Course Summary

1. Cycling Merit Badge(Meets the EAGLE requirement of Cycling, Swimming, or Hiking)Course PlanBob Hart703-216-6109 (cell)703-902-4083 (work)703-573-9334 (home)h5lt104@yahoo.com

2. Course Summary This Cycling merit badge course will comprise a classroom session and 7 bicycle rides. Scouts will ride their own bicycles on all but one of the trips, for which we will rent bicycles to ease the transportation logistics. • Getting Ready • You should have a bicycle lock, as we will need to leave bikes unattended during lunch for the Mount Vernon ride • You must have a bicycle helmet (Fairfax County law). • You must plan on spending $10 during a visit to a bike shop with the counselor during the first ride. This is for a spare tube and a chain-repair link to bring on the rides. Flat tires and broken chains happen frequently – be prepared. • You should consider buying a bike-mounted tire pump and tools to repair a flat tire or chain for your own rides, but this is not required for the course, as the counselor will have these tools available during the rides. • You must figure out how you will bring snack food and water on the rides. For water, either a water bottle in a cage mounted on your bike ($10-15) or a backpack with water bottle, etc. We will be visiting a bike shop on the first ride for those wishing to buy a cage and water bottle. For food, a backpack will suffice. • You should considerbuying the Cycling merit badge booklet ($5) from a Scout shop. • You should serioulyconsider buying a pair of bike shorts with built-in seat padding ($20-40). The material used in these shorts limits chafing and rubbing of your skin and the padding makes long rides much more comfortable. • NOTE: Counselor will provide chain lube, other lubricants, and cleaning materials for the classroom session. For the rides, counselor will bring a tire pump and the necessary tools for repair of flat tires and broken chains. • Activities to Complete the Requirements • Classroom Session, 30 July • Relevant first aid • Local laws • Clean/adjust a bicycle • Show you know how to take care of your bicycle • Explain braking • Show how to repair a flat • (Extra activity, not required for merit badge) – Observe/help repair a broken chain with a repair link • Road test – urban street riding and cross railroad tracks properly • 7 Rides: 4 August – 29 September, shifted forward by one week each time a ride has to be cancelled for weather • Two rides of 10 miles each (Saturday, 4 August and Saturday, 11 August) • Two rides of 15 miles each (Saturday, 25 August and Saturday, 15 September) • Two rides of 25 miles each (Saturday, 1 September and Saturday, 22 September) • A 50-mile ride in 8 hours, after the rides listed above (Saturday, 29 September)

3. Classroom Session • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Class will be held Saturday, 30 July from 9 am – 1 pm at some outdoor tables and chairs behind the building at 8251 Greensboro Drive, McLean. Class will not be cancelled for rain. • Lunch will be provided (various Subway sandwiches, various drinks) • Bob Hart will lead. TBD will assist. • How to Get Ready • Read this “Course Plan” and the attached “Pre Class Training Guide” • Fill in the answers to the First Aid and Legal sections of the attached “Workbook.” Copying the answers straight from the guide is OK. The more who get this done in advance, the quicker the session will go on Saturday. Class will be held at some outdoor iron tables and chairs here next to a small café (we have permission from both the building management and the café owner). The building has some wide overhangs in the event of rain. • What to Bring • Your bike • Your helmet. You cannot take the road test without your helmet. Counselor • will have one extra (pink) helmet for anyone who forgets. • The attached “Pre Class Training Guide” • The attached “Workbook” with the First Aid (Question 1) and Legal (Question 7) sections already filled in by the Scout • Agenda • 9-9:15 Round robin discussion of all first aid topics. Counselor leads and calls on scouts. • 9:15–9:25 Round robin discussion of local bicycle laws. Counselor leads and calls on scouts. • 9:25-9:30 Counselor discusses braking concepts with Scouts. • 9:30–10:30 Scouts clean their bicycles, lube them, and check them over using the checklist in the “Workbook.” • 10:30-11:30 Scouts take turns replacing a tube in a tire and showing how to search the tube/tire for the cause of the flat • 11:30-11:45 Demonstration and hands-on session for repairing a broken chain using a repair link • 11:45-12:00 Lunch • 12:00-12:30 Counselor demonstrates proper signaling and discusses road riding techniques and best practices • 12:30-1:00 Road test for all scouts, weather permitting. If not, we will do the road test during one of the upcoming rides.

4. Ride #1 (10 miles) • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #1 will start at the Vine Church on Saturday, 4 August at 9 am, and will return there about 12 for parent pick-up • This ride will be a combination of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail and urban roads in downtown Vienna, and will include a bike shop visit • At the bike shop, Scouts who do not already own a spare tire tube and spare chain link are expected to purchase them in preparation for the other rides (tubes are $5 or $6, and the chain links are $3.50) • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your Bike • Your helmet • $10 to buy a spare tire tube and chain link • Water and snack food • NOTE: Counselor will have carrying box for tube and chain link purchases, and will have a backpack for any larger purchases • Route • Start at Vine Church • Go up W&OD trail; stop and review Civil War skirmish site • Continue to Church Street in Vienna, and go down Church Street to the Vienna Bike Shop • Return to the W&OD trail and go to Hunter Mill Road, stopping at a site near another Civil War skirmish site • Turn around at Hunter Mill Road and return to the Vine Church

5. Ride #2 (10 miles) • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #2 will start at the Vine Church on Saturday, 11 August at 9 am, and will end at about 11 am at Gravelly Point, which is the park overlooking National Airport’s takeoff runway • This ride will be a combination of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail, the Four Mile Run trail, and the Mount Vernon trail • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your Bike • Your helmet • Your spare tube and chain link • Water and snack food • Route • Start at Vine Church • Go down W&OD trail • Transfer from W&OD to Four Mile Run trail in Shirlington • Go north on the Mount Vernon Trail to the park just north of National Airport

6. Ride #3 (15 miles) • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #3 will begin on Saturday, 25 August at 9 am from the Vine Church. • This ride will be a combination of the W&OD trail, the Custis trail, the Capital Crescent trail, and urban roads in Silver Spring, Maryland. We will return via Metro from Silver Spring to Dunn Loring. • We will start at the Vine Church on Saturday, 11 August at 9 am, and will arrive at Dunn Loring Metro for parent pick-up about 1 or 2 • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your Bike • Your helmet • Your spare tube and chain link • $3.50 for non-peak Metro fare from Silver Spring to Dunn Loring • Water and snack food, including enough to make up a lunch • Route • Start at Vine Church • Go down W&OD trail to mile 4.0 • Switch to Custis trail • Follow Custis trail to Roosevelt Island park, about 4 miles • Cross Key Bridge into Georgetown • Join the Capital Crescent trail • Follow it to for 12 miles to its terminus in Silver Spring, Maryland • Take urban streets to Silver Spring metro • Return on the metro to Dunn Loring station

7. Ride #4 (25 miles) • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #4 will begin on Saturday, 1 September at the Vine Church at 9 am • We will drive the Scouts to Cumberland, Maryland (2.5 hours driving time), where we will have lunch and rent bikes from a local bike store; our reservations are at 12:30 pm. The store will have us transported to the starting point on the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail. We will return on bikes via the trail to the bike store. • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • ** Not your bike – we will be renting bikes ** • Your helmet • $15 to rent a bike in Cumberland • A backpack to carry snack food and your water bottle (rental bikes might not have cages) • $10 for lunch near the bike shop • Route • Drive scouts to 14 Howard Street, #A2, Cumberland, Maryland, 301-777-8724. They are expecting us at 12:30 pm. • Bike shop takes us to a point near Deal, Pennsylvania on the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail. Bike shop will carry maximum of 6 people. We need to think about logistics if we have more. • We take the trail downhill (through three tunnels!) all the way back to the bike shop Deal, Pennsylvania: Starting point of bike ride Bike shop in Cumberland is on the trail; we will park here, be transported from here by the bike shop, and the bike ride will end here

8. Ride #5 (15 miles) Meet Here Bike ride starts here • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #5 will start at 9 am, 15 September at the Vine Church. We will drive the scouts to the end of the W&OD trail in Purcelville and will finish in Ashburn, where we will call parents to come pick them up. The entire ride will be on the W&OD trail. • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your bike • Your helmet • Your spare tube and chain link • A backpack to carry snack food and your water bottle (rental bikes might not have cages) • $10 for lunch at the Carolina Brothers Pit Barbecue • Route • Start: Trails End Cycling shop at 201 North 23rd Street, Purcellville, VA 20132, which is very near the trailhead for the W&OD trail. • End: Carolina Pit Brothers Barbecue at 20702 Ashburn Road  Ashburn, VA 20147 Bike ride ends here

9. Ride #6 (25 miles) • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #5 will start Saturday, 22 September at 9 am at the Vine Church. Scouts will ride the W&OD and Custis trails down to Roosevelt Island Park, where they will continue down the Mount Vernon trail along the Potomac River all the way to Mount Vernon. • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your bike • Your helmet • Your spare tube and chain link • Snack food and water • A bicycle lock, because you will need to lock your bike up in the parking lot before going into Mount Vernon for lunch • $10 for lunch at Mount Vernon • Route • Start from the Vine Church. Follow the W&OD trail about 4 miles to the Custis trail. • Take the Custis trail for about 4 miles to Roosevelt Island Park. • From Roosevelt Island Park, it is 18 miles to Mount Vernon.

10. Ride #7 (50 miles in 8 hours) Start • Location, Date, and Basic Plan • Ride #7 will start Saturday, 29 September at the Vine Church. • We will drive the Scouts to Brunswick, Maryland where we will get on the C&O Canal Towpath at mile 55 and ride all the way to the end of the towpath in Georgetown • Bob Hart and TBD will lead. • What to Bring • Your bike • Your helmet • Your spare tube and chain link • $10 for lunch at Whites Ferry • Route • Start at Brunswick, Maryland • Stop for lunch at Whites Ferry (about mile 35) • End trip at mile 0 of the C&O canal near Rock Creek Parkway between Pennsylvania Avenue and the Whitehurst Freeway. Proceed south on Rock Creek Parkway trail under Whitehurst Freeway to parking lot just north of Thompson’s Boat Center, 2900 Virginia Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC for parent pick-up. End Pick-up Area