Announcing BMW MOA 2021 Grand Coddiwomple!

[PGlaves]

Check the newly posted FAQs, but your example is of three different things: a water falls, a park, and a city, so potentially all of them could count. Having part of their name in common is coincidental. This opens up a lot of possibilities.

Just think Niagara Falls and surrounding named places and things, in two countries. The possibilities are almost endless I would say.

 

[gsinnc]

This may have already been answered but can you do the same challenge more than once? For example the "Saddle Up and Ride" gold. Can that be done twice with different places for each letter?

 

[cjcs]

The rules state
The Saddle up and ride gold challenge 200 points limit 1 submission
I think that your answer would be a No

 

[skibum69]

Yeah, go back and read the destructions.

 

[gregfeeler]

This may have already been answered but can you do the same challenge more than once? For example the "Saddle Up and Ride" gold. Can that be done twice with different places for each letter?

As others have said, you can only do the Gold once.

 

[gsinnc]

As others have said, you can only do the Gold once.

LOL ...yeah got it !! Thanks

 

[cap]

As one of our members is fond of saying, "anything worth doing, is worth OVER-doing."

In that spirit, I will point out that the US Government offers a free download of US place names. https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/board-on-geographic-names/download-gnis-data

I think this is used mostly for mapping. The downloads contain place names, and latitude and longitude references, and categories of "places." For example, "Post Office" is a category of place. The list is "pipe delimited" which means that you can import it into a spreadsheet by designating the pipe symbol (|) as the delimiting character.

I am a recovering geek, and I could not resist writing a Java program to process the files and pull out all the places having "falls" in their names, and all the battle site names, and so forth. And then, I wrote the sorted data to another file in .gpx format as waypoints so that I could import them into BaseCamp and load them into my Nav VI.

One fun fact I discovered was that there are places that have battle site names embedded into them. For example, in Colorado you can go to Jerome Park or CMRS Airdrome Airport or the Promenade Shopping Center, and satisfy the "Rome" battle site rule.

If you are interested in doing this yourself and need some tips on the code, send me a PM.

Cap

 

[gsinnc]

As one of our members is fond of saying, "anything worth doing, is worth OVER-doing."

In that spirit, I will point out that the US Government offers a free download of US place names. https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/board-on-geographic-names/download-gnis-data

I think this is used mostly for mapping. The downloads contain place names, and latitude and longitude references, and categories of "places." For example, "Post Office" is a category of place. The list is "pipe delimited" which means that you can import it into a spreadsheet by designating the pipe symbol (|) as the delimiting character.

I am a recovering geek, and I could not resist writing a Java program to process the files and pull out all the places having "falls" in their names, and all the battle site names, and so forth. And then, I wrote the sorted data to another file in .gpx format as waypoints so that I could import them into BaseCamp and load them into my Nav VI.

One fun fact I discovered was that there are places that have battle site names embedded into them. For example, in Colorado you can go to Jerome Park or CMRS Airdrome Airport or the Promenade Shopping Center, and satisfy the "Rome" battle site rule.

If you are interested in doing this yourself and need some tips on the code, send me a PM.

Cap

Heck we don't want the code we just want the results

 

[skibum69]

Thanks for that, it just gave me the idea to check the town list on my map of Newfoundland. Should be easy to get the gold I think. The hard part I'm finding is trying to pin down where there have been battles in history and if there are any plaques etc to document them?

 

[rick601]

Thanks for that, it just gave me the idea to check the town list on my map of Newfoundland. Should be easy to get the gold I think. The hard part I'm finding is trying to pin down where there have been battles in history and if there are any plaques etc to document them?

I wonder if active crime scenes count...you know- yellow tape and those little evidence markers where the shell casings were.. Government recognized battle site. I keed I keed

 

[skibum69]

Ok, we don't have canyons here. We have fjords and a tectonic fault.

 

[cap]

Heck we don't want the code we just want the results

Just to wet your appetite, here is a gpx file with places in Colorado having "Falls" in the name. I could be persuaded to make similar files for your favorite state.

What would be fair? Maybe you could take a picture using my flag? And then I could complete the "virtual" Saddle Up and Ride challenge from different states? I mean, that's only fair. Those of us out west will spend our whole riding season just trying to get to the nearest 15 states! Unlike you casual riders back east!

Cap

 

[gregfeeler]

Version 1.1 of the FAQs released

All,
Version 1.1 of the FAQs has been released and is available at www.bmwmoa.org/coddiwomple. The changes from Version 1.0 are in red:

2. Does a Place Name have to be city, town, or state sign?

a. Not really. Rule #5, “Place Names”, says a place name is an “official identifier”, and then gives a short list of examples, but what qualifies is not limited to those examples. Many other things also qualify as a place name, and they can come from almost any “official” agency or body. Signage from a national government, state, provincial, county, borough, and city government qualify, but also from historical and preservationist organizations, school boards, fish and wildlife management groups (i.e., Ducks Unlimited), and so on. Lookup Reno, Kansas as an example of an unincorporated “town” that will count. Bottom line is we are likely to accept any professionally produced sign from an organization with the presumptive authority to place it where you found it. It is best not to overthink the definition, because we aren’t. If your submission is in keeping with the obvious intent of this definition, we are not going to disqualify it over a technicality.​

b. A street, highway, or road of any type is not a single thing or place, but a route between places, so road identification signs do not count as a Place Name.​

18. How do I document a Free Fall crash site?

a. Any sign (memorial, etc.) which clearly documents an aviation crash site will be acceptable. In lieu of a sign, you will need a photo of actual wreckage which is complete enough to clearly be identifiable as an aircraft.​

 

[rangerreece]

18. How do I document a Free Fall crash site?

a. Any sign (memorial, etc.) which clearly documents an aviation crash site will be acceptable. In lieu of a sign, you will need a photo of actual wreckage which is complete enough to clearly be identifiable as an aircraft.​

Anyone wanting to go to Jeremy Clark’s crash site at Molinelli Range near Enterprise, AL head south, I’ll provide all the details of the crash, and lead you there. PM me if you head this way or give me a call or text. My number is in the masthead of the ON.

 

[akbeemer]

Just to wet your appetite, here is a gpx file with places in Colorado having "Falls" in the name. I could be persuaded to make similar files for your favorite state.

What would be fair? Maybe you could take a picture using my flag? And then I could complete the "virtual" Saddle Up and Ride challenge from different states? I mean, that's only fair. Those of us out west will spend our whole riding season just trying to get to the nearest 15 states! Unlike you casual riders back east!

Cap

Yes, let's be fair. Montana (147K sq/miles) is more than twice as large as New England's six states combined (72K sq/miles). We should be able to sub-divide Montana into 12 regions that can be counted as separate states for the purposes of the Saddle Up and Ride event (the sub-divide provision should not be available to Texas, because... just because). Or..... we should be able to spell Saddle Up and Ride like an automotive vanity plate... SDLUPNRYD. These are obviously just and fair accommodations.

 

[gregfeeler]

Yes, let's be fair. Montana (147K sq/miles) is more than twice as large as New England's six states combined (72K sq/miles). We should be able to sub-divide Montana into 12 regions that can be counted as separate states for the purposes of the Saddle Up and Ride event (the sub-divide provision should not be available to Texas, because... just because). Or..... we should be able to spell Saddle Up and Ride like an automotive vanity plate... SDLUPNRYD. These are obviously just and fair accommodations.

The committee will give your proposal all consideration it is due.

 

[akbeemer]

The committee will give your proposal all consideration it is due.

I object!

 

[gregfeeler]

I object!

I direct your attention to Rule 9 and 10d:

9. Judges Decisions Are Final

a. All decisions of the judges are final.​

10. Code of Conduct

d. Any pointless complaining will be considered an offer to volunteer for the next Coddiwomple.​

 

[robsryder]

...
18. How do I document a Free Fall crash site?

a. Any sign (memorial, etc.) which clearly documents an aviation crash site will be acceptable. In lieu of a sign, you will need a photo of actual wreckage which is complete enough to clearly be identifiable as an aircraft.​

Would one or more news articles correspond to a "sign". One of the airplane crashes that I'm thinking of is not marked (to my knowledge!) by a sign. However I did personally witness this crash and there are multiple news articles regarding the crash. It was witnessed by an estimated 100k folks, plus many via the television broadcast. The crash happened at an airport. Thus, would a photo at the existing airport along with links to news articles count as a "sign"?

 

[robsryder]

A further question occurs to me that concerns battles. How about a photo of something involved in battle, but the actual location occurred elsewhere? Specifically I am thinking about a battleship, in particular the USS North Carolina BB-55, located in Wilmington, NC. The actual "battles" took place in the Pacific ocean. Another example is at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. In that museum are many aircraft. One notable one has the name "Bockscar"; it delivered the nuclear bomb to Nagasaki, Japan in 1945.

Since the main purpose of the Coddiwomple is to motivate folks to get out and ride, explore, and visit (hopefully) interesting locations I would lobby for the inclusion of such locations. In fact, absent any "contest" both locations are worthwhile to visit.