May 2013
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Velo Orange Mixte Commutes & the Search for the Ideal Bags
Lately I’ve been on a mission to ride all of my bikes more often. This is partially due to needing to clean the Surly LHT as well as change out a tube, but also because if I’m going to own multiple bikes I feel should make the effort to ride them all. The past… Continue reading
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A Taste of Skyline Drive on the Co-Motion Java Tandem
The past two out of three weekends, Felkerino and I have headed out to Skyline Drive to test out the Co-Motion Java’s feel on long steady climbs and to condition our legs for summer rides ahead. Felkerino has a great write-up of Sunday’s ride on this other blog I know called The Daily Randonneur. Even… Continue reading
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Rediscovering My Bike Friday Pocket Rocket: a Packable Performance Folder
For those unfamiliar with Bike Friday and their bikes, the Pocket Rocket is a high performance folding bike. It is not a fast folder, like a Brompton or a Bike Friday Tikit, but rather a packable folder. Ours are built with 20-inch wheels and they are designed to break down easily into a standard-size suitcase.… Continue reading
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Friday Coffee Club: On Firsts and Farewells
Friday Coffee Club started when a tweet went out from Felkerino to #BikeDC suggesting a Friday morning rendezvous at Swings Coffee, a local coffeehouse near the White House Plaza. The original edition of Friday Coffee Club looked like this: Continue reading
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Joining the Ranks of the D.C. Runners
When I lived in the Midwest I drove most places, worked out erratically, and weighed 25 pounds more than I do now. I was focused on other things; fitness was not one of them. After moving to Washington, D.C., life changed. My job had more of a regular schedule. Driving a car in the city… Continue reading
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The Pennsylvania Avenue Bike Lane Dilemma
Washington, D.C., welcomed the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes to the city in the middle of June 2010. These lanes, as all #BikeDC riders well know, are situated in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue and run from 3rd to 15th Street Northwest. Pennsylvania Avenue is one of the main thoroughfares of the District, particularly during the… Continue reading
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The D.C. Randonneurs 400K Brevet: A Long Ride to a Pizza Party
This past weekend Felkerino and I organized the D.C. Randonneurs 400K brevet. Of all the spring brevets the 400K is the one that, as a rider, I find most daunting. It starts at 4 a.m., and is the first of the brevets that requires hours of night riding. Riders roll out in the dark, and arrive in… Continue reading
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What Word Sums Up Your Cycling Experience?
With the D.C. area’s celebration of riding your bike to work known as Bike to Work Day happening this Friday, I’m revisiting some inspiring words from the #BikeDC cyclists I interviewed several months ago. One of several questions I asked of this group was: What word or phrase describes your D.C. bicycling experience? I love… Continue reading
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New Bike Day! Rawland Nordavinden
Felkerino and I celebrated New Bike Day at the Dining Room Bike Shop this past weekend. New Bike Day New Bike Day! This edition was particularly exciting, as 1. the bike was for me; and 2. I purchased the frame and fork in June of last year, but took another ten months to get the… Continue reading
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The Dogs I’ve Met Through Randonneuring
A Terrifying Beginning When I was a kid, I developed a serious apprehension about dogs. This feeling was exacerbated when I rode my bike, largely because one of the rural roads I often traveled was also home to Snoopy, the big mean biting dog. Snoopy was always in her yard, lying in wait for innocent… Continue reading
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Sweet Excess and the Post-Event Blues
Being a creature of habit, I did not take a day off after running last Sunday’s marathon. I stoicly made my way to the gym for a core class. It would be a perfect post-marathon workout, I thought, as it would not involve the legs too much and I could continue steadily on my path… Continue reading
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The Bike Commuter Code: Part 2
The Bike Commuter Code has spurred a lot of insightful conversations and comments from fellow commuters. Brian, of Tales from the Sharrows, even wrote his own post about my post which you can find here—meta blogging! Thank you to everyone who contributed their ideas. After reading all the tweets, comments and emails I have a clarification… Continue reading
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The Bike Commuter Code
Having commuted in Washington, D.C., for several years, I’ve noticed that many of us operate under an unwritten set of rules that I’ve been calling the “bike commuter code.” I don’t know where this code originated or if it’s just the way cyclists silently agreed to operate in the city. Distinct to the rules of… Continue reading
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Comparing a Marathon to Randonneuring
Every once in a while, someone asks me how a marathon compares to randonneuring. Running versus randonneuring was also a recent topic on the “randon” list, one of the main randonneuring listservs. Having just completed a marathon as well as a flèche and a 300K within a month’s timeframe, I thought I’d share my own… Continue reading
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Back on My Two Feet: The Potomac River Run Marathon
After doing the Rock and Roll Half-Marathon in mid-March, which I had originally planned to run as a full, I was eager to see if there might be another opportunity for me to try 26.2 miles in one go. Lucky for me, the Potomac River Run Marathon was scheduled for May 5, a weekend of no… Continue reading
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How Do You Move Through the Stoplights?
Have you ever thought about how much traffic lights influence your commute? I bet you have. Traffic lights might have even figured into how you originally laid out your commute route. I bet you know every single stoplight on your route by heart. You know exactly where it is, and precisely how long it takes… Continue reading
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Progress in the Gym and at the Dinner Table
Part 1: The Gym, the Rides, and the Runs Another month has flown by since I made a more earnest commitment to the gym. It’s been three months now. In April, I visited the gym three times per week (identical to March), and primarily focused on the following types of activities: core strengthening, including planks,… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 