Bike tag, the international photo tagging game, has landed on Vancouver Island.
The game starts with a photo of a bike in a mystery public location, along with a clue as to its whereabouts. Participants find that location, take a photo of their bike at that location, then go to a new location, take a photo there, and upload both photos to the site, along with a clue about the new location.
It’s a simple, fun way to add some excitement to your exercise. But you have to be quick. Only one person is allowed to lay claim to each photo ‘discovery.’
The game originated on the social media platform Reddit, but now has a website of its own: Biketag.org
The phenomenon started in Austin, Texas, and has since branched out to numerous American cities, as well as Vancouver, Abbotsford, and even a couple of European cities - Vienna (Austria) and Inverness, Scotland.
And now the Comox Valley.
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Local cyclist Rick Gafuik put Comox on the Bike tag map, so to speak, by creating an internet landing space (comox.Biketag.org)
“I originally just found it while I was browsing the internet,” he said. “So I went there and found out Comox wasn’t on it. Basically, all I did was send an email to one of the fellows who started it — a moderator — and said the Comox Valley is a wonderful place for cyclists, how do we get on this? And he added us.”
The local landing page is currently listed as ‘Comox’ but Garfuik is working on getting that changed to ‘Comox Valley.’
“I will be trying to get that changed because I don’t want people to limit themselves. There are so many places in the entire Valley to discover.”
Gafuik said there are many reasons to get involved.
“It gets people out, riding and taking pictures, but as time goes by, there will be spots listed that we would have never thought of visiting,” he said. “I am hoping that this starts off with easily enough recognizable locations, that people will get involved.”
Gafuik said he expects the game to really take off, considering the number of cycling enthusiasts in the Valley.
“I know The Medicine Shoppe has posted it on their Facebook page. Darryl Hunt, who owns the Medicine Shoppe, hosts a group called Life Cycle so they are looking forward to getting involved.
“I really think more people will get involved, because you can do it as an individual, or it can be a grandparent riding with a grandchild, because there are no age limitations. I’m 76.”
While the Comox game has only a few hits, some of the other cities have hundreds of rounds already filed.
“Portland has almost 400 rounds already,” said Gafuik.
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terry.farrell@blackpress.ca
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