Save the date? Holiday markets ride to DC, Saturday Dec 10.

[acc]

Proteus knows how to host an event! Count me in.

What a great idea!

ann

[KLizotte]

Any idea what the fastest speed of the group ride will be?

[DaveK]

If I don’t ride the whole thing I’ll certainly meet up with the group at Eastern Market, I live around the corner.

[acc]

Oh gosh, the cargo bike event was very mellow, if you can imagine a sing-a-long sort of ride with bike people, that’s what it was.

But more to the point, dangling a combined event of shopping and riding makes me twitchy for a fix. Speed is not a factor in my mind.

ann

[Greenbelt]

@KLizotte 10895 wrote:

Any idea what the fastest speed of the group ride will be?

If I’m leading, it won’t be very fast! I think most of us from the shop will be on our commuter bikes so we can fill the panniers with goodies from the markets. So I think it’ll be more of a social ride than a workout ride. Of course, if groups want to go faster and meet up later, that’s fine — there are some sections of trail where you can open it up quite a bit. And if we have some riders who haven’t done longer commute or trail rides and want to give it a go at a more relaxed pace, we’ll make sure we have a group that stays with them to guide.

[KLizotte]

@Greenbelt 10911 wrote:

If I’m leading, it won’t be very fast! I think most of us from the shop will be on our commuter bikes so we can fill the panniers with goodies from the markets. So I think it’ll be more of a social ride than a workout ride. Of course, if groups want to go faster and meet up later, that’s fine — there are some sections of trail where you can open it up quite a bit. And if we have some riders who haven’t done longer commute or trail rides and want to give it a go at a more relaxed pace, we’ll make sure we have a group that stays with them to guide.

Thanks, I’m one of the slower riders out there (11-14 mph) and am always worried about holding people back.

[Dirt]

I’ll pencil this onto the calendar, but I think I may be occupado that day. Saturdays are usually reserved for wifing. It is my one day each week where I don’t ride very much.

Great idea!!!

Pete

[eminva]

I also think this is a great idea and the calendar looks free for a change. I’m coming from Vienna, so I guess I will meet you all at Eastern Market and take it from there. I really want to visit Proteus so I’ll return to College Park with you after the markets. By my calculations this would be about 63ish miles for the whole trip, which is within my range, but if I got to College Park on both ends that will add 20 more miles, which may be a bit much. Ann, are you doing it this way or are you doing the whole slog?

Thanks for organizing this! Sounds like fun.

Liz

[Greenbelt]

@Dirt 11095 wrote:

I’ll pencil this onto the calendar, but I think I may be occupado that day. Saturdays are usually reserved for wifing. It is my one day each week where I don’t ride very much.

Great idea!!!

Pete

My wife loves it when I shop for presents for her at the craft fairs! Sort of win-win on the home front.

[Greenbelt]

OK, it’s official! Here’s a link to the shop’s events page: http://www.proteusbicycles.com/events/
and the flyer: http://www.proteusbicycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Proteus-holiday-ride.jpg

[ATTACH=CONFIG]488[/ATTACH]

We’ll leave the shop at 10am and return at about 3:30pm. That should leave time for a nice relaxed ride pace, and plenty of time for shopping and lunch in the DC markets. We’ll go rain or shine, warm or cold (since I really, really need to buy Christmas presents regardless), but in case of really awful weather (heavy rain or storms, ice, snow), please check the shop’s website that morning. (I figure if the weather gets bad along the way, we can bail out on to Metro if necessary.)

I hope we can meet up with people along the way. Here is a crude, approximate route map (I’ll make up more accurate cue sheets later): http://g.co/maps/whp9g

Here are directions from DC to the shop:

From downtown DC, I take the MBT to Monroe Street Bridge (bike lane)
Left at 12th (sharrows) and right at Newton (bike route)
Left at 18th, and right at Varnum (bike routes)
Cross Eastern Ave and the road becomes Arundel Road (bike route, bumpy road — beware unmarked speedbumps)
Jog one block to the right at 34th street (otherwise you’d be on a one-way Allison Street going the wrong way)
Left at 38th Street, over the bridge, and right on the NW branch trail
Cross Rhode Island at the crosswalk/trail alongside Armentrout Road (beware the construction/cyclocross challenge)
Down the ramp and up the NE Branch Trail to Lake Artemesia
Pick up the Paint Branch Trail at Lake Artemesia and go under the CSX track.
Take the College Park Trolley Trail/Rhode Island Ave (bike lane, sort of) across University Blvd (not a pleasant intersection)
Cross left to the outer road alongside Rhode Island
Left on Erie Street up the hill to the bike shop (Route 1 at Erie)

Here is a link to a bike route to the shop from College Park Metro (http://vimeo.com/21293118 )
and here is a link to the bike route from the Greenbelt Metro (http://vimeo.com/21279584 )

It’s also pretty easy to get to Proteus from the University of Maryland campus — just take the Paint Branch trail north from the campus (near the Comcast center). The trail goes under University Blvd and around the Paint Branch golf course. After the golf course, there’s a spur off to the right that goes up to Route 1 near the bike shop, and there’s a new traffic light to cross over.

*******************
Saturday, December 10 10am
Proteus Bicycles

Who needs a car … a bag full of presents would look awesome on the back of a bicycle! Come join us for a car-free ride to holiday craft markets in Washington DC. Find perfect gifts for everyone on your list. We’ll leave the shop at 10am, get to Eastern Market around 11:30, shop, head over to the Downtown Holiday Market after lunch, and return around 2pm, arriving at Proteus around 3:30pm. The ride will be on trails and side-streets out of heavy traffic, and the pace will be moderate – no one will be dropped. Distance is 35 miles. Metro stops are all along the way: bring your fare card if you want a shorter ride.

Check out these websites for information on the markets we’ll visit:
http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/
http://www.downtownholidaymarket.com/

****** Helmets required. *******

[acc]

I may have to break down and get panniers. I’ll be there with my Christmas lights and my rhinestone helmet securely strapped on. Thank you for organizing this event.

ann

[Greenbelt]

We took a ride down to DC last weekend along the holiday ride route. At least the first half of the route (before the camera ran out of space to record):
[video=vimeo;32845288]http://vimeo.com/32845288[/video]

[Riley Casey]

Will I be sneered at for meeting up at Eastern Market rather than riding in from College Park? Its that ride back to College Park when I already live in DC that lacks some appeal.:p

[Greenbelt]

Absolutely not! In fact, we’d love to meet up with people coming in from other directions. It’s supposed to be sunny and cold — perfect for Christmas shopping by bike!

Probably the best meet up would be at the north side of Eastern Market around 11:30. You never know with schedules, but I think we’d probably head from Eastern Market over to the Downtown Holiday Market at around 12:30 – 1pm, and probably stay until around 2pm.

PS. I’ll be the guy with the yellow helmet and the extra-dork bike:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]509[/ATTACH]

[americancyclo]

@Greenbelt 11661 wrote:

the extra-dork bike

nice EL wire!

[Author]

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