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

[bikenurse]

Greenbelt, College Park, and Edgewood DC (Met Branch trail) were up and running Friday morning, rain and all. I’d say College Park had the best bike services, Greenbelt was nicest, and Edgewood had the best cookies.

[DanB]

@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.

Maybe I was expecting too much. Since other bike shop sponsored pit stops offered bike maintenance, I was expecting it there, too. I know my bike chain could sure use a lube after biking to work in all that rain, and I probably stretched my brake cables a bit. I was also hoping to grab a snack for the final stretch to Vienna, but the only edible swag (still not sure you can say that) was the gummy multi-vitamins that Gold’s Gym was handing out there. And no, I didn’t eat them.

[Author]

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