Our Ever Growing School Garden Tour

Our annual fall School Garden Tour takes a look at the ever-expanding network of school gardens in the District. Each school offers a proposal for a new project and the tour concludes with a vote to decide who receives the crowdfunded donations. Our first stop was Cleveland ES in Shaw. 

Sarah and Jasmine help manage the garden as well as a variety of related programs. At Cleveland ES 99% of the student body is eligible for free or reduced lunch and for most students this is one of the few places to access green open space. Every Wednesday is a Garden Market, where students run stands to learn business skills. 

We sampled some cream cheese made with chive, garlic, and radish from the garden. There is an emphasis on family and community involvement. Students can learn recipes to take home and share. They've hosted a pop-up restaurant with some of the garden edibles. Jasmine hopes to use donations for more signage incorporating art in the garden, as well as signs to display information in Spanish and English.  

We depart to our next stop, Tubman ES in Columbia Heights. 

Tubman ES's garden is 6 years old and all 500 students are involved. Together they have 12 raised beds, mostly of edibles. 

Garden Coordinator Rebecca plans to use funds to remove rodents and pests from the north side of the garden and install a pumpkin patch. 

We helped install signs painted by students and volunteers. The beds are class or grade assigned, which give students ownership over projects. 

Fresh tomatoes from the garden. Tubman ES has a number of garden-focused after school programs, such as their Cooking Club and Junior Gardeners for pre-k. 

Tubman ES has been compositing since the garden first began. Rebecca describes the steps taken on the newly designed bins to keep pests away. 

Ward 3 Council-member, Mary Cheh, has been a longtime proponent of programs like school gardens. In 2010 she helped author and introduce the Healthy Schools Act, a transformative piece of legislation that is influencing the way both Public and Charter Schools in District deal with issues such as "growing poverty, poor nutrition and environmental degradation." There is a strong emphasis on increasing access to nutritious locally sourced food. 

We head west to Adams Morgan, happy to have some neighborhood kids cheer us up the hill. 

Marie Reed ES on 18th Street was visited by Michelle Obama and other lawmaker's spouses as part of a focus on healthy schools. The garden has undergone some rebuilding recently. 

The team at Marie Reed ES: Amelia, with Food Corps. Carolyn, School Health Coordinator. Principal Katie Lundgren. Community member and volunteer Jeff. Lundgren, who's in her first year as Principal at Marie Reed, is proud to be part of the Monarch Sister School program. The program gives instruction on building butterfly-friendly gardens and allows them to Skype with a partner school in Mexico, the winter home of Monarch butterflies. Marie Reed donations would be used to construct a compost system.

Our ride leader, OSSE School Garden Specialist, Sam Ullery and his daugther Ophelia. Ullery oversees all 108 school gardens in the District, and Ophelia hands out snacks to ride participants at the stops. Garden programs grow every year. When we began these rides two years ago there were around 80. 

Our group heads back towards downtown for our final stop.

Aptly named, The Farm at Walk Jones Education Campus, a DC Public School pre-k to 8th grade, at 1125 New Jersey Ave NW, is one of the largest gardens in the district. 

The Farm is managed by Sarah, far left, and her team of volunteers at DC Greens. DC Greens is a teaching and training program focused on “connecting communities to healthy food.”  They offer monthly professional development workshops for school garden coordinators across the city. 

It once sat vacant for 10 years, but now The Farm can produce 3000 pounds of produce. Sarah's goal is to make the space as much about the community as the school by recruiting local volunteers and opening up the space for various markets and classes. 

The Farm is bustling with activity in the fall. Lots of community members drop by to volunteer. 

After dining in the outdoor classroom, our group voted for a project to fund. Marie Reed ES in Adams Morgan will receive all of our participants' donations to help create a compost system.

Thanks to Sam for his work managing the program, and to all the School Garden Coordinators in DC: enjoy the harvest!

Thanks to Whole Foods Market P Street and Chipotle for supporting this event.

Ed and Mary

Ed and Mary spent their first date on a 100 mile tandem ride and never looked back. Most recently they completed the Colorado High Country 1200k and the Paris-Brest-Paris. Cycling allows them to connect with the world around them.

Park(ing) Day 2014

One of our favorite days of the year, Park(ing) Day! This is an international movement to reclaim parking spaces in the name of public space, art, and community. Temporary parklets were set up all over the city.

Here on 7th street we once again installed a lounge outside our shop, complete with Phil's church pew, paintings by our mechanic Bernie, and of course cookies and lemonade. It's amazing what you can fit in a single space.

Did you make it to any other parklets in the city? Share your #parkingday photos with us on our instagram. 

Story and Photos by Francis Tatem, Marketing Manager

5x5 Ride Public Art Ride

5x5 is the city’s largest temporary art project, featuring work in every ward. This weekend, we created a group ride led by local artists to explore the various installations across the city. 

While our city is known for many traditional art institutions, such as the NGA pictured here on 4th street, it’s the growth of public art that is producing some of the most interesting and accessible works. 

Director of Hamiltonian Gallery, Amanda Jirón-Murphy, on the right, approaches the “Nonuments” site in SW. Hamiltonian Gallery is a U-street gallery focusing on contemporary emerging artists and hosted our post-ride reception. Rides like this one allow DC’s art community to connect and see new work being produced.  

Riders peer into Peep by Jonathan Fung. This shipping container contains thought provoking imagery that speaks to the plight of human trafficking. 

In Jennifer Wen Ma’s Portrait Garden, blackened flowers are part of an inked garden. When viewed from above, the flowers create a portrait of a SW community member. 

Modeled after wren nests, Cameron Hockenson’s Migration, addresses themes of gentrification and marginalized communities. 

From the artist: "Migration was constructed using pvc pipe, chicken wire, burlap, twine, manilla rope, wooden polls, wire, spray foam, house paint, zip ties, steel brackets, nuts, bolts, washers and bird seed."

Public art is perceived in many different ways. Unlike galleries, many people encounter public art by chance, rather than seek it out. This public setting affects the context in which the art is observed and considered. SW Civic Association President, Kael Anderson, above, speaks to the varying responses he gets from community members regarding the work. Fundamental questions like "what is art?", "is this trash... a nuisance?" are all raised. 

All of the works in this patch of SW were curated by Lance Fung. From here, we headed east to the Navy Yard.

This historic Naval building contained one of the grander installations.

Riders strolled into one of the few original buildings left in the Navy Yard. 

Glenn Kaino’s Bridge was modeled after the raised fist of Tommie Smith, the iconic athlete of the Mexico City Olympic games. 

From the artist’s representative: "[Bridge] speaks of the power of collective action, the responsibilities we have to others, and the idea that the rights we enjoy today were reached because of the path laid for us by those who came before” 

A vote for public art! Our group poses in front of Kota Ezawa’s Hand Vote, a testament to the ideal of democracy. The issue of DC statehood immediately became a topic of conversation. 

From the Navy Yard, we headed back towards Shaw, by way of NOMA. 

Marley Dawson’s Construction (T Street NW) was inspired by his childhood home in Australia. Marley’s father built their family homes from the ground up. “As soon as he finished building the house he was ready to move and build a new one” recalls Marley. 

Marley chose green to mimic chroma-key, the green screen effect in film and video. His construction was created as “a temporary structure built with a language of permanence on a city-owned block whose vacancy is regularly contested.”  

Our two awesome tour guides, Marley Dawson (left) with his work, and Calder Brannock (right), creator of the Adventure Residency Program. 

Calder's program finds new ways to bring artists and collectors together, such as road trips in a restored camper, where they plan, produce, and disseminate new work on site in response to the communities they visit. Brannock is particularly interested in the role of the curators in projects like 5x5. For him, the ability to curate a space and communicate a message is often more powerful than any one installation on it's own.  

Post ride reception: we check out the latest group show at Hamiltonian Gallery. 

Thanks to Calder, Marley, Amanda, Angie, and our ride marshals for putting together such a great ride. Bikes are the perfect vehicle to connect to your city and those around you. We hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into the world of our city’s art scene.

The 5x5 installations will be up through December. 

On Patrol

Russell of Cedar City Utah, has been coming to Interbike since its inception. He volunteers with IMBA’s National MTB Patrol to provide support and education on his local trails. Every year the NMBP comes to Interbike’s Outdoor Demo to run the various medic stations throughout Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nevada. 

Believe it or not, it gets hot out here in the desert. The patrollers stock up on plenty of water to hand out to grateful demo riders. 

Russel's Surly Moonlander is outfitted as a fully equipped first-aid bike. When he’s not working for the NMBP he likes to load up his bike for long trips with his dog. Bikes like this are great platforms for carrying supplies and navigating tough terrain. 

Later I'll discover a more practical reason to visit the first-aid tent myself. More on some overzealous riding and BicycleSPACE's adventures in the desert to come. 

By Francis Tatem, Marketing Manager 

2nd Annual DC Donut Crawl

What could be better than donuts and bikes? The 2nd Annual DC Donut Crawl took us to GBD in Dupont Circle, Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken downtown, and District Donuts pop-up near the 930 club. 

4 Year Anniversary Party

Big social ride to celebrate 4 years of BicycleSPACE! Thanks for the support. It's inspiring watching the D.C. bike community grow every year. Join us each week for more Rides and Events.

Trolley Relic Ride

The P Street Trolley Tracks was where we started our first #adventuretimes ride. As avid cobble goblers (#steelisreal) we decided the P street trolley tracks were the place to start. In Georgetown there are the remnants of the Cabin John trolley system, or the original H Street Streetcar. The Georgetown trolley tracks we're installed in the 1890's, and only retired from service in 1960. Pretty sweet little bit of history to start our Friday adventure!

Steep cobbles ahoy! My All City Macho Man disc had no problems with the steep cobbles, Kevin, seen here getting low and pro, had to be careful with his cantis though (can't stop, won't stop). Disaster was averted, we impressed a couple tourists and headed to our destination, a retired trolly trestle.  

Here's the trestle! Look how fast I'm going, I'm blurry! We had been talking about visiting this trestle for a while and I'm stoked we finally visited it. Being from the San Francisco, Yay Area I have a soft spot for anything trolley related, and being a male raised on Thomas the Tank Engine anything train-ey makes me happy, so this pushed all sorts of buttons.

Not content merely gawking at the trestle we wanted to scramble to the top, portaging our bikes--hey, cross is coming! The ascent was a little sketchy, boards+nails, rusty rebar (I'm convinced rusty rebar will kill me someday) and a lot of random detritus. 

The run up was totally worth it. We found a tree that was growing around an old Schwinn! Just like that famous internet picture! We have our own treebike, #BikeDC!

The ride to the trestle was shorter than anticipated so we decided to zip down to the towpath and log a few extra miles, you know, for the Strava (In all seriousness, if you want to peep the route click here).

Kevin and I were pretty smiley because, a) we were riding for work b) the towpath just does that to you, everytime I think I'm getting bored of the C&O I'll ride it with friends and have a blast, and c) we're riding our All-Citys, so we're hella #partybrand.

The ultimate goal was to get rad before showing up to the shop for our shifts. Obviously that happened, as you can see from this photo of Kevin, catching some sick air, towpath style. Just look at Kevin's face. Much concentration. Many stoke. So air.

This C&O jump is way better, one can totally send it. I made sure my elbows were out--for ultimate braap-age. Seriously, I love the All City Macho Man, it's such a blast to ride, I'm definitely looking forward to purchasing a Macho King when they are available. Until next time, #bikeDC, go have your own adventure times!

If you build it they will come

BicycleSPACE co-founder, Phil Koopman, operates a bike storage facility business. Phil remembers installing some of the city's first bike racks over 20 years ago. 

Phil and Simon are working on contract for the Downtown BID and do all their installations by bike. 

The pair sometimes visits up to 15 sites in a day. 

 It's often a surprise what's underneath the sidewalk. Not all developers fill things in properly.

Phil applies some loctite to ensure the racks aren't going anywhere anytime soon. 

Fresh racks for M Street. As the city's biking population explodes there is some serious demand for more bike parking. Phil has installed at least 100 racks so far this year. 

Story and Photos by Francis Tatem, Marketing Manager 

Brewing History Tour

With author Garret Peck as our guide, we dove into the the brewing history of our wet city. After leaving from the shop, our bike tour began just down the road on 7th Street at a monument to the fruitless pursuit of the temperance movement...

The Temperance Fountain, once voted "the ugliest fountain in the city", was built strategically between one of the seediest parts of town and in close proximity to the Capitol building, notes Peck.

It’s builder hoped that by providing clean drinking water, the residents would happily give up their spirits and brews. Prohibition had the opposite effect, the 270 saloons operating in the District that were forced to close were soon replaced by nearly 3000 speakeasies. 

Parking lot H and I by Nationals Stadium used to be waterfront property, and at the foot of the canal stood Washington’s first brewery, aptly named the Washington Brewery. The first wave of brewers were of English and Irish descent and thus produced ales, Peck explains. This Brewery stood from 1805 to 1836 and was one of the first industrial sites in D.C. The surrounding Navy Yard provided many happy customers for the brewers. 

Ride participants included friend of Peck, the legendary local reporter, Tom Sherwood.

Eventually, in the 1850’s, a wave of German immigrants brought the perfect cure to humid D.C. summers, the lager. This style of brewing quickly gained popularity. Due to demands of the lager brewing process this industry ushered in technologies such as air conditioning and mechanical ice production. 

Numerous people involved early on in the local brewing industry were buried at Congressional cemetery. This victorian era park was designed to encourage leisure and picnics alongside relatives who may have passed. One of the most prolific brewing families, the Beckert's, are buried here.  

At one point, breweries were the second largest employer in the city behind the Federal government. In recent years craft brewing has seen a renaissance, and there are now more breweries in the city than at any point since prohibition. One such brewery, is Shaw’s own Right Proper Brewing Company. 

Riders, Brad and his daughter Claire, survey the offerings.

Thor and the crew at Right Proper were happy to serve up a wide array of their beers. Peck happily signed copies of his latest book Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C. 

You ride through history every time you get on your bike in this city. With the help of local experts like Mr. Peck, we can uncover some of these hidden gems and get a true taste for where we live.

By Francis Tatem, Media Specialist