*Didn't know where else to put this post so if it's in the wrong place, could a mod or admin kindly move it to its right place?*

I've got an internship at the Smithsonian Museum in D.C. and I'll be living in North Virginia (so I am told) and I can't bear the thought of 4 months without a bike! I currently ride more than I drive! I'm from the University of Hawaii and I'll be up there from August 30 til December 15. So can any members living in the area give me some input? I have so many questions!

Has anyone travelled much with their bike? How much does the airlines charge to ship, and how do they take care of your bike?

If I do bring my bike, any reputable bike shops in the area to reassemble it for me? My LBS said they can pack it up good for me but they can't include tools in the box -- TSA regulations -- sucks. Besides, I'd rather have it professionally reassembled anyway.

I don't know my address yet -- somewhere in north Virginia, but would it be feasible to bike to the Smithsonian from wherever I'm living? Approximately? They said they'd give me a subway pass. Or, if not, are bikes allowed on the subway?

Any good indoor parks that are BMX friendly? Honolulu has no parks really, so I'm looking forward to going to one. How's the scene? Lots of places to ride in the area? I used to flatland almost exclusively but ever since gas prices skyrocketed last year I've gotten into street riding. Now it's more like 90% street / 10% flat.

If I find that either I can't afford to bring my bike or the airlines won't let me... what's the used market like? Are there lots of BMX enthusiasts up there turning over beaters all the time? If I can't bring my bike, do you think it's realistic to pick up something rough but still combat-ready for around $100? Looks don't matter, long as the wheels are straight, the fork is strong... pegs and front brake mounts would be nice for flatlanding.

Would anyone be willing to show me around the town once I get the bike thing squared away?

I'm so super excited to be going, it'll be tough being away from my daughter for four months but I'll be doing good work at the Smithsonian, plus it'll be a nice life experience! Thanks guys! Much love to u all

[ July 08, 2006, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: phuture ]

I would expect Rick and / or RL Paulie could answer most of these questions for you.

I'm sure one of them will post.

I've been out of the area for the last three years, there was a pretty good trail scene, lots of Virginia clay! There was a Vans skatepark in Woodbridge, Va., but that's long gone.. there are a few bike friendly public parks around Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria.. but you can't beat riding DC. Lots of ledges, and stuff to mess around on.. and they seem to run the skateboarders off more than the bikes. I'm sure Rick will chime in with better info.. I miss riding there a lot. Enjoy it while you're there!

Cool! You'll love it here. I live out in the burbs so I'm not connected with the street scene in DC, but there is one. There are trails and shops, good not great. You can fly with bikes no problem. Search the new school racing forum for info on that. You can reach DC by bike from anywhere. Whether you'll want to or not is the question (distance, safety, etc.). Most Metro busses have bike racks on the front. Metro rail allows non-foldable bikes at all times accept during peak rush hours. That means you can't bring a bike on the Metro rail Mon-Fri between 7-10am, and 4-7pm.

I'll show you around town if you get me into the basement to see the coelacanth.

Lots of places to ride street in DC. A few outdoor parks & a new indoor one opening soon down in Stafford. 495 trails are fun. Metro is bike friendly on both busses & trains. Depending on where you end up living, if You are close to the W & OD bike path you will have a straight shot into DC from northhern VA. As far as shops go, I can hook you up with a few bmxers that work at shops depending on where you end up living. Cool website to check out too:
http://www.dcstreet.com/

Wow - sounds like an interesting gig. I'd love to work at a museum. (most especially a firearms museum)
D.C./NOVA life is ok - it is expensive, especially the closer you get to the district. Going from anywhere past Arlington into the Smithsonian on the W&OD would be lengthy. Road bike stuff for sure, but lots of folks do it. You can take your bike on the train, so if you land in Vienna or thereabouts (or points further east) you can take the train into the city.
If you like to ride skateparks and stuff, try to be further south like Springfield or Woodbridge. There are parks down that way (Stafford is a little farther south) and I'm pretty sure there is a train that runs north/south like the Metro runs east/west. There are no good skateparks in "Northern" Northern VA (Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn. There is a park in Leesburg, but it's cheesy portable ramps and no pegs allowed, so it is'nt even worth the drive.)
I'd recommend shipping your bike to your work if you can, it will be cheaper than flying with it. Airlines will beat up your bike (some of my DH Pro friends would actually just roll their whole bike up to the counter to check it in, claiming it shows up at their destination less beaten up as it would if packed in a case! -- airlines charge extra to fly a bike, but not golf clubs - a fact of life that used to tick me off until I started flying places to play golf instead of ride!) If you end up near Reston, go to Performance Bikes and ask for my friends Pat or Hyder. They will help you with your bike if you need it.
I personally have not been downtown on a bike in many years, but if you are into either street BMX or "urban freeride" MTB, there are lots of cool places to ride in D.C.
Ride the the Exorcist stairs in Georgetown...

Wow, thanks guys!!!

I just found out that it's gonna cost me $170 each way to bring my bike (I'm hopping two planes)... so that's over $300 to bring my bike with me!!!

So I think that's out of the question. So any of u locals think it'd be within my reach to pick up a beater for $100 or so once I get up there?

Oh yeah, I'm flying ATA Airlines and United. I didn't get to pick the airlines, unfortunately

There was a great BMX scene in NoVA the early 80's... in the Reston/Herndon/Fairfax area. Anybody remember and/or spent time at:

Shadow wood jumps
Hiddenbrook ramp (half pipe)
Southlakes ramp (half pipe)
Jeff Maluchi's Quarter Pipe
Starlet BMX track (in Annandale, next to Woodson High)
The Power Lines (Motocross track)
Rockville BMX
Columbia BMX (indoor track)

Slarlit Bmx 1980 Fairfax, VA.

WOW, I may actually BE the guy on the far left of the first picture in T-shirt and jeans.

[ November 22, 2006, 09:10 AM: Message edited by: ptrhahn ]

This ought to shake up the old memory banks...here's a couple of vids from starlit. The first is Justin Shepard (who posts here often). The second 2 are me...one was the infamous 'mud race' national. Jason Jensen lead through the first few turns and I finally caught him at the end of the shortened track. Home court advantage

Justin race

9 x main ?

Mud Race!

[ November 22, 2006, 09:33 AM: Message edited by: John McNiel ]

Good god Im old. Shadow woods. Mt Motherf@!#$
was the bomb.
The bowl and Walkers trails in Vienna.

Nice Vids John. They do wake up the old memories!

Uh John,
That was a hard one to forget, 1981 Fairfax NBL War Of The Stars, mud for days on everything, no socks, Vans tennies had to go in the washer after that one..

I'm a little late to the party here. Phuture, Hope you had a good time while here... Today is your last day I guess. If I had found this thread a little sooner I'm sure I could have put something together for you to ride. Oh well... Anyone up for a NoVA or DC gathering of some sort? ...or a DC ride?

I'd be up for a meet, but a ride will have to wait a bit until I finish restoring the looptail P.K. Ripper.

John
Nice vid. How did you transfer that from 8mm? I think my parents still have all of the movies my Dad took BITD.

Check out the Handlebar angle and the one pedal start!

Robby Mylls was in that video.Who was the other guy?

Justin

ptrhahn, have you been around there a while? I grew up in Herndon and raced Starlit too, for years. I used to ride Shadowood, the half-pipe at the end of South Lakes Dr. and the Vienna jumps, along with all the other spots...who all is on the board form Herndon/Reston/Vienna besides Scott L.???
Mike Berkemeier
(black shadow)

BTW, what's up Justin, you're the Bicycle Exchange rider, right? I raced for Nachman's, then got a Vector factory ride.

[ December 17, 2006, 12:00 AM: Message edited by: black shadow ]

Mike Berkemeier... I remember you (at least in name), mine is (as you could guess from the handle) Peter Hahn. I was here BITD, you may remember me... I rode a Diamond Back silver streak, a Cook Brothers, a National Pro, a polished mini Ripper, and a white P.K. w/ black forks. I lived about 1/8 mile from Shadowood.

I'm pretty new to the board (just a few weeks), so you may know better than I who is still around. I just dragged out my P.K. looptail that's been sitting outside under my parent's deck for 10 years, last ridden in '85 or so, and am in the process of restoring.

Shadowood jumps area is now a condo complex. The South Lakes halfpipe area is now an office park. Starlit may still be there as some sort of athletic facility, but no BMX. South lakes jumps are homes (though the take-off point for the original lake jump into lake Thoureau is still there), Vienna jumps, the powerlines, and the Hiddenbrook ramp are all gone. I may be able to dig up some pictures from those places.. I'll see if I can find them.

[ December 17, 2006, 12:48 PM: Message edited by: ptrhahn ]

Nope. Not a Bike Exchange rider but I do remember alot of those guys. John McNiel and I would get hauled up from Richmond to race at Starlit.

Justin

I dont post often but, Jeff Frank is here along with some others. Search for starlit and you will find others. Im Mike Meckenberg. If any of you remember Dogan Gunnesever hes still got his squareback and dont bother Ive been trying for ten years

Mike
do you have any pics of you and Dogan from BITD? I recognize your names.
Justin

I wish . I remember your name. Vabmxdad might have some. Eye guy I know does.

I didn't race at Starlitt very often, but I hung around with Sheik Rasool, Charlie Haskins.. they were pretty quick. I haven't seen either in a few years

Mike P is that you? Yours was the first cruiser I liked

Haskins was fast

I ended up seeing Sheik Rasool in college, he was in the next fraternity over on the block... skied with Haskins and him once too.

I only ran at Starlit a few times, though it seemed like more. Ran at Howard County indoor once, and took 3rd at some state champs in Hampton one year. Hard to believe the whole BMX "thing" amounted to 4-5 years tops, between '80 - '84/'85.

I ran Howard once. Wooden jumps and all. Howard used to be way out there in the sticks. Now its a comuter town.

Howard County Indoor! I raced there a lot over a couple of winter seasons, that place was COLD!!! I heard Starlit is now gone, just recently I believe, the track was still there, although overgrown, but I believe they finally developed it (probably another strip mall). I remember Charlie and Shak (spelling?), they were good friends, Charlie raced on the Nachman's team with me for several years. Tom Skinner was my main competition for a long time, I think we both raced our first race on the same day in 1980 I believe...I still have my first trophy after all these years! I got a first that day. Peter, do you remember Ernie Thiel and Blair Elrod? I hear Taylor Williams is still riding, he lives out in Winchester, I believe, and helps with the track out there I think. Man, those were the days...the Salad Days, to quote the best band in the world.

I raced against sheik, and we traded wins, I'd be willing to bet he won more than I did, but I can't remember now. Cool guy.

I graduated from high school with Blair (haven't heard what he's doing), and knew Ernie and Taylor well. Taylor and I had a bit of a falling out, I haven't talked to him in years.

Great days... It's kinda weird that it sort of died about the time we all got driver's liscenses and got out. Seems like there was a colapse around '86 or so.

Remember Jennica Johansen?

I don't remember Jennica, but I believe Robby Mylls had a sister who raced... "Christine Mylls" maybe....?

[ December 19, 2006, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: ptrhahn ]

Robby's sister is Kristine Mylls. This is her today:

Kristine Mylls

Justin

Yep, Justin's got it. She is a very succesful jazz singer in Gnashville. Mrs. Mylls also just told my mom that Kristine is getting married. Eat your hearts out Starlit boys!

On another subject, let's list all the tracks in the VA/MD area here that we can remember.

Other than Starlit?

I only remember:

1. Howard County Indoor
2. Columbia BMX
3. Lake Fairfax (didn't last long)

VA

Richmond (Track started by my Dad)
Hampton
Staunton (road my MTB there)
Norfolk (Near Little Creek. No starting gate. Used the Flag start)
Ladysmith(Rumors of this place but never saw it)

MD

Rockville
Overlea/Fullerton
Millersville (I Tripled at the Saber Nationals in 83)
Cockeysville (Watch Hangliders and race BMX)
75/80 BMX (Next to the dragstrip)
Ocean City Indoor
Timonium Indoor

I am sure I left off a few.

Justin

Scott
What is Robby up to?

Justin

Peter, There were a few more that I remember.

Virginia:

Starlit
Hamton Supertrack
Virginia Beach
Richmond ( can't remember the name. Justin, John??)
Winchester (short lived)
Lake Fairfax (after my time)


Maryland:

Columbia
Rockville
Millersville
Howard County/Starbmx Indoor
Howard County Outdoor
75-80 Raceway
Ocean City Expo Center (Wood Jumps)
Ocean City Expo Center (Dirt Track)

Justin,
Kristine tells me Rob is living in San Diego doing IT work for a big company. Dan Barbatini works with him out there. I think he's the other guy in the vid that John posted of you and Robby.

Don't know if you remember Dan. He lived in actual D.C. We always used to tease him 'cause he always had the ABA DC #1 plate. How many riders do you think there were in DC1? Yep, you guessed it... One... LOL !!

He was a pretty fast cat though.

Edit: Double Post

[ December 19, 2006, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: Scott Loveless ]

I didn't realize there were so many... I left off Hampton because it wasn't really NoVA, but I raced there one (third in a state race).

Is Dan from DC the guy who actually rode his bike to Starlit, raced, and then rode home? That guy was a nut.

Good gracious thers a lot of us still around.

I was at 75/80 several months back, right after they had closed the drag strip after it's final season last year. I drove over into the field where the track used to be and it was kind of eerie, it was late at night, but you could see remnants of what was once the BMX track. As a sidenote, 75/80 drag-a-way is wher I also got my first taste of drag racing in my '69 Buick GS when I was in high school. I took home a trophy that Wednesday night and still have it to this day, along with my first BMX trophy from Starlit. These were the ones that meant the most to me, so I hung on to 'em. All the others became boring after racing a while. My Dad broke his collar bone at a Father's Day race at Rockville one year ('82-ish), that was a hoot...my Dad on my JMC! Yeah, I too was a Kristine Mylls drooler too, although I never admitted it to Robby!

Peter, Jennica Johansen went to South Lakes, she used to date Blair Elrod (and me too prior to him), she hung out with Marcy Campbell and Jennifer Dodd, ring any bells? How about Jennifer Tewes or Kim Kelly, do you know them?

[ December 19, 2006, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: black shadow ]

Anybody know what ever happened to the Von Wald's from Hampton? Ilse was the girl, can't remember her brother's name.

Peter, Yep that was the same Dan. That was a legendary story that Mrs. Mylls heard and fom then on Dan rode to all the races in comfort!

Mike/Dragula, Ask Dogan if he remembers Team Wheat thin or Rocky's Flying Squirrels. He used to be on our team trophy thing. We got ****ed at some of the local bike shops and decided to beat them in the team trophy and we did and made them look stupid.

Dogan was hilarious. He used to call himself "Stu Two". He was such a Redline/Stu fan it was crazy. I remember when the real Stu changed from JT leathers to Max, Dogan followed suit. Only problem was Stu changed to Aero gear about 2 months later so Dogan had to also. Please tell Dogan, Dennis, and Walter I say "Hi" if you see them.

Scott Loveless

Is Dan from DC the guy who actually rode his bike to Starlit, raced, and then rode home? That guy was a nut.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember that dude!!! How 'bout Sean Manning, where's he at? He got that BRAND NEW '83 Monte Carlo SS in the summer of '82. That was a sweet ride, first one I ever saw, of course nowadays they're trailer park transportation.

The Gunnesevers were good people, I hung out with them a bit in the later, post-BMX days, and did some street racing down at Honeywell at Tyson's with them...those were some fun nights. Dogan had that Camaro with the tunnel ram he'd drive to the track...way rad back then. I still remember the trips to icy-cold Howard County in Gunnesever's Chevy Van. Man, I think erverybody had a Chevy Van, we also made that trip up there in Taylor Williams and Mike Corvin's Chevy Vans many a times. Walter used to bust his ***, he tried harder than any dude I knew, never got real fast but he damn sure tried. Later he got real into body-building if I recall, last time I saw him I didn't even recognize him at first.

Mike Berkemeir
I have many Sean Manning memories. He was friends with Robby, Dan, and myself.

Sean was the voice of reason when I built the quarter pipe from the BMXA plans that had just come out.

Dennis Gunnesever was all amped to be the first to try it and Sean told him to take it easy on the first try. So what does Dennis do? You guessed it, Full speed, hit the ramp like a jump, 15ft of air, bent forks, Sean saying "You're a [no, not this word either]" = Priceless

Scott,
I remember riding all the way to your house from Herndon to ride that 1/4 pipe one day (it was hotter than a Wilson Center show in August ).
Cheers,
Mike

[ December 20, 2006, 12:46 AM: Message edited by: black shadow ]