Anacostia Trail Extension Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Friday Nov 4, 2011 at Bladensburg Waterfront Park

Somewhere close to 150 Cyclists/Politicians gathered on the banks of the Anacostia River to cut the ribbon on a 1 1/2 mile extension of the trail on the east side of the river crossing into DC and the ten miles (planned) into the heart of the Nation's Capital.

There was a complete gathering of the Who/Who's in the Bike World and Elected Officials. I will try to mention a few I remember: Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (Does Ride a Bike), Senator Ben Cardin(Avid Cyclist), Rushern Baker - County Executive of Prince George's County, DC Mayor Vincent Gray, Sec of Trans Ray LaHood, Dep. Sec John Porcari (the Most Dedicated Bike Supporter of the Wilson Bridge Bike Way), Sec. of Interior Ken Salazar, State Senator Paul Pinsky, County Council Member Eric Olson, mayors of all the neighboring towns, Darrell Mobley - MDOT/SHA, David Whitaker - Department of Planning, Michael Jackson - MDOT, Steve Carr - DNR, Jennifer Toole - Toole Design, RJ Elridge, Carol Sildorff - Bike Maryland, Jim Hudnall - Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club, Jim Swift- Chair of Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (MBPAC), Jim Titus - MBPAC, Fred Shaffer - MNCPPC, Eileen Nivera - MNCPPC, Nate Evans - Bike Baltimore, Bob Patten - Toole Design, Del Barbara Frush,Jim Sebastion - DC-Bike, Alex Obriecht - RacePace Bikes, Dustin Kudzar - SHA and many-many that I can't recall.

I was fortunate in that I was able to speak with just about all the important folks there and thank them for their Great Support of Biking in Md. and that we were looking forward to connecting Baltimore through Howard Co. to DC. We all rode the 1 1/2 mile extension and just about all the Big Folks including Governor O'Malley, his nine old old son Jack, Secretary Salazar and many kids because there were out of school on Friday.

There was a nice wooden boardwalk along the river. The Boardwalk/Trail was mostly 10', but was narrowed down to 8' because we believe they installed the railings backward and took away 2' of  important riding space. All in all it was a beautiful day for a Bike Ride and all showed great support for Batter/Safer Biking in Maryland. We left the ribbon cutting with the great feeling that we had great support for Biking from the Feds-State-Counties-Park Services-Elected Officials-Citizens of Maryland and many of the folks who ride their Bikes in Maryland.

Check out the photo album or slideshow about this wonderful Bike Day in Maryland. [See the photo album]   [view the slideshow]

Thanks, Bill Kelly - BAHC