Showoffs Wanted!

UPDATE: Are you looking for the latest information about the ABC's of Family Biking, including event schedule and partners? Click here for the most up-to-date ABC's of Family Biking news!

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WE WANT YOU to show off your bike at the second annual ABC's of Family Biking!

Together with WABA and the DDOT Safe Routes to School Program, Kidical Mass DC will once again present the "ABC's of Family Biking," an event to help interested-but-concerned parents learn about the tools and resources available to help them bike with their children. The ABC's of Family Biking will take place on Sunday, April 28, 2013, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the parking lot of the Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan, 215 G Street NE.

As it did last year, the ABC's of Family Biking will feature:

- a show-and-tell by current bicycling parents (that's you!) to share the tips, tricks and tools that enable them to bicycle with their children
- a special class on creating and organizing "biketrains" to help children bike to and from school in supervised groups
- exhibits by local bike shops and dealers demonstrating the range of tools and equipment available for family biking.

PLUS this year, we're going to try something new: a "Swap or Sell" for secondhand kids' bikes and cycling equipment.

What can you do to be a part of this fun event? I'm so glad you asked!

First and most importantly, we need exhibitors for the Show-and-Tell portion of the program, the heart of the ABC's of Family Biking. While we're happy to feature all sorts of biking arrangements and equipment, we would especially like to see at least one of each of the following:

- Front-mounted seat (iBert, Yepp, BOBike Mini)
- Rear-mounted seat (Yepp, Topeak, Peanut Shell etc.)
- Trail-a-bike
- Trailer (Chariot, Burley, Wike)
- Longtail cargo bike (Surly Big Dummy, Xtracycle Free Radical, Xtracycle Radish, Yuba Mundo)
- Bakfiets/boxbike
- Cargo trike
- Independent kids' bike

Did you build your own kids' bike seat (you know who you are!) or make a really cool DIY mod to an existing product? Come and show off your mad skills!

We could also use a few people to help with check-in, setup, and cleanup. Everyone who helps out with the event as a volunteer or Show & Tell demonstrator will receive as a thank-you gift their own copy of "Taking the Lane: Childhood," a collection of meditations on bikes and childhood edited by Portland bike author Elly Blue.

I'm excited to be bringing this event back to DC after last year's great turnout. If you're interested in joining the event as a Show & Tell demonstrator, a business (all bike shops are welcome! We have TABLES this time!), or other type of volunteer, fill out this quick survey so we can make sure there's space for everyone.

Thanks, happy riding, and I look forward to seeing you next month!

ABC's of Family Biking 2013

Yes, friends, the ABC's of Family Biking will return this year!

The event will take place on Sunday, April 28 from 11am to 1pm at the parking lot of Capitol Hill Montessori School at Logan (215 G Street NE). Once again, it will be a joint effort between Kidical Mass DC, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, and the District Department of Transportation Safe Routes to School Program.

We are still working on some of the final details, but I can tell you one thing: our motto for this year is BIGGER AND BETTER.

Can't wait to see you there!

FINAL Kidical Mass Ride of 2012: 10/27/2012 to the Zoo!

Can you believe it's October already? Falling leaves! Pumpkins! And, of course, Halloween!

We'll have our final Kidical Mass ride of 2012 this Saturday, October 27. Alex and I will be converting our Big Orange Bike into a pirate ship, complete with Jolly Roger flag, and I encourage you to bring your own fun bike-inspired costumes. We'll have a costume contest with copies of bike journalist Elly Blue's new book about bikes and childhood (and maybe some other goodies) as prizes!

For this month's ride we will bike to the National Zoo. I've biked there a few times, always going the "hard way" up Connecticut Avenue; but thanks to Friends of the Ride Tim, Lori and Reina, we have a new kid-friendly route that ends conveniently close to the Children's Zoo!

This ride will have three meetups:

• Eckington (Met Branch Trail @ R Street NE): 10:30am
• Edgewood/Brookland (Met Branch Trail @ Franklin Street NE, near Chocolate City Brewing Company): 10:45am
  
• Columbia Heights (Columbia Heights Circle at 14th Street & Park Road NW): 11:15am
• arrive at Zoo: 11:30am. Costume contest judging.

Route map is here.

Total distance (R Street to Zoo entrance): 4.5 miles


Difficulty: Intermediate. We will ride on the sidewalk for the Michigan Ave/Washington Hospital Center section.

I hope to see you out this Saturday.

Thank you all for joining us for a splendid biking season!

Next Ride, Saturday September 15: H Street Festival!

We took a survey late last week about where people would prefer to ride for the September Kidical Mass ride, and it looks like the "H's" have it! We'll taking a very easy ride from Turkey Thicket Rec Center in Brookland to the H Street NE Festival to enjoy the many sights, sounds, smells and tastes that this fabulous street festival offers. The ride will start at Turkey Thicket at 11:15am on Saturday morning and will head down the Met Branch Trail and through NoMa and Near Northeast before finding a place to park on the North side of the H Street NE Festival (I'll try to find out if there will be more bike racks for the Festival).

Since the route is so easy and largely consists of trails, bike lanes and quiet residential streets, this is a GREAT ride for novice cyclists, parents new to cycling with their children, kids, and anyone who wants to practice their street riding skills in a friendly (and slow-moving!) group.

The H Street Festival is one of my favorite street festivals in DC, featuring lots of great food, entertainment for all ages, and booths from fun organizations and vendors, including two of our favorite bike shops, BicycleSPACE and The Daily Rider. You can check out the Washington Post's recommendations on festival highlights here; a list of the performances on the Family Stage is here (scroll down).

As a suggested trip to the National Zoo also saw a late-election surge in last week's poll, we'll be taking a trip there next month. Maybe with an animal-themed costume contest? We'll see!

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2012

Destination: H Street NE Festival, H Street NE from 8th St to 12th St

Meetup Times:

• 11:15am, Turkey Thicket Rec Center (East side of the building, near the parking lot and basketball courts)
• 11:30am, R Street NE @ Met Branch Trail
• 11:45am, J.O. Wilson Elementary School, 6th & K NE
• 12:00noon, arrive at H Street Festival

Total Distance: 3.5 miles, starting from Turkey Thicket

Difficulty: Easy! Bike trail, bike lanes, and residential streets.

Route: Click here for a route map.

Hope to see you there!

E-mail Megan Odett, organizer, at KidicalMassDC@gmail.com with questions.

Kidical Mass "Auxiliary" ride this Sunday, September 9!

Kidical Mass regulars Tim, Lori and Reina are organizing a family bike ride in Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant this Sunday, September 9. This is a great chance for our NW-based riders to participate in an event closer to home! 

Here are the details:

Inspired by Kidical Mass, we are organizing a short family bike ride in Columbia Heights / Mt. Pleasant. Anyone who rides a bike is welcome to come. The ride is intended to be kid- and family-friendly and is a 2-mile loop.

• Where: The Trolley Turnaround Park at the corner of 11th St. NW and Monroe St. NW (the full route on a Google map is here) 
• When: Sunday, Sept. 9 at 10:00am 
• Who: Anyone! Especially kids and families, including kids on their own bikes or riding on a parent's bike

Next Ride: Saturday, August 25: St. Elizabeths Bike Carnival

St. Elizabeths East--site of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital and a designated National Historical Landmark--is hosting a Bike Carnival as part of its "Season of Discovery" during summer 2012. The festival will feature a kids' bike rodeo, a bike decoration station, the chance to take a self-guided tour on campus streets that have been shut down especially for this event, and a family bike parade to wrap up the festivities.

We will follow a similar route to our "Tour de Fat" ride from June--heading south from Brookland (Edgewood, really) along the Met Branch Trail  to 4th Street and then 11th Street, which we'll follow to the Southeast Waterfront. There, we'll cross the Anacostia River on the 11th Street Bridge and spend a short time on the beautiful, peaceful Anacostia Riverfront Trail before cutting through the heart of Historic Anacostia. If you've never seen the "Big Chair" in person, now's your chance!

We'll be aiming to arrive at the Carnival around 12:00 noon. I will lead a return biketrain at a time to be determined by the group, probably after some of the afternoon festivities such as the bike raffle and Family Bike Parade.

You can catch up with the group in:

• Edgewood at 10:45am (8th St. NE & Franklin St. NE near Chocolate City Brewing Company)
• Eckington, 11:00am (R Street NE @ Met Branch Trail)
  
• NoMa, 11:15am (M Street NE @ Met Branch Trail)
• Capitol Hill 11:30pm (Stanton Park @ 4th Street NE)

Estimated arrival at St. Elizabeths: 12:00pm
Route map with meetups is here; more information about the Bike Carnival is here; learn more about the fascinating (and creepy) history of St. Elizabeths here.

This ride will be almost 7 miles one-way, so I'm rating it as advanced (best suited for adults and older children, with little kids as passengers); however, the route itself is fairly easy, relying mainly on bike lanes and paved, separated trails.

Next ride: Saturday, July 21 SPLASHDOWN!

Cool off with us in the splash park at the newly-renovated Joe Cole Recreation Center. Once again, we'll start out at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in Brookland and coast downhill along the Met Branch Trail. After a quick swing through Near Northeast, we'll bike up to the Rec Center for some noisy, wet fun in their new splash park. Afterward, anyone who's hungry can join us for lunch at The Argonaut, one of H Street's most kid-friendly dining establishments.

more details below the break!