bikedc Archives - Page 5 of 9

The Coffeeneuring Challenge: Always Be Coffeeneuring

The Coffeeneuring Challenge is where you ride your bike to 7 different local coffee shops from Saturday October 4 through Sunday, November 16. Only the weekends and holidays count. You have to ride at least two miles. And you have to record your adventure.

I coffeeneured even before it was a thing. There’s nothing I like better than wandering the city by bike, off to explore some new neighborhood and grab some coffee. I coffee even during non-coffeeneuring season.

Biking and drinking coffee is a lifestyle for me. My motto: Always Be Coffeeneuring.

Where did I go this year?

Killer ESP
October 4
21 miles

Rain was a theme for this coffeeneuring season. There had been a ton of rain the previous day and portions of the Mount Vernon Trail were slightly flooded. But I had coffeeneuring to do! I set off into the drizzle and coasted through the water-logged portions of the trail, keeping my feet up so that they wouldn’t get wet. No one was on the trail except the coffeeneuring and the crazy.

Killer ESP was a disappointment. The cappuccino was fine. It was just that the place was packed with laptop campers and a woman occupying a whole couch with her tiny dog. But at least I didn’t get a $91 ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign. Alexandria is the worst.

Firehook
October 11
20 miles

There is no place better to bike during the fall in DC than Rock Creek Park. The trees had just started to change so I rambled over Boulder Bridge and down Beach Drive before returning to have coffee at Firehook. An absolutely perfect fall day.

National Mall
October 12
Eight miles

The Coffeeneuring Challenge has all sorts of different rules and provisos. One of them is “Coffee Shop without Walls” where you can make or bring your own coffee. So I loaded up the thermos and headed down to the mall.

Lot 38
October 18
11 miles

One of the things I like best about coffeeneuring is hearing about new bike routes and coffee places. There’s a Facebook group where coffeeneurs post stories and photos from their adventures. A fellow coffeeneur had mentioned Lot 38 by the Navy Yard so I went to check it out. On the way back, I went for a spin around Capitol Hill. Sunday afternoons are a very quiet time to ride around the city, especially when the Redskins are playing.

Note: one of the coffeeneuring requirements is to rate the bike friendliness of the places visited. None of the coffee shops I went to were particularly bike friendly. I primarily locked my bike to sign posts, as you do in the city.

Room 11
October 25
12 miles

Coffeeneuring gets me out of the house and off to new adventures. It was a rainy and wet Sunday morning. But I had coffeeneuring to do so I biked up to Room 11 for a biscuits and bacon. Then I wandered through Petworth to the Old Soldier’s Home (never been there before) to watch cyclecross (never seen that before). Looked like fun!

Compass Coffee
October 31
7 miles

Trick or treat! Candy doesn’t interest me that much but free coffee? I’m there. Compass Coffee opened a new store off U Street, part of a hipsterville development. To celebrate, they offered free coffee drinks. I had never had a cortado before – delicious! I now have a whole new way of drinking my second-favorite beverage.

La Colombe (Philadelphia)
November 8
7 miles

I wanted to do something big for the grande finale, so I took a bus and then a bike share to the Philadelphia Bike Expo. Yo, Adrian! While there, I ran into the Coffeeneur herself! And I looked at all sorts of bikes before going to La Colombe for an awesome cappuccino.

Lesson Learned

Truth be told, there was a lot more biking and a lot more coffee. But these are the highlights. Always Be Coffeeneuring.

I learn something new every coffeeneuring season. What did I learn this year?

I don’t like getting my bike dirty. As I biked up to Room 11 on a rainy morning, I was annoyed at all the grit that my bike accumulated until I saw all mud at DC Cyclecross. That put things in perspective. But I still don’t like it.
There are still places in the city that I have yet to discover, like the Old Soldier’s Home.
Walking the halls of the Philadelphia Bike Expo, I realized that biking is a hobby that can consume all your time and disposable income. With only two bikes, I’m far from a cultist. I’m not ready to sell all my possessions and hit the road on a bike – at least not yet.

Riide Electric Bike: Review

Riide bike — Muy macho in black, this electric bike is perfect for the city.

I had the chance to do a test ride on a Riide electric bike. Billed as “e-bikes for urban commuters,” this DC company has made the nicest-looking electric bike I’ve ever seen. I own two bikes already – a Specialized Sirrus and a Breezer folding bike – but I really wanted to try a Riide. Perfectly targeted for everyday cyclists like myself, it’s the first electric bike I could see myself owning.

But what is it like to ride one? First, it’s a beautiful bike, with a black matte paint job that makes it the coolest thing on the road.

What surprised me was the weight – it’s lighter than I imagined. Billed at 40 pounds, it seems lighter. It’s not a road bike, but it weighs less than a Capital Bikeshare bike. The narrow top tube makes it easy to pick up and carry.

Missing: a kickstand. It’s a little big and awkward to lean against stuff. Running errands around town on one of these, I’d want a kickstand.

With a flat bar and an upright position, the geometry is very similar to my hybrid Sirrus. It makes a comfortable ride and is ideal for city riding, where you want to see what’s ahead of you.

the "power strip" — Note the power button at top – I didn’t. Also, check out those massive tires.

The Riide folks are super-nice. For the test ride, they just gave me a bike and told me to take off. I started pedaling. The group I was with disappeared into the distance. Why is my bike so slow? I went all the way around Union Market before discovering what I had done wrong: I didn’t turn it on! Am I an idiot or is the user always right? I prefer the latter explanation.

Electric bikes work better with electricity. But my mishap taught me that it’s certainly possible to pedal a Riide around without power. With one-speed and flat pedals, it felt like I was on a CaBi.

Riide motor — Electric motor on the rear wheel.

With the bike powered up, I took off again around Union Market. It’s got a throttle like a moped. Twist and go. It was a blast to feel the g-forces as the bike zipped up to 20 mph. Amazing to go up hills on it, without even pedaling.

Super-grippy disc brakes give you enormous confidence in every situation.

But let me rave about the tires! Riding around on my Sirrus, I feel everyone of DC’s one-million potholes. I scan the road ahead of me for ruts, gravel and holes. But with a pair of fat Schwalbe Energizer Plus tires, the Riide just goes everything, like you’re riding on a carpet of air.

Disc brakes and big tires - perfect for the city — Disc brakes to quickly stop.

I keep comparing the Riide to a CaBi because I think this is the perfect bike for CaBi users who want more. With a range of 25 miles, it’s ideal for people who want a sweat-free commute or who want to bop around town on the weekends. Riide is the bike for people who find everyday biking too difficult/complicated/sweaty.

The RiidePass program, where you can lease one for $79 a month, is perfectly aligned for that audience. Just ride and let Riide take care of the bike. It will replace Metro/CaBi/Uber for a lot of people who live in DC or the close suburbs. It will save them money and be way more fun than being stuck on a Metro train.

But would I get one? If I had to continue commuting to Silver Spring – definitely. It would be perfect for climbing the hills between Logan Circle and my contractor gig at NOAA. But I want to return to DC, where my non-electric bikes will be more than sufficient. Everyone has a different transportation situation; for a lot of people, the Riide will be perfect.

I definitely want some Schwalbe tires, though. That makes a huge difference in city riding.

Photo Obsession: The Wilson Bridge

This photo was in the Capital Weather Gang recently. It is an iPhone 6 shot, edited in the Photos app on the iPhone and with the Noir filter applied. Thinking of submitting it to the Capital Weather Gang, I used the Noir filter because I didn’t want the sky blown out. I wanted to keep those wispy clouds – CWG is a weather blog, after all.

I don’t take a lot of black and white but I think it works really well on architecture because it allows you to focus on the clean lines of the Wilson Bridge. It’s like an entire city’s worth of concrete in this structure stretching over the Potomac.

And it seems indestructible, unlike other pieces of transportation infrastructure (I’m looking at you, Silver Spring Transit Center). Maybe we still can build great things.

Bike trail under the Wilson Bridge #bikedc — Mount Vernon Trail as it runs under the Wilson Bridge.

windy trail - seen from Woodrow Wilson Bridge — Cyclist rides toward the bridge.

It’s also a great place to stop if you’re biking along the Mount Vernon Trail. Under the bridge, it’s shady and cool and there are bathrooms and water fountains. From here, you can continue on to Mount Vernon or cross the bridge to National Harbor.

National Harbor is kind of mediocre – it’s just a bunch of shops tucked into a swampy cove along the river.

But, if you bike over the bridge, you get a great view looking upriver toward Alexandria and DC.

Potomac from Woodrow Wilson Bridge — A muddy Potomac filled with boats, with the Capitol Dome in the distance. I used my “real” camera, a Canon Rebel and zoom lens here.

Road to nowhere — View of the Wilson Bridge from the Maryland side.

I look for symmetry in photos. The long horizontal and vertical lines of the bridge are irresistible to me, especially how they end in a “vanishing point” where they seem to converge. These long lines really draw you into the photo. Which is why the Wilson Bridge is one of my photo obsessions.

Under the bridge — Lines extending into the vanishing point under the Wilson Bridge.

Making a U-Turn through the Stop U-Turns on Penn Protest

Why doesn’t the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) protect the bike lane in front of the Wilson Building?

That was the subject of the recent protest, Stop U-Turns on Pennsylvania Avenue. Local cyclists (including me) created a human shield to protect those using the bike lane that runs down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue. While DDOT has installed “park-its” (little curbs) to discourage drivers from making u-turns along most of Penn, it has declined to do so along the 1300 and 1400 blocks of the avenue.

DDOT says it’s studying the issue. Coincidentally, the 1300 block is home to the Wilson Building and a gaggle of DC Councilmembers, known for their reckless driving and park-anywhere attitude. They enjoy making u-turns on Penn, among other, greater offenses.

It’s dangerous to make a u-turn across a bike lane where people are riding in both directions. There have been three reported incidents of cyclists getting hit by cars just on this block.

The park-its have made a huge difference on the rest of Pennsylvania Avenue, where I used to see cars making u-turns across the bike lane every time I rode it. That’s largely ended, thanks to the park-its.

At the protest, we formed a human shield of about fifty riders to protect the unprotected blocks. We lined the bike lane where the park-its should be. Police officers on bikes and in cars were there to keep everyone safe.

Surely, no driver would attempt to make a u-turn through the protest, right? Hah! Crazed DC drivers aren’t going to let people on bikes get in their way, even with cops all around! I saw at least three illegal u-turns in just thirty minutes, demonstrating a shocking disregard for traffic laws and human life.

Someone even made a u-turn through the protest! There was a ten-foot gap between protesters so the crazed driver nosed his SUV through the line of people and across the bike lane. If you’re this reckless, you should not be allowed to drive in DC.

Adventures in Multimodal Transportation (and Drinking)

July 2 — Moves, an iPhone app, allows me to track my rambles. Gray is Metro, blue is biking and green is walking.

In most of the United States, there exists but a single transportation mode: driving. You use a car to get to where you want to go. Government has created a massive transportation infrastructure to accommodate that choice – roads of all sizes, gas stations on every corner, parking lots everywhere. Other transportation modes (biking, buses) are distinctly secondary, if they exist at all.

Only in the centers of the most urban of cities is life any different. In select urban areas, other kinds of modes exist. Haphazard government planning has resulted in the occasional protected bike lane. Lack of regulation allows companies like Uber to start. Streets designed in previous centuries accommodate pedestrians who walk to work.

In a multimodal environment, you pick the right tool for the job. You can’t just drive and park somewhere – parking might be expensive or not available or you might not have a car (like me). Instead, you select the transportation mode that works best for you, balancing a mix of a factors including time, hassle, expense and convenience.

While these choices may seem complex, after a while you learn what works best for you. And it won’t be just one mode. My day on July 2 is a good example of what it’s like to live in a multimodal world.

Destination: U Street Metro
Mode: Bike
Time: 8 AM
Distance: 1 mile
Cost: Free

Every weekday, I trek from Logan Circle to Silver Spring for work. The first leg involves biking one mile to the U Street Metro. I bike because it’s easy, fun and quick. Most of the journey is along the 15th Street Cycletrack, a protected bike lane that makes it safe. I have two bikes – a Specialized Sirrus and a Breezer folding bike. I take the Breezer because it’s the cheaper of my two bikes so less likely to be stolen. Even so, I keep it locked up with a Kryptonite lock at the Metro. Safety is an important consideration in urban environments.

Destination: Silver Spring
Mode: Metro
Time: 8:10 AM
Distance: 6 miles
Cost: $3

I’ve biked up to Silver Spring before but it’s nothing but hills and traffic so I take Metro instead. I take the Green Line to Fort Totten and switch to the Red Line. Most of the time, it’s a pleasant, uncrowded reverse commute that takes 20 minutes or so. My commute costs around $120 but actually it’s even less because I can take that money out of my paycheck pre-tax as a transportation benefit.

Destination: Whole Foods Silver Spring
Mode: Walk
Time: Noon
Distance: 1.2 miles (round-trip)
Cost: Free

There’s nothing good around the office so I typically walk up to Whole Foods in Silver Spring for lunch.

Destination: U Street Metro
Mode: Metro
Time: 4 PM
Distance: 6 miles
Cost: $3

Weirdly, on the reverse-reverse commute, the Metro ride home typically takes 5-10 minutes longer than the morning.

Destination: Home
Mode: Bike
Time: 4:30 PM
Distance: 1 mile
Cost: Free

On the way home, I rocket down 13th Street and go around Logan Circle, which is always fun. However, it’s impossible to make a left on Rhode Island to my apartment building. Instead, I go to the next corner, stop, wait for the light to change, then turn around and come back. It’s one of those minor inconveniences that you get used to as a bike rider.

Destination: Aveda Salon
Mode: Walk
Time: 5 PM
Distance: .5 mile
Cost: Free

I got a $40 haircut! It was quite pleasant actually. Part of the reason I chose the salon was that it was within walking distance.

Destination: Glen’s Garden Market/McClellan’s Retreat
Mode: Capital Bikeshare
Time: 5:30 PM
Distance: 1.5 miles
Cost: Free (normally $8 for 24 hours but I had a coupon)

If you’ve visited DC, then you’ve seen the red Capital Bikeshare bikes. They’re impossible to miss. I took one from Logan Circle to Dupont Circle to meet friends for drinks at McClellan’s Retreat. I knew it was the fastest way to get where I was going and I had a coupon. And I didn’t want to have to worry about my bike, or about drunk-biking home. And they’re just fun to ride every once in while.

Destination: GBD
Mode: Walk
Time: 7:00 PM
Distance: .5 miles
Cost: Free

After a couple of bourbon-heavy drinks at McClellan’s Retreat, I had a hankering for fried chicken and biscuits. Thankfully, I could walk to GBD. I think I would’ve been a little wobbly on Bikeshare.

Destination: Home!
Mode: Walk
Time: 8 PM
Distance: 1 mile

Nice to be able to walk home without having to worry about a driving a car after a couple drinks.

Analysis

Distance Covered: 18.7 miles
Total Transportation Costs: $6

Bikes, trains, walking – multimodal transportation can seem complicated. But if you look how I transited around a busy urban area, it’s a model of low-cost simplicity. If I had to drive to all the places listed above, I could’ve easily spent $50 on parking, as well as the aggravation of dealing with DC traffic. Plus, biking is quicker for virtually any trip in the city.

So, give multimodal living a try. Ride a bike. Walk to the corner store. Take a bus downtown. There’s probably more than one way to get to where you’re going.

Art, Coffee, Bikes… Frederick?

I’m kinda old to be a social media hipster but I was recently selected to be part of Enterprise Carshare’s #CarShareDC crew. Guess they liked my Instagram shots of beer and bikes.

As a member of the crew, I get to take three free day trips this summer courtesy of Enterprise. Anywhere within 100 miles of DC is within my domain. In return, I have to take photos and share them on social media. I’d do this all on the iPhone, of course.

For my first auto excursion, I went to beautiful downtown Frederick to have lunch with my talented photographer friend Mary-Kate McKenna.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Foldy bike and Enterprise CarShare — Enterprise has cars around the city. I chose a Ford Escape, which was parked in an an alley about a block from where I live. It handled DC’s potholes with aplomb and was surprisingly maneuverable. Accompanying me, as always, was the foldy bike.

folded — Plenty of room for my foldy! Next time, I’ll have to bring my real bike.

Untitled — Gas is included but you may have to fill up the tank yourself. A gas card is in the glove compartment.

City of spires — Downtown Frederick. It’s about an hour from DC. Leaving after rush hour, I didn’t run into any traffic.

Me and MK — Miss seeing this girl! I worked with MK at NOAA before she went away to bigger and better things.

MK at the canal — MK at Carrol Creek in Frederick.

I'm in Frederick — I’m selfieing along Carrol Creek, which is a linear park which runs through downtown Frederick.

downtown mural — Earthbound, part of Angels in the Architecture by William Cochran. Frederick has a lot of art like this downtown.

Vintage bikes! Coffee! All my dreams in one store: Gravel & Grind.

Cortado at Gravel n Grind in Frederick MD — Cortado.

vintage bikes — Vintage bikes which have been fixed-up and modified.

Liked this bike — A thing of beauty. Love that rack on the front.

Baker Park in Frederick, MD — After coffee, I took my foldy bike for a little spin around Baker Park.

Keys go here when you're done — When you’re all done, you return the car to its reserved parking space. To end your trip, you put the keys in the glove compartment holder and swipe your Enterprise card on the windshield sensor.

Best deal in the city - $4 beer at Glen's Garden Market #igdc #beer #lifeiswanderfood #dupontcircle — Trip #1 was a success! After I put the car away, I went to Glen’s for a $4 beer.

Look for more adventures in carsharing coming this summer!

The Changing Face of Biking in DC

tulips and the trail — Tulips along the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Washington, DC.

There’s a perception that biking is something that’s only done by men on expensive road bikes aka MAMILs (middle-aged men in lycra).

But, if you bike around DC like I do, you see just about every kind of person in the bike lanes – female executives on red Bikeshare bikes, bearded hipsters on fixies, Salvadorans on beat-up mountain bikes, students on vintage cycles, eccentrics on Bromptons and even whole families on cargo bikes.

For an all too-brief spell, we had an enlightened city government that invested in bike infrastructure, such as the 15th Street Cycletrack, a bike lane protected by a line of parked cars. This made biking safe for everyone – I even see little kids in the cycletrack. And during rush hour, there’s a traffic jam of bikes in the bike lane.

Kids, tourists, golfers - every one bikes in DC #bikedc — A typical day in the 15th Street protected bike lane, as kids, golfers and tourists make their way around DC.

Snow cyclist on 15th St #bikedc #igdc — No matter the weather, #BikeDC rolls on.

Cycletrack selfie — I’m no MAMIL. Selfie in the cycletrack.

“You’d have to be crazy to bike around DC.” I heard that regularly twenty years ago, when I biked. You only biked on the weekends, and on trails like Rock Creek Park – but you’d never think to bike during rush hour, because it was way too dangerous.

Protected bike lanes, Capital Bikeshare and other advancements normalized the idea of biking in the nation’s capital, turning an activity once done only by crazed bike messengers into something that even tourists could do. Washingtonians and visitors discovered that biking was the fastest way to get around town – and the most fun.

Capital Bikeshare deserves a huge amount of credit for this development, making biking easy – you don’t even need to own a bike anymore – and commonplace, as hordes of the ubiquitous red bikes spill out onto the streets every day.

Bikeshare along the Potomac #errandonnee 2 — Capital Bikeshare riders along the Potomac.

january biking in DC — Bikeshare riders on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Biking in DC is no longer just the province of fit young men. Everyone rides now, a change that has been documented in the excellent Women of BikeDC series, which profiles female bike riders. There’s less racing and more slow riding. Fewer road bikes and more upright Dutch-style city bikes.

And with these changes has developed a tremendous sense of community, where cyclists get together at events like DC Bike Party and rides organized by BicycleSpace and others. You can also find them sharing information virtually using #BikeDC on Twitter.

DCBP at Dupont — DC Bike Party at Dupont Circle.

Biking has changed in DC. The face of biking is changing as well. Nelle Pierson was recently appointed as interim director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association. If someone is going to represent #BikeDC, than I can think of no one better than Nelle Pierson. She’s creative, outgoing, rides every kind of bike and is great at expanding the bike community, like with her Women and Bicycles program which matches up new cyclists with mentors.

Nelle and Pete from WABA #snapseed — Nelle Pierson and Pete Beers distribute bike lights on a bitterly cold winter day in Silver Spring, MD.

I first met Nelle a couple years ago at a WABA happy hour. She was there with her mom and the two of them had rode over on a tandem – how cute is that?

The great thing about biking in this city is the chance to run into your #BikeDC friends. You meet people at events and then see them biking around town. Sometimes, you even stop and chat for a moment, something you could never do in a car.

It's @NellePierson and her awesome mom on a tandem #bikedc — Biking to the Metro one morning, I saw this cool old tandem. It was Nelle and her mom, on the way for coffee with women bicyclists.

All this amazes me. Protected bike lanes, Capital Bikeshare, #BikeDC – I never would’ve imagined this and I love every bit of it.

This progress was possible due to the efforts of WABA. A strong WABA benefits everyone who bikes in DC. If you haven’t joined already, join! Help Nelle and WABA make biking easier and safer in DC.

I can’t wait to see what happens next as the biking community in DC grows and expands. We may never be Copenhagen. But we can aspire to be a city where biking is safe, normal and fun.

Employees Are the Brand

Your employees are your brand, according to an all-star panel of communicators at the recent workshop, “Building an Agency’s Brand and Defining the Audience.”

The Federal Communicators Network (FCN) and the Partnership for Public Service sponsored this conversation on how to build a strong brand and better define your audience. This lively discussion featured real-world stories from professional communicators who have honed their organization’s brand and established a clear customer base.

Panelists included Danielle Blumenthal (NIST), Bill Walsh (AARP), Suki Baz (National Park Service) and moderator Dave Herbert (NGS).

Suki Baz began by describing the rebranding efforts going on at the National Park Service. They have a logo that’s iconic and instantly recognizable. However, the design of the NPS arrowhead is limiting, as it was designed before the needs of web pages and social media. As their 100^th anniversary approaches, they’re reintroducing their logo with a fresh new feel that’s designed to appeal to millennials.

However, NPS recognizes that to appeal to younger audiences they need to do more than just change their logo. NPS is adding to their social media teams and encouraging their parks to actively engage with younger audiences, particularly online.

(An aside: of course I asked NPS about how they never respond to my tweets! Unsurprisingly, NPS is a large bureaucracy like any other one. Suki has little control over what local park districts do. So, how do you get in touch with a park if you have an issue? She suggested calling.)

Another organization that has approached rebranding is AARP. For most people, it’s an organization synonymous with senior citizens. The arrival of a letter inviting you to join AARP is like an official acknowledgment of old age. Bill Walsh of AARP hopes to change all that. AARP no longer stands for the American Association of Retired Persons. Instead, it’s just AARP these days. They’ve modernized their web, print and social media materials to reach out to Baby Boomers – you only need to be 50 to join. These efforts fall under a single banner: Real Possibilities. AARP no longer wants to be known just for travel discounts – they want to be seen as an organization that will help you reach your potential through career and life advice.

Employees are a key element in this transition. AARP has offices nationwide and a cadre of volunteers. Field offices have been provided with briefing materials and messaging guides so that the organization can speak in a single, consistent voice.

Danielle Blumenthal underscored this point with examples from her career in federal government. Her experience is been that most people don’t read the employee newsletter. The way to reach busy employees is through short, concise, valuable content. Instead of doing a newsletter, she suggests sending out a daily email with the three things that you need to know for the day. You need to focus on value (the things employees care about) and be real (speak as a person, not an organization). After all, the first people you need to sell your brand to are your own employees.

Employees are brand ambassadors. The public builds impressions of brands based upon the experience they have with them. New logos and redesign efforts are only part of the solution to modernizing a brand. Employees are the key element in any transition for they embody the brand.

For More Information

When Building Your Brand, Trust Your Mission (FCN writeup)
Video of Event (Vimeo)

Bike to Work/Airport Day

May 15 was Bike to Work Day, a nationwide celebration of bicycling as a clean, fun, and healthy way to get to work.

It’s a huge event in DC, with 79 pit stops around the region to receive refreshments, swag and a free commemorative t-shirt! I had shirts from the past three years – no way was I going to break my streak.

One problem: I was scheduled to fly out of National Airport at 8:35 AM. Could I attend Bike to Work Day and make it to the airport in time for my flight?

I was determined to find out. And I would do it by bike (of course).

That meant taking a backpack. Can’t exactly bike with a suitcase. But I was going to Florida so didn’t need much more than shorts and a swimsuit. And a Kindle. And sunscreen.

I prefer to travel light, anyway. Who wants to check a bag, pay a fee and then have to wait for it when you reach your destination? Not me.

Bike to Work Day dawned with perfect weather – sunny and in the low 60s. I hoisted my backpack, hopped on my Specialized Sirrus and hurried down the 15th Street Cycletrack.

My Bike to Work Day pit stop was Freedom Plaza. Located at 14th and Pennsylvania, it’s a great open-air plaza where you can see the Capitol in the distance. I got there about 6:45; they weren’t scheduled to open until 7. Pretty sure I got the first t-shirt issued – they had to open one of the boxes for me.

Early bird gets the t-shirt #btwd #bikedc — Bike to Work Day t-shirt.

Very early at Bike to Work Day #bikedc #btwd — Very early at Bike to Work Day

I made a quick walk around the plaza. WABA was there, ready to advocate for biking in DC. Whole Foods was passing out granola bars and bananas. Riide Bikes offered me a test ride on an electric bike. Sadly, I had to decline – I had a plane to catch!

It’s a lovely ride to the airport. I went around the Ellipse, looped around the Lincoln Memorial, crossed the Memorial Bridge and then rode down the Mount Vernon Trail as bike commuters headed the other direction into DC.

Twenty minutes later, I was at National. It’s very easy – you just veer left off the trail as it goes by the airport. Then follow the service road to USAIR baggage claim. I rolled my bike into the airport – no one paid me any attention – up the elevator and across the pedestrian bridge to the Metro. Around the right of the Metro entrance are a couple of bike racks.

Bike to Work Day is bike to airport day for me #bikedc #btwd #igdc — I’ve arrived!

And I mean a couple – just two, which were already occupied with bikes. I couldn’t squeeze my bike in there so locked it to a fence instead.

After going through security, I was at my gate with a good thirty minutes to spare. Biking to the airport is so easy that I’m surprised more people don’t do it. Good thing they don’t – DCA doesn’t have enough bike racks. And it would be nice if they had someplace a little more secure than some racks by the Metro.

But even better than biking to the airport is biking home. By doing so you miss the worst of the airport experience – luggage and taxis. My packed flight from Florida arrived Sunday night. While everyone trooped downstairs to wait for their bags, I headed for my bike. I wheeled by passengers plaintively staring at the carousel. Then I passed a line of broken-down cabs waiting to gouge people desperate to get home.

Lincoln Memorial at night — Best at night.

The Mount Vernon Trail was dark and buggy and gorgeous. There were plenty of people out. Kids clustered at Gravelly Point to watch planes land. Joggers huffed and puffed. I passed a couple of women on a long-haul excursion, their bikes loaded with panniers and lit up like Christmas trees.

It’s a good thing that I know the Mount Vernon Trail like the back of my hand because there are no lights on it. I might’ve ended up in the Potomac if I didn’t know where I was going. The headlight on the front of my bike seemed inadequate for the task.

I was glad to reach the streetlights of Memorial Bridge. I stopped at the Jefferson Memorial. It was calm and quiet, with just a few school groups climbing the steps. I took my time coming home.

Tulip Mania on the Streets of Washington

Tulip mania was the original economic bubble. Long before the dotcom bust and the housing crash, 17th Century Europeans speculated in tulip bulbs. You read that right – tulip bulbs.

Introduced to the continent by the Ottomans, tulips became a status symbol commanding top prices at a time when Holland was developing into an economic giant. Tulip bulbs became a sort of substitute currency and were widely speculated upon – after all, we’ll always need tulips, right? You could trade a tulip bulb for a ton of butter! Men even speculated in tulip futures and other derivative products. Everyone was getting rich.

But like shady Internet companies and Arizona condos, the market eventually crashed, as recounted in this excellent Wikipedia entry on tulip mania.

All that was left were the tulips themselves. Fortunately, they are beautiful and bloom on the streets of DC every April. Seeing them, it’s hard not to get a touch of tulip mania. Good thing that tulip futures aren’t listed on the NYSE – otherwise, I’d be buying.

Here are some colorful photos of tulips around Washington.

15th St Cycletrack is now a tulip-track — Biking past tulips at 15th and K.

southbound on 15th St by tulips — The man in the tie wonders what the hell am I doing. I’m taking tulip pictures!

Biking by the tulips #bikedc #IGDC #spring #dc — 15th St has a protected bike lane running in both directions.

Running by the tulips #rundc #IGDC #spring #dc — The weather has been beautiful for running.

Tulips gone wild at the Capitol #IGDC #spring #dc — Tulips on the west side of the Capitol.

Tulips and the Capitol #latergram #IGDC #spring — Tulips on the east side of the Capitol.

cyclist returns home from the store — Cyclist returning home along the Metropolitan Branch Trail.

Tulips along the Metropolitan Branch Trail, which runs from Union Station to Catholic University.

where to begin? — I’m not the only one taking pictures.

Tulips even along the Metropolitan Branch Trail #bikedc — That’s my bike, a Specialized Sirrus.

It's tulip mania at the White House #IGDC — Tulips in Lafayette Park, across from the White House.

Tiptoeing through the tulips #selfiesunday #bikedc — A tulip selfie.