Let’s Bike the Purple Line! (No Drop Ride)

[bobco85]

I’ve been thinking of doing this as a group ride with the Bicycle Fun Club for some time, and now that the weather is a bit nicer, I’m ready to go forward with it. Let’s bike the future Purple Line route!

Saturday, April 22
Meet at 9:00 a.m. at Georgetown Waterfront Park spiral maze
Rolling at 9:15 a.m.
Route: https://www.strava.com/routes/7990217
Expected length: 42.3 miles in 4-5 hours (including breaks and a stop for lunch)
Fitness/experience: some hills, should be comfortable riding in traffic
Weird clothing requirement: Wear Purple (as much as you can find!)

The ride starts at Georgetown Waterfront Park and uses the Capital Crescent Trail to get to the western terminus of the future Purple Line in Bethesda. The route attempts to mimic the actual light rail path (I will point out station locations) as it travels between Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Langley Park, College Park, and eventually its eastern terminus at New Carrollton. After that, highlights include DC’s Eastern Boundary Stone, the Marvin Gaye Trail, and the Anacostia River Trail before ending at the Jefferson Memorial. (FYI, a portion of the route is on University Blvd which we will use the sidewalk for)

I figure somewhere around College Park would be good to take a break for lunch, but I am not familiar with the dining aspect of the area. Any suggestions?

Topic

[Judd]

I’m in. I’ve never been on the Marvin Gaye Trail, so I’m looking forward to crossing it off of my to do list.

[jrenaut]

Note that 4/22 is 1) my birthday and 2) the March for Science, so expect some road closures around the Mall. Looks like it shouldn’t affect your route, but you never know.

[bobco85]

2 updates for the ride:

1. I created an event for the ride on Facebook to help with tracking who will be going (I’ll check both this thread and Facebook) which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/events/211211132708321
2. I just ordered some purple socks to wear for the ride. Apparently, it’s difficult to find purple men’s cycling socks for size 13 feet :p

[Crickey7]

Sadly, I must pass on account of parental duties.

[KLizotte]

Board & Brew is an awesome place to stop in College Park for food, coffee, etc. Yes, they really do have 500+ board games and a Game Master. And they are totally cool if you walk in wearing bike clothes. The only caution I have is the floor is really, really slippery by the bathrooms if you have bike shoes on! I love this place.

[bobco85]

@KLizotte 158723 wrote:

Board & Brew is an awesome place to stop in College Park for food, coffee, etc. Yes, they really do have 500+ board games and a Game Master. And they are totally cool if you walk in wearing bike clothes. The only caution I have is the floor is really, really slippery by the bathrooms if you have bike shoes on! I love this place.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendation! The location isn’t much out of the way of the route, and I can lead the group to it between the Campus Center station and the East Campus station. There are also a few other options in that spot, too, including Bobby’s Burger Palace (that’s Bobby Flay) and NuVegan Cafe. I’ll leave it up to the group to decide (I’m cool with any of the places).

Also, FYI for those interested, you can see maps of parts of the Purple Line on the MD DOT site here: http://www.purplelinemd.com/en/maps We will be following the proposed route as closely as possible.

[Judd]

@KLizotte 158723 wrote:

Board & Brew is an awesome place to stop in College Park for food, coffee, etc. Yes, they really do have 500+ board games and a Game Master. And they are totally cool if you walk in wearing bike clothes. The only caution I have is the floor is really, really slippery by the bathrooms if you have bike shoes on! I love this place.

Komorebi, Rimas and I had lunch at Board & Brew. It was decent. They have patio seating, although the weather is forecasted to be “meh” this weekend.

[drevil]

@Judd 158741 wrote:

Komorebi, Rimas and I had lunch at Board & Brew. It was decent. They have patio seating, although the weather is forecasted to be “meh” this weekend.

The Board and Brew is where we do the College Park Coffee Club, although I haven’t been for a few months. I usually bring my bike up the stairs and park it along the fence in front of the restaurant. It means you have to step up to get to the fence, but nobody cares. Some people don’t even bother locking their bike because the front of the restaurant is all window and you can see the bike the whole time.

A few other options I go to in College Park around UM that haven’t been mentioned:

• Maryland Food Collective – it’s on campus in the basement of the Student Union. Fresh, organic sandwiches. Bring a lock or drag your bike inside and have someone watch them Eat with Kermit and Jim Henson on the other side of the building.
• Northwest Chinese Food – I love this place, but not sure how much I’d enjoy it in the middle of a long ride. Spicy, unusual chinese food. Sometimes long lines.
• Fishnet – good quick seafood sandwiches or fish & chips. Inside neighborhood. Outdoor seating, big front windows so bikes can be easily seen.

[bobco85]

@Judd 158741 wrote:

the weather is forecasted to be “meh” this weekend.

Considering the last ride I tried to lead had thunderstorms with hail, I’ll take “meh” as a good thing!

[LhasaCM]

@bobco85 158770 wrote:

Considering the last ride I tried to lead had thunderstorms with hail, I’ll take “meh” as a good thing!

Based on the current forecast, it looks like the ride will be over (and folks able to get back from whence they came) before it goes from “meh” to “yuck!” (Heavier/steady rain is supposed to start around 6PM.)

Since I have no parental responsibilities Saturday, I think I’m in. My only hesitation (as always) is expected pace; I don’t want to be a drag.

[lordofthemark]

@LhasaCM 158790 wrote:

Based on the current forecast, it looks like the ride will be over (and folks able to get back from whence they came) before it goes from “meh” to “yuck!” (Heavier/steady rain is supposed to start around 6PM.)

Since I have no parental responsibilities Saturday, I think I’m in. My only hesitation (as always) is expected pace; I don’t want to be a drag.

Off topic – Since I am relatively slow too I need to start posting my own suggested rides – will do that if I can predict my schedule better.

Back on topic – I finally realized that this Saturday is NOT earth day. Will check if QOTM wants to go to the science march together – depending on answer I will either have to miss the ride entirely, do part and bail, or try to do the whole thing.

Edit – This Saturday IS Earth Day. Except in Alexandria, which is apparently a different planet.

[Judd]

@LhasaCM 158790 wrote:

Based on the current forecast, it looks like the ride will be over (and folks able to get back from whence they came) before it goes from “meh” to “yuck!” (Heavier/steady rain is supposed to start around 6PM.)

Since I have no parental responsibilities Saturday, I think I’m in. My only hesitation (as always) is expected pace; I don’t want to be a drag.

You should be fine. Given the pace on prior rides with Bobco, it will be similar to the doughnut ride.

[LhasaCM]

@Judd 158807 wrote:

You should be fine. Given the pace on prior rides with Bobco, it will be similar to the doughnut ride.

Got it. I think I was getting hung up on low end of the “4-5 hours with breaks” estimate. If we’re thinking similar to the doughnut ride, that’s probably 4 hours or so moving time (it looks like we were around 11mph on average between stops, which included the climb up to Duck Donuts), plus however long we stop at wherever along the way.

Now – to figure out where to tack on 10 or so extra miles (beyond the ride itself and getting to/from the ride) to get to 100km for the trip…

[bobco85]

Working from home today, and guess what just arrived!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14627[/ATTACH]
@LhasaCM 158812 wrote:

Got it. I think I was getting hung up on low end of the “4-5 hours with breaks” estimate. If we’re thinking similar to the doughnut ride, that’s probably 4 hours or so moving time (it looks like we were around 11mph on average between stops, which included the climb up to Duck Donuts), plus however long we stop at wherever along the way.

Now – to figure out where to tack on 10 or so extra miles (beyond the ride itself and getting to/from the ride) to get to 100km for the trip…

No worries, my focus will be on keeping the group together, so I will slow my pace as needed. Of course, I should warn you, I do like to go off on tangents…

@Judd 158807 wrote:

Bobco… …will be similar to the doughnut

Hey, who are you calling a doughnut! :p

[LhasaCM]

@bobco85 158818 wrote:

Working from home today, and guess what just arrived!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]14627[/ATTACH]

Very nice. I’m waiting until tomorrow night to gather my purple ensemble to see how many different shades I’ll have…

[Author]

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