River Trail System in Prince George’s County. I’m assuming we will get 2-4 inches of new snow and slop on top of the existing snow- and ice-covered bridges that will need to be cleared, and I want to clear that before the next deep freeze turns it into glacier. My main objectives are the known trouble spots: wood bridges, the sidewalk by Charles Armentrout Road, boardwalks, etc. Not trying to plow the entire trail system — the sun and the still-high trail surface temps will take care of the main sections of trail, and the cities do plow many parts of the trolley trail.

MEETUP: 11am, Proteus Bicycles parking lot (the bike shop is closed on Mondays). Probably rolling around 11:15 to 11:30 depending on coffee (see below under RSVP)
ROUTE: South on the College Park/Hyattsville trolley trail to the NW Branch trail, then south on the ART to the boardwalk past the Bladenburg Marina, then turnaround north on ART and NE Branch trails back to College Park.
DISTANCE: Total of about 20 miles RT, with frequent (I’m assuming) stops to clear snow on bridges and other trouble spots.
BRING?: A shovel! Not necessary if you just want to ride, and I will try to bring two. But there will lots of shovel stops if it snows several inches. If it turns out that we don’t get additional snow, we can just stop at the few remaining trouble spots that currently exist, particularly the boardwalk at Bladensburg, the wood bridges on the NE Branch, and (possibly) the new boardwalk section on the Indian Creek trail in Greenbelt. If it turns out that the snow changes to all rain and washes away even the existing trouble spots, then we can leave the shovels at Proteus and just have a nice ride!
RIDE: If it’s snowy on the trails, a mountain bike or street bike with wider tires and some tread will be better than a road bike with slicks.
RSVP: Not necessary, but if you can let me know you’re coming here on this thread or at Strava (jeff lemieux) If enough people come out, Annie may open the Proteus Brews coffee shop for us at 11 for pre-ride hot beverages.
WEATHER: I’m hoping it will be above freezing by 11am on Monday, but it will be pretty cold and could get breezy later in the day. Bring an extra layer just in case!
TEAMS: All teams welcome!
NOTE: If you’ve never taken a shovel on a bike, it’s fun and exciting! Some can fit scoop side first in a large pannier, or can be strapped to a backpack. I don’t recommend the one-handed carry while riding, particularly if the trails are snowy or slushy. A good idea to test your system in a safe place beforehand.
-Jeff

NOTE FOR JUDD: Will participating in this event count towards receiving any bonus points?

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1/14/2022 Squirrel
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@lordofthemark 213302 wrote:

If Team 13 is located in VIRGINIA and WANTS a different name, I have a suggestion that I have made before but IIRC has never been adopted by any Team 13 in the history of Freezing Saddles.

We are not all Virginians. Muahaha!

No one expects the Maryland Inquisition.

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Speaking over over-thinking things. If you’re the kind of person who likes to do that, I just want to point out that the calendar we created not only has calendar tabs showing the top picks each day, but a tab with the thoughts of the judges as to why they chose that photo. :rolleyes:

And let me say fret not if you don’t see your name here (yet)! Remember there are two contests built into this one pointless endeavor. Those daily participation entries, and this – as Rumi puts it – “beauty” contest.

http://www.tinyurl.com/2022scavhunt

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@Steve O 213171 wrote:

I’m not clear on how this is possible. Is not a picture of leaves taken on January 11 a picture of winter leaves?

I would say don’t over-think it.

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Good Morning!

Rumi and I LOVE all of the participation and the creativity going into y’all’s photographs so far. We’ve noted some of the comments about “cicada husk” and other things that may be difficult for some to find in the next week. I promise you – there’s going to be something challenging for everyone in the list that we’ve got prepared for the entire scavenger hunt. Those who can find a cicada husk may have difficulty finding… well, you’ll just have to see. *evil grin*

Ricky and Jo started this awesome contest last year. Since Rumi and I rode with them frequently, we had first row seats to the huge amount of work it took in the background to run the contest. So we hope that you all still appreciate the motivation of a daily goal even without us having to post the new clue just after midnight every day – with some kind of personalized illustration for each. Or meticulously tallying everybody’s points – on a daily basis – without the use of a hashtag.

And Ricky and Jo are super nice… but Rumi and Millie are arbitrary and capricious. 😎

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Hahaha!

Well, I just switched from an iPhone 6S to a Google Pixel 6 Pro and I’m not going back.

And all rides recorded on a phone, baby!

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I’m registered.

A note – I had to go back and authorize Strava a second time. The first time I tried, a page popped up where it both said that I successfully registered AND gave me an Uh oh, something went wrong message. When I went to go check https://freezingsaddles.org/people/ I did not show up there yet so I repeated the Strava authorization and it worked that time.

I went back to the error page. What probably happened is I had to register for the Strava club first. I did it in opposite order, as proscribed above. Because the error page said this:

“Uh-oh, something went wrong. So you are a Strava athlete, we get that. Unfortunately, one of these two things is true:
1. you did not give Strava permission for us to “View your complete Strava profile”. Without that, we can’t see what clubs you belong to.
2. you are not registered with any of the configured Freezing Saddles team clubs; if that is the case, You need to join a competition team Strava club. Or maybe the app just needs to be updated to know about the Strava teams. Don’t worry, your rides will count but they won’t be on any leaderboards until you have joined one of the competition teams.“

So it implies that the process should be first 7, then 6.

Thank you to Carol and all of the volunteers helping to set this up!

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@CBGanimal 210199 wrote:

TARDIS?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Time A Relative Dimension In Space – From Dr. Who, of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

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@drevil 210103 wrote:

3/19/21 – “Freezing Saddles” 5-letter word (or longer) subanagram

On your ride tomorrow, the last day of Freezing Saddles , find a 5-letter word (or longer) using only the letters in “Freezing Saddles”, the word or the thing. If the latter, let us know what you found. Snap a pic, and post it here in the thread.

A picture of the thing – SADDLE shoes. Check out this cool artwork by Rumi’s daughter! The gentleman sipping mead and sitting on the wing of the plane is wearing saddle shoes.

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@drevil 210056 wrote:

3/18/21 – Blue US Postal Service Collection Box (or if not in the U.S., the equivalent) with your bike leaning against it

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@drevil 209972 wrote:

3/17/21 – Rainbow, Leprechaun, or 4-Leaf Clover

That mostly inflated thing that the leprechaun bear is holding is a four-leaf clover.

It was much easier to find shamrocks festooning the neighborhood than four-leaf clovers!
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