President’s Day Ride – Monday, February 18th – George Washington Themed

[Judd]

The Presidents Day Ride is back! This year’s ride is all about our nation’s first President, George Washington (redacted is a long discussion about whether John Hanson was the really the first President under the Articles of Confederation). This year’s ride is being co-hosted by my good friends the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail.

Why’s the Washington Monument multi-colored? Why is the Custis Trail called the Custis Trail and what does it have to do with GW? Explore the border of a 1200 acre plot owned by GW that you’ve biked past 100 times. See the Washington family pew which has been used by at least 6 Presidents and one British Prime Minister. See the best view

Meet
9:30 am at Velo Cafe (730 Maine Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024)
Rollout at 10

Sites
We will visit the following sites related to George Washington:
Washington Monument
Custis Trail
George Washington Survey Marker
Christ Church in Alexandria – We’ll go inside
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial – We’ll go inside

Route
The route will be approximately 20 miles starting in SW DC and ending in Alexandria
Approximate route: https://goo.gl/maps/xps2ZohQyhB2

Bathrooms
Bathrooms will be available at or near each stop, except for a brief stop on the Custis.

Pace
No drop. Average of about 13 mph with a sweep.

Bring
Bike Lock
Small donation to Christ Church as a thank you to the volunteer docents
$15 for admission to The George Washington Masonic National Memorial
Snacks to prevent you from getting hangry

After Party
For those that want to grab late lunch/early dinner afterwards, we will find a mutually agreeable location in Alexandria.

Sign Up
There’s an Eventbrite for this event so I can let the folks at Christ Church and the Masonic Memorial know how many folks are about to invade their facility and I can contact folks if there’s any changes to the plan.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/presidents-day-bike-ride-george-washington-history-tickets-56062216599?ref=estw

Topic

[Judd]

We are just one week away from the super awesome George Washington themed Presidents Day Bike Ride.

Don’t forget that I’m asking folks to RSVP on Eventbrite this year so that I can give Christ Church a heads up on how many people they can expect to show up at one time. The church has a wonderful group of volunteer docents who are going to show us George Washington’s church pew and tell us some other neat stuff.

It will also allow me to communicate directly with you should plans change due to weather or an unforeseen event.

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/presidents-day-bike-ride-george-washington-history-tickets-56062216599?aff=ebapi&ref=eios

[CaseyKane50]

The City of Alexandria has installed flags along King Street in honor of Judd’s President Day Ride.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19461[/ATTACH]

[ChristoB50]

Great job, Judd, putting together a fun group ride while also raising our presidential history knowledge!!
I love that I also got into a new area I’d never biked to (DC Wharf / Velo Cafe)!

Below: Our knowledgeable tour guide Judd explaining to us that the early members of a Washington Society, having bought some land for a memorial, discovered “building memorials is expensive tish!”; we were assembled atop the f.k.a. Shooter’s Hill before going into the G.W. Masonic Memorial for diagonal elevator rides and copious Washingtonalia.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19491[/ATTACH]

[Boomer Cycles]

Well I missed the ride but enjoyed the after party. And I must say, Judd is looking quite trim these days (and I understand without riding 280 miles/week). But where is @Filipe[emoji905]Beach?

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

[Steve O]

There’s about 35 pictures I took posted on my Strava ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/2159292209

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19496[/ATTACH]

[ChristoB50]

Only snapped a few. Apologies in advance if the Forum rotates them 90 degrees—if there’s a way to avoid that (from phone upload) let me know!

The group assembled at our first stop.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19498[/ATTACH]

Our docent at Christ Church, next to Washington’s pew.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19499[/ATTACH]

A marker indicated the northern end of Washington’s 1200 acre plot.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19500[/ATTACH]

Judd playing hide and seek with a small dog. At the “mini Washington Monument” at Canal Center.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19501[/ATTACH]

[Judd]

@Christob50 187608 wrote:

Only snapped a few. Apologies in advance if the Forum rotates them 90 degrees—if there’s a way to avoid that (from phone upload) let me know!

The group assembled at our first stop.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19498[/ATTACH]

Our docent at Christ Church, next to Washington’s pew.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19499[/ATTACH]

A marker indicated the northern end of Washington’s 1200 acre plot.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19500[/ATTACH]

Judd playing hide and seek with a small dog. At the “mini Washington Monument” at Canal Center.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]19501[/ATTACH]

I’m glad you got a picture of our docent at Christ Church. She was awesome and I wish she was my grandma.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Judd]

Thank you to everyone who attended this ride. I am always blown away that so many people show up for this ride.

I will be sending out an email in the next day or so through Eventbrite asking for feedback, answering a few questions folks asked and also offering a place to share photos.

[ChristoB50]

For those on the ride — I was telling Judd that Washington National Cathedral (where I’ve served as a volunteer tour guide for years now) has a marble statue of George.
The sculptor (Lee Lawrie) chose to show George in the statue, as “citizen” vs. the trappings of presidential office — specifically, George is doffing his hat mid-step, as he walks into Christ Church.
As fate (ahem – internet big brother) would have it, an ad for the cathedral popped up in my browser today, with a photo of the statue in question!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19506[/ATTACH]

[smb9600]

Thanks for a great ride Judd! It was a great reminder of the fantastic history that we , quite literally ride by, on our daily business!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Author]

Replies