Arlington Group Rides (11/24)

[Steve]

All,

I am trying to start up some Arlington group rides, beginning Saturday, November 24th. The purpose of the rides is to just having a good time, hang out, and be a visible cycling presence in Arlington. As a result, the pace will be moderate, and I will be trying to avoid lots of hills (though avoiding them all together is impossible in Arlington).

I'm trying to start this ride because I noticed that DC seems to be having a lot of group riding that isn't for "training" and competitive type riding (much of this done by Bicycle Space). Most of the group rides in Arlington (at least the ones I know about) are the shop hill rides around here. As fun as those can be, they are certainly set up for a specific type of rider. They are also a little bit more about cycling as sport/exercise and less about transportation or just plain fun. My goal with each ride will be somewhere around an 8-15 mile ride, with a start/end place that allows a bite to eat or coffee or a beer.

I hope you can join. Please see the facebook event I set up for the first ride.

http://www.facebook.com/events/440185212710486/

[rcannon100]

You should check out Potomac Pedalers. You might even organize these through PP.

Editing to add: I think this is most excellent and love the effort!

[chris_s]

Steve, this looks awesome - thanks for organizing.

Alexandria Bike-Ped Advisory Committee just put out a tentative group ride schedule for the next 6 months and it looks fun as well:

(rough draft) BPAC Ride Schedule

Friday November 23, 10 am - 1pm, 18 miles, Escape From Black Friday
While everyone else is shopping, we will ride directly south on the Mt Vernon Trail. This trail is nice in the winter because, with less leaves on the trees, there are some nice river views. This ride will turn around when we hit the halfway point in terms of time, so we won't necessarily cover the entire 18 miles to Mt Vernon and back.
Meet at Firehook Bakery, 430 S Washington St, 22314

Thursday December 20, 7-8 pm, 5 miles, Family Ride: Del Ray Lights
We will ride around the Del Ray neighborhood and admire holiday-light
displays, some quite elaborate, on neighborhood houses.
We did this last year and it was a lot of fun.
Meet at St Elmo's Coffee Pub (outside), 2300 Mt Vernon Ave, 22301

Saturday January 12, 10 am - 1pm, 12 miles, East End Bicycle network
This ride shows off the connections (and disconnections) in the bicycle network in Del Ray, Arlandria, Potomac Yard and Old Town. We will highlight little-known trails, shortcuts (that should be official trails), and visit the "trail to nowhere".
Meet at St Elmo's Coffee Pub (outside), 2300 Mt Vernon Ave, 22301

Saturday February 16, 10 am - 1pm, 8 miles, Alexandria Inner Loop
A hilly ride, featuring an off-road trail in Chinquapin Park and visit to a pastry shop near the end of the ride.
Meet at St Elmo's Coffee Pub (outside), 2300 Mt Vernon Ave, 22301

Saturday March 16, 10am - noon, 8 miles, Family Ride: Holmes Run
This low-speed ride will follow the Eisenhower ave bike path to the Holmes Run Trail, rolling by the Beatly Central Library and stopping briefly in Cameron Station.
Meet: Eisenhower metro Station (outside), near Eisenhower Ave and Swamp Fox Rd

Saturday April 13, 10 am - 1pm, 10 miles, East End Destinations
We will loop around the east end of Alexandria, showing how
to get to popular eating, shopping and entertainment
destinations (Potomac yard, Del Ray, Hoffman Center, Old Town, Potomac Greens).
Meet at Dunkin Donuts, Potomac Yard center, 3325 Jefferson Davis Highway

[Steve]

You should check out Potomac Pedalers. You might even organize these through PP.

Editing to add: I think this is most excellent and love the effort!

I appreciate the feedback. I might have to look into the PP for help on these. My thought is that I'll hopefully see how this one goes and then find ways to improve it. Hope to see you there!

[Steve]

Just thought I'd post a reminder that our first Arlington Group Ride will be this Saturday at 10:00. It should be a good way to get out and about over the long weekend. Hope to see some folks there!

[Arlingtonrider]

Steve,

I made a last minute decision to try to meet up with you guys but underestimated the time it would take me to ride there from Shirlington. Enjoyed the nice open trails and a warm-up at Northside Social though. (I wonder how many miles one has to ride to burn off a bacon, blue cheese and date scone. I'm not sure 12 was enough, but maybe riding against a headwind part of the way will help. ;-).

I hope ya'll had a good ride. It's great that you're doing this! Will try to join you some other time.

Kathy

[Steve]

Steve,

I made a last minute decision to try to meet up with you guys but underestimated the time it would take me to ride there from Shirlington. Enjoyed the nice open trails and a warm-up at Northside Social though. (I wonder how many miles one has to ride to burn off a bacon, blue cheese and date scone. I'm not sure 12 was enough, but maybe riding against a headwind part of the way will help. ;-).

I hope ya'll had a good ride. It's great that you're doing this! Will try to join you some other time.

Kathy

Kathy,

So sorry to have missed you. I think for a number or reasons (holiday, cold, wind, etc.) the ride wasn't so successful, and so it didn't quite happen. I must've just missed you on my ride home. Not to be deterred, I'll be trying to set up another. December is a little hard with the holidays approaching, so my thought is a January ride. More to come on this one, and I appreciate your support!

[consularrider]

Kathy,

So sorry to have missed you. I think for a number or reasons (holiday, cold, wind, etc.) the ride wasn't so successful, and so it didn't quite happen. I must've just missed you on my ride home. Not to be deterred, I'll be trying to set up another. December is a little hard with the holidays approaching, so my thought is a January ride. More to come on this one, and I appreciate your support!

How about resurrecting a holiday lights ride?

[rcannon100]

Yes to Holiday Lights Ride!! (Potomac Pedalers has one; tho I am not sure when it is - would be cool to get a listing of when such rides might be). Maybe someone can competently step forward and design (or I can incompetently step forward - offer my house in N Arlington as a starting/stopping point with hot cocoa and we can just wander around like drunken reindeer)

[Steve]

How about resurrecting a holiday lights ride?

I thought about that, but unfortunately I don't know where to do it in terms of where some good lights are. If someone knows of some good houses or neighborhoods with lots of lights, I'd be happy to try to help out and try to set up a ride.

The ride I am currently thinking about in January would be Capitol City Brewery to Port City Brewery. I just need to do a little exploring to see if I can find a safe route to make it happen.