Bike To Work Day 2012

Bike To Work Day is next Friday! Commuter Connections and WABA have done a great job organizing this event in the past and this year will be no different.

Historically BTWD has had it's share of crappy weather but that shouldn't be the case this year as the Ultra-Super-Accurate 10 day forecast from weather.com says it will be 78 and sunny.

Register Here.

Join a convoy or go it alone.

Save $10 on a WABA membership

Get a T-shirt.

Justify those feelings of superiority over your co-workers.

Cargo Bike Grocery Run

Whenever I'm discussing cargo bikes the topic inevitably shifts to grocery retrieval. It seems that when people think of cargo bikes they try to imagine the heaviest thing in their lives and apply it to a bike trip. In turn, for most people, the heaviest and most awkward thing imaginable is 3 or 4 bags of groceries. While groceries can be quite heavy, there are much heavier things in need of conveyance; gardening supplies for one can be super heavy. Unfortunately my local Home Depot is not a bike friendly trip away. This was my first grocery run on the LHT and it worked out fine. Loaded up with a weeks' worth or food for the family (aka 500 apricot Clif Bars), the LHT had a little more twist in the ride than usual but nothing too bad.

Speaking of gardening this seasons first batch of worm compost tea was brewed up and applied to the vegetable garden this week.

Xtracycle Add Ons

I added some DIY foot pegs to the Xtracycle last week. These are re-purposed bar ends that slide perfectly onto the xtracycle v-racks. When my daughter gets too big for her seat I'll move the bar ends down as needed.

I saw this on another blog and thought It looked like a good fix. To waterproof your xtracycle, take sections of road tube and slide them up the racks. When they are all the way on, take the bottom half of the tube and roll it up over the top half. Next put the racks back on the frame and unroll. The tube should create a nice waterproof sleeve where the racks meet the frame.

It's the little things...

In Good Company

I only make purchases from companies that reflect my personal outlook and stance on the important issues of the day, or the ones who send me inappropriate stickers in exchange for a good haiku.

Surly Bikes

Kidical Thinking

This past Saturday I took the family down to the ABC's of Family Biking at the Capital Hill Montessori School. With my oldest daughter on the LHT, we meandered through Silver Spring and Takoma Park eventually connecting to the 14 St. bike lane. I hadn't taken this route into the city before and was pleasantly surprised. It's a great hilly ride through beautiful mostly tree-lined neighborhoods. We took a detour past Obama's house on my daughters advice but upon arrival she was less than enthusiastic.

The event had a good turnout with lots of cargo and family bikes accompanied by cargo and family people. It's always cool to swap ideas and share tips with like minded bikenerds. 

I was able to test ride a Christiana with a full payload which was fun. 

My daughter was partial to the Bullitt.

...and of course there were Xctracycles everywhere.

By far the biggest plus of the day was learning that after 20 miles my DIY child seat was fully naperational.

Kudos to Megan and the gang for throwing together a very cool event.

Video from the event.

Phoenix Bikes Show Fundraiser This Thursday

Phoenix Bikes Show fundraiser is this Thursday, April 26, 7-9pm, in the Crystal City Shops, 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington. There's will lot's of funky bikes to see and bikes rebuilt by kids in our program for auction. Proceeds support Phoenix Bikes, a nonprofit community+youth bike program in Arlington.

April Harvest: Morels And Ramps

WARNING: The following post is about another hobby of mine and has nothing to do with bikes.

I think April is my new favorite month. I'm a huge fan of foraging for wild foods and April has quite a bounty. This month I've found my usual morel mushroom spots to be producing quite well. I found enough morels for a few meals which is not always the case. 
Sauteed in a little butter and shallots, these yellows and greys let off a succulent hazelnutty flavor.

This year I was fortunate enough to stumble onto a nice sized patch of ramps, (aka wild leeks) while foraging for morels. If a very yummy onion and a clove of garlic made sweet sweet love and had a baby, that stinky lovechild would be a ramp. The ones I found don't have the reddish stem color that most do but turn out to be much more tasty.

After making a few ramp omelets I did a search and found two recipes on Food52. The first was a pesto from the greens which turned out great. No garlic needed.

The second was for spicy pickled ramps which should be done this week.

I should note that if you find a patch of ramps, harvest sparingly to ensure next years crop.


It's nice to find and eat local foods sans food industry.

DC area wild food resources:
MAW DC
The Natural Capital
Slow Food DC