The weather really cooperated for Bike to Work Day today, and people came out in large numbers. It's the largest group I've seen at Freedom Plaza for BTWD. The time may be coming, if it's not already here, when Freedom Plaza is too small to handle the crowd. There were lines for everything and hardly room to move around. Several of the freebies ran out - including power bars given out by the new downtown transportation site goDCgo. Not to complain about free stuff - but I couldn't find anything (cream cheese or peanut butter) to put on my bagel. That made me sad. I did get coffee before it ran out.
Many groups set up tables there. The Park Service was giving out trail maps for area national parks. WABA was encouraging people to sign postcards to push DC to finish the Met Branch Trail - part of their "Where's Our Trail" campaign. Bike the sites had the 7 person funcycle there. ZipCar, Rails to Trails, the DC BAC and City Bikes were also there.
I didn't catch all the speakers but the local politicians I saw were mayoral candidates Marie Johns and Linda Cropp. If you saw other candidates please mention it in the comments. Marie Johns needed a bicycling consultant to tell her not to mention that she enjoys "spinning." You could sense a collective eye roll. The crowd was so large you couldn't hear most speakers, but Linda Cropp - that woman knows how to project.
If someone (like me) told you that you could get a T-shirt even if you didn't register in time, they were wrong. Sorry.
All in all it was a success, even if I didn't get a free bike.
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