WAGBRAD I in the bag (and CAM is done?)

The first WAGBRAD was held last month on a very pleasant August Saturday. I would say that for a first run, it was a success. We had about 17 people ride at least part of the ride and 8 made it to the finish line - this despite more than a few errors on the cue sheet. I've not included any names - to protect the innocent.

We started at Jones Point lighthouse and several cyclists dipped their back tire in the Potomac - despite the low water level meaning you had to walk over mud to do so. We set out on the crowded Mt. Vernon trail, picking up - and unfortunately losing - a few people along the way. I talked to one rider from Iowa who had done RABGRAI and so wanted to try this. I was informed that the Pork Chop guy no longer sells pork chops at RAGBRAI, which is a real shame. As we had already lost a rider, we split up at TR Island with some of us going on and others going back to find her.

We switched to the Capital Crescent Trail via the Foundry Branch tunnel and headed up to the far side of the Dalecarlia Reservoir. We briefly switched to the Long Branch trail and then into the Westmoreland Hills neighborhood. This is where we got the only flat that any one had - as far as I know. Again we split up.

We got onto our first border street, Western Avenue, and rode through forgiving traffic all the way to Rock Creek Park, where we stopped for lunch - after the split ups and other losses we were down to six people. We waited for a long time and then decided that the others behind us must've bailed out, so we pushed on through Colonial Village and onto Eastern Avenue.

We rolled down the east side of DC and through Blair Park - which I realized had been listed on the cue sheet as the lunch stop. We rode the Met Branch trail a little and got back onto Eastern. It's an interesting ride because, for me, you keep passing points that you're used to going into/out of DC on, and it's weird to connect them all together. We switched to Bladensburg Road and were pleasantly surprised to find the two groups we'd split up from earlier. They had waited for us at Blair Park and then gave up and went on ahead. From there we road through Bladensburg Park (next year's lunch stop and a War of 1812 battlefield) and the Cheverly area. Again a couple of cyclist dropped off promising to catch up with us later. We got back onto Eastern and rode to the east corner of DC taking a brief, mosquito infested detour to see the east corner marker stone.

We switched to Southern Avenue, making detours around the Hebrew Cemetery and the apartment complex near Naylor Road Metro. This is where the first bad cue sheet directions sent those without me in the completely wrong direction. We continued along Southern and much to my surprise, people shouted encouragement at us as we struggled up the steep hills. Much more "You can do it!" then "Get out of the way!" We turned off at Indian Head highway, negotiated another cue sheet error, and rode through Forest Heights to Oxon Hill Farm. We rode through the park along the cove and then up one last hill to the park entrance. From there it was over the beltway and for a few blocks onto the only bike lane we would find the whole ride.

The trail down to National Harbor is not in yet, though they have been doing some work, so we had to ride on the road. There was little traffic so we felt like we were on a big ride with closed roads. We rode bikes to the Awakening - until the security guard told us to walk them. As we dipped front tires into the water - by reaching over the wall, the security guard rolled over to us on her segway and said, "You can't do that." "Do what?" "Whatever it is you're doing." And then she made us bring our bikes up from the waterfront - after telling us we had to walk them down. So that was that. We had some food and drinks at the end of the ride. The last two riders, who had fallen back at Cheverly, met us there despite the confusing directions and much celebrating occurred.  After eating we all rode back either to the Southern Avenue Metro or home (ohmypolarbear - who took the photo below - rode all the way back to Alexandria. A 19.5 mile, 1.5 hour ride that will soon be only 1.5 miles and 19.5 minutes). The whole ride ended up being about 55 miles, so not bad.

All in all it was a success - my goal was a dozen riders and half dozen finishers - so I was glad to exceed that. I think everyone had fun and the weather was better than could be imagined. Next year I'll push the start time back, move the lunch stop, correct the cue sheet and we'll be using the Wilson Bridge Multi-use path. Hopefully I'll see you all there.

Speaking of state rides, it looks like CAM - or Cycle Across Maryland - may not be back next year.

In what could be Cycle Across Maryland's final year, 528 bicyclists enjoyed the scenic vistas and hospitable charm of the Frederick area Thursday through Sunday as they participated in rides, tours and other activities.

Mount St. Mary's University served as the base camp, where cyclists either tent-camped or slept in dorm rooms and enjoyed the swimming pool and massages after daily rides.

It was announced that this year would be One Less Car's last year of sponsoring the event, which was founded by CAM Inc. in 1989.

The event has been held on Maryland's Eastern Shore the last couple of years and registration has dropped off.

More on the ride here

Friday's ride included the area's three covered bridges, the historic stone arch Legore Bridge and a lunch stop at the Walkersville Heritage Farm Park.

Saturday's ride travels through the Gettysburg area. Distances range from 16 to 100 miles. Sunday's rides, from 19 to 46 miles, travel along the Monocacy River through rolling farm countryside to Taneytown.

"But this year, registration was up 25 percent, and we don't know if that's because riders like this area for cycling or if people signed on because they're afraid this would be the last year," Chatman said.

Organizers will survey riders in the next week or so, Chatman said, to find out what cyclists want to do, and One Less Car's board of directors might revisit its decision to abandon the event.

Comments

[Moose]

I suspect that more people signed up for CAM because it was in an interesting location again. The spot on the Eastern Shore was interesting once, maybe twice, but it was starting to be year after year, and let's face it, it's flat & boring to ride there, not to mention all the wind. CAM was better when it was actually "across" Maryland.