Commute Reflections
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You Can’t Play Pickleball By Yourself
As many readers know, in early December 2023, Felkerino was in a hit and run while cycling. Since then he has been recovering and healing. Our 2024 plans dissolved after his crash. Instead, we focused on medical appointments and managing the crash’s aftermath. Felkerino wrote an excellent summary about his experience here. While Felkerino mended,… Continue reading
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N-1 Right Sizing Resulting from N+1
Years ago, I wrote about n+1, the silly philosophy that people should perpetually aspire for their bike stables to have one more bike. I called the piece The Truth and Nonsense of the N+1 Principle and shared my own n+1 journey, which ultimately resulted in a collection of 10 bicycles just for me scattered throughout my… Continue reading
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BikeDC’s Dave Salovesh
We had the ghost bike installation for Dave Salovesh this past weekend, and I stood there staring in disbelief the whole time with my leg propping up my bike as I wondered when Dave would ride by to see it and what he would think when he did. This can’t be happening. This didn’t happen.… Continue reading
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Peaceful Everyday Actions
You may not have noticed, but the time I’ve spent in this space has reduced over the last year. Several factors contributed to this, but the most dominant was the belief that my energy needed to be spent understanding the state of current affairs in the U.S. For much of 2017, I took a deep… Continue reading
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Landscape Adjustments on Ohio Drive
Over the years that I’ve lived in the District, Ohio Drive has become one of my favorite city streets, especially around this time of year – the non-tourist season. Compared to many other routes, the car traffic is relatively light. The road follows the bends of the Potomac, offering up rare views of open space… Continue reading
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Winter Commute Days
While winter is not my most preferred cycling season, it does have its perks. Fewer people are out, making the city a more contemplative place, and non-cycling friends and colleagues regularly give me props for riding in less-than-inviting pedaling conditions. (“You’re so tough, MG.” Ha ha ha ha, we know the truth.) In exchange, I… Continue reading
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Top of the Town
I’ve been meaning to write you about my new daily escape through the city – from the lowest part of D.C. to the top of the town. It’s a 7.5-mile contraflow endeavor that takes me out of the heart of the city to a residential tentacle. Since beginning this commute, I’ve felt a novel joy… Continue reading
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Heavy Hearts and Bicycle Breezes
Heavy hearts are the worst. A heavy heart burrows into your stomach and crowds other organs, causing discomfort. A heavy heart – being so burdened – needs extra oxygen to function, which can leave a person deflated and lethargic. It takes a lot of energy to endure a heavy heart. While it seems counterintuitive, a bicycle breeze may help temporarily lighten… Continue reading
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Ride Your Bikes, People
I’m fond of my active commute routine. My regular commute to work is predictable, pleasant. Over the years I’ve devised a sweet route that minimizes high-volume car traffic, and I store a nice selection of seasonal work clothes in my office. This week I’ve been thrust outside of my routine, which is pretty much a… Continue reading
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Area Woman Stops Blogging for One Month. Here’s What Happened…
Lately it feels like life is running on ahead of me at a pace I cannot match. I try to catch up, and my life skips easily away. Just as my life reaches the other side of the street, the stoplight turns red and halts me. Life ambles forward. Optimal velocity is difficult to achieve… Continue reading
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Bicycle Estrangement
I kicked off 2016 with cycling and running foremost in my mind. I participated in the area’s Freezing Saddles challenge – to ride as many days as possible from January through March – and signed on to ride the best flèche ever with our friend Jerry. From the beginning of the year through April, I enthusiastically pursued daily riding… Continue reading
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Tulipmania
I suspected that I’d experience post-flèche fallout, and over the last two weeks I’ve been proven right. The energy expended from 24 straight hours without sleep, 232 miles of pedaling over sawtooth terrain from Pittsburgh to D.C., and rough overnight conditions complete with snow squalls took their toll on my body. Continue reading
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Ride Like Your Life Depends On It: Liz and Exu
One of the most referenced posts on this blog is about naming one’s bike. I never thought much of calling my bike by anything but the name the maker gave it. Then I received this beautiful post from BikeDC’s own Liz MacGregor. In her writing, Liz shows how a bicycle can be an intimate companion that also… Continue reading
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Blizzard Weekend in Washington, D.C.
After months of unseasonably warm temperatures and thoughts that winter might pass us by, mother nature treated the D.C. area (or punished, depending on who you ask) to record-setting snowfall. Exactly how much snow is still somewhat in dispute, since weather officials at National Airport failed to follow the recommended snow measuring technique. Continue reading
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Will Ride (or Run) for Kudos. Joining Strava
The virtual world of Strava always struck me as a dangerous place. A place where people competed for the fastest times on arbitrary segments of road, sometimes at their own peril– or worse, by risking the safety of others. Strava was a world for spirited, competitive roadies. Transportation and touring cyclists like me need not join. That suited me… Continue reading
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Last Ditch Efforts
Annual mileage goals– I never set them, preferring to focus on the events or plans I make in any given year. And yet, when the twilight of any given year is upon me I find myself inventing, and then fervently striving, for an arbitrary finish line. My accumulated miles for 2015 are not really remarkable,… Continue reading
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Beauty Through Motion
Like many women, I struggle with notions of beauty and self-acceptance, especially when it comes to physical appearance. I look in the mirror and immediately see all the ways I’m lacking. If I shaved off a few pounds, and toned up this area here, and then put on a little makeup, I’d look so much better. Continue reading
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Unexpected Letdown
Almost two weeks have passed since Felkerino and I were last turning our tandem wheels through Idaho and Montana. This bike tour, combined with my recent work travels, really helped me appreciate my Washington, D.C., home. Continue reading
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BikeDC Homebody
Over the last month, I spent many days traveling outside of D.C.– away from Felkerino, the office, and the daily bike commute. I suppose a change of scenery is a good thing. It’s always interesting to have a brief window into life outside the city. Continue reading
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Transformation and Inspiration
It’s surreal to recall it now, but bicycling– even running– were largely absent from my life during my post-college twenties. I worked long hours, drove my car, and attended many a happy hour. Continue reading
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Stillness in the Ruckus of Washington, D.C.
Buses align Ohio Drive, one after the other, and block my once-daily view of the Potomac. Large chatty groups of tourists swarm the National Mall, oblivious to the bike commuters that weave around them. They start the day early, and I fail to wake up any earlier to avoid their field trips. The sudden influx is an annual… Continue reading
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Birthday Week Bike Rides in BikeDC
Dear Washington, D.C., my current city of residence, I discovered a better way to maneuver around you after too many years as a subterranean Metro passenger. Continue reading
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The Truth and Nonsense of the N+1 Principle of Bicycles
If you’ve been around bikes long enough, you’re likely familiar with the “n+1” principle. Velominati describes it as follows: The correct number of bikes to own is n+1. While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may… Continue reading
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Figuring Out How to Speak Bike
Recently Elly Blue put a question out to the Twitterverse, asking people about the things they found difficult when first taking up cycling. Her question took me back to 2003 or so when I began cycling around Washington, D.C., for transportation and fitness. Continue reading
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Combating Cynicism Through Active Commutes
Today I was reading David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water.” In it, he addresses the theme of selfishness, as well as the tedious aspects of adult life and how we all construct and view our life experiences. Our challenge, he says, is to step outside ourselves, take an active role in interpreting our surroundings, and… Continue reading
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The Wheelman’s Song
Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have noticed that I’ve been perusing old issues of The Wheelman and Good Roads. Both magazines were publications of the League of American Wheelman, which is now the Bike League, and date back to the late 1800’s, when people’s fascination with the bicycle was just beginning… Continue reading
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Giving Thanks for Bike Rides
Ten years ago I began life as a daily bike rider, after years of mass transit and more driving than I care to remember. My bike was my tour guide, encouraging me to explore and familiarize myself with the city. Because of bike rides, I gained physical strength and confidence. Continue reading
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Hard Reset
I came over to this computer intending to write a Coffeeneuring Challenge update (entries due this Monday!), but instead I’m pondering other matters– small changes in my own life that have altered my daily routine and energy levels for the past few months. One month ago– though it feels longer– I completed my second marathon of October,… Continue reading
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Chasing Mailboxes: The Pursuit of Something More
Where does your energy go? What do you choose to pursue? Does each day pass in a blur of routine, or do you save a sliver of time to wonder about the existence of something deeper? You don’t know what the something deeper is, exactly, and you are not convinced it is a thing. You hold onto an optimistic belief that… Continue reading
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Bicycle as Escape
I never seem to tire of writing about bicycles. I love talking about them, dreaming about my next bike trip, figuring out the perfect bike commute setup, pondering the ins and outs of randonneuring… you get the idea. This love of riding bikes led me to start Chasing Mailboxes. I was searching for an outlet… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 