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Commute Essentials: Klean Kanteen Cages
A few years ago I began commuting with steel Klean Kanteen bottles. I liked using the steel bottles, but because Klean Kanteens are narrower in circumfrence than a standard plastic water bottle and I use stainless steel cages almost exclusively, the metal on metal made the Kanteens rattle away on city streets like nobody’s business. I… Continue reading
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Having a Breakdown (of the S&S Coupler Kind)
Felkerino and I made one airplane trip on a non-coupled tandem bike, and found it to be a big pain in the patootie. Because of that, we made sure our Co-Motion tandem had S&S Coupling (couplers) to facilitate the transport of our bike through airports. The couplers (visible in the photo above) allow our bike… Continue reading
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Goin’ on a Bike Tour: a Return to Simple
As I write this post, Felkerino is breaking apart and boxing up our Co-Motion Java (more on that burly beast and the S&S Coupler cases in a later post) and we’re packing for our upcoming bike tour out west. 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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Endurance: What the Research Doesn’t Tell You
When mainstream media picks up a thread about the effects of endurance pursuits on health, I usually hear about it. The most recent one I know of was covered in the Wall Street Journal. The article’s focus was “extreme exercisers,” and how they may experience some health benefits from their activities, but likely put their… Continue reading
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Something Old, Something New… Falling (in Love!) with Off-Road Tandeming
Felkerino’s and my years of randonneuring on tandem together combined with our growing interest in off-road riding made the Hilly Billy Roubaix, a 74-mile ride largely on the unpaved gravel and dirt roads in Monongalia County, West Virginia, an intriguing challenge. With the exception of tires (which Felkerino researched and purchased prior to the event)… Continue reading
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Hilly Billy Roubaix: the Short Version of our Ultra Cross Race
More than 24 hours after completing the Hilly Billy Roubaix, I am still riding high on the post-event rush. This 70, 72, 75, approximately 74-mile ride, billed as an ultra cross event, was held this Saturday just outside of Morgantown, West Virginia. Felkerino and I rode it on our “lead sled,” i.e., the Cannondale mountain… Continue reading
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The Gift of Slowness
I seldom experience slowness in the city. I rush around every weekday morning, I try to arrive at my office on time, and I work diligently throughout the day. I make post-work plans to meet up with others at a certain time, and lots of my day is scheduled. The tours and rides Felkerino and… 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 Plus Jump
I never used to take photos during bike rides, but over time I realized that I like having a tangible memory of a day in the saddle. Nothing can replace the actual experience, but it is nice to have a photo to help recall rides gone by. I’ve developed an affinity for stopping at some… Continue reading
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From Middletown to Monterey: Two Days, 255 Miles
Felkerino and I have been making the most of our weekend warrior lifestyle with two straight weekends of bike overnights on our Co-Motion tandem. This past weekend we toured with our rando-friends John and Cindy, who also ride a Co-Motion tandem– a 650B Speedster. Isn’t it beautiful? Both days included plenty of climbing and stunning… Continue reading
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The Camelbak: A Reluctant Brevet and Touring Necessity
I generally like the look of most of my cycling clothing and gear with the exception of a few items such as booties, balaclavas, and the topic of today’s post, my Camelbak. However, much as I dislike the overall aesthetic, you will not see me on a brevet or bike tour without some kind of… 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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The Weekend Warrior
Like many people in this town, I work in an office environment Monday through Friday. I spend lots of time in front of a computer or sitting in meetings. Lots. For over 40 hours each week, I sit. And sit. And sit. To compensate for my largely sedentary work life I bike commute, pepper in… Continue reading
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A Peak, a Valley, and a New Ascent: May by the Miles
May turned out to be an exciting month around the edges with a big blah and some good lessons learned in the middle. Numbers-wise, it looked like this: 1 Marathon 91 miles run 0 Brevets 485 miles on the bike 11 trips to the gym for general weightlifting workouts First, a peak: The first weekend… Continue reading
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Randonneuring: From Doing to Being
I started riding with the D.C. Randonneurs in 2005 when I was invited to participate on a flèche team. At that time, I had never ridden farther than a century and I had no idea what randonneuring was. Despite my ignorance the flèche sounded like an exciting opportunity to test my limits. To prepare for… Continue reading
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Escape from the City: Weekend Bike Tour to Martinsburg, West Virginia
Felkerino and I took advantage of the recently arrived summer weather and ventured out for a weekend bike tour. We departed the District on Saturday morning and took a circuitous route out to Martinsburg, making sure we plodded a few miles through the Catoctins of Maryland. That was some hilly stuff. Overall, we rode 122… Continue reading
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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
Chasing MailBoxes 