events

Meet the Sweet Ride & Shindig

| Cyrus Chimento

After a successful first Sprouts Ride, the Sweet Ride & Shindig, presented by Conte’s Bike Shop, is our second new signature event launching this spring. Hopefully we’ll see you there on June 15th in Crystal City!

There are two main parts to this event.

First, the Sweet Ride. Riders will get to choose from four routes around Northern Virginia: approximately, 5-miles, 15-miles, 30-miles, and 50-miles. (We’re still working on them, but we’ll update you as we get the routes pinned down.) Whichever one you choose, you’ll get the classic WABA signature ride experience: bustling check-in, ride marshals, snack-filled pit stops, and nice people. It’s a great ride to bring your friends, throw together a picnic to share at a pit stop, and enjoy the ride!

You can register for the Sweet Ride here.

Register today!

But, the fun doesn’t stop when you get off your bike. When you arrive at the Shindig, you’ll check-in with WABA to pick up your free ride swag and a ticket (this will get you a freebie—either beer or ice cream!). Then, you can enjoy the rest of the afternoon jamming out to a live band, grab snacks at a food truck, sample offerings from a local brewery (the proceeds will support WABA!), engage with other local organizations and businesses, and continue basking in the glow of an awesome summer ride.

Oh, one more thing: the Shindig is open to public. You won’t get all the great freebies if you don’t sign up for the ride, but you can still be part of the event, meet some neighbors, enjoy the afternoon with your friends, and support WABA!

As with all WABA signature rides, the Sweet Ride & Shindig is a fundraiser for WABA. We organize five big rides per year to convene our bike community, have a good time riding together, and raise money for WABA’s advocacy, education, and outreach across the region.

So, let’s recap:

  1. You can ride…or not. Anyone is welcome to come have fun.
  2. Spend the afternoon with us—there’ll be plenty of stuff to do.
  3. Give money to help WABA make bicycling better for everyone.

Sound like a sweet deal? We think so, too. Register for the Sweet Ride & Shindig today!

Register today!


The Sprouts Ride was full of joy

| Cyrus Chimento

On Sunday, April 28th, WABA hosted the first annual Sprouts Ride!

A dreary start to the morning broke open to reveal balmy sunshine and the grins of riders as they discovered—or rediscovered—how much fun it is to go for a low-stress, casual bike ride around the city.

Riders on WABA’s first Sprouts Ride!
Photo Credit: Jas Sanchez

Riders could choose from two routes: the 6-mile “Bean Sprout Root” and the 14-mile “Sapling Root”. Many riders enjoyed that the routes showed them how to ride their bikes to and from local destinations that they would visit in the course of everyday life: Kingman Island Park, Audi and Nationals Stadiums (Stadia?), and Anacostia Park, while also showcasing the federal DC, with views of the Capitol and the mall.

After a fun ride, participants returned to REI to catch live music from Roan Gap, a local bluegrass band, play games and learn about bike maintenance from REI staff, pick up a free beer or kombucha, and eat tacos! Some riders also took action: after having ridden nearby the K St corridor, riders signed a petition to make K St a better place to bike, walk, and live.

To all the riders: thank you for supporting WABA! Like all signature rides, the proceeds from the Sprouts Ride directly fund the hard work that WABA is doing to make bicycling better for everyone in the region. Your support helps us advocate for better trails and more bike lanes—safer conditions for all. Thank you.

We’ve collected some photos from the ride below, but, first, a final shoutout to our sponsors:

Find the full album of Sprouts Ride photos here!

Meet the Sprouts Ride!

| Cyrus Chimento

Happy first day of spring! We have some very exciting news: we are launching two new signature events this spring! You heard right. Two. New. Events.

First comes the Sprouts Ride, on Sunday, April 28th. For those of you who have been attending WABA events for awhile, you probably remember that this the time of year when we usually hosted the Vasa Ride. Well, 2018 was the last Vasa Ride, and the Sprouts Ride is not just a rebrand—it’s a whole new thing!

WABA’s newest spring ride is coming soon! Meet the Sprouts Ride. 🌱

Learn more and sign up here!

As with all WABA signature rides, the Sprouts Ride is a fundraiser for WABA. We organize five big rides per year to convene our bike community, have a good time riding together, and raise money for WABA’s advocacy, education, and outreach across the region.

The Sprouts Ride is going to be FUN. Starting at REI’s flagship store in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, DC, we’ve planned 5-mile and 15-mile routes, rolling past iconic local landmarks, premier regional multi-use trails, and wonderful city neighborhoods. These routes are the perfect chance for you to relax and enjoy some springtime biking in the city, to bring your kids along, or invite a friend who is new to biking. (We’ll also set up pit stops, so you can get that perfect photo op.)

A great thing about the Sprouts Ride is that your day doesn’t end after you get off your bike. We’ve got you covered: REI’s flagship store in NoMa is hosting a celebration of all things bicycling that will feature food, drinks, and music from a live band for the afternoon. Hang out and enjoy the afternoon at REI, grab a drink at Red Bear Brewing next door, or explore the many offerings of the surrounding NoMa neighborhood.

So—start spring off on a good foot, get your friends and family together, and get outside for some two-wheeled urban fun!

Register!

But wait…what about the second ride? I’m going to keep that a secret for a little bit longer. But, I will strongly encourage you to mark your calendar for Saturday, June 15th.

Celebrating growth at the 2019 Bicyclists’ Choice Awards

| Cyrus Chimento

We held our fifth annual Bicyclists’ Choice Awards event on Wednesday, February 13th at the Josephine Butler Parks Center.

It was humbling—so many people, working all over the region, are putting in hard work to make getting around this region better. That work couldn’t be more important. We need a transportation system that makes people feel safe and empowered to get around by bike. We are so happy that we got the chance to recognize the people making it happen. Take a look through the slideshow below to see all of these everyday superheroes!

  • Community Advocate Award: Winner Monique Diop (right).
  • Rabble Rouser Award: Winners Rachel Maisler (left) and Matthew Sampson (not pictured).
  • Educator of the Year Award: Winner Jemar Rountree (right).
  • Biking for All Award: Winners Ty’on Jones (middle left) and Kori Johnson (middle right).
  • Heart and Soul Award: Winners Laura Montiel (right) and Cyrus Habib (middle).
  • Trail Champion Award: Winners Josephine Liu (left), Judd Isbell (right), and Casey Kane (not pictured).
  • Volunteer of the Year Award: Winners Terrie Chan (middle) and David Breisch (right).
  • Public Leadership Award: Winner Councilmember Charles Allen (right).
  • Best Improvement for Biking in DC: Winners Will Hansfield and Mike Goodno accepting on behalf of the K/Water Street protected bike lanes.
  • Best Improvement for Biking in Maryland: Winners Casey Anderson and David Anspacher accepting on behalf of the Montgomery County Bicycle Master Plan project.
  • Best Improvement for Biking in Virginia Award: Einar Olsen (right) and and Paul DeMaio (middle) accepting on behalf of project to put Capital Bikeshare stations on the Mount Vernon Trail.
  • Best Bike Shop Award: Winner Walker Wilkson accepting on behalf of the The Bike Rack.
  • Best Social Ride Award: DC Bike Party.

Our host, Christina Sturdivant Sani, a freelance journalist and DC native who has long covered transportation in the region, walked us through the evening that brought together 200 excited and passionate bicyclists, advocates, WABA supporters, and award winners to celebrate the amazing achievements made in 2018 to make bicycling better in our region.

Christina Sturdivant Sani, our host for the 2019 Bicyclists’ Choice Awards.

Thank you to everyone who came out to watch and support the awards show: the event could not have happened without you—your votes, your enthusiasm and encouragement, and your own hard work and support to make bicycling better in our region.

We also want to give a big thanks to our sponsors for the event:

Bikes, Books and Brunch!

| Renée Moore

Bikes, Books and Brunch is back! For our first event this year, we’ll be biking to Bellevue/William Lockridge Library in Ward 8 to read Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming. This is a New York Times Best Seller from our former First Lady.

If you have seen or attended any of her events then you know how enlightening this book will be. I have heard nothing but great things about it! So let’s bike and have brunch provided by MLK Deli while we discuss this amazing book.

We encourage you to get the book at your local library or bookstore. Alternatively, the book is available on Amazon.com or on Audible.com.

Ride Details:

When: March 9th at 11:00am

Where: We’ll meet at the THEARC and ride over to the Bellevue Library.

This ride is free and about four miles, roundtrip! Please bring funds to get brunch.

Helmets are required. The ride will be rain or shine! If it rains and you don’t want to ride, feel free to meet us at Bellevue Library for the book discussion and brunch.

Interested? Register for Bikes, Books and Brunch below! And be on the lookout for more dates to come.

Form not working? Register here.

WABA Member Holiday Party: celebrating a year well done.

| Cyrus Chimento

We threw our annual Holiday Party for WABA members last week, on Wednesday, December 12th!

Members, WABA staff, board members, and our bike-curious friends, family, and neighbors shared an evening of good cheer and celebrated all that we’ve accomplished together over the last year. Check out the photos below!

A huge thank goes to Bar Roubaix and Arturo (manager of Bar Roubaix and WABA member since 2011) for hosting us! A special thanks also goes to New Belgium Brewing for buying a round of drinks, and Sugar Shack, Big Wheel Bikes, Rapha, Evo Cycle Works, CAVA, VeloFix, 3 Stars Brewing, Capital Bikeshare, REI, and the Daily Rider for all the raffle prizes. We are so grateful for the the deep commitment of our community to building a region that’s better to get around in.

Here are a few of our wins this year:

These victories aren’t possible without you. You and the thousands of other people who support WABA are a fiery reminder of how much power we have to make our region a better place to ride a bike.

With your investment, we’re making our collective voice stronger.

Donate

Cider Ride: Best. Day. Ever.

| Cyrus Chimento

On Saturday, November 3rd, WABA hosted the Cider Ride!

The rain stopped and sunny, blue skies opened up just in time for hundreds of riders join us in a celebration of fall! Riders chose one of three routes, all of them showcasing our region’s incredible multi-use trails, colorful fall foliage, and delicious cider and pie along the way.

Fall foliage on the trails makes us this happy, too.

Many riders took the chance to advocate for more trails; we worked with local businesses in Hyattsville to host a pop-up pit stop at a gap in the Hyattsville Trolley Trail. Along with sampling the offerings of several nearby businesses, riders wrote postcards to Maryland state officials to ask for quality trail design and accelerated construction of the trail extension, which would fill a critical gap in the regional trail network. Click here to sign up for future updates on the Trolley Trail.

Get updates on the Trolley Trail

Afterwards, participants celebrated the beautiful ride, ate more pie, and drank another cup of steaming cider at Dew Drop Inn. Biking, advocacy, treats, and friends—it can’t get any better!

Riders at Dew Drop Inn, enjoying donuts and the snazzy Cider Ride mugs!

To all the riders: thank you for supporting WABA! Like all signature rides, the proceeds from Cider Ride directly fund the hard work that WABA is doing to make bicycling better for everyone in the region. Your support helps us advocate for better trails and more bike lanes. Thank you.

If you want to get more involved with WABA, sign up for our advocacy alerts, join us for a City Cycling class, or volunteer at an event. Otherwise, we’ll see you at the Holiday Party in December.

We’ve collected some photos from the ride below, but, first, a final shoutout to our sponsors:

 

Celebration Sponsor:

And for additional support from:

Enjoy the photo gallery from this year’s Cider Ride!

 

Top 5 Reasons to join us for the Cider Ride

| Cyrus Chimento

The Cider Ride is one WABA ride that you absolutely don’t want to miss out on. With three routes (10-, 28-, and 55-miles) there is something fun for everyone. Get outside and enjoy all the good stuff happening on this ride:

Register

  1. The Ride: Nothing beats a cool, clear fall day on trails and calm roads. Explore the Anacostia Tributary Trail system, dive deep into Prince George’s County to see the agricultural and wildlife preserves, and enjoy the beautiful fall colors the way they were meant to be seen: from your bike!
  2. The Treats: Donuts, cider, pie, and hot chocolate are a delicious way to celebrate fall bicycling, and they’ll warm you right up when you’re feeling chilled from the ride. (If you aren’t into sweets, don’t worry; we’ll have fruit, water, and salty snacks around as well.)
  3. The Friends: 700 bicyclists from around the region come out to ride and support WABA. Cider Ride is a great place to see old friends and make new ones—you already have one thing in common: you love biking!
  4. The Progress: Every year, we see the region get better for biking. If you’ve done the ride before, note the progress we’ve made, like new trail connections near College Park. If you’re new, join us in pushing for more! By doing Cider Ride, you are directly supporting our advocacy work to move the needle.
  5. The Celebration: The Dew Drop Inn, voted DC’s bike friendliest business in earlier this year, is hosting the post-ride celebration. Stay and hang out for awhile: there will be live music, food, drinks, and lots of good cheer!

Register

See you there! If you have any questions, check out our FAQs or get in touch with us: events@waba.org or 202-518-0524 x218.

Of course, we want to say a huge thank you to our sponsors for supporting better bicycling in our region:

Celebration Sponsor:

And for additional support from:

Celebrating 15 Years of 50 States

| Cyrus Chimento

On Saturday, September 8th, WABA hosted the 50 States Ride!

Despite wet weather predictions, hundreds of riders joined us to pedal one of three routes and explore the District by bike! While the rain eventually did materialize, it did nothing to dampen spirits—riders made their way around the city, ticking off state-named avenues one by one on the 50 States, Route 66, and 13 Colonies routes. Afterward, participants celebrated the ride’s 15th year at Mellow Mushroom, collected a free drink and t-shirt, and basked in the glow of the day’s accomplishments—and plenty of hills.

To all the riders: thank you for supporting WABA! Like all signature rides, the proceeds from the 50 States Ride directly fund the hard work that WABA is doing to make bicycling better for everyone in the region. Your support helps us advocate for better trails and more bike lanes. Thank you.

If you want to get more involved with WABA, sign up for our advocacy alerts, join us for a City Cycling class, or volunteer at an event. Otherwise, we’ll see you at the Cider Ride on November 3rd!

We’ve collected some photos from the ride below, but, first, a final shoutout to our sponsors:

Enjoy these highlights from this year’s 50 States Ride!

 

What’s new with 50 States?

| Cyrus Chimento

This year marks the 15th anniversary of WABA’s legendary 50 States Ride. First started in 2003, the 50 States Ride holds many superlatives. It’s WABA’s longest-standing signature event. It’s WABA’s biggest and most popular ride. It’s a local institution, coming in at #1 in Andrea Sieger’s “111 Places in Washington That You Must Not Miss”. For anyone new to the ride, it’s best described as an “urban scavenger hunt, by bike”.

The 50 States Ride is a well-loved tradition, but we think there’s room for some updates to keep things interesting. So, this year, we’ll be adding a few new features:

Route 66: If you’ve already registered, you saw that we’ve added a third route option. Route 66 is a 35-mile route that tours the eight streets named for states that the original US Route 66 passed through. You’ll ride these states in geographical order, east to west, without riding on any other state streets in the District. Route 66 is a middle distance option between the two classic routes, 50 States and 13 Colonies. But, don’t worry, there are still plenty of hills. Welcome to the new American road trip! We hope you enjoy it.

“State Style” Costume Contest: With Tour de Fat not coming to DC this year, there’s a vacuum where silliness on bikes is concerned. We want to recapture some of that silliness, so we’re running a contest: dress up in a costume, show off your style, or highlight your wacky or unique bike. The theme is *states*, so you can choose to show off your home state, or you can interpret the theme more broadly: state of mind, stately, etc. Full costumes may or may not be your thing—full costumes, team tutus, helmet decorations, or a simple state-themed jersey are all welcome*.

Rules: To enter the contest, just post a picture of yourself, all costumed up, during the ride to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, with #statestyle #50statesride by 6pm on the day of the ride. We’ll decide on the best costume, and the winner will get a free one-year membership, a 50 States VIP cycling cap, and a social media shoutout that will bring them everlasting fame and fortune.

*Please don’t dress up as anything offensive. This contest is for fun, and we’d really hate for you to bring the mood down for other people.

Scavenger Hunt: The 50 States route has always been a bit of a scavenger hunt. You explore the city, get lost, and find your way again, seeing new places in the city along the way. But unless you have the world’s greatest sense of direction, you don’t always really know where you are, or anything about the place. We want to give you the chance to know the District even better and add another level of fun—through an actual scavenger hunt! The hunt will be included in your cue sheet booklet. It’s totally optional, but it will be a fun way to connect with the neighborhoods you’re riding through.

Here’s to the next 15 years of riding 50 States!