This Stop, Swap and Save at Westminster, Maryland, is a one day event that is the largest indoor bicycle swap meet on the East Coast.
It has grown every year over the 16 years it has been held, and this year it covered the size of a football field (50,000 square feet). That's pretty big.
Yet, every inch of that space is jam packed with goodies laid out by more than 200 vendors. And crawling with bargain hunters from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and beyond.
"Buy, sell, browse, shop, trade or just hang out with industry reps, individual vendors, bike shops, manufacturers and like-minded cyclists... everything cycling has to offer. Road bikes, mountain bikes, triathlon bikes, BMX bikes, clothing, bike parts, cycling accessories, vintage, new or used at Ridiculously Low Prices." (blurb from stopswapsave website).
Mark Dempster has made the annual pilgrimage to this event for 10 years. In his words "Every cyclist's Wet Dream"
This year Spencer and I tagged along to see what all the fuss was about.
Getting there. It was a 3 hour drive the day before - we stopped at a local bike shop, White's Bicycles, and Johannson's Dining House & Restaurant where many a pint of beer was consumed before retiring to Day's Inn.
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| White's Bicycles |
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| The boys at Johannson's Dining House and Restaurant. |
Anyway, back to the Bike Swap.
We split the cost of a vendor's table ($50) five ways. Vendors are allowed in at 6 am while non-vendors are let in 9 am. Everyone pays a $5 admission fee. The guys were in at 6 am to set up their vendor's table, and - more importantly - to get first dibs on the goodies.
By 9 am, the line of people queuing to get in snaked all the way around the Ag Center building.
I scored six pairs of socks (Shimano, Zoot, DeFeet coolmax) for $20. And a Quintana Roo wetsuit for $10. And four SkirtSports running skirts and cycling tops for $30 (that retail for more than $160).
Everyone else bought a bunch of bike stuff, gear, and a few bikes. The van was loaded up pretty good!
This is what I have to say about the Bike Swap: It was WOW. Just WOW.
See you all again next year!
