bicycling
-
Coffeeneuring Profiles and a Question about Bike-Friendliness: Will in Virginia
Today I have the pleasure of featuring a guest post from Will, who lives on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in northern Virginia. Will is a coffeeneur who also rides for transportation as well as sport, and here is what he had to say about one of his recent coffeeneuring experiences, the bikes he’s riding… Continue reading
-
Last Chance to Join the Coffeeneuring Challenge and a Tweetstorm
Time ticks by, but not so much time that you can’t join the Coffeeneuring Challenge. But you must start this weekend! Between now and midnight in your area on November 17, 2013, you may successfully complete the challenge if you ride your bicycle to seven different coffee shops over the next four weekends. And I… Continue reading
-
Coffeeneuring Week Three: The Pastry’s Only For the Photo
Coffeeneuring has exploded across the country, as people pedal from here to there, riding their bikes, and drinking coffee, tea, and insert-your-beverage-of-choice. I’ve also seen a lot of pastries making their way into people’s photos, although I imagine they are there purely as artistic accents. Yeah. That’s it. Continue reading
-
The Furlough, Fall Events, and a Marathon Taper
Taking the topic away from coffeeneuring for a moment, I wanted to post some thoughts about three separate, yet interrelated, topics: lions; tigers; and bears. Or really: how I spent my furlough days, the impact of the furlough on the fall event plans, and my marathon taper. It also gives me an opportunity to post… Continue reading
-
Ultrarunners Like Coffeeneuring, Too: Patti in Delaware
One of the great aspects of coffeeneuring is the people I have the fortune to “meet” via the Coffeeneuring Challenge. Patti, who is guest-posting today, completed the challenge last year and I’m happy to say she is back again for more bikin’ and coffee drinkin’ in 2013. Here’s what she had to say about her… Continue reading
-
Shutdown’s Over: Let’s Talk Coffeeneuring
Washington, D.C., is alive again after 16 days of a government shutdown. What a relief! Even though many things were put on pause during this time, the shutdown could not deter people from their coffeeneuring quests. People are coffeeneuring their brains out so I put this blog roundup together to provide an inside glimpse of… Continue reading
-
100 Rainy Miles for Coffeeneuring and an 87-Mile Sunny Fun-Odyssey Follow-Up
We sort of interrupt the Coffeeneuring Challenge for a couple of ride reports. I say sort of because Sunday’s ride included coffeeneuring. My 87-mile Tuesday Fun-Odyssey also included coffeeneuring, but my documentation is questionable thus, did the coffeeneuring even happen? You tell me. 100 Rainy Miles for Coffeeneuring This weekend Felkerino and I craved an… Continue reading
-
Guest Coffeeneuring Post by Lisa in Maryland: Buzz Kill and Black Market
Today’s post is from Lisa, a Takoma Park, Maryland, rider and coffeeneur. When she mentioned that her 39-mile coffeeneuring ride this past Saturday did not quite go as planned I was intrigued and solicited a guest post. And what we have here, my friends, is a story of two coffeeneurs who will stop at nothing… Continue reading
-
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
-
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
-
A Visit to Bikes@Vienna on the Leesburg Loop
Over the weekend Felkerino and I meandered from home to do what we call the “Leesburg Loop,” a 90-ish mile ride that starts in D.C., crosses the river into Virginia and takes the Custis and W&OD Trails to Leesburg, winds around to White’s Ferry for a quick ferry ride across the Potomac into Maryland, continues… Continue reading
-
Fall Events and an August Wrap-Up
August passed in a herky jerky fashion. I had trouble getting into a rhythm with my riding and I ventured infrequently to the weight room. As a result my cycling miles were down and I probably have reduced my pushups capability for the moment. Who knows what miserable state my core is in (kidding… I’m… Continue reading
-
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
-
What Does Health Mean to You? Laying the Groundwork
This week the WordPress Weekly Writing Challenge, a blog that essentially gives bloggers voluntary writing assignments, encouraged people to reflect on health and what it means to them. I have been thinking a lot about my health over the last year, in part because I turned 40, which really had me in a prolonged existential funk.… Continue reading
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Comparing a Marathon to Randonneuring
Every once in a while, someone asks me how a marathon compares to randonneuring. Running versus randonneuring was also a recent topic on the “randon” list, one of the main randonneuring listservs. Having just completed a marathon as well as a flèche and a 300K within a month’s timeframe, I thought I’d share my own… Continue reading
-
Adios, Spin Classes
This past month I canceled one of my gym memberships. It’s sort of a long story, but I had maintained two gym memberships since switching jobs in October, and a cost-benefit analysis led me to the decision to keep only one. I was surprisingly sad to cancel my membership, but I could not rationalize keeping… Continue reading
-
Spring Fever: On the Bike, Off the Clock
This weekend’s spectacular weather made for an invitation to ride that Felkerino and I could not refuse. We ditched the indoors for a weekend of riding with friends. Saturday, we oiled the chain on the Co-Motion tandem and met up with Barry B. and Lane G. for a meander from Poolesville, Maryland, to Shepherdstown, West… Continue reading
-
How to Make the City a Better Place for Cyclists
As I wrote last week, I’m bringing back the BikeDC Speaks series to highlight some of the questions and issues it raised. This time, I’m also asking you to share your ideas and suggestions. Last week’s post asked about the best advice anyone ever gave you about cycling. This week’s question is: What could the… Continue reading
-
Blossomwatch 2013!
On March 20 of last year, the cherry blossoms peaked in Washington, D.C., and by this time of the month only the most stalwart of flowers clung to the trees. That is far from the case this time around, where the tourists have arrived in droves to appreciate the blossoms that have yet to cover… Continue reading
-
What’s the Best Advice Anyone Gave You about Cycling?
Back in the fall, I put together a series that explored D.C.-area cyclists’ views and experiences about riding in the city. #BikeDC Speaks featured 8 local cyclists– six women and two men. Some contributors began commuting regularly within the last year or two while others have commuted for several years. Thanks again to all the people… Continue reading
-
Sunday Joy Ridin’ on the Rivendell Romulus
Felkerino and I decided to go on a post-200K brevet joy ride today to bask in the recently arrived warm weather and pay a visit to family out in Northern Virginia. Because of all the stop-and-go movement of the urban environment, we left the tandem in the Dining Room Bike Shop and opted for single… Continue reading
-
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
-
The Cold & Blustery BikeDC Hot Chocolate Ride (aka, the Chocoride)
Having spent the bulk of the last four days in self-imposed isolation, I busted out of my hibernation state today and joined the Hot Chocolate Ride for a few miles in the saddle and hot beverages with BikeDC buddies old and new. Continue reading
-
Unintended Consequences of Not Setting Goals: A Century a Month
Lately, I have been mulling over the question of what we can accomplish even when we do not set specific goals. This is a concept I was first introduced to when I read an interview with Leo Babauta, the author of the Zen Habits blog. Babauta writes that goals foster inflexibility and turn activities into… Continue reading
-
Look Mom! Re-Learning to Ride No-Handed
Sometimes I like to see myself as a “serious” bike rider. I ride in the rain and cold, maneuver adeptly in urban traffic, and participate in the occasional brevet. That’s right, people. Serious. Another part of bicycling that I take seriously is riding no-handed. Ironically, riding no-hands evokes images that to me are far from… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 