Hyattsville Life & Times | June 2010
Page 9
Commuting without cars on Bike to Work Day by Susie Currie Usually, 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. is not when Magruder Park is at its busiest. But on Bike to Work Day, May 21, more than a hundred cyclists gathered near the playground pavilion for a pit stop complete with fruit, pastries from Uptown Bakery, T-shirts, water bottles and camaraderie. Volunteer organizer Anne Zuk tallied 118 riders in all, 91 of them pre-registered. Nearly a quarter were making the trip to their offices for the first time. Among them was Jason Riggs, who usually bikes from his Hyattsville Hills home to the West Hyattsville Metro station. “I’m excited to try part of the Metropolitan Branch Trail this morning,” said Riggs, describing his route to 16th & U streets in Washington, D.C. Arrow Bicycle owners Chris Militello and Chris Davidson were on hand to offer “mechanical, psychological, and logistical support,” said Militello, who at his store regularly helps those new either to biking or to Hyattsville map out various routes to work and other destinations. The two of them checked air pressure and brakes, and Davidson even fixed one rider’s bike computer on the spot.
It was the third year Magruder Park hosted a pit stop − and the first with clear, sunny skies. Attendance was up from about 70 last year, which, like the year before, had been cold and drizzly. “The weather definitely helps with turnout,” said Militello. Magruder Park was one of five Prince George’s County pit stops on the 38th Annual Bike to Work Day, an event coordinated by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Commuter Connections, part of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The morning culminated in a record-setting rally at Washington’s Freedom Plaza, with a crowd of more than 9,000. Two of the Magruder Park riders, Chris Doyle and Michael Karpman, were headed to the rally, as they’ve done nearly every year since “sometime during the Carter administration,” said Doyle, a Hyattsville resident. The two met years ago as employees at Mt. Rainier’s Glut Food Co-op, where Doyle still works. “I’m actually having a Bike Away From Work Day,” he explained. He said the only years he missed the downtown rally were when he had very young children. This year, one of those children, Anne, now 14, was part of a biker convoy headed to
photo by catie currie Michael Karpman, who has participated in Bike to Work Day for 30 years, demonstrated his recumbent-bicycle technique at this year's pit stop in Magruder Park.
Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt. Among the group of students was Hyattsville resident Lucia Kilday, 14, who, after seeing her friends off at Roosevelt, continued on to Robert Goddard School in Seabrook, where she is in 8th grade. “That was probably about eight miles each way,” estimated her father, Stuart Eisenberg. Doyle and Karpman fielded questions about their recumbent bicycles from interested fellow travelers. Unlike the more common up-
right bicycles, recumbent models distribute weight over a wider area, as the rider reclines with legs outstretched. As Karpman, a math tutor, demonstrated the riding position for curious onlookers, he explained the attraction of bikes like his over the traditional variety. “They’re faster, more comfortable, and safer − because you ride downhill feet first instead of head first,” he said. “Other than that, they’re exactly the same.”
Unique bachelor party trades pints for paints by Bart Lawrence Living it up at a typical bachelor (or bachelorette) party rarely leaves you feeling better the next morning. Erik Pedley’s, though, was anything but typical. The 26-year-old and 28 of his friends and family members held his bachelor party on a recent Saturday volunteering at Hyattsville Elementary School. “I wanted to do something to celebrate the next chapter in my life with my fianceé, Teresa [Wendt],” said Pedley. The wedding is planned for June 26. When Pedley, a University of Maryland graduate who lives in Germantown, got the idea to have what he described as a “charitable” party, he began looking at schools in the College Park area. A conversation with his grandmother, who is good friends with a teacher at the school, led him to Hyattsville Elementary. The next thing Pedley knew he was standing on a ladder with a paintbrush in hand. (Though it wasn’t really as simple as that; in between, Pedley received a lot of planning assistance from his best man, Bobby Goldbeck.) The party painted and repaired basketball hoops and landscaped the school’s garden, using 45 bags of mulch. The Jaffe Construction Company of Rockville (owned by Pedley’s stepfather, Bill Lieter) provided the skills, equipment and materials necessary to repair and expand the school’s outdoor
photo by candace hollingsworth Erik Pedley, center, is flanked by Bill Leiter, left, and Bobby Goldbeck, two guests he invited to be part of a work crew at Hyattsville Elementary School for his bachelor party. classroom seating, an area that had fallen out of use due to disrepair. In addition to their beautification and repair efforts, the party raised nearly $1,200 in donations, primarily from wedding guests. The donations will be used to buy approximately 200 books for the school’s library. “This is great for the school and community,” said PTA member Jonathan Alexander, “and a wonderful show of generosity.” “I’m proud of my friends for coming out to help,” said Pedley. “We had a lot of fun.” This sort of fun isn’t likely to put the aspirin companies out of business anytime soon. But if the idea catches on, look out, Bayer.
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