A New Rental Service.....Birdy in a Bag

Birdy&Bag1, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

The Birdy and bag shown in the photo represent a new service from bikes@vienna. We are now renting two Birdys with bags for your airline and train travels. Want to take Amtrak to New York for the Five Boro Ride with a bright red Birdy in a bag? We can help. Want to fly to Key West and explore on a bright red Birdy? We can help. Ever dreamed of going to __________ (you fill in the blank) and seeing so much more on a bike than walking or driving? Yep, we can help.

We have a different set of rates for this service and it will be several days before we get those prices posted. Send us an email for more information,,,,,,,,,john@bikesatvienna.com

Java Reclined and a Small Town Story

JavaReclined, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

This Java sleeps in an interesting position. Bruce snapped this photo of her on Thursday afternoon. She is totally relaxed. People walking and talking as she lies there on her back.

This is a Java story about Vienna being a small town.

I walked Java up to the store on Wednesday morning. Our walk included a stop at the bank for me to make a deposit. Although she is getting too big, I picked Java up and carried her into the bank. The nice teller handled my deposit and talked about Java noting her name and age.

Hours later daughter Sara went into the bank to cash her paycheck from the store. As fate would have it she went to the same teller. She had left her identification in the car, but the teller noted the matching last names of the payee and payor. As Sara offered to go get her drivers license, the teller said that wouldn’t be necessary if she could answer two questions:

What is the puppy’s name? How old is the puppy? The check was cashed.

The New Bike Friday SatRDay and Al Tyre

SaturdayAl, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

We have the new SatRDay in the store for test rides. Unbelieveably this bike fits in a checkable suitcase. It has suspension. It is a very comfortable seat.

The handsome man in the photo is bikes@vienna's own Al Tyre. Al owns half a dozen recumbents, but not a folding, packable recumbent. See that expression? He's excited about test riding the new SatRDay.

Come ride the SatRDay and place your order for this new foldable recumbent from Bike Friday.

Cool spring riding days

We've been lucky this spring with some excellent riding weather. The plants need more rain, but I've enjoyed the lack of wet conditions throughout the spring. If you haven't been out riding, now is the time to get out there. It won't be long before the hot summer temperatures will make midday riding unpleasant.

Even though it's been a little cool, I think the conditions are ideal. A light windbreaker is all that's needed to keep you warm after a few miles. There are almost no insects, and on the cool days there aren't that many people out riding. When the temperatures are in the 60's and 70's the trails will be very crowded, so it's best to anticipate a slower pace or find a good on-road route.

If your bike needs work, the shop is a little backed up but we can probably get your bike back to you within a week or so for most tune ups and minor repairs. This is also the time to come in and check out our new bikes. The shipments come in daily and it's the time of year when you have the best selection of models, colors and sizes.

Don't forget that Bike to Work Day is next month on Friday, May 19. To register go to WABA's website. If you're not a member, now is a good time to join WABA, although you don't have to be a member to participate in Bike to Work Day.

See you on the trail.

Bike to Work Day/Friday, May 19

25093 poster, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

It is time to act. Bike to Work Day is less than two months away. Now is the time to register. Now is the time to organize your friends and co-workers. Now is the time to begin riding.

Spring is coming to Northern Virginia. Soon the blossoms will create zones of sweet smells which stratify and embrace you as you woosh down a hill. The sounds of birds and frogs will compete for your attention with the traffic. Riding will make you feel alive.

bikes@vienna is proud to be one of the many sponsors of Bike to Work Day. We believe bicycling can help to fight the "oil addiction" that plays a role in so many of the issues of our time. Our statement for 2006 is:

"We are fighting "oil addiction" with human powered transportation. Join the fight.....park your car and ride your bike".

Now is the time to begin.

W&OD Trail Patrol Seeks New Members

We have been asked to provide publicity for this information about the W&OD Trail Patrol. This group provides a valuable service to trail users and we are pleased to help in their recruitment efforts.


The W&OD Trail runs through the communities of Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Hamilton, and Purcellville. The Trail Patrol is seeking new members to be on-scene ambassadors of safety, courtesy, information, and goodwill. All adult trail users--cyclists, walker, runners, skaters, carriage pushers, dog walkers, horse riders, or wheel chair users--are eligible to apply. The first orientation session of the year will be held on April 25 at the Vienna Community Center starting at 7 p.m. Future sessions are planned for other trail communities. For further information and signup please contact John Boone at 703-437-4158 or jmboone@adelphia.net

An EZ-1 Sale for Spring $520

EZ-1Sale, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

We are ready for Spring. We have 10 of these EZ-1s in both red (5) and blue (5). These are the terrific starter recumbents from Sun Cycle which were designed by Garner Martin. They have 21 speeds, the comfy seats, and a new bike warranty.........what more could you ask? And at $520 what a price!

Come take a test ride.

Java: New to bikes@vienna

Java, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

This chocolate lab puppy has joined the staff at bikes@vienna. She is eight weeks old and her name is Java. Thus far the training is going well. She has trained us when she wants to eat, when she needs to go outside, and when to let her nap. She is a chewer. Hold her for very long and you smell like a puppy.

I expect that productivity has dropped by more than 10% in the store. We can't walk passed her without pausing to pet her. People go into this baby doll voice to say things to her. There are dog playthings spread around the bike display area. She seems to be happy in her new world and the humans at bikes@ vienna seem to be enjoying her presence. Stop in and visit Java.

If one is good then 20 is ?

If one is good then 20 is ?, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

I did it again. Marin had a number of women's 15 inch bikes in the warehouse so I bought 20. This is the Bolinas Ridge which is a light (aluminum frame) mountain bike. I bought this model because it is perfect for moms riding with their families or fast growing young ladies. I've priced them at $285. If the reaction is like the one we had last year to a similiar model then they will sell briskly. Come see us

Signs To Help Find Us

www.flickr.com

The Town of Vienna has posted new "Historic Church Street" signs which may be helpful in finding us. The signs appear on Maple Avenue (Route 123) and on Lawyers Road. The street signs for Church Street have also been switched to a color that matches the historic signs. Also shown is our sign on Church Street. It is on the alley and not easy to see. It gets more difficult to see in the summer when the leaves from the ornamental trees are full and lush. We are behind Terra Christa on the Alley. Terra Christa is a brick, kind of Cape Code house at 130 Church Street, NW. That NW is important. Church is divided at Center Street and many times people look for us a block down on Church Street, NE.

Mira and Cyrus with Patty and Phil

Mira&Cy, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

Last week we had a wonderful time introducing the new members of our family to their great grandparents. This photo shows Cyrus seated on my Mom's lap and Mira seated on my Dad's lap. We took everyone out to a cabin overlooking the Potomac River at Algonkian Regional park and enjoyed a couple of days holding babies, talking, doing puzzles, playing cards, and eating. As you might imagine we have hundreds of photos to help us remember.

Bikes we ride

We thought it might be interesting for our customers and friends to read about the various bikes that we ride/own. John is the lucky one, since he owns a shop full of bikes. We've noticed that he has a favorite, but he picks and chooses as the mood strikes. The rest of us own significantly fewer bikes than John, but most of us have more than one. Each bike serves a particular purpose; for commuting, touring, fast sport riding to name a few. In what we hope will be series of articles, I've started by writing about the bikes that I own and why.

2006 Bike Tours

Below is a list of rides to be held during the coming year. Most are within a short drive or long bike ride from our shop. Others are rides that we planned to join in other parts of the country. To find multi-day tours around the U.S., visit the National Bicycle Tour Director Association site, which allows you to search by region or date.

Bike Florida - March 18-24, 2006

Maryland Tour de Cure - May 13, 2006

Bike to Work Day - May 19, 2006

Shenandoah Tour - May 29 - June 2, June 19 - 23, Aug. 28 - Sept. 1, Sept. 11 - 15, 2006

Virginia Dare MS 150 Bike Tour - June 3-4, 2006

Virginia Tour de Cure - June 4, 2006

Patuxent River Rural Legacy Ride - June 10, 2006

Bike Virginia 2006 - June 23-28, 2006

Cycle Across Maryland - July 13-16, 2006

RAGBRAI - July 23-29, 2006

Great Peanut Tour - Early September

Potomac Pedalers Century - September 17, 2006

Seagull Century - October 7, 2006

C&O Canal Tour - October 15-20, 2006

Shenandoah Fall Foliage Bike Festival - October 20-22, 2006

Tour du Port - October 22, 2006

WABA auction: people at the annual soiree of the Washington Area Bicyclists’ Association

These photos are from the WABA Gala and Auction held last evening at the Embassy of Finland. I captured people in a bit dresser attire than I sometimes see them. The gentleman standing alone is Keith Oberg of Bikes For The World. Keith is like me, you're most likely to find him in jeans and flannel shirt. He regularly is wearing a ball cap. The two gentlemen are Harvey Sachs (left) who volunteers for WABA events such as the bike swaps and Eric Gilliland (right) who is the Executive Director. Both of them look very serious, but I would hope that Eric was smiling by the end of the evening. WABA put on a delightful event and given the weather; attendance was strong and I would guess the financial side was successful. The lovely couple are Douglas Stewart and his wife, Tamara Harvey. Douglas is a WABA Board Member and a sparkplug in Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB) which is affiliated with WABA.

bikes@vienna donated a Dahon Speed 7 to the auction. I was pleased with the large number of bids on the bike. I was tickled that it bought retail price to benefit WABA. The WABA Gala and Auction is typically held early in February. If you like bicycles, interesting surroundings, good food and drink, and intriguing auction items then you might like to join in next year.

Smiling Jon, a winner from the NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo

SmilingJon, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

This man, Jon Fisher, is smiling because he was just awarded the Dahon Boardwalk 7 that he won by participating in bikes@vienna's drawing at the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo. Jon came out from Washington to pickup his prize and ride it on the W&OD Trail. Jon has a bike, but he was excited about owning a Dahon folder and the places he visit and ride his Dahon.

You will notice that Jon is wearing a T-shirt on the 21st of January. Our weather has been warm and it has resulted in more opportunities to ride than occur many Januarys. Both days this weekend we had lots of store visitors looking at recumbents and folding bikes. Perhaps you should come visit us and get a jump on the springtime crowd.

We are open during the winter months from 10-6 on Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. On Sunday our hours are 10-5. We're closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

FABB

This is the bikes@vienna mission, as stated on our home page: “We want people to use a bike to have fun, to exercise for good health, to save money, and to protect the environment” In order to accomplish that mission, people need safe, convenient facilities where they can ride their bikes. We have joined with a group of people in Fairfax County to press for better bicycling conditions in the county. We call ourselves Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB), and we are affiliated with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA).

FABB has been meeting with county supervisors and staff to discuss several specific measures that are needed to improve cycling conditions: 1) a bicycle coordinator position in the county; someone who is responsible for ensuring that all transportation projects accommodate cyclists. 2) a bicycle map; showing the locations of roads that are bicycle-friendly and showing paved trails, and 3) a network of on-road bike routes; either dedicated bike lanes or signed bike routes where roads have wide curb lanes or paved shoulders.

Our work is paying off. At the December 5 Board of Supervisors meeting “Chairman Connolly moved that the Board direct staff from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Planning and Zoning to report with a list of recommendations to better incorporate bicycle facilities as part of the transportation infrastructure”. You can read the summary of the motion on the county Web site (search for “bicycle”), or read the article in the Washington Post (Supervisors Seek Bike Policy Update, Cross County Trail to Open Dec. 17, By Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, December 8, 2005; Page VA03).

During our meeting with Chairman Connolly, he invited FABB to attend the opening of the Cross County Trail on Dec. 17. Several FABB members were able to attend. John, Kerie Hitt, Hunter McCleary, and I rode from bikes@vienna. Douglas Stewart, the FABB chairman, and his family joined us there. John showed us a great route from Vienna on Cottage St. to right on Gallows Rd., past the Dunn Loring Metro station, down Gallows Rd. to right on Woodburn Rd. near the Beltway. We took Woodburn south then turned left on Guinevere Dr., then right on Saxony Dr. to Camelot Dr. where the trail head was located for the ribbon cutting. Gallows Rd. was not bad at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday. I've heard that several cyclists use Gallows to ride north from the Springfield area.

I'm compiling a map of routes that cyclists use and will add some of those roads to the map. Three of the Board supervisors were present at the ribbon-cutting. Most of us were able to speak to one or more of them, to let them know we were there and to thank them for their support. All of the supervisors said that they appreciated the many the letters that cyclists had sent thanking them for their recent Board action.

This is a very optimistic time for cyclists in the county. However, our work is really just beginning. We’ll need to show up at budget hearings to ask for funds to implement the new policy, and we’ll need to work closely with the Board and with staff to ensure that the goals we’ve set are accomplished. If you want to help, let us know (b r u c e (at) b i k e s a t v i e n n a .com).

John, The Red Nosed?

JohnTheRedNosed, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

Rodney Dangerfield complained in his act that he could not get any respect. This is that kind of story.

I rode my bike to work last Friday morning. Ces bought some blinking, Rudolf noses and I thought it would be fun to wear one to see if anyone would notice. The nose had the proper effect with people smiling and waving or doing double takes.

Matt is back from college and working at bikes@vienna during his break. He has been painting up a storm. He is a darn good mechanic, but he just keeps working and before you know it he has covered a large area as a painter. He arrives in front of the store, walks across the parking lot, says good morning and acts like I'm not wearing this big red, blinking nose on my naturally large nose. We're wheeling bakes outside and we pass a couple of times. Matt says nothing about the nose, but he does ask why my glasses don't have any lenses.

He doesn't say a word about a blinking, big red nose, but he inquires about the missing lenses from my sunglasses? It tells me that Matt is used to me doing outlandish things, but he's still trying to figure out my small idiosyncrasies.

I like to wear a mirror on my sunglasses and sometimes I remove the dark lenses as I go out the door in the evening. I left the lenses at the store so that morning I was still without the lenses. The red nose......I wore it Saturday evening as we rode to see the wonderful display of luminaries in the neighborhood northeast of Westwood Country Club. As I'm sure you know, luminaries are objects that give off light. In this case it was thousands of medium sized paper sacks with sand in the bottom of the sack and a lit candle. The streets in that area were lined by the sacks. It was special to see.

We wish you Good Yule!

foolish2, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

I have laughed and giggled and giggled and laughed since Ces came to get me this evening and show me this photo. You may recognize my grandson, Cyrus, but you won't be familiar with his accomplices, Daisy (elf) and Eidel (reindeer). I get extra laughs because I took care of those two last February when Jacob and Katie (my son and daughter-in-law) went to Seattle. Daisy is headstrong and Eidel is afraid of his shadow so getting them to do anything is a chore.

Jacob's note which accompanied the photo said it took an hour of "tickling, singing, and mugging plus a whole lot of dog biscuits". It was worth it. I hope it brings a smile to you. Good Yule to you......how ever you celebrate this holiday season, I wish you good health and safe travel.

Look For bikes@vienna at NBC4 Expo

H&F06 logo, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

The new year is rushing towards me and just beyond the New Year is the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo at the Washington Convention Center. You will find bikes@vienna in the Marketplace section and we'll be displaying bikes and raffling off a Dahon Boardwalk 7. Now the chance to win a new Dahon is an incentive to visit the expo, but there is so much more. There will be health screening, information sessions, demonstrations, and 80,000 other health conscious humans. Mark your calendar for Saturday and Sunday, January 14-15. Unless you can ride your bike there......The Metro is the best form of transportation. The hours are 9AM to 5 PM.

More details are available at www.nbc4.com.

What happens when it snows?

Snowpeople, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

Snowguy, originally uploaded by bikes@vienna.

Many times people ask what we do during the winter months. We're open and many winters there are opportunities to ride a bike in Virginia's moderate winters. We also participate in exhibits like the NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo at the Washington Convention Center (January 14-15).

Yet there are mornings like today when there is snow and not much business. We are a creative lot so........we revert to our inner child and build snowpeople. Yes, we use bike components for eyes, nose, and mouth. We now have two sentries on the alley which will bring smiles to people we hope. Drive by and take a look.

Happy Holidays.