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A Bike Ride, a Burley trailer, and a new Nishiki mixte frame
Wow, this week went fast. Felkerino and I are off to join our D.C. Randonneurs friends for a little bike ride. This is one where reflective gear and lights are required. Before we go, though, I would like to share that we are putting the Bridgestone MB-4 to work. This morning, Felkerino hitched the Burley… Continue reading
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D.C. Commute Scenes: Yarn Bombing and Bicycles
Sometimes I think I’m the last to know about most everything. Yesterday I came across a bicycle with training wheels u-locked to the fence in front of the Renwick Gallery. It caught my eye because I don’t see that many child-size bicycles; and It was encased in knitting. Even the training wheels! Continue reading
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D.C. Commute Scenes: Capital Bikeshare and True Love
The throngs of tourists combined with the rising temps make mornings the best time to ride in the city these days. This morning Felkerino and I were en route to coffee and passed by the Lincoln Memorial. It always surprises me how serene the Lincoln is in the early-ish morning. It’s a much different place… Continue reading
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1992 Bridgestone MB-4: Free bike = FIGHT!
Recently, I sent a bike of mine off to the hospital to be parted out. Last week after our morning ride to coffee, we ran into saw a coffee buddy of ours who said he had an old mountain bike that he wanted to give away. Specifically, he wanted to give it to us because he said… Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Russ’s Rivendell Custom
Felkerino and I used to see Russ quite regularly on D.C. Randonneurs brevets. Russ is great riding company. He loves wool, flat pedals, steel bikes, and being outdoors. Also, he always seems totally relaxed when he’s on the bike. Unfortunately, we don’t see Russ on D.C. Randonneurs rides anymore because he is now stationed in… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs – Frederick, Maryland 400K Brevet
What is 252 miles, starts at 4 a.m., and has many hills and valleys? It’s the D.C. Randonneurs 400K brevet. Ha ha ha!! I may be laughing now, but I certainly was not on Saturday morning when my alarm went off at 2:45 a.m. I never imagined that my idea of fun would require this… Continue reading
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Bike to Work Day, aka Friday
Today was Bike to Work day! Of course you all knew that. In a fit of irony, Felkerino and I rode away from work and headed to the Rosslyn stop to join the Bike to Work festivities. I have found Rosslyn to be a fun stop and not quite as crowded as the Freedom Plaza… Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Ritchie’s 1979 Austro-Daimler Vent Noir II
This year I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and riding with Ritchie, a D.C. Randonneur. The first time I saw Ritchie, I had to rub my eyes and take a second look to make sure he was real. He looked liked he might have stepped out of a time machine and somehow ended up on… Continue reading
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Requisite D.C. Bicycle Glamour Shots: Big Wheel Bikes Mural
Washington, D.C., is a lovely city for bicycle glamour shots. While what might come to mind most readily are pictures of bikes and monuments, that is not entirely true. One of the spots where I’ve always wanted to take a glamour shot is by the bike mural at Big Wheel Bikes in Georgetown. This eye-catching… Continue reading
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Commute Scenes: Tourist Photos Edition
In case you haven’t noticed or don’t live in the area, it’s PRIME TIME for tourists. I love watching tourists. It’s also a requirement if you are a pedestrian or cyclist, because you never know what a tourist is going to do. One minute they are walking on the right side of the mall path,… Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Ron and Barb’s Burley Paso Doble Tandem
I remember the first time I rode with Barb and Ron. I spied the Berthoud bag adorning on their steel Burley, their matching Swobo jerseys, and thought to myself, “These are some stylin’ randonneurs. I must find out who they are.” And so I did. Ron and Barb are great randoneuring buddies with wicked senses of… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs: Frederick, Maryland 300K
Saturday was a beautiful day to be a randonneur, and today I am still riding the post-brevet high of this ride. The D.C. Randonneurs 300K out of Frederick, Maryland, is one of my favorite rides for a few reasons: Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Bill B.’s Trek Madone SSLx
That’s right, people. It’s a double feature of Bikes to Like this week on Chasing Mailboxes. Today, I highlight Bill B.’s Trek Madone. Bill, the excellent RBA for the D.C. Randonneurs and our head photographer, has completed many MANY brevets on his Trek Madone. I was curious how he managed to make a randonneuring bike… Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Rick B.’s Merlin Extralight
There are some people I know from being on the bike and nowhere else. Rick B. is one of those people. We’ve never seen each other in our “real lives,” only our cycling lives. I’ve come to know Rick from my morning commute, where our routes occasionially cross paths. Rick and Felkerino know each other… Continue reading
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D.C. Commute Scenes
Which would you rather do? Option 1. or Option 2. I know what I’d choose. Happy Friday!! Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Mike B.’s Surly Long Haul Trucker
I am a big fan of the Surly Long Haul Trucker. Fellow blogger and cyclist Mike B. owns a Surly LHT in my favorite color, truckaccino. Mike is also a member of the Severna Park Peloton in (guess?) Severna Park, Maryland, and has ridden his Surly for both commuting and brevets. Read on to find out… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs Old Rag 200K Brevet
I know Felkerino will be doing a roundup of this brevet on my favorite news source, The Daily Randonneur, but until he does, here’s a quick summary from the stoker. Continue reading
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Reverse Tandem Double Panda Shot
Previously I wrote about “panda portraits,” which are typically self-portraits you take while riding your bicycle. This past summer, though, Felkerino and I worked on taking photos of each other while we were riding the same bicycle. See? Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Rootchopper’s Specialized Sequoia
This week I’m highlighting D.C. commuter, Rootchopper, and his bike. I love the look of this bike and when I saw it dressed up in Ortliebs on his flickr page, I wanted to know more about it. As Rootchopper is a dedicated commuting cyclist with a lovely steel bicycle, I thought he’d be a perfect… Continue reading
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Weekend Rain = No Hains Point
What a lovely Monday! Felkerino and I thought we might enjoy a morning lap on Hains Point, but it was not to be. The Potomac River is running high and Hains Point is closed due to flooding. Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: World’s Greatest Randonneur’s Sam Hillborne
Because I am surrounded by so much bicycling goodness, I’ve decided to run some Q&A posts on some of the bikes I’ve seen and admired in the D.C. randonneuring and commuting scene. The first post features the World’s Greatest Randonneur’s (WGR) bike. It’s a Sam Hillborne, from Rivendell. Here’s what WGR had to say when I… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs 300K Brevet: The Contrary Mother
The D.C. Randonneurs “Contrary Mother” 300K is an epic knee-breaking excursion through the sawteeth of eastern West Virginia. Rather than regale you with a blow-by-blow of our day-into-night trip, I jotted down some of the brevet lessons I learned over our 192-mile journey. Pay no attention to the forecast. Just wear wool and hope for the… Continue reading
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Bikes to Like: Titanium One-Off
Whenever I ride my bike, I try to: follow of the rules of the road; take a panda photo; and keep an eye out for bikes that interest me. Sometimes all three of these things happen, and sometimes only one of them does. However, one morning commute after taking my regular panda shot I came… Continue reading
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Cake Commuting: the Gersemalina Way
You may recall that I recently had a birthday and that Felkerino birthday-cake-bike-commuted with a somewhat messy, yet still savory, outcome. I also embarked on a cake-commuting expedition earlier this year, and was waiting for just the right moment to write about it. I now realize that the right moment would have been one week… Continue reading
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Cherry Blossoms. They’re still out there!
It’s been a cold week here in the District, with some rain thrown in. Do not let that deter you, my friends! While the blossoms may pop more against a clear blue sky, the cold and gray days help make the traffic around the Tidal Basin a thousand times more peaceful. Also, according to the… Continue reading
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The 15th Street Bike Lane: Pros and Cons
Did you know that the Washington City Paper recently named the 15th Street Bike Lane (or “cycletrack,” as the City Paper said), the “Best Bike Lane of 2011?” I did not even knew this was a “Best of” category. For those who may not have ridden it yet, the 15th Street Bike Lane is a… Continue reading
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D.C. Randonneurs Urbana 200K Brevet
I had a great time this Saturday, making my way 128 miles from Urbana, Maryland, around the Catoctins and South Mountain on the D.C. Randonneurs Urbana 200K (full route description here). Felkerino and I had not ridden a brevet since November so it was fun to carry a card around on an official event with… Continue reading
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Cherry Blossom Alert!
What are you doing the next few days? If you are going bicycling in Washington, D.C., you MUST go to Hains Point and check out the cherry blossoms. I shouldn’t even tell you this because I like keeping the population on Hains Point a level below utter chaos, but the perky pink blossoms look so… Continue reading
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Cycling Memories: RAGBRAI
This week, Girl on a Bike invited people to post their favorite cycling memory to her blog. Prize for posting? A chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Revolution Cycles. (See here for her writeup and contest). Her post prompted me to dig into my bicycle memory bank. As I thought back, my first… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 