reflections
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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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Writing Your Way to the Ride You Want
Throughout my time randonneuring, I have gone through different phases. My primary goal during my first series of riding brevets was to finish within the time limits. This was also a time of intense learning about fueling and fitness, melding as a tandem team with Felkerino, as well as getting to know the randonneuring community. After starting this blog in… Continue reading
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Happiness
Recently, a friend recommended Willa Cather’s My Ántonia so I have been reading it. I’ve always avoided this book because it sounded too much like required high school reading. Now I understand why that is so, although I don’t know that I would have appreciated all this book had to offer had I read it earlier… 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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Randonneur Crazy People
How many miles does one have to ride to meet the minimum crazy threshold? Has anyone figured it out? Continue reading
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In Pursuit of Bliss
If you ever decide to dabble in the randonneuring arts, it’s likely going to be of benefit for you to work on your patience. In randonneuring, all parts of the ride unfold in their own time. No matter how furiously you pedal, the top of the climb will be reached when the road resolves to… Continue reading
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We Interrupt This Brevet for …
Sometimes when riding my bike, I feel like I’m inside a video game that’s throwing all manner of obstacles my way, and I have to react and deal with them in order to move on to the next level. Last weekend’s 600K had a fair number of these– enough that I began to take notice.… 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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Throwing Away the Cycling Spreadsheet
A funny thing happened to me at the end of April. Funny to me, anyway. I lost interest in tracking my cycling miles, and stopped caring about the number of days I rode each month. Instead of fighting that feeling, I’ve just gone with it, especially since this sentiment has been growing over the last… 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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Springing Over the Edge
After a winter considered cold by many in the Mid-Atlantic—including me, who grew up in Iowa but has since become weak to the elements– Spring finally broke through. Lo’ how great it was to see the browns and grays of winter dissipate, replaced with greenery, pastel colors of cherry blossoms and the vivid hues… 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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Why Ride Brevets?
Randonneuring requires a certain level of commitment (no, not that kind of commitment). Early rises, car rides, bike maintenance and tuning, convenience store dining, and long days and even evenings in the saddle are all part of the randonneur lifestyle. Given that most of us do not have unlimited leisure time, what is it about the… 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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Furlough Daze in Washington, D.C.
I still find it hard to believe that it’s been over a week since the government shutdown began. After two days of riding my Bike Friday Tikit, I left it at the Dining Room Bike Shop for some derailleur work. The staff said they would get to it “sometime,” and since then I have been… Continue reading
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Government Shutdown: Get Off My Lawn!
The government shutdown continues, much to many of our dismay. Also, the Coffeeneuring Challenge is in full swing, much to many of our great delight! Today I did a six-mile shutdown run (all activities will hereby be prefaced with “shutdown” until this ends, I tell you), which took me near the U.S. Capitol, by the… Continue reading
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Shutdown Friday in Downtown D.C. with the Excepted Intermittent Bike Friday Tikit
Day Four of the government shutdown and for the second consecutive day I called on my Excepted Intermittent Bike Friday Tikit. It was cowering in a corner, licking its wounds from yesterday’s century, trying to be invisible. No doubt I had ruined some trust between us. “Tikit, you gotta give me another chance,” I said… Continue reading
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Shutdown Century on the Excepted Intermittent Bike Friday Tikit
Having designated all of my bicycles “Excepted Intermittent,” they are all required to help me with any “excepted” rides I might perform. Today, I called on my Bike Friday Tikit to assist me with such a ride. I departed my house around 10:30, figuring that my Tikit and I would ride out a ways on… Continue reading
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Shutdown Diaries: Leesburg Loop via the C&O
To help manage my shutdown anxiety I have spent the last couple of days away from the television, the computer, and the depressing barricaded and closed areas of downtown. I’m also trying to get in some exercise. After all, I want my work clothes to still fit when this $%&! is over. Today I took… Continue reading
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Due to a Lapse in Appropriations… I Must Run
As the realization sank in last night that no agreement would be reached to fund the federal government past the end of September, I was filled with frustration and dismay. It’s disheartening to work earnestly to neatly wrap up the fiscal year only to be informed a few hours after you’ve arrived home that there… 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
Chasing MailBoxes 