FAQ / HOW TO / TIPS AND TRICKS

BASICALLY:

This is a diversion for everyone of us who rides bikes to keep our asses in the saddle, share some secret spots and discover new perspectives of our beautiful city.  Here's how it works: pick a spot to hide your cache. (A cache is simply something hidden).  Add a bottle opener to the outside and a note asking non-players to leave the find alone.  Take a picture or two from the exact location of your cache showing the surrounding area. It may be as obscure as you can dream, or in the spirit of Velo, a more well-known spot to keep the race for the prize quick.  Take another picture of the spot where the cache is hidden.  Your cache should be planted (buried, insinuated, camouflaged, etc) in the same spot the picture was taken, or very close, so when a Velocache participant finds your cache, they will be sharing your unique perspective, secret spot, state of mind?, etc. Anyone who spies the post may participate, and the game begins at the time of posting. Any  sort of treasure will do, though it sure is nice to find a great new spot and decent loot as well.  The photos need to be taken from a spot reachable by bicycle.  Once you have found a cache, add a comment under the appropriate post letting us know the cache has been located.  Once your pictures have been posted (by contacting us at Velocache) the post will be updatded and credit given.  You are now obligated to hide your own cache, adding a note and the bottle opener, or maybe one from your collection.  You do not have to find a cache first to drop one.

Go ahead and use this post  for any concerns or suggestions you might have. We will take all of them into consideration and categorically ignore everything you have to say. Just kidding. We here at VELOCACHE can't thank you enough for turning this funny little idea into a full-blown deal.

Just a few things to think about:

-The feeds for posts and comments are becoming increasingly important, this tool seems to be the best way to keep up on things quickly. 

-Yes, web-enabled devices (iphone, blackberry, etc.) are REALLY useful when playing the game. If you ARE using one, post your finds as fast as you can. If you are NOT using one, get to a place that you can post your find ASAP. 

-BE VERY CAREFUL about hiding caches in conspicuous areas. WE CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH!. Either hide it so well that it can't be seen or stay away from "high alert" areas all together. 

-If you want to post to VELOCACHE yourself we can probably make that happen. Many have already been given this power and they are ROCKING IT. We would just ask that you have some knowledge of the blogger setup or at least willing to learn it before you start posting. 

-There is a fine line between posting too much visual information and not enough. Take LOTS of photos and use the bare minimum at first. If it becomes apparent that it is too hard for people to find, add another shot after a few days. 

-DO NOT ZOOM YOUR CAMERA LENS. PERIOD. You may crop your image to cut a perspective enough to make people scratch thier heads but zooming messes up the perspective entirely. 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, 

Those of you out there that have found caches and not sent in the pictures. You need to do that immediately. Those of you finding caches and not posting comments immediately, you need to stop doing that. 

If you are not ready to send pictures as soon as you find a cache, don't go look for a cache. 

If you are out and about looking for caches and can't find a way to alert us that you have found one, don't go look for caches. 

OK, Just a few things:

-We are seeing some slack in the photos that are coming in on the finds. We really do want to have images that are as much like the the original deployment photos. Found photos should look just like the originals. Yeah we want your bike in the photo. Yeah mug shots are ALWAYS cool. We really need to keep in mind sharing the same perpective in these photos at all times, please? 

-As far as deployments are concerned, keep the perspective in mind. When you are taking pics from your cache stash, take them as if you were standing on top of that little bundle of goodness. The perspective is to be from of the cache itself, not a picture of your ride leaning up against the cache.  

Keeping that in mind here are a few tips:

-always carry a flashlight

-your phone camera is good, your digital camera is probably better, take shots with both. 

-zombies can only be killed by destroying their heads.  

-the bottle opener is not crucial, but it is fun. 

-"if you are not playing VELOCACHE - yer dumb"

-"velocache buddy...BOOYAH"