Over the weekend Felkerino and I meandered from home to do what we call the “Leesburg Loop,” a 90-ish mile ride that starts in D.C., crosses the river into Virginia and takes the Custis and W&OD Trails to Leesburg, winds around to White’s Ferry for a quick ferry ride across the Potomac into Maryland, continues on roads near Poolesville, and returns to D.C. via Potomac, Maryland and MacArthur Boulevard.
Our ride was filled with various stops, including a first-time visit to Bikes@Vienna. This shop is located two blocks off the W&OD Trail in Vienna, Virginia, and is a treasure trove of interesting bicycles.
I had heard that Bikes@Vienna specialized in recumbent bikes, but they have a broad range of inventory that also includes upright steeds from Breezer, recumbent trikes, and several folding bikes from Tern as well as Brompton. I wanted to test ride everything.
Tim, the owner of Bikes@Vienna, was there. We actually know of each other via the internet (Tim writes a blog called Spokes of a Wheel, which I regularly read) but we had never met in person.
Felkerino and I had an excellent time talking bikes with Tim, discussing various topics such as the evolution of Tern from Dahon and the explosion in the presence of Bromptons as well as Brompton dealers in the U.S.
Tim is extremely knowledgeable about bikes and his manner is open and unassuming. He’s also a good listener. Some shop owners can be aloof, condescending, or try to know-it-all a person to death so talking with someone who is not that way in a shop is a real pleasure.
Both Felkerino and I took one of the Bromptons for a test ride while we were there. Felkerino in particular was pretty smitten.
I can’t believe I had not stepped into Bikes@Vienna until this last Saturday. Maybe that’s a good thing. I’ve probably saved myself a lot of money.
Many thanks to Tim for showing us around his shop. Felkerino and I will definitely be back to Bikes@Vienna. Just to window shop, though. Yeah. That’s it. Only to window shop.
Chasing Mailboxes 