Monday, February 27, 2012

Next Proteus ride : Sunday March 4th at 1pm

Join us for a 22-mile loop from Proteus bicycles around the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge visitors center and back. We'll take a moderate pace, and may split into groups of different paces. Last time we did this ride, we split into two groups, with the "fast women" going at a little more of a workout pace and the rest of us in social ride mode. No one will be dropped.


Here is the ride route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/896301


This is roughly the route from DC to the shop: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/784592
And roughly the route from the shop back to DC: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/797417


From DC, here are my directions:


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)


And here are directions from U of Md: 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 at Hollywood Road.


Here are video directions to the shop from the Greenbelt Metro:
http://vimeo.com/21279584

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Sunday's ride is moving to Saturday!

Just a note to anyone who was planning on coming out for the Sunday ride this weekend (19 February 2011) - it looks like the weather on Sunday is not going to be a lot of fun, so the ride will be on Saturday (Feb 18th) instead. Still leaving at 1PM from the shop.

Hope to see you there!

Sunday, February 12, 2012


Join us on Sunday, February 19th for a casual ride from the shop to DC.
The ride will be about 33 miles roundtrip according to the route map, with a stop in Eastern Market for lunch.  We’ll take mostly bike trails or streets with bike lanes, and we’ll stay off high-traffic roads.  We’ll go at a moderate pace (although we may break up into smaller groups that go different speeds – no one will be dropped).
We’d leave the shop at 1pm, have a lunch break probably around 2:30 at Eastern Market, and head back around 3pm or 3:30pm at the latest I’d think. We may split into groups of faster or slower riders, but no one would be dropped. The Metro (open for bikes on weekends) would be the bailout if the weather turned bad or for any other reason.
The route would highlight several area trails and connectors: The College Park trolley trail, the NE branch trail, the Paint Branch trail, the NW Branch trail, the Met Branch trail, the R street bike route, the 15th Street cycle track, the Pennsylvania Ave median bike lanes, and the fairly extensive one-direction bike lanes on Capitol Hill.
As with other rides we’ve done, it would be nice to meet up with others coming from different locations. Likewise, if anyone wanted to reverse the route and ride out to College Park in the morning and then join us for the ride back to DC and lunch, that would be cool. The shop opens at noon on Sundays.
Here are the most direct directions from DC to the shop:
From downtown DC, 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)
or:

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Sunday Feb 5th, Bike ride

We’ll be welcoming the month of Febraury with a fun ride from the shop to the Patuxent Wildlife Visitor Center and back.

It’ll be a 22 mile paved loop through the Beltsville Ag Research Center. Relatively flat, with hills that are generally gradual or short. Shoulder riding on Edmonston Road and Powder Mill Road. Restrooms at Patuxent visitors center.

All abilities welcome, no-one will be left behind. Helmets required!!

We’ll leave the shop at 1PM, Sunday.

Hot Chocolate, tea and pre/post ride snacks at the shop.

Links to map and video of last ride.