Hill & Go Seek Recap

Photo Courtesy Chandler Christian

The first annual Hill & Go Seek bike race and scavenger hunt was held on Saturday the 28th across Capitol Hill. The event was produced by CHAMPS – the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce (full disclosure alert: because I work with CHAMPS, I was one of the organizers – we called ourselves the HAGS – of this event) and the Capitol Hill BID and sponsored by Capitol Hill Bikes, The Office of Tommy Wells, DDOT’s Capital Bikeshare and the Washington Area Bicycle Association (WABA).

The race started on the north side of the Eastern Market Metro Plaza and finished at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street NE. The various stops and tasks on the race included Under Pressure Karaoke at Tunnicliff’s, painting a mural with Albus Cavus next to the new Sousa mural at Wisdom, doing Downward Dog at Metro Mutts and Bikram Yoga, and answering trivia questions at the Pour House. Frager’s, Peregrine Espresso, Capitol Hill Bikes, Schneider’s, Fruit Bat and SOVA were other stops on the race.

Photo Originally Uploaded to flickr by BrunchGirl (THIH's Claudia Holwill)

More than 70 teams participated – including Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells – in the event whose proceeds benefited the Ready, Willing and Working program.

Photo Courtesy Chandler Christian

The evening ended with an after party at the H Street Country Club (where Councilmember and Candidate for Council Chair Kwame Brown paid us a surprise visit) where winners received a variety of prizes donated by Hill businesses. Those winners were:

Creativity Counts – Fastest Overall, Men’s Winner

Harry & Sally (Met) – Mixed Winner

Thing One – Women’s Winner

The Great Graffiti Tequila Conquistadors – Biked from Maryland (honorable mention)

District Tandemic – Creative Attire (honorable mention)

B*tch Set Me Up – Creative Team Name (honorable mention)

Spare Tires – DFL (Dead F*cking Last prize)

Originally Uploaded to flickr by BrunchGirl (thanks, Claudia!)

DDOT was kind enough to put out several temporary bike racks on H Street to accommodate the riders at the after party. Riders were pleased to see so many places to lock up their bikes on H Street and there was a strong overall sentiment to have so much bike parking made permanent.

Unfortunately, this great event and fun day were marred by two bike thefts (that I’m aware of) – one at Frager’s and one at the after party.

You can find more great photos of Hill & Go Seek at BrunchGirl’s flickr stream (thanks, Claudia!) and at Capitol Hill DC’s facebook page.