Bike to Work Day registration is open

Hey all in the DC-Metro area....
Bike to Work day is May 18, 2007!
"Join thousands of area commuters for a celebration of bicycling as a clean, fun and healthy way to get to work! Meet up with your neighbors at one of 24 pit stops all over the region, ride into the city with experienced commuter convoys and meet your colleagues at Freedom Plaza. Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Commuter Connections invite you to try bicycling to work as an alternative to solo driving. Help the Washington region become a better place to ride. Bike to Work Day is a FREE event and open to all area commuters!" - www.waba.org

Register at: http://www.waba.org/events/btwd/index.php

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Originally Posted by Regina

Hey all in the DC-Metro area....
Bike to Work day is May 18, 2007!
"Join thousands of area commuters for a celebration of bicycling as a clean, fun and healthy way to get to work! Meet up with your neighbors at one of 24 pit stops all over the region, ride into the city with experienced commuter convoys and meet your colleagues at Freedom Plaza. Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Commuter Connections invite you to try bicycling to work as an alternative to solo driving. Help the Washington region become a better place to ride. Bike to Work Day is a FREE event and open to all area commuters!" - www.waba.org

Register at: http://www.waba.org/events/btwd/index.php

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I registered yesterday, after I got the e-mail from WABA. This year I'm just going to do my normal commute on my own, but end up at Freedom Plaza rather than at my office. For the past two years the caravan from Takoma Park has been rather large (well, one of the years it was rainy so it wasn't THAT large), and I think a herd mentality takes over. People ride two or three abreast and really tick off the drivers, and I don't think that the cause of bike commuters is helped by taking over the roads so completely. But it's fun to see so many people on bikes down at Freedom Plaza, and I definitely don't want to miss it. Plus you get free stuff. :)

I thought the idea of Bike to Work Day was to *bike to work*. Since I don't work anywhere near Freedom Plaza, how does this work? I'm just not getting it.

Sometimes I think that bike commuting would suck the joy out of biking. Still, I wish I could figure out a safe route that would allow me the opportunity every now and then. I used to bike from Somerville, MA to Harvard Med School in Boston, but I was younger and didn't think about the dangers so much.

I'm with HillSlug. I work in Tysons Corner and there is absolutely no safe way I can bike in, unless I ride the W&OD to Vienna and catch the bus the rest of the way. The office I'm assigned to is moving to the Dulles area in the summer, making the situation worse all around. I could bike out the W&OD to Herndon, but how to get safely from the trail to my building is the million dollar question. I'm hoping to eventually find an assignment in a location where I can commute by bike (there's one I might apply to but it would mean 6 weeks of travel abroad every year--did that during my younger days, but not sure if I want to subject myself to it now.)

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Originally Posted by MDHillSlug

I thought the idea of Bike to Work Day was to *bike to work*. Since I don't work anywhere near Freedom Plaza, how does this work? I'm just not getting it.

Sometimes I think that bike commuting would suck the joy out of biking. Still, I wish I could figure out a safe route that would allow me the opportunity every now and then. I used to bike from Somerville, MA to Harvard Med School in Boston, but I was younger and didn't think about the dangers so much.

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They've got "pit stops" all around the area. Those of us who work in DC go to Freedom Plaza, where they have a rally, speakers, food, drinks, free t-shirts and waterbottles, etc. I assume they do something similar, although probably on a less-grand scale since they're smaller, at the other pit stops. The pit stops are at these locations:

Washington DC

* Freedom Plaza

Maryland

* Bethesda
* National Institutes of Health
* Bowie Town Center
* Bowie Old Town
* College Park
* Hyattsville
* Frederick
* North Bethesda
* Rockville-Rockville Town Center
* Rockville-Falls Grove Transportation Center
* Silver Spring
* Waldorf

Virginia

* Alexandria
* Arlington
* Dulles-AOL Campus (AOL employees only)
* Fairfax Corner
* Fairfax University Mall
* Leesburg
* Reston
* Springfield
* Sterling
* Tysons Corner
* Vienna

As far as bike commuting sucking the joy out of biking, it's just the opposite for me. I absolutely LOVE my bike commute. The 7 mile ride home makes me leave work behind. I'm riding on city streets, but for the most part they aren't terribly busy, and the busy one is a designated bike route even though it's narrow and doesn't have a bike lane. If I had to ride on four-lane roads with cars whizzing by at 40 or 50 mph, I wouldn't even think about bike commuting.

You don't HAVE to go to Freedom Plaza. There are many "rest stops" during the morning at various locations. I registered for the one at the Discovery Building in Silver Spring (hopefully, I won't pitch myself over the handlebars in front of everyone, like I did last year! :rolleyes: ). I never go anywhere near Freedom Plaza on BtWD. I have a neighbor who bikes to Arlington, VA. He drives partway in - parks at his synagogue, I think - and rides the CC trail. Multi-modal commute!!

p.s. Oops - I see Janice beat me to it. Yeah, they have entertainment, bike-on-bus demos, food, schwag, etc. at Silver Spring...a smaller crowd than FP, but a crowd nonetheless.

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Originally Posted by divingbiker

As far as bike commuting sucking the joy out of biking, it's just the opposite for me. I absolutely LOVE my bike commute. The 7 mile ride home makes me leave work behind. I'm riding on city streets, but for the most part they aren't terribly busy, and the busy one is a designated bike route even though it's narrow and doesn't have a bike lane. If I had to ride on four-lane roads with cars whizzing by at 40 or 50 mph, I wouldn't even think about bike commuting.

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I agree. The only time I arrive at work with a smile on my face is when I rode my bike to get there. Obviously, I haven't been doing much smiling at work. Dang! I gotta get back out there.

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Originally Posted by divingbiker

If I had to ride on four-lane roads with cars whizzing by at 40 or 50 mph, I wouldn't even think about bike commuting.

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I can't figure out how to commute to work without doing several of these. :(

I've semi-seriously considered driving to the C&O and then braving 2 or so miles of traffic from the terminus in Georgetown into downtown, but I usually end up so gritty from C&O rides that I don't really think it's a practical idea.

I envy Janice and Regina, though, that they're able to commute on a regular basis. Where is Freedom Plaza, anyway?

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Originally Posted by Kalidurga

I've semi-seriously considered driving to the C&O and then braving 2 or so miles of traffic from the terminus in Georgetown into downtown, but I usually end up so gritty from C&O rides that I don't really think it's a practical idea.

I envy Janice and Regina, though, that they're able to commute on a regular basis. Where is Freedom Plaza, anyway?

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I think you'd definitely need shower facilities after riding the C&O into work! But the trip from the end of the trail to your office isn't bad. I do it when I take the Capital Crescent Trail in--cut up to M from the area under the Whitehurst Freeway, then on Pennsylvania for a bit, then take L (one way) down to Connecticut (or on to 13th, in my case). There's traffic, but it's doable.

Freedom Plaza is across Pennsylvania Ave from the Ronald Reagan Building, between 13th and 14th.

I noticed today that there are enough service roads and paths to bypass the 6-lane divided road part of Georgia Ave. So, it looks like biking to work could actually be possible, at least for this one special day. I've mapped it and it's not even 10 miles, one way. I'm pretty sure there are showers at work that I have access to, but I need to verify this. This could be great! :cool:

Hey MD... give the route a test run on the weekend to make sure. That way no big surprises on the way to work.

spazz (who will have to ride over a mountain to "ride to work", but is working on it)

I live and work in Germantown but I'm going to post a sign as a challenge to my co-workers to ride in that day. I know a couple of them have just bought new bikes and live close enough.We are all healthcare workers so this will be a good thing for us.

I'm moving to a new building for work on Friday and losing access to the gym with the shower facilities. The new building has none! I may have to abandon the idea of biking to work. :(

Can't do a birdbath?? That would suck. Hope it works out for ya