From the Pocket

Oh yes, but we are not conventional in our tandems (just like we're not conventional in our other bikes).

What tandems do we have in the store?

Barcroft Columbia (recumbent)
Hase Pino (Mixed upright and recumbent)
Bike Friday Family Tandem (take apart bike)
Kidz Tandem from Brown Cycles (Upright with child in front)
Rans Dynamik Duo (Crank Forward)
Rans Screamer (Recumbent)
EZ-1 Side by Side Tandem (recumbents connected side by side)
EZ-3 SX Trikes connected in Tandem (recumbent delta trikes connected in series)
EZ-3 USX Trikes connected in Tandem (recumbent delta trikes connected in series)
Hase Kett Trikes connected in Tandem (recumbent delta trikes connected in series)
Draisin Plus (wheelchair and upright)
Draisin Captain Duo (upright riders on trike)
Draisin Twister (Side by side recumbent riders on trike)

Do we have road or mountain style tandems, nope.

Today I have a broad range of Hase products in the store. Hase manufactures very nice trikes, tandems, singles, and a kid's trailing device that will turn into a sporty trike.

On this date I have:

1 Pino Tour w/Double Kickstand

3 Kettwiesels with 27 speeds

1 Kettwiesel Handcrank

1 Lepus

1 Trets Trailer

I sold the Tangun on Friday. I have ordered a replacement.

I have these high quality German bikes and trikes for you to test and purchase.

Labels: recumbent

We get lots of phone calls. I kid that it is because a human answers the phone here most of the time.

A reoccurring call involves whether we have certain products. For example, people call and say that they see we are a Dahon dealer. I confirm that and then they go on to ask if we have any in the store. It seems that they have called or visited other stores to find that while those stores are dealers there are not any or many models to see and test.

Sooooooooo I thought some blog entries might be helpful for our prospective customers. We have many, many Dahons. As of this date we have:

06 Dahon Hammerhead 1

07 Dahon Curve D3 7
07 Dahon Speed D7 1
07 Dahon Mu P8 1
07 Dahon Expresso 18" 9
07 Dahon Cadenza 18" 1

08 Dahon Speed D7 8
08 Dahon Speed P8 4
08 Dahon Mu P8 6
08 Dahon Expresso 16"/18"/20" 15

We have Dahons in transit (Ciaos). We have an extensive pre-season order that is being filled by Dahon as their containers of bikes arrive in California.

That's the Dahon news for today.

Labels: Folding bikes

The Recumbent Blog has been an excellent resource for recumbent enthusiasts since 2005. Alan Barnard maintained the commercial-free site, providing many excellent bike and accessory reviews, photos, and recumbent tidbits. It was one of the few bike blogs that I checked on a regular basis.

Alan's focus had changed from writing about recumbents to writing about bicycle transportation when he began using his bikes for his daily commute and for local trips.

You may have noticed that an increasing number of my posts fall outside the realm of what would be considered appropriate for a “recumbent blog”. As my focus has moved away from recreational cycling toward transportational and utility cycling, my interests have also grown to include bikes other than recumbents. This is a good thing, but I sometimes feel as if I'm doing my readers a disservice by veering off the advertised topic too often. So, at some point in the not too distant future, I'll be starting a new blog with a broader focus that encompasses any and all topics related to using bicycles for transportation. The new blog will continue to celebrate the beauty and elegance of bicycles, as well as the joys of bike riding, while simultaneously focusing on bicycles as instruments of change; in my view, these are not mutually exclusive concepts.

We look forward to reading his new blog and we suspect it will continue to include many entries about recumbents. What better bike to use for transportation cycling. We use ours for our daily commute to work, to get groceries with our trailer, and for touring and recreational rides. We just happen to like to be comfortable while riding. We'll miss The Recumbent Blog.

As a community business I get lots of opportunities to donate money or products. I appreciate it when I receive a follow up thank you letter like this one. I really appreciate it when the organizers are wise and achieve the kind of success that tripling the number of elementary school students participating represents. Wow, an increase from 46 to 131 is remarkable. FANTASTIC!

Dear John,

I am writing to you to thank Bikes @ Vienna for their support of the 4th Annual Vienna Elementary Run for Fun that was held on Sunday, April 27th 2008.

Our event this year was the biggest yet, registering over 550 runners and exceeding the fundraising goals for our school. Our sponsors have greatly contributed to the success of The Run for Fun by supporting our efforts with generous donations of products, services and money. We truly appreciate our local sponsors and the individual support of people like you, whose time, generosity and community spirit go the extra mile.

This year we made a push to get more elementary students to run the race. We began in the fall with a weekly before school fitness program. Throughout the spring we offered weekly training runs and the physical education curriculum put extra emphasis on the 5K. As a result, 131 elementary students (compared to 46 last year) completed the 5K and each one received a medal for their efforts.

By sponsoring, you become a catalyst for our mission, to prioritize physical fitness and encourage kids in motion. This run, while providing motivation to adhere to a healthy lifestyle and improve general fitness, also funds many activities and improvements for our school. We appreciate your support and are grateful to live in a community that encourages fitness. We also hope that you feel it was a valuable promotion of your business and hope that you will consider sponsoring our 5th annual race next year, Sunday April 26th 2009.

Sincerely,

Laura Goyer
PTA President
Vienna Elementary School
128 Center Street, S.
Vienna, VA 22180

This map is part of the Fairfax County Bike Map effort. Charlie Strunk, Fairfax County Bike Co-ordinator, and I talked with the Vienna Town Council about the County's Map project last September. It was a good discussion with the Council members making suggestions which Charlie incorporated into the map shown.

In attempting Fairfax County's first bicycle map Charlie Strunk has faced a wide range of challenges. This is a huge county. The traffic congestion is daunting. There are political sensitivities to be considered and accommodated. Charlie is doing wonderful work.

I present this map to you as a map that shows how a person might wish to travel in Vienna to get to the W&OD Trail.

bikes@vienna celebrates a 10th anniversary in May. We opened days before ViVa! Vienna! in 1998 and by golly, we're still doing business.

Now I'm a low key celebrator, but we need to do something fun to observe this anniversary. In 1978 I rode a day of RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) from Iowa City to Maquoketa. I noted a family with three children who had decorated their helmets with colorful nerf toys shaped like cars, trains, airplanes, and ships. This distinctive headgear allowed family members to spot each other in the crowd of riders.

In recent years as I've ridden on RAGBRAI I've noticed that the decorating of helmets is the norm. In 2003 I came across the guy with the Starship Enterprise displayed atop his helmet day after day. The teams decorate not only their helmets, but they many times wear costumes especially on the last day of the ride.

Easter Sunday we went to Richmond to visit my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. They took us to the Richmond Easter Parade on Memorial Avenue. The Easter hats were everywhere with colors, shapes, and forms. Sooooooooo these experiences resulted in the idea for this contest...... ViVa! Helmets!

Our booth (#116) at ViVa! Vienna! will be where to wear your decorated helmet to enter our 10th Anniversary Contest. We'll take a couple of photos of you and your helmet. The photos will be the basis for a panel of judges to select winners for a new folding bike, a new youth bike, weekend rental of a recumbent tandem, weekend rental of a Kidz Tandem, and several free bicycle tune-ups. Our categories will be Youth, Adult, Couples, Parent and Child, plus Pet and Owner.

Now my photo here is not a prize winner, but something to get you thinking. Yes, that is a little Chocolate Labrador dolly on top of my helmet. Java, the Chocolate Lab, is such a part of my days that it made sense.

The idea is to have fun and promote safety. The decorations need to be light weight and flexible. Entries which use wood, metal, or items which would do harm if your helmet has to do its duty will not be considered for prizes.

Have your ideas started forming yet? ViVa! Helmets!