Pit Stop Reviews

[DCLiz]

Since it’s hard to tell which pit stops have what, I thought we could start a thread with different reviews/descriptions? Maybe next year WABA could encourage pit stop organizers to post more details, such as what kinds of things will be raffled off?

Freedom Plaza
The good:

• Loved being able to practice putting my bike on a bus rack. Will feel much more confident about trying this in real life.
• BicycleSPACE adjusted my rear derailleur!
• Free bicycle valet!

The bad:

• Very few vendors/stands. It was unclear whether this was weather-related, or just due to the general decline of this pit stop.
• No raffles or cool giveaways, at least not when I arrived at around 8:40ish.
• Coffee was put away by 9 am. Nothing left for stragglers. Granted, the volunteers had been out in cold, wet weather for a looong time.

National Geographic
Wow, I wish I had come straight here! Not only were they able to move it indoors, there were a lot of vendors, and good raffles. They raffled a number of awesome National Geographic jerseys. Plenty of coffee and grub, even at 9:30.

How about you? Which pit stops are must-visits?

And of course, thanks to all of the organizers and volunteers and vendors who braved this morning’s weather.

Topic

[eminva]

All right, here’s my 15 nanoseconds of fame:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/05/bike-to-work-day-rides-on-despite-rainstorms-103205.html

Nice report overall, setting aside my contribution.

Liz

[Drewdane]

Rosslyn: I was hoping for my annual replenishment/replacement of blinky lights, but they must have run out by the time I arrived at ~8:30. They were out of coffee too. OTOH, I got to see my good friend Dirt, and got a couple of t-shirts and a handy guide to cyclists’ legal rights in addition to the traditional water bottles and patch kits.

Falls Church: Officially cancelled due to weather, but Bikenetic hung around to offer moral support and trailside repairs anyway – Props!

[americancyclo]

@eminva 85661 wrote:

All right, here’s my 15 nanoseconds of fame:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/05/bike-to-work-day-rides-on-despite-rainstorms-103205.html

Nice report overall, setting aside my contribution.

Liz

You can see Shawn Dread and I leaving in the beginning of the video. His disdain for reporters is obvious.

[dkel]

@eminva 85661 wrote:

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/05/bike-to-work-day-rides-on-despite-rainstorms-103205.html

Did that one guy say he rides in “anything but ice or snow”? Someone recruit him for Freezing Saddles!

[vvill]

@dkel 85669 wrote:

Did that one guy say he rides in “anything but ice or snow”? Someone recruit him for Freezing Saddles!

What, for the slacker team?

[Drewdane]

@DanB 85638 wrote:

Thanks to the group at Bikenetic for the $20 gift card for the few and faithful!!

Wait – what???

JAAAN!!!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5634[/ATTACH]

[Justin Antos]

DanB, sorry to miss you at the East Falls Church Metro pitstop! We were huddled near the Metro station entrance to stay dry. Attendance was a little, uh, light, so we still have plenty of the “I Bike to Metro and Metro to Work” t-shirts – DM me if you want one.

[Drewdane]

East Falls Church (evening)

The Good: Well… It was there

The Bad: An empty table and a volunteer pointedly packing up t-shirts half an hour prior to the posted end time.

[eminva]

@Drewdane 85697 wrote:

East Falls Church (evening)

The Good: Well… It was there

The Bad: An empty table and a volunteer pointedly packing up t-shirts half an hour prior to the posted end time.

Yep, same thing. That’s what I get for working late.

Liz

[Drewdane]

@eminva 85698 wrote:

Yep, same thing. That’s what I get for working late.

Liz

It was kind of irritating, since I decided to forgo the happy hour in Arlington in order to show support for this Pit Stop.

(Edit: in reply to a comment I made on their FB page, they told me they ran out of everything. Can’t fault them for that)

[MM2]

@Mikey 85594 wrote:

Georgetown- First year for me coming here
Definitely the Foodie stop – chocolate croisants, cupcakes, fresh granola, yogurt, gormet juice, etc, and coffee. Nice second breakfast.

Here is the Paul Bakery and the Sprinkles tent. Yum.
I also visited Baked & Wired and the Mal Maison tent, in the background, but not the yogurt place.

Maybe this was unusual, though. I think they consolidated two locations in Georgetown into this one spot, at the waterfront park. It would be nice if they keep up with the great food, next year.

[vvill]

@Drewdane 85699 wrote:

It was kind of irritating, since I decided to forgo the happy hour in Arlington in order to show support for this Pit Stop.

(Edit: in reply to a comment I made on their FB page, they told me they ran out of everything. Can’t fault them for that)

They didn’t have much to begin with this year – I was there with Tim Kelley at about 4:30pm and it was the smallest I’ve seen this pitstop since they started it. Perhaps weather-affected.

[Phatboing]

@Drewdane 85699 wrote:

(Edit: in reply to a comment I made on their FB page, they told me they ran out of everything. Can’t fault them for that)

I actually saw that happen – 5.15-ish, collecting my swag (awesome Bikearlington sunglasses, no less), and while I’m stashing the sunglasses into my pannier and reach for a free bottle, a flood of cyclists descended upon the tent and took everything.

[dkel]

@vvill 85673 wrote:

What, for the slacker team?

For an education!

[cvcalhoun]

Bethesda:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5646[/ATTACH]

Nothing there when I arrived at 7:15 except a sign lying on the ground. I got an e-mail later saying that they had been open and had 130 riders there, but I can only assume they either opened very late or closed very early. (It was supposed to be open 6:30 am to 8:30 am, so 7:15 should have been right in the middle of it.) This was particularly frustrating, because I didn’t have to be anywhere until 10:00 AM, and had gotten up early and braved the rain specifically in order to get to Bethesda, which was my registered stop.

Georgetown Waterfront:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5647[/ATTACH]

Lots of good food here–coffee, cupcakes, granola, bananas, yogurt. Also picked up map, copy of DC bike laws booklet, water bottle, Chipotle coupon, and coupons for a one-day CaBi membership and $10 off a yearly membership. Was initially told I could not get my t-shirt there because I wasn’t registered there, but someone finally relented after I explained I had been relying on a t-shirt as something dry to change into. No raffles. Revolution Cycle had a tune-up station there.

Georgetown Library:

Not an official pit stop, but they were handing out a free book, animal crackers, and fruit punch to anyone who bicycled there. The selection of books was unexpectedly good. And they were there all day, so I didn’t have to make it during a specific morning or evening period.

Malmaison: (Happy Hour)

I was a bit disappointed in this one. I’d thought it might be a chance to meet other cyclists. But it was so spread out that cyclists were not talking to each other. They did have some happy hour specials. But when I ordered the half-priced cocktail special, they charged me full price and I had to go back and complain to get the extra charge removed.

Capital Heights: (afternoon)

Another Chipotle coupon, a banana, and a couple of granola bars. Not a lot of swag, although I could have gotten my map and DC bike laws pamphlet there. They had socks, but were charging $7 for them, so I passed. But they were doing raffles every 15 minutes. I won the one for the 10 yoga sessions. Of course, I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with it given that I don’t do yoga and don’t live or work in that area. But the frequent raffles definitely increased the fun factor, and kept people hanging around and socializing longer than they otherwise would have. And they also gave me another t-shirt.

[Author]

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