ready to go! how perfect is that picnic basket??!
pit-stop at Paul to get some macaroons!
the view while waiting outside Paul
…
found our location
NOM NOM
incoming 1
incoming 2
As promised, here’s the video that I put together for Bicycle Space for the Tweed Ride. It was good fun running around to capture as much footage as I could. I’m used to being on the editing end of things, so it was a good change up to actually be behind camera. If I did anything differently, I might not have worn heels for this task, as my feet were killing me by the end of the day. But, I did get lots of compliments on my shoes, so I suppose it was worth it in the end. Well, check it out… and yes, Bowser does make an appear or two. That falls well within my editorial rights.
Yesterday was the DC Tweed Ride, which we participated in again this year — this time with Bowser in tow! He was pretty popular with the crowd. I was busy filming the entire time for a short movie I put together for Bicycle Space (video coming soon!) so Matt took the little guy, in his orange coat, around for most of the ride. Don’t worry guys, he was strapped in to the box to assure there were no accidents. I hardly took any pictures at all, so I didn’t think that machinedance would mind if I posted this shot of the two dapper looking gentlemen that I love so much.
On Friday, we took off on our bikes a little after lunchtime and headed northwest towards Leesburg, VA. It was BEE-YOO-tiful out, maybe a little on the windy side, but cold enough to wear a pair of gloves and ear-warmers, two layers, but still not ever really break a sweat while riding OR start to freeze. Perfect! And with all the leaves doing their best autumn colors, it made for a prety backdrop to our ride. We made it a bit past Shirlington, only a few miles into the W & OD Trail , when we pit-stopped at some benches to eat the lunch I packed – turkey sammies and pita chips. Good fuel.
From there we pedaled on at my somewhat slow pace and enjoyed a pretty empty trail for the most part, passing a handful of other runners and bikers. I’ll admit that after about 15 miles or so, I had to stop pretty frequently to stretch out. I was getting horrible cramps in my neck, back, and shoulders that only felt better when I stopped to bend in the opposite direction of the way I sit on my bike. By the time we got to Herndon, about 30 miles in, I was pretty much ready to break my new bike in half and throw a tantrum on the side of the road out of frustration from my neck pains. I may or may not have done one of those two things, I’ll leave it at that. Matt suggested that we find a Holiday Inn and just stay in Herndon. I was pretty ready to do just that, but the thought of staying in a Holiday Inn was majorly disappointing to me. I certainly wasn’t going to make it all the way back to DC that night, so we decided that the best option was to continue the last 13 miles to our intended destination. It was pretty nice watching the sun go down to our west as we rode along, slowly, and yelling WOMP-WOMP-SUCKAS! at all the commuters stuck in Friday traffic as we biked across the overpasses at the Dulles Toll Road. I guess that part was actually earlier in the trip, before my breakdown in Herndon, but I didn’t want to leave it out of the story.
Anyways! By the time we neared Leesburg, it was getting pretty dark and cold, and the only thing that was worth quickly stopping for was a handful of peanuts. As we went on in the dark, we saw lots of little bunnies and critters scampering across the path, illuminated by our bike lights. Matt thought that the pattern of the lights on the ground looked like scary clown faces, his light more so than mine. It was mesmerizing to watch them move along the pavement. It is actual pretty peaceful to ride at night like that in the middle of nowhere. So we were about a mile from our destination, and my legs were totally turning into jelly, when I saw some lights off to our right, which I thought was Leesburg, but Matt informed me that it was actually some sort of small power substation. It was at this moment that I understood how a desert mirage works, when you are looking so hard for something (our destination) that everything starts to look like it. Funny how that works.
At milepost 34, we arrived and turned off to the right to go uphill to the Leesburg Colonial Inn. YAY!! Matt carried our bikes up two sets of stairs to Room 2. It was a funny little colonial-inspired place with a “washbasin” on the nightstand. I’m not sure it had ever been used for that, but I liked it anyways. We took hot showers and immediately felt better and ready to devour some pizza and beer at Fireworks, the place across the street. It sure hit the spot after all that riding. I think it was only about 10:30pm when we crashed for the night. Tired muscles! It was a good sleep. In the morning, over breakfast at the hotel, we strategized about a couple things. First, I admitted that it was a bad idea to up and ride 40+ miles on a new bike that I had only ridden about a collective 20 miles on before, and never more than 5 or so at a time. That was dumb, for one. It may have made more sense to try a shorter distance to check the fit. And yes, we had already tried adjusting the seat up and down, changing positions, etc. Matt thinks that next we will order a little adjustment piece to raise the handlebars a bit and see if that helps. Anyhow, at the end of our strategizing session, it was determined that we would bike 26 miles back to the Dunn Loring Metro, and metro back home from there, and call it a trip until I can get better adjusted and lose the neck pain. Before we departed, we explored a few of the antique shops in town. We hadn’t even opened the door to the first place yet, when Matt must have seen my eyes and declaredquicly, and with definity “The panniers are already full.” – meaning I wasn’t allowed to shop. So of course the thing that we found and loved happened to be an oversized sepia-toned print of a city-scene. This thing had to be about 4′ by 5′ or so. We asked the lady working there if they shipped things, telling her that we came by way of bike. “Oh!!” she said, “You’d take flight if you strapped that thing onto your bike!!” Then she proceeded to tell us that she had once sold a mannequin to a couple that came in on motorcycle. She said they rode away with a third person (the mannequin) strapped right on the back, and that she wishes she’d taken a photo because it was such a hoot. Well, she was a hoot. We got her business card and are contemplating driving back there next weekend to get the print. It was that good of a bargain.
It was a really nice ride back, warmer, sunnier, and less windy. Lots of people out enjoying a Saturday morning on the trail. The mileage somehow felt a little more doable. I was thinking about how nice it is to get away for a quick trip like that, and not pack anything except one change of clothes. I can’t remember the last time I went anywhere without my hair straightener and 4 times the amount of outfits that I actually needed. And that makes me sound high-maintenance, which I don’t really think of myself as being. It was kinda like “all-you-need-is-the-shirt-on-your-back” (and a bag of peanuts) feeling.
We stopped off in Vienna to get lunch. First, we wandered by the bike shop, and stopped in to look around. We talked at length to a lady about recumbent bikes because they had a ton of them sitting out front. She was telling us how much she loved hers after having problems with neck pain herself. It was interested to hear her talk about all the places she’d ridden before — Sugarloaf Mountain, Skyline Drive… She told us that many of the recumbents can actually go as fast as a regular diamond frame bike, though they are a little heavier and require a little more effort on really big hills. She recommended we try the little shop next to them for lunch, and so we did, and we had two little meat and veggie pupusas and they were tasty.
And then we were at the Dunn Loring Metro with our bikes, cutting out the last 14 miles, and my neck thanks me for that. It was a great success of a trip! As soon as I get my bike fitting a little better, I’m ready for the next adventure. It has me wishing for spring weather already, since I feel like there are some cold ones coming up. Where should we bike next??
annnd we’re off!
chugga chugga choo choooo
the road ahead
pizza upon arrival!
hotel sign, in the light of next morning
a funny little room
complimentary parking is a nice touch.
Vintage finds in Leesburg. (Kristy, you would have been in heaven here.)
turkey cookie!
headed back!
pedal pedal.
spotted some horsies along the trail. i think she caught me taking her photo.
this is, without a doubt, the largest bicycle sign in the world.
weeeee!! my new ride
taking photos and biking. not nearly as easy as chewing gum and walking
There should be WAY more 3-day weekends in the year. In fact, every single one of them should have that extra day to relax… methinks there would be a lot less insanity in the world if this were the case. We took advantage of it by biking around the US National Arboretum. THIS on a Monday morning is a MUCH better start to the week than checking your inbox. Especially if you’re riding your brand new bike!!! EEEEEeeeee!!! Isn’t it pretty?! Matt spent a pretty good deal of time working with BicycleSPACE to custom build my new ride. We’re still waiting on a few finishing touches like a rack, lights, and kickstand, but it was ready enough for an inaugural ride. !!!!! We spent two+ hours on Sunday sewing the elk-hide grips onto the handle bars. By the way, I am SO adding double cross-stitch to my resume under the “Skills” section after that effort. It looks so super sweet now though. Well worth the time.
We decided to start with a short ride, so Matt found a really quick and easy route for us to get to the Arboretum. It’s sad that we don’t go there more frequently for how close it is. We decided that biking is DEFINITELY the way to go for exploring the expansive grounds there. Every other time we’ve gone on foot and apparently missed about 90% of the place. It was a humid, cloudy, overcast day, but we missed any raindrops and had a good first ride.
columns from afar
cattail and columns. i never noticed how much cattails look like corn-dogs.
Whoa! Where is August going? We haven’t posted anything in weeks because we’ve been busy as bumblebees. Bumblebees!! I promise there will be a huge dump of amazing photos any time now. I just need to get my iPhoto import going on soon. We’ve got updates from — a week in Vermont with the fam! my green screen video shoot for thesis! an art project for Val and Ty! a moonlight bike ride! Nats game! Wow, I am wayyyy behind. Got to love the hazy days of summer… Coming soon I promise.
Also, today’s bike-related photo = not totally random. Guess what? We’ve got a new rando bike baby on the way!! It’s a boy! (I think anyways, it’s blue…) It should be here by the weekend. eeee! I’m not sure if I am more excited for my bike, or if Matt is more excited for my bike. We need to plan our first long-ish ride before the weather gets cold and fall classes get in the way. woohoo!
The family visits continued!! This past weekend Jami and Kari flew out from Iowa (and mom and dad drove down from DE) to spend a long weekend with us in DC. On Thursday evening we enjoyed a Moroccan meal at Souk – somehow they managed to squeeze all 11 (Maine + Iowa) of us at one big table. The best part about dining on small plates with that many people is you can get a taste of nearly everything on the menu. Pepper hummus, baba ganoush, baklava… MMMMmmmm!
On Saturday afternoon, we spent some time being lazy and playing bocce ball in Lincoln Park. Bowser was the only one of us working really hard at moving all the balls around after they stopped rolling, but those are the rules – even though he was pretty lopsided towards chasing all the red balls, no arguing over whatever the dog does! He was like a team of his own. When we weren’t playing bocce, we took turns lounging in the grass (and lining up the ridiculous amounts of phones/cameras/technology we had with us for a simple trip to the park).
That night, we took our 6-person bike gang down to the Capitol and then across the National Mall to see some monuments at night. Jami and Kari took their very first CaBi rides and it was pretty sweet to see everything by moonlight. We stopped at the Capitol briefly, then rode past all the Folklife Festival tents on the Mall, then around the circle of the Washington Monument, passed by the WW2 memorial, rode along the under-construction reflecting pool, stopped to see Mr. Lincoln, where we were somehow more fascinated with the light coming from the kiosk at the base, and then finally walked along the Vietnam Memorial wall. The return trip was nice too – cruising along Pennsylvania Ave in the center bike lanes around 11pm — when the temperature in July in DC is finally tolerable — it’s always a pretty exhilarating feeling. No matter how long we live in DC, I will never get tired of seeing the city at night. It’s pretty amazing.
Sunday was pretty much the perfect day. Shopping at Eastern Market in the morning, pedicures in the afternoon, and sushi boat for late lunch/early dinner. Does it get any better than spending time with family doing those things?! I think Kari definitely enjoyed her first sushi experience and was pretty much a chopstick master by the time we finished. We came home and watched the DVR-ed women’s World Cup Soccer game — still can’t believe that header that tied us up with Brazil!!! Dinner was grilled corn with Old Bay and BBQ chicken followed by a vicious game of Asshole in which Jami was president the entire time . not fair!
It was sad to see them leave this morning. These visits always fly by so fast. Can’t wait until the next one…
On Saturday, DC’s first Kidical Mass ride took place, and Matt was there to take photos and ride with the group, whose goal is: “Promoting safe, fun family biking in the Greater Washington area.” Here’s some more of the photos.
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter weekend!
Well, we did Seersucker in the heat of summer, but yesterday’s beautiful fall day was all about the tweed. This years ride, put on by Dandies and Quaintrelles, started from Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill and ended at Stroga in Adams Morgan. Here’s one of me on my purple steed, pedaling away, taken by Flickr user M.V. Jantzen. Also check out Matt’s new DC bike tat,in a photo taken by Tony DeFilippo before the ride began. Best part of the ride= leaving each intersection as the light turned green, yelling “HIP HIP, HOORAY!” with 30 or so other fellow riders. HIP HIP, HOORAY!
BICYCLE! BICYCLE! Shot on film somewhere along 14th Street.