Side bet/activity - looks like fun

[Steve O]

A while back I coffeeneured with Erin from BikeArlington, and she told me about a game of "tag" that runs on The ChainLink, Chicago's version of this forum.

It looks like fun--much like our Founding Fathers game last year. It's been continuously running on their forum since 2012. One person is "it," they have the "tag." You can read their rules there, but here's the short version:

- Take a photo with your bike in a context, e.g. "bike with snowman," bike by bar with animal name," bike with American flag," "bike at coffee club," etc.
- The next person to take a photo in the same context gets the tag (adjudicated by the current holder).
- That person then gets to take a new photo of "bike by ...." and the game continues. No saved photos are allowed: you have to go take a fresh picture.

Just like real tag, there is no winner. The game just goes on and on, providing opportunities to ride to someplace interesting and just for fun.

If a bunch of you "like" this post, then we can start the game. I'll take the first photo once we have 10 pages of comments arguing about the rules.

[dasgeh]

Because pointless prizes are fun, why don't you offer a pointless prize for whomever is "it" at the end of BAFS

[Steve O]

Because pointless prizes are fun, why don't you offer a pointless prize for whomever is "it" at the end of BAFS

That wouldn't work, because whoever gets the tag towards the end can just sit on it and not post a new picture. Or they could post one that is so obscure that no one else will get it. And you can't do the opposite (booby prize for whoever has it at the end), because then people will just choose to not play rather than risk getting the booby prize.

Also, I was thinking this game would be open to everyone on the forum, not just FS participants. So a newbie can join right in, or a long-time lurker might find this game a fun way to get involved.

So it's even more pointless than pointless--there isn't even a way to give a prize, not even a pointless prize. Just like tag.

[Brünø Moore]

Ah, but here's the trick: the prize doesn't go to the person left holding the bag at the end. It goes to the person 11 from the end. Or the one who was in the middle. Or something like that. Camping out on being "it" won't work, overthinking things won't either, but playing the game will.

[peterw_diy]

Or the person most often it (number of possessions). Or most its per mile.

[Terpfan]

Here I was thinking this was going to be like literal flyby strava type tag, you're it. I'm thinking, this could be really interesting.

Still sounds fun and I would be in. I will find a photo of something obscure that will take others a while to replicate if I'm able to become it.

[americancyclo]

Here I was thinking this was going to be like literal flyby strava type tag, you're it. I'm thinking, this could be really interesting.

Your idea of 'tag' might be cool too, as a variant of the 'one eighth sighting' thread. You could tag someone you see on your ride, then they have to tag the next forum member they see on their ride.

[dasgeh]

Prize or no prize, having people "camp" as "it" is no fun. You could easily have the rule that if some becomes "it", they have to post a new pic within [24] hours, or the original "it" is up for grabs again.

[Harry Meatmotor]

I'll take the first photo once we have 10 pages of comments arguing about the rules.

As long as you move the arguing over to the Team-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named thread, I'm okay with this.

[Steve O]

Prize or no prize, having people "camp" as "it" is no fun. You could easily have the rule that if someone becomes "it", they have to post a new pic within [24] hours, or the original "it" is up for grabs again.

The game in Chicago has a long list of rules, which we can draw from and modify for our own game. Something like a time limit is a good idea.

There were a lot of likes on the original post, so it seems this is a popular concept; thanks. As mentioned, although this is in the FS thread, the game will be open to all Forum members.

I'd rather it not distract from flags and other FS side bets, so I think I will start this game on March 20. After all, we all will need something to do when Freezing Saddles ends.