At 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 13, volunteers will gather at Terrace Drive Mini Park, near 4734 Terrace Drive, next to Ponce's Mexican Restaurant. Each one picks up a reflective vest, a walkie-talkie, a light-up wand and a station assignment. By 4:45 p.m. they are standing at intersections along a 2.5-mile loop through Kensington. At 5 p.m. a safety vehicle pulls out in front of a line of decorated bikes, and a second vehicle follows at the back.

The ride is the same one Kensington has held every December for more than a decade, and this is its 12th year. What has changed is who runs it. The Kensington Talmadge Business Association has announced that it will no longer operate the event and that the Kensington Community Association will lead it from now on. That handoff changes how the evening is put together. The ride used to sell tickets and was built around Adams Avenue businesses. Now it is free, and it depends on neighbors volunteering for shifts.

The ticket became a registration

Under the business association, the ticket paid into an event with a lot going on. In 2023 the organizers gave prizes to the three best-decorated houses along the route and to the best-decorated bikes in four categories: kids and adults, each split into lighted and non-lighted. Riders could also collect stamps on a card from the sponsors set up at the park and enter a drawing for more prizes. The business association reported 300 riders and participants and 15 local businesses at that 2023 ride.

The 2026 ride is free, but every rider still has to sign up in advance on the Eventbrite registration page. Decorations are provided at the park starting at 4 p.m., so a rider can arrive with a plain bike and leave with a lit one.

One route, and what it means for small riders

For several years the ride offered two routes. The 3-mile Full Ride was for confident, faster cyclists. The Family-Friendly route was 1.75 miles in 2023 and 2024 and 1.5 miles in 2025, and it was required for riders 8 and under.

This year there is one 2.5-mile loop, marked with signs. For an experienced rider that is half a mile shorter than the old Full Ride. For a young child it is a mile longer than last year's family route. The business association's announcement says it directly, asking families with younger riders to "keep the distance in mind when deciding whether to participate."

The rules haven't changed, and they matter more on a single shared route:

• Bikes must have pedals. Strider bikes and scooters are not allowed.
• Every rider must wear a helmet.
• The course is not closed to cars. Volunteers stop traffic at intersections, and safety vehicles ride at the front and back of the group.

A child who is comfortable riding a few blocks around Terrace Drive is still facing a different trip than two and a half miles at dusk on streets that stay open to traffic. Families with a young rider who might tire halfway can take that into account when they register.

The volunteer shifts that replace the ticket price

The business association covered its costs partly through ticket sales and partly through local sponsors. The community association runs the ride on volunteer time instead, and its event page lays out the shifts in detail. All of them meet at Terrace Drive Mini Park, 4734 Terrace Drive:

1. Set Up Committee, 3:30 p.m. Volunteers set up tables and materials and finish by 4 p.m.
2. Bike Ride Safety Patrol, 4 p.m. Volunteers collect a vest, walkie-talkie, light-up wand, station assignment and route map, then take their stations at 4:45 p.m. They stop traffic and direct riders until the ride ends at 5:30 p.m.
3. Breakdown Committee, 5:30 p.m. Volunteers pack up the tables and materials and pick up trash, finishing by 6 p.m.

To volunteer, email [email protected] with your name, email address, cell phone number and the role you want. The business association's notice also puts it plainly: "More volunteers are needed!"

The schedule shows how short the ride itself is. It leaves at 5 p.m. and ends at 5:30 p.m. Under the new format, the free ride depends on enough neighbors standing at corners with wands during that half hour.

Where the evening used to end

The old format also shaped what happened after the ride, because it was built to send riders out onto Adams Avenue. In 2024 the pre-ride partners at the park included Kensington Tech Coach, Ponce's Mexican Restaurant and The UPS Store. After the ride, businesses along the avenue offered specials and giveaways. Several names came back every year. Mission Brewing, Pappalecco and The Haven took part in 2023, and The Haven Pizzeria, Mission Brewing and Pappalecco were listed again in 2024 and 2025. River and Pearl Beauty Bar joined them in 2025.

Those Adams Avenue spots are still a short ride from Terrace Drive, and a cold, early December dark makes a pizza or a hot drink after 5:30 p.m. an easy plan for a family.

A season that runs on volunteers

The bike ride isn't the only Kensington holiday tradition run by neighbors. The Kensington Talmadge Community Association calls its Kensington Park tree lighting an annual event. In 2025 it was held on the Friday after Thanksgiving, with hot chocolate from Ponce's and cookies from Kensington Cafe at 4:30 p.m. and the lighting at about 5 p.m. The invitation asked guests to walk over afterward to see David Urban's alpine village display. CBS 8 described it as a 78-building miniature Department 56 display set up as a Bavarian hamlet, shown in a window at 4182 Adams Avenue. The building was once Kensington Pharmacy and is now headquarters for the Autism Research Institute.

Here are the dated events on Kensington's calendar from now through the ride:

• Saturday, November 14: Cookbook Club at the Kensington-Normal Heights Library, which also holds story times in the park through November and December.
• Saturday, November 28, 2–5 p.m.: The Adams Avenue Spirit Stroll, a $40, 21-and-over walk with holiday cocktail and sweet-treat stops from University Heights through Normal Heights into Kensington. Ticket pickup starts at 1 p.m. at Smitty's Auto, 3441 Adams Avenue.
• Saturday, December 12: Beeswax Candle Workshop at the Kensington-Normal Heights Library.
• Sunday, December 13, 4 p.m.: The 12th Holiday Lights Bike Ride at Terrace Drive Mini Park, with registration required and a 5 p.m. departure.

The candle workshop falls the day before the ride. That makes the second weekend of December a full one for Kensington: library on Saturday, decorated bikes on Sunday. Both events will be open to anyone who signs up.

We hope to see you at Terrace Drive Mini Park on December 13, with or without a vest and wand. If a Kensington home is part of your plans for the coming year, Hernholm Group is glad to talk through the streets along that 2.5-mile loop with you.