#nbtwd

My First Bike to Work Day!

This past Friday was Bike to Work Day! I cycled in and was surprised at the number of cyclists on the trails and at the pit stops with me. I enjoyed the experience and plan to add National Bike to Work day to my calendar moving forward. I’d never been on this trail so early in the morning. All of the flowers were so fragrant, I saw 3 turtles, and saw 4 cardinals (2 heading out and the other 2 on my way back). 

a.m. ride

p.m. ride 

My Experience

I laughed at myself because I ride that route weekly and didn’t know where the River Terrace area was located. I know where Benning Rd station is and thought the River Terrace area was actually the H street portion of the commute near RFK stadium. My pit stop was actually closer than I thought and after checking my Maps app, I decided to just go ahead and continue riding seeing how I ride the route often I had no choice but to run into the pit stop.

I researched preparation for BTWD and packed my backpack early. I have a few STAX containers in Medium, Large, and x-large and they were helpful in storing my salad, dressing, trail mix, and salad toppings. 

Pit Stops

So the Pit Stops were nice! Did you run out in a hurry and miss your coffee? Cycling hard to make it to work on time? Need a snack to fuel the rest of your ride? They had everything you needed, granola bars, Dunkin Donuts Coffee as well as Munchkins donuts. The first pit stop was at Bladensburg water park and their pit stop was the best. 

Swag

Each pit stop had two tables with the forementioned snacks. The Benning Rd pit stop is where I collected my T-shirt. This pit stop also had a table for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). They offered numerous packets and maps of the area trails. 

 The Bladensburg Waterfront Park pit stop offered safety belts (made with reflective material), and bells. The belt took me back to safety patrol days in the 5th grade lol. I was also able to get my hands on a card for a free rowing lesson June 1st and a brochure sharing the concert series that is returning (it had been discontinued due to the events that have unfolded over the past 2 years). 

Tips for Next Year

Ride with a group- I did reach out to a friend and my boyfriend to tag along. Next year, I will try to coordinate better to see if we could all commute. I work with two friends who cycle so we would have the same commute for the most part.

Time Trial- I knew I could move through Bladensburg all the way down to the Douglas Bridge within 40 minutes. Beyond that, I hadn’t done the ride in full to gauge the maximum amount of time I’d need to make it to work on time. I did share that I was cycling in and it wasn’t an issue. 

Register Early- there was a supply hiccup with T-shirts and due to the number of registrants and available shirts, there was a time cutoff for T-shirt collection based on how early you registered and how soon you could make it to your pit stop. Oddly enough, we received an email the night before with the update. Since I got “lost” I was able to text when I thought I may miss the cutoff for the T-shirt.