Viva Vienna is coming!

I went for a short ride on the W&OD this morning, and preparations for Viva! Vienna! are well underway. If you've never been, it's quite an event... carnival rides, a wide variety of vendor booths, and an amazing array of food options, all rolled up in a street fair.  It runs for the duration of the three day Memorial Day weekend... check the website for more details:

http://www.vivaviennava.org/

The event blocks off Church Street from Mill Street to Lawyers road to all but foot traffic all three days, so it makes getting to us a bit trickier than usual. You might consider parking away from the event and walking or riding to see us.  We will be here for our regular hours, meaning 10 - 6 on Saturday, 12 - 5 Sunday, and CLOSED on Monday.

Carrying on another tradition

Once again we are dabbling in gardening here at bikes@vienna. Thanks to a certain special someone, we've got an assortment of lovely flowers and a number of tomato plants growing in front of the shop. There's even a pot of cat grass growing for Tim's cat, Tybalt.


There's also an element of suspense involved, as we don't really know exactly what sort of tomatoes these plants will yield!

Come on by in about a month and we might have some tomatoes to sample!

Bike to Work Day, cont'd

Well, we had a very good morning at the Vienna Pit Stop, right at the Town Green, where the W&OD Trail crosses Maple Avenue. Lots of riders turned out to ride, and lots came by to sign in and get their t-shirt (a deep purple this year!) and pick up other fun free stuff. We pitched in and provided some freebies, such as cycle computers, tire levers, locks, etc. A good time was had by all, and a fun variety of bikes and trikes rolled through.

More photos are here:  2011 Bike To Work Day, Vienna, VA

Bike to Work Day

At the Vienna Pit Stop we've got great weather and excellent turnout!

Brompton Colors

This Brompton just arrived from England today, and it sure turned out to be a pretty color combination! That's a Racing Green main frame with Sage Green "extremities" (fork, stem, rear frame). Racing Green has been in the Brompton lineup for a while now, but the Sage Green is new for 2011. The combination of the two is very sharp, and shows what can be done with tasteful mixing and matching.

But before you come rushing in to buy it, I have to tell you it's a special order for a customer... in fact it's his second Brompton in three years, so obviously he's a big fan. But if you want one for yourself, we'd be happy to order it for you. Or check out the bikes we have in stock, you might just find one perfect for you!

This one is a P6R, with SON dynamo hub and B&M Cyo headlight. A very nice lighting system indeed. The customer also requested the special "12% reduced" gear range on the six speed drive train, handy for steep hills and carrying loads.

Brompton World Championship - Time To Register!

That's right folks, as of this morning, registration is now open for the Brompton World Championship! This 13.1 mile race around the grounds of Blenheim Palace (birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill) is not to be missed. As you can see by my photo from 2009, all riders are required to wear "business attire" - dress shirt, tie, and jacket! The race is open to 750 riders, and rumor has it that it might fill up fast, so register now! It's a fun day at a beautiful location, and it's part of the larger Bike Blenheim Palace event, with various sorts of competitive rides, and all manner of cyclists and cycles around.


More of my photos from the 2009 event can be seen here:

BWC 2009

One of the stranger packages...

We've received here! We were all scratching our heads and speculating on just what Brompton had sent us, when I remembered they were sending us one of those rollup banners for display.

I liked Daniel's thought that it was a house for a squirrel, with a chimney!

The Bicycle Wins!

Yesterday was a big day... the Bike/Car/Bus Challenge out in Reston! An event where folks "raced" to get from A to B by each of three different modes of transportation. Our own Bruce Wright, longtime b@v employee and chairman of Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling, was triumphant! Check it out at the links below.


http://fabb-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/05/fabb-chairman-arrives-first-in.html


http://reston.patch.com/articles/wright-on-a-bike-wins-commute-challenge

Brompton Meetup Ride a Success!

I didn't get the chance to join them, but the Brompton Bicycle Club meetup group had a great time this past Saturday.  The ride started and finished at our shop, and it was fun to meet some new faces in the local Brompton crowd.

Here they all are, posed with their bikes, after their ride out to Reston and back. They're all smiling, so they must have had fun.  Watch this spot for news of future rides, or join up here:

http://www.meetup.com/Brompton-Bicycle-Club/