Commute Reflections
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“Bikes” All The Go: From 1904 to 2014
Two weeks ago, I attended “Pedaling Through History: A Look at Cycling Collections Across the Library of Congress,” a one-day exhibit at the Library of Congress. I learned about it via Rambling Rider so hat tip to her and all those fancy things people say. “Pedaling Through History” was a compact display full of ye olde treasure.… Continue reading
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Washington, D.C. Bike Commute Scrapbook
What a week. Four sparkling summer days, top notch training, and a ride along with a friend on a couple of days, too. I celebrated the end of my Bike Friday Tikit field trips to Northwest D.C. with a photo safari on today’s ride home, in part to stretch out my time in the afternoon… Continue reading
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@SharrowsDC Ride Along in #BikeDC
As a child, I spent part of my summer days taking swimming lessons. My sister and I would walk with Jeff, the neighbor boy, to the bus that would take us to our swimming lessons in the town seven miles down the road. I did not like swimming lessons, but I enjoyed the walk to and from the bus.… Continue reading
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It’s The Worst Thing In The World…
To be a driver behind a cyclist. Today is a bike tour rest day for Felkerino and me, and it coincided perfectly with an op-ed blowup in the Washington Post, which I am disappointed to admit is also my local paper. Continue reading
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Four Years of Chasing Mailboxes
In the middle of a love affair with bicycling and Washington, D.C., I wrote my first post for Chasing Mailboxes. Four years later, this blog is still going. The love affair has hit some sticky wickets over time, but most days it continues, too. In the initial year, posts read more like postcards than letters.… Continue reading
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Unexpected Triumph on a Double Hairpin
You know those people who say “My favorite part of my day is my bike commute?” Yeah, I bet you do. They’re giving me a headache. Continue reading
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Bike to Work Day is Every Day
Today, many places are celebrating Bike to Work Day in an effort to inspire more people to ride bikes. Unfortunately for those who may have planned to try out bike commuting and enjoy one of the many pit stops scattered throughout the city, today was a true commuter test. It poured cats and dogs all… Continue reading
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Slowdown Commutes in D.C.
This past month I participated in 30 Days of Biking, a challenge to ride one’s bike every day in April. In all, I rode 28 of 30 days. I made the 30 Days of Biking pledge because I was in a bike commute slump I could not shake. Continue reading
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Our House, In the Middle of Our Street
Whenever we hop on our bikes, we not only expose ourselves to all sorts of elements, but we also come face to face with other bike riders. Despite that, riders do not tend to talk to one another. We share space, but generally our only apparent common goal is coming and going each day from home to work… Continue reading
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Cherry Blossom Farewell: Petals, Puddles, and Pavement
One of my favorite times in Washington, D.C., is when the cherry blossoms reach out to say hello to all of us. Another is when these delicate petals fall, leaving a textured pink layer over grass and pavement. Continue reading
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Flow Like Water
The fleeting pink and white blossoms cover the city. Sun shines and spring breezes blow. Families and field trips congregate on our sidewalks. And hey, how about those tour buses! Yes, it’s cherry blossompalooza in Washington, D.C. In previous years I dreaded this scenario. But thanks to my regular midday runs that have exposed me to this… Continue reading
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On Naming Your Bike: The Baby Post of Bike Names
One of the posts people read frequently on this blog is Say My (Bike’s) Name: On Naming Your Bike, in which I described my tandem partner’s affinity for naming bikes and my own tendency not to do so. That bike naming post received great comments about people’s processes for naming bikes as well as their… Continue reading
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#BikeDC Meets #BikeNYC IRL: Dmitry Gudkov
Tuesday, the mighty social networking tool known as Twitter paved the internets to an in real life (IRL) encounter with photographer Dmitry Gudkov. Among other projects, Dmitry is the photographer behind #BikeNYC, a dynamic series of portraits of the people who ride bikes in New York City. Through it I have learned about the people of the… Continue reading
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First Week of September in D.C.
Like that, everyone is back in the city. Congress gears up and the tourists recede. I forgot so many people work here. Spectacular weather means an explosion in fair weather commuters. They’re everywhere. Part of me is glad to see more people on bikes, and part of me feels annoyed by the overall congestion. Continue reading
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How Did I Get Here?
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack And you may find yourself in another part of the world And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife And you may ask yourself Well…How did I get… Continue reading
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The Big Confusing Dilemma of What to Wear While Bike Riding Around Town
When I rode my bike as a child I did not give much thought to the clothing I would wear while riding it. Have bike. Wearing clothes. Shoelaces tied. Will travel. Remember those days? Fast forward a few decades and what to wear while biking has become much more wrought. Currently, there are a couple… Continue reading
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Say My (Bike’s) Name: On Naming Your Bike
Do your bikes have names? If so, how did you name them? Did you give them a name you would give a person, like Betty or Howard or something? Or is the name you gave your bike akin to something you might bestow on a pet, like Pumpkin or Spot or Patches? Did your bike… Continue reading
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Back in Washington, D.C.
It was rough to return to regular life this week after eight straight blissful days of the bicycle life in Colorado. I missed the open road with stop signs few and far between. I missed full days in the sun, and the steady progression over mountain passes. Lo’ our bike tour was wonderful. After today’s… Continue reading
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Friday Coffee Club: Big Bicycling Edition
One of the reasons I love living in Washington, D.C., is because it is a destination city. Every day my path intersects with tourists who are out and about, taking in the sights, and most often blissfully oblivious to my bike bell. Today, as Felkerino and I enjoyed our pre-work morning at Friday Coffee Club… Continue reading
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Anticipation: a Bike Commuter’s Friend
Do you ever have commutes where you feel like you are in the middle of an urban obstacle course? Dodge this! Veer around that! Watch out for the crazy driver! No one is following the rules! As I rode through the post-work milieu today, a particularly gorgeous early summer day in the city, I realized… Continue reading
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Bike Parking in the City: Issues and Etiquette
Bike parking in the city can be a tricky business. Many parts of the city (at least the ones I visit in the District) do not have enough racks to accommodate all the bikes of those who want to park in the area. Bikes get crowded onto racks or, if those are not available, we… 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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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 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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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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The Politics of Bike Parking at Work
I recently began a new job, and my lovely setup of parking my bike in my office is no more. I now work in a cube and have no space to park a bike. I could use my Tikit or Dahon folder, but I have not put the time in to make either of them… Continue reading
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The Wheel of Influence
Why did you start riding a bicycle? Who are the people that influenced you? I’ve been giving these questions heavy consideration as I think about the reasons that I started to ride and continue to do so today, especially when I see the numbers showing how few people ride bikes. While the data I’ve come… Continue reading
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Employers: Setting the Tone for Bike Commuters
Since I began commuting nine years ago, I’ve worked for three four different employers. All have been located within five miles of my residence at the time, and that short distance encouraged me to leave the Metro behind and either bike or walk to work. Now I exclusively bike or walk to my office, something… Continue reading
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2012 in Review: Variety is the Spice of Life
Another December passes, the sun sets on 2012, and I find myself reflecting about the activities of the past year. While Felkerino and I focused on preparing for and completing Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011, our 2012 cycling proved more varied. We commuted, completed a Super Randonneur series with the D.C. Randonneurs, trained to ride the Colorado… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 