Hooky Ride

Tuesday seemed like a day unfit for working... it also is the day I was expecting my new HD projector for the basement media/bar room!  So I got in a nice long ride on the single speed XO-3, longest to date at 50+. I had some machinations for a mixed surface ride doing the Leesburg Loop to include the C&O Canal but opted instead for a more modest mileage total and all paved route of an out and back on the W&OD, Alexandria - Herndon - Alexandria (returning via the Custis-MV Trails).  Great day on the bike, I'm really digging the singlespeed though my ride to work Wednesday on the geared Trek felt amazing, I felt so fast! :)

Tues Sunrise on Hume Ave

Vienna made for a nice rest stop, I was slow and steady with plenty of stops on Tuesday.  I love this mural!

I finally figured out the dumb hitching pole at Green Lizard, excellent coffee in a nice stoneware mug and they even let me use a wrench to touch up the cable tension.

Also in Herndon (at the turn around) Great Harvest Bakery is well worth a visit on two wheels, four wheels or no wheels... free tasting of several breads every day and I really enjoyed this large loaf of Honey Wheat!

Perhaps the most photo's dedicated to Brandywine Castle ever.... but I noticed it just after getting back inside the beltway and decided it was a good short stop opportunity.

A short steep hike and you can see the stones in the frame here

I did not hike-a-bike the XO-3 up the slope, looking back down.

Behold.... Brandywine Castle!

The blue sky finally peaked out as I enjoyed my Great Harvest bread with honey and butter at Gravelly Point.

Farewell Atlantis

It's actually been a done deal for going on two weeks but I wanted to wait till the new owner had received and checked out the bike before completely 'washing my hands' of the frame... after less than a year and somewhere close to 1,000 miles I sold the 64cm Rivendell Atlantis.  I had an absolute blast on this bike, love the aesthetics, the amazing flexibility and almost above all... the name.  Truely an inspired choice for a bike name, excellent art on the headbadge and I'll definitely keep one eye half open for another Atlantis that is actually my size in the future.

In the end it was two things that pushed me over the edge, first the flexibility of the frame to take massive tires was comprimised by the fact that the frame was probably 4cm to big... maybe even more than that for certain off-road uses.  Second I got an opportunity to purchase another Riv that really intrigues me, more on that in a future post.

I went through the full catalog of images I made of the Atlantis and decided to throw them all up in one last post.  I can't say enough good things about this bike!

First photo session, frame, fork, headset, bb, crankset, DT cable stops and seatpost... as purchased

Initial (mongrel) build, particualrly the 700C wheelset off my wife's old dept store hybrid.  Mismatched rear derailleur resulted in only 5 working gears in the rear!

Moustache Bars on the Atlantis just feels right.... right?

First extended ride, an Arlington Loop with a jaunt into DC

Parked with the rest of the fam...

Nice random ride up Arlington Ridge on a warm weekend morning, great new-to-me view found

My first Riv-Ride, I'm still pretty amused and happy by my choice of the Sailor and Seaman Memorial for a backdrop to the Atlantis! :)

Back at one of my favorites, the LBJ Memorial Grove

Over at the Velocity Co-Op as I finalized the legit 700C wheel build, nice XT hubs (dyno front) with velocity rims and the Nomad Resist tires.  Pictured here before I even laced up the chain.

Obviously not an S24O outing but a great and very warm fall (Oct) car camping trip that the Atlantis and MB-5 got to come play in, couple short off road rides proved it could be done!

The first night out the bikes got to dew-ey being left outside, so the second night I found this spare bit of blanket to cover them up... trust me, the Atlantis (and MB-5) are under there.  Check out the mist and the cows in the far background!

The Atlantis touring Lake Waccamaw NC

My first coffee outdoors attempt (unsucessful due to several huge omissions in packing) was also at Lake Waccamaw and I rode the Atlantis out on this boardwalk early in the morning.  Great ride!

Second Riv-Ride meet-up

Howard and I swapped bikes briefly on the second Riv-Ride and I caught a rare shot of the Atlantis in action

Another family shot, you'll notice the Trek got drops (noodles), the Atlantis got the Albatross (upright), and the new XO-3 picked up the traditional Mustache bars... the MB-5 is hanging tough with the bullmoose style.

Bethesda Bagels and a meetup with Erl and his 56cm Atlantis (great looking bike!)

One good one with me and the Atlantis on the CCT over Rock Creek Park with Erl

Alba-eye view of the C&O Canal towpath paralleling the CCT

I love the shadow's in this selfie

Monster cross - Fat Tired Atlantis, massive 2.1" Kenda small block eight tires and the front rack/basket/dyno light dressed up the Atlantis in spectacular style for the final couple weeks.

One of my favorite photo's of myself in a while, courtesy of my lovely wife.  We had a ton of fun bombing around the National Mall, me on the Atlantis and her on the MB-5.

Inside looking out from Swing's coffee where I'm picking up my fresh roasted, single origin coffee.

Last look, I'm really happy with the ultimate build I used with this bike. I went through a fun progression and while the 2.1" tires wouldn't have worked for me long term (too much cush for regular road riding) I had an absolute blast with the bike in this configuration.  The front basket with custom light mount was super-sweet and the Albatross bars with B67 saddle made way more sense than I could have imagined.  

Farewell Atlantis!

I missed it! - One Year of Blogging

Some blogger I've become... not only did I miss the one year anniversary of my first post (and first commuting ride to work), I even posted several days later and didn't realize it.  Ah well, I've been missing a couple other time/date related things lately so I guess I'll give myself a break on this one.

I had it in my head that early March was the start of commuting, but I think that is just because I didn't want to give myself credit for having biked all through Feb since my first day was actually Feb 26, 2013... particularly in discussions about whether or not I was a 'year round bike commuter'.  I think I'll go ahead and give myself that distinction now, though I've definitely found some boundaries both in my own sense of what is tolerable and what I'm equipped for from a gear perspective!  We certainly weren't sitting at 5+ inches of snow this time last year with prospects for more on the way and continued sub-arctic temps...

I'm focusing a bit on the weather here not because it's novel (at least this year) but I've been wondering to myself about how my journey in becoming a bike commuter would have been different if I'd been getting started this year on Feb 26th...  the weather all season has been much colder and with more ice/snow, and then the first full week would have made riding difficult if not impossible right out of the gate.  Would I have just soldiered on once the weather turned?  Or would I have gotten into the groove of driving to work and never broken free?

I'm glad I didn't have the extra challenge of breaking the car-commute inertia of this kind of weather, and I hope anyone out there (is there anyone?) that is just getting started and is impacted by this tougher winter keeps at it.  I've found the last year of biking to work to be incredibly rewarding and truly a lifestyle defining change.

So happy birthday to DR2DC, here's to more miles beneath the wheels in the year to come!

I think this was my first Friday commute in, the Trek still had 700C wheels, this could have been the very first day for my Topeak trunk bag w/ pannier fold-downs.

Wrapping up the 650B wheelbuild for the Trek conversion project... very satisfying!

The Trek in fine form, 650B'd, front basket, dyno headlight, front fender (no rear), and fancy upside down-Hokie colored handlebars

Under the Rt 1/GW Pkwy/Metro/CSX bridges has been an interesting scene to pass by coming and going to work this year.

Another from under the bridges... the light, shadows, water and reflections make for an interesting tapestry

I've loved this shot from the first time I took it, showing (not very clearly) the Trek cockpit switched out to noodle drop bars w/ interrupter levers... the scarring from the bad job I did mounting the handlebar stem... and of course the basket hanging a bit to the left from the crash I had on my first 50 miler.... amazing how many stories can be told in a photograph (or by a bicycle)

Bikes and coffee go together right!?!  Swings, both in my Del Ray neighborhood and at the #FMCC G st location has probably been the most impactful new vendor in my life this year.

Gotta have one of me right...?  And the Atlantis of course, this was a short lived configuration with the rear basket and sad to say the Atlantis has now gone on to it's new (taller) owner.  But there will be more Riv content in the coming weeks!

Of course the single-speed and M-Bar's must be represented... this is a great looking, great riding bike.

Lot's of Trek pictures... lots of memorable rides I guess.  

Quite recent... but I liked the way the sky turned out in post so here it is again!

Coffee Outside

It was a cold day for the second 'Coffee Outside' experiment here in DC... those CA guys make it look a bit more appetizing this time of year.  That being said Thursday morning was inestimably better for the hour or so spent outside brewing some delicious coffee.  I brought a real camera this time and we returned to the LBJ Memorial Grove.  Joining me was my friend Wes who rode the hour from Mt Vernon particularly early and through some pretty darn cold spots to be there and Bike Arlington member Dana whom I have met at at least one previous morning coffee stop.

The sunrise was pretty subtle, masked in heavy overcast conditions that began to break up as we were finishing up.  It was about 26 degrees at my house when I left...

Potomac River at sunrise ~0643

LBJ Plinth, mirroring the Lincoln Memorial

I've taken some liberties with this one... but the blue sky and break thru of the sun did feel pretty glorious

To prove I wasn't there alone, Wes and Dana discussing the morning's coffee!