I was getting down to the wire. It was the final weekend of the Coffeeneuring Challenge. I had two days to get in my two final outings. Much to my delight, I had a bicycle-loving house guest who was happy to join me that Saturday morning. I thought it would be fun to show her some of the local architectural and culinary goodies. Besides, charming Larchmont village is just a couple miles from my home, and yet it has more coffee shops than I have yet visited, so something really must be done about that.
My guest for this ride, Judi, is big on bike touring and seeing the world. On a recent trip, Judi spent several months seeing Hawaii, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and New Zealand. You can see her pics from that trip and others on her Flickr page. We met when I saw her post to the Los Angeles Women & Bicycles Facebook page, asking when the next coffee meetup was planned. When I asked what part of town she was in, she replied that she was looking for a place to stay for the next few weeks while visiting. And with our kids out of the house leaving empty bedrooms behind, I figured it was a perfect chance to practice our bed & breakfast services. It was so fun to have a bicyclista staying at our home.
Judi and I rode north into Hancock Park to the northernmost end of Larchmont to check out Coffee + Food, a place on Melrose I’d found in my online research for coffeeneuring destinations. Bike parking was easy to find close to the front of the shop. We went inside and made our selections. I had a flat white coffee with caramel, just because I had never had a “flat white” before, and got some kind of sweet cinnamon thing to go with it. Judi went for a drip coffee and a breakfast burrito.
If, like me, you need a tutorial on what the heck a “flat white” is, here’s the low down. The quick answer: it’s like a latte, but with less milk and less frothy.
We wandered through Koreatown on our way back, stopping by Alexandria House. Just the night before, we’d been at a neighbor’s house for a fundraising party in support of this shelter that provides transitional housing and other resources for women and children. We stopped inside for a bit, and saw a group of women and teens getting makeovers. It’s a gorgeous house, and it was filled with warm and wonderful people.
We completed a loop back towards home, turning our short ride into a respectable 9.1 mile route.
The short dip along the southern edge of our loop (between Wilton Place & Crenshaw) is where I just had to show Judi my favorite mansion in Country Club Park, that has apparently been seen in a show called American Horror Story. The short dip near the northeast part of our loop is where we stopped to check out Alexandria House.
Total mileage: 9.1
Bike: Specialized Dolce Comp
Destination: Coffee + Food, Larchmont Village, Los Angeles
What does coffeeneuring have to do with sex ed, you ask? Nothing, unless you decide to bring them together. As a coffeeneur who also has duties as a facilitator of a sexuality program, I knew what I had to do given the short time remaining to complete the 2016 coffeeneuring challenge. A couple of Sundays a month, on a biannual basis, I help facilitate for 8th & 9th graders at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica. The program is called Our Whole Lives, reflecting a recognition that we are sexual beings throughout our entire lifespan. It’s an awesome curriculum that covers far more than anything offered in the school system. We discuss honestly all aspects of sexuality, not just reproduction and safety. We help young people develop their skills for dealing with peer pressure, seeking consent, understanding the wide variety of sexual identities and different ways of expressing and experiencing one’s sexuality, in a context of values and within a trusted community.
I was scheduled to teach a session on that Sunday in early November, and I needed to get some coffeeneuring in. I normally enjoy biking the 11-12 miles (depending on my route) to Santa Monica, so why not bike to a coffee shop after the session ends? Santa Monica offers a plentiful selection of fancy coffee shops worth trying. For this one, I decided to try out Philz Coffee on Santa Monica Blvd & 6th Street.
I loved the cool design of the bike rack right next door to Philz.
Philz offers some outdoor seating, in addition to a large indoor seating area. There was a substantial line, but they have several servers taking orders at the counter, and the line moves quickly.
Knowing I needed to fuel up for a longer ride home, I got some peanut butter power balls and a yogurt in addition to a refreshing iced gingersnap latte. I strongly recommend the iced gingersnap when you need a combo of spice, creaminess, and potent java on a hot day.
I wanted to take a leisurely route back home by heading a few blocks farther west to the beach. It was a nice day to ride along the beach and then take the Ballona Creek bike path back into the city. This routing added a few extra miles to my ride, but many of those miles were delightfully car-free.
Tank top weather; leopard print bloomers kept me covered under my skirt.
Stopping for a rest along the Ballona Creek bike path.
It felt great to be out on my road bike, enjoying some warm weather again. Soon enough, I was back in my own neighborhood. It was such a clear day, you could see the Hollywood sign.
Total mileage: 30.3
Bike: Specialized Dolce Comp
Destination: Philz Coffee, Santa Monica, California
As it turns out, my free block of time on Saturday did not align with that of my fellow coffeeneur, Ilga, so this last ride in the D.C. coffeeneuring triple shot was a solo adventure. A place called Baked by Yael came highly recommended by a member of the local Women & Bicycles group, and it just so happens to be a short skip up the road from the conference hotel in Woodley Park. In fact, Baked by Yael sits directly across the street from the entrance to the Woodley Park Zoo, perfectly positioned to receive families looking for a refreshment break after a day of zoo-gazing.
It was a damp and dewy morning. I was pleased that I had remembered to carry with me a seat cover that I bought for those times when a shared bike’s saddle didn’t look like something I’d want to sit on. I placed the cover over the very wet saddle, and was on my way.
My handy dandy saddle coverIn order to (a) make the ride more fun and interesting, and (b) ensure that my ride met the two mile minimum, I decided to do some exploring through the beautiful neighborhood near the Cathedral.
The colors were stunning, and I enjoyed the architecture of the stately homes in this neighborhood, some of which serve as embassies. I was also tickled to recognize what must have been part of the American University campus, my hubby’s alma mater.I looped around a bit, wanting to be sure I’d logged enough extra distance before getting to my destination on Connecticut Avenue.
I found Baked by Yael easily enough, and remembered to snap a photo with evidence of my bike mode in front (just the helmet and my bag, as I’d already parked the bike). There’s a capital bikeshare docking station conveniently up the street. It seemed I might be their first customer of the morning, as the place was perfectly clean and quiet. I was taken by the chocolate that faced me, and knew a hot chocolate would be the perfect thing to warm me up on this brisk morning.
This was a new thing to me: being given a popsicle stick with a big chunk of dark chocolate on it, together with a cup of hot milk. I then sat and stirred my chocolate into the milk and watched my hot chocolate form before my eyes. It was divine.
I went back to the dock and retrieved a bike for the return trip. Heading south on Connecticut Avenue was no picnic – I’d rather not bike on such busy streets. I decided to take the first left turn, at Cathedral Avenue, and turned from there onto Woodley Place to cut over to Woodley Road, a familiar street to me. I thought I was being so clever by taking that on around, connecting back up with Cathedral Avenue, believing this would take me right to Calvert Street, where I would be able to dock the bike right there on the bridge. Except Cathedral Avenue actually dips down under the bridge and curves on to pass under Connecticut Avenue into Rock Creek Park. By the time I realized what I’d done, there wasn’t any easy way to back out of it. I followed the road as it curved around, and then I recognized the steep hill that one can take back up out of the park to Calvert Street.
Let’s just say I got a chance to burn off some of that hot chocolate! If you’ve ever tried to climb a steep hill on a clunky bikeshare bike, you know what I’m talking about.
Total mileage: 2.9
Bike: Capital Bikeshare
Destination: Baked by Yael, Woodley Park, Washington, D.C.
Another opportunity to meet up with the Women & Bicycles Coffee Club arose during my visit to D.C. in October 2016 (just to clarify, since I’m writing this in March 2017). It meant sneaking out early on Friday morning from the breakfast meeting of the Women in Intellectual Property Law Committee of AIPLA. Thank goodness I didn’t sneak out too early or fail to show altogether, as this was my last meeting after serving three years as the Board liaison to this committee. The committee leaders had thoughtfully acknowledged me as their departing liaison by calling me to the front of the room to receive a lovely gift. I stayed as long as I could without completely missing the coffee club, and then ducked out in the middle of the breakfast meeting’s program to hurry on over to the nearest bikeshare station and hop in a bike.
Rolling into Adam’s Morgan
This time the sun was already up, and it was a glorious morning to ride the just-shy-of-a-mile trip into Adam’s Morgan. I was able to catch the group of seven women before they had to leave for work and whatnot. Particularly exciting about this group of women is that it included a fellow coffeeneur, Ilga, with whom I had communicated about planning a joint coffeeneuring outing while I was visiting her home town.
So much of the fun of participating in coffeeneuring is the shared community that forms between coffeeneurs all over the country, and even the world. Most of us do not have local fellow coffeeneurs with whom we gather in person, and enjoy making a virtual connection through our Facebook group and Instagram sharing. My familiarity with Washington, D.C., the Women & Bicycles group, and the Coffeeneurs all came together in an opportunity for intersection of these elements. It was fun to make an in-real-life connection with a co-coffeeneur.
Since I’d arrived rather late, most were winding up their coffee experience when I arrived. I wanted to make a quick and easy beverage choice, to avoid a long wait for my drink. In a departure from my usual coffeeneuring beverage, I decided to try some fresh grapefruit juice that appeared ready for drinking in the refrigerated display case. It was a refreshing quencher when I’d already had breakfast and my morning coffee, and meant no waiting.
Women & Bicycles Coffee Club at Pleasant Pops
As is typical for the Women & Bicycles Coffee Club types, these women were most welcoming to the out-of-town stranger. Of course, two of the women there had participated in Women & Bicycles coffee meetups last Spring while they were visiting Los Angeles. So we weren’t all strangers.
As the meeting wrapped up, I had a chance to talk some more with Ilga. She walked with me as I headed for a bike share station and she headed to her next thing that was in the same direction in Adam’s Morgan. Before my trip, Ilga and I had a few preliminary planning communications about trying to coordinate a common coffeeneuring destination for the Saturday during my visit. As we discussed the particular constraints each of us faced for Saturday, we realized it might not work as initially planned. Since Saturday’s co-coffeeneuring plan did not work out, it was especially nice that we had the chance to meet up on Friday morning.
Co-Coffeeneur Ilga, in front of Pleasant Pops
After parting ways with Ilga, I continued my search for a bikeshare station with a bike available. Unfortunately, I tried three stations, and all were empty of bikes. I ended up walking back to Woodley Park. Although I was disappointed that this meant I would fail to meet the requisite two-mile minimum for a coffeeneuring ride, it was a glorious sunny autumn day. I enjoyed the chance to take in the Fall colors, something we get very little of back in Los Angeles.
One after another docking station, all empty! (The lone teaser bike was out of order.)
Some of the beautiful scenery for my walk back to Woodley Park, crossing the Duke Ellington Bridge on Calvert Street
Total mileage: 0.8 (biking; additional 1.7 miles walking, including the part where I got lost)
Bike: Capital Bikeshare
Destination: Pleasant Pops, Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C.
Official ride #3: Bullfrog Bagels in Washington, DC
As with the 2015 Challenge, this year’s event coincided with my trip to Washington, DC, for the Annual Meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Thanks to the mercy of Rule #4, I was able to make full use of the opportunity to combine a coffeeneuring ride with a chance to meet up with the Women & Bicycles Coffee Club. Andrea was kind enough to schedule a meet up for that Thursday, a day when I didn’t have to be at the conference until 9:00. Of course, the Thursday Coffee Club meets at Eastern Market, and my conference was in Woodley Park, not exactly close by.
But it’s supposed to be a challenge, right?
Bright (okay, not so bright) & early (definitely early) start at the bike share station on Calvert, near Woodley Park
So I mapped out my route and gave myself extra time to walk from my B&B to the nearest bike share station. This meant heading out at 6 a.m., well before the sun comes up. Having come in from the west coast, it feels more like 3 a.m., but I’m tough like that.
Heading out through Adams Morgan
Being on a mission made the cool darkness part of the fun. Having to get across town meant using one of my favorite bike lanes – the scenic ride down Pennsylvania Avenue, with the colorful sunrise and the Capital dome before me. Unfortunately, the ride was very rough, as the asphalt has been stripped and the transitions between stripped and unstripped sections, at every intersection, were quite rough. I alternated between taking the lane with car traffic and bumpily working me way along the bike lane.
Riding the bike lane that runs down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue
It was an exhilarating ride for me. I loved rolling past famous buildings: the National Archives, the Smithsonian along the mall, then onto Constitution Avenue and right alongside the Capitol and the Senate office buildings, the Supreme Court. To do this ride in the early morning, as the sun was rising, felt magical.
Once east of Capitol Hill, I turned south a few blocks to Eastern Market. I found the bike share docking station and walked through the picturesque market area and found my destination, Bullfrog Bagels.
Bullfrog Bagels
I made it to Bullfrog Bagels on time! I had coffee and a breakfast bagel, and, once I remembered that I needed to look for the group upstairs, joined these lovely women, two of whom visited Los Angeles this past Spring. You can read about the inaugural Women + Bikes + Coffee meet ups with Elisabeth and Andrea, seated across from me here, in this post.
Women & Bicycles Coffee Club – Southeast
The only realistic way for me to dash back to the conference hotel in time for the first meeting of the day meant turning this into a multi-modal adventre. So I hopped on a subway at Eastern Market, transfered to the red line, and got back to Woodley Park just in time! It’s amazing how deep beneath the bowels of our nation’s captial one can travel. Here’s my view coming up the loooong escalator back to street level.
Emerging from the red lineMy route from Woodley Park to Eastern Market
Official ride #2: The Alchemist Coffee Project & CicLAvia
The Gazelle; ready to roll, CicLAvia style.
When I participate in CicLAvia, I usually like to bring along both of my Nantucket Basket Panniers, one filled with samples of my Bikie Girl Bloomers (never know when I’ll wish I had them with me), and the other with a floral display (just because). This time, I tried adding some Bikie Girl stickers to help advertise, but I think I need a bigger sign.
First things being first, I went straight to my coffee shop: Alchemist Coffee Project. This seemed the perfect choice for today’s coffeeneuring ride, as it was conveniently on my way to the First Unitarian Church, where I wanted to catch the service before joining the CicLAvia fun. I have been curious to try this place, as I often pass it when taking the 7th Street bike lane towards downtown Los Angeles. I was also curious to try this place since noticing it had taken the spot formerly known as the Bourbon Street Cafe, where I had been many times. I have a special place in my heart for Bourbon Street Cafe, as this is where all the first meetings happened back when the plans for Bikie Girl Bloomers were first being hatched.
Alchemist Coffee Project at 7th & Vermont
Once I saw the “New Orleans Cold Brew” on the menu, I knew that had to be my drink. Having recently been to New Orleans, where I was reminded how much I like the taste of chicory coffee, it was a no-brainer. I was quite happy with my choice. Both the drink and my pastry indulgence were delicious.
Almond Danish & New Orleans Cold BrewCool space features lots of Edison bulbs
The interior was appealing, with plenty of tables and interesting decor.
After church was over, hubby was waiting out front to meet up with me and head for the CicLAvia route. The McArthur Park hub was just a few blocks east on 7th Street.
We followed the route into downtown and onto Broadway. Please note the awesome shirt hubby is wearing. It reads: “I never dreamed I’d end up married to a sexy cycling lady, but here I am, living the dream!” You’ll never guess who got that shirt for him.
Hubby capturing the action on Broadway
We continued along Broadway into Chinatown, where we joined a party for volunteers and supporters of CicLAvia hosted by Blossom Vietnamese Restaurant. The food at Blossom was good – I think we will have to go back and experience the restaurant as regular customers.
From Chinatown, we rode back into the heart of Downtown and parted ways. Hubby headed back toward home, while I took the left turn onto 4th Street to explore the remaining part of the route. Along the way, I encountered the biking photographer, David G., who graciously obliged my request for a photo.
From the downtown hub, I followed the route over the 4th Street Bridge into Boyle Heights where the final CicLAvia hub was at Mariachi Plaza.
The play zone in Boyle HeightsMariachi PlazaMariachi Plaza Hub
Once again, I ran into someone I know. This time, I was getting in position to take a photo at Mariachi Plaza when I ran into James. We had just met at the New Urbanism Film Festival the weekend before.
I followed the route back toward McArthur Park and on home. Lots of variety packed into a simple coffeeneuring ride!
Total mileage: 17.5
Bike: Gazelle Tour Populaire
Destination: Alchemist Coffee Project, Koreatown, Los Angeles
Official Ride #1: The Wheelhouse & an event on “Fashioning the Future of Urban Living”
See a theme emerging here? I started out just loving to ride my bike when & where I can, and next thing I know, I’m a fan of “urbanism”. When I saw an announcement about this event, I knew I had to go for several reasons. First, I love an excuse to visit The Wheelhouse, a new-ish coffee & bike shop that brings together good coffee, stylish urban bikes & accessories, while-you-sip bike repair services, and an inviting community space. Second, the event was highlighting a designer of women’s bike-to-work fashion, a topic so very much up my alley, given my side business, Bikie Girl Bloomers. Third, I always enjoy meeting other women who love to bike, and this was sure to be an event that would attract my kind of peeps. Fourth, I wanted to hear the women on the panel, a delightful representation of women who embrace the active, multi-modal urban lifestyle.
By the grace of new Rule #4, the fact that the event was held on a Thursday evening did not prevent it from counting toward my official 7 rides. Although I prefer to make my coffeeneuring rides about exploring new-to-me places, I felt visiting The Wheelhouse at night would make for a new-ish experience as I’d only visited it twice before, both times on a Saturday morning.
Parked my Gazelle in front of The Wheelhouse.Tried the mocha cold brew with almond milk – yummy!Fantastic display of stylish accessories.The discussion of urbanism featured the new Metro Bike Share program, with one of the Metro’s bikes out on display.The Wheelhouse offers an impressive variety of quality saddles and bikes.The panel in action.
The panel discussion was led by Colleen Monroe, a designer preparing to launch a line of clothing that accommodates a physically demanding professional workday: Untucked Workwear. Other panelists were Gloria Hwang, Founder and CEO of Thousand; Tami Spenst, Actor, Designer at Pluck, and Co-Owner of the Wheelhouse; Rubina Ghazarian, Department of Transportation’s New Mobility Division, Creator of LA Metro’s Bike Share; Audrey Bellis, Founder of Startup DTLA and Worthy Women, Co-Founder of Grid110, and Alissa Walker, Urbanism Editor at Curbed.
Los Pobladores refers to the original settlers of Los Angeles, who founded this fair city in 1781. Every year, to celebrate the birthday of Los Angeles, a contingent joins with descendants of these original settlers and walks the 9-mile route taken in 1781 from the mission in San Gabrial to Olvera Street in what is now downtown Los Angeles. Many walk the route in this annual ritual, while others make the journey by bicycle. This year I joined the group on bicycles.
The pre-ride gathering in front of the San Gabriel Mission
And off we went!We rolled past some cool places, such as the Ming Ya Buddhist Association along Valley Boulevard.
And Lincoln Park.
Soon enough, we arrived at El Pueblo, just across the street from Union Station.
And we got to watch the final part of the procession.
La Plaza United Methodist Church faces El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument.
Free bike valet parking was available to us on this street off El Pueblo, just across from the Chinese American Museum – I’ve visited before and highly recommend it.
Heading to the bike valet, I got to meet Bikie Girl Maria, whom I’d noticed riding in her new Wick-It Black Bloomers.
A ceremony featured some direct descendants of the original settlers and natives who shared traditional blessings.
The prayer in the four directions.
One of the dancers, relaxing after the performance with her companion.
Smokey Bear was among the attendees observing the hoopla.
La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, just across from El Pueblo
Olvera Street Marketplace
If you venture down Olvera Street, you will come upon America Tropical Interpretive Center, where you can see the rediscovered Siqueiros mural completed in 1932, now sheltered for conservation and viewable from a special platform.
Also viewable from above Olvera Street is the beautiful Post Office Terminal Annex Building, which served as the central mail processing facility for Los Angeles from 1940-1989.
My complete route for the day, 30 miles total.
This will be remembered as one of my favorite urban cycling adventures.
Hubby and I borrowed some bikes from friends one day during our recent visit to Manilla, California. It was a delightful rural bike adventure that served as the highlight of our mini-vacation. We pedaled north out of Manilla, a cute little town along the dunes between the Pacific Ocean and Arcata Bay in Humboldt County (that’s in way-northern California). Where the main road arcs east toward Arcata, we turned left and continued north through farmland to Mad River Road. That took us to the Hammond Trail, which took us on mostly bike path more or less along the river, and then to the coast. It was a very doable ride and featured great scenery.
Rob crossing over the Mad River Bridge to the southern trailhead of the Hammond TrailI admired the bike infrastructure in McKinleyville while Rob reviewed the route guide.Good signs helped us along the way.Down this gravel path through the trees, and to the water’s edge.A beautiful destination, Clam Beach, where we hung out for a bit before heading back.Aren’t we cute?!One of my favorite stretches of the trail.
The trail passes through varied terrain. In some places, we were winding through tall evergreens, in others we were along or over the Mad River, and in some we were on a bike lane going through residential communities. I especially enjoyed the part shown in the above photo – a variety of trees, bushes, and ferns, accented by bright orange flowers. After crossing back over the Mad River Bridge, we retraced our route through the farm land.
Heading back through the farms & barns.Best house & tree combo of the ride.Naked Ladies in bloom!Friendly horses.Stopping on the bridge along Arcata Bay as we head back into Manilla.Our 26.2 mile (round trip) route.
I have been traveling to the Washington, DC area every year for almost 20 years. In my day job, I’m a mild-mannered patent attorney, and the DC area is home to the United States Patent & Trademark Office, as well as the headquarters of the premier professional organization for patent geeks, the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). I have visited several times a year for the past three years, while serving on the Board of Directors of AIPLA. Many of the Board meetings are held in Crystal City, and I have enjoyed staying in different places (downtown DC, Arlington, Alexandria) and using Capital Bikeshare to get to the meetings. Those trips have almost always taken me onto the Mt. Vernon Bike Trail, which passes right through Crystal City. It was starting to bug me that I’d biked on the Mt. Vernon Trail several times, yet hadn’t once come close to exploring Mt. Vernon. With the realization that this summer’s board meeting would be my last one at the Crystal City location, I just had to work in a trip to Mt. Vernon.
View of the Washington Monument from the bike trail on the Virginia side of the Potomac. This was taken in March, while commuting from the Rosslyn area to Crystal City.This time I stayed with my friend, Debbie, who lives in Alexandria. I flew in on a red eye flight, took a nap at Debbie’s, tended to some work matters, and devoted my afternoon to the bike adventure. Debbie was kind enough to loan me her bike and point me in the right direction.
Of course, rather than simply follow Debbie’s guidance, I entered my destination into google maps on my phone, and figured the app would keep me from losing my way.
How wrong I was about that!
After struggling a bit to climb a steep hill in Debbie’s neighborhood using an unfamiliar bike, it dawned on me that I may have gone right where Debbie had told me to go left. Having just climbed that hill, though, I decided to just take the google route. Then I realized the streets it was taking me on were not exactly bike-friendly. I double-checked my google maps settings, and realized that I had it on the automobile setting instead of the bike setting. oops.
I changed the settings to bike mode, and took a good look at where I was on the map. Instead of going through Alexandria to the intended bike trail, Google had me heading south on a more direct route. Although I occasionally found myself on a road much too busy to be comfortable on a bicycle, I went with it, just to see where it took me and to embrace the adventure.
Once I turned off of the busy road onto the “Old Mt. Vernon Highway”, I felt reassured. Aftter all the frequent stops to be sure I was on the correct road, and occasionally to back-track after making a wrong turn, the actual arrival at Mt. Vernon was a welcome relief!
Arrival at Mt Vernon – a beautiful garden in front of the restaurant.There is a large, circular drive near the front entrance. After snapping the above bike portrait, I looked for the bike parking sure to be available at a large attraction at the end of a bike trail. When I finally found the bike parking, I was underwhelmed. It was one of those little bike racks that seems designed to only allow you to lock the front wheel.
Surprisingly lame bike parking for a popular attraction positioned on a well-known bike trail.It was a hot day, and I was grateful for the blast of air conditioning that greeted me upon initial arrival. Soon I realized that this was only going to be available at the beginning and end of my visit. The Mt. Vernon estate is humongous, and I had to walk from site to site in the hot sun. I carried my water bottle and filled it at every drinking fountain.
Grand entrance to George & Martha’s crib.I was lucky to arrive just in time for the last tour of the mansion for that day.
Nice back porch! That back porch faces this view of the Potomac.I only took a few pictures of the mansion, but I checked out the outbuildings, the slaves quarters, the gardens, the slave memorial, and walked about as much of the grounds as I could handle for a hot afternoon. Then I stopped at the air conditioned tourist building for a snack before getting back on the bike and heading for that trail.
One of many pretty wooden bridges along the Mt. Vernon Trail.I was so grateful for the shade and the beauty of the Mt. Vernon Trail, especially after having had my fill of the hot sun. It was also a wonderful relief to not have to worry about car traffic beyond a few places where the trail intersects with regular roads.
Style shot: sporting my pink zebra bloomers under the Hitchable Flounce Skirt.Of course, I wore a fun pair of bloomers for the excursion. Sizzling hot zebra stripes for a sizzling hot day.
View of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac.To ride along the Potomac River, over cute bridges and through pretty trees for such an extended stretch was wonderful. The only bummer was what seemed like a long slog to get through Alexandria and complete my return to Debbie’s house. Although my total trip was just a bit over 25 miles, I felt pretty spent by the time I made it back. I was glad, though, that my mistaken start had resulted in a nice loop. That’s always more fun than a simple out-and-back route.
My complete route: 25.4 miles.The following morning, I needed to get from Alexandria to Crystal City for my Board meeting, and then from there on to the airport for my return trip. Debbie dropped me and my luggage off near the King Street station, and I had fun figuring out how to secure my luggage onto a Captial Bikeshare bike. Luckily, my luggage for this short trip consisted of a tote bag and my briefcase. I don’t think I could get a suitcase of any kind on one of those bikeshare bikes.
On a normal day, I could have just hopped on Metro with my bags, and taken the yellow or blue line a couple of stops to Crystal City. But this was not a normal day. Metro had shut down part of that route for some critical maintenance work. But I didn’t mind – it was an excuse to explore another bike path!
Balancing my luggage on the bike share was a little tricky.I found what looked to be a fairly new bike path, the Potomac Yard Bike Trail, which featured some work-out stations along the way.
Style shot: one of my favorite combos is the pinka dot bloomers under my pink & black striped dress.The dress code for my Board meeting was, thankfully, “business casual”. I decided my comfortable pink & black striped knit dress was reasonable, especially given the warm weather. And I love pairing that dress with my Pinka Dot Black Bloomers.
Nice protected bike lane for much of my one-mile ride to get from Crystal City to Pentagon City.Once the meeting was over, I needed to make my way to BWI, the Baltimore airport. With the Crystal City Metro Station closed, I first had to get to the next stop, Pentagon City, about a mile away. Capital Bikeshare to the rescue! This was also a fun treat, as I had not biked in that direction before, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality bike lanes available for most of that trip.
Bike station at Pentagon City Metro.It was rather satisfying to pull up to the bike dock in front of the huge crowd waiting for Metro shuttle buses when I got to Pentagon City. Using bikeshare to get around the Metro closures was definitely more convenient. From Pentagon City, I took Metro to Union Station, where I caught the MARC train to BWI.
All in all, a delightfully successful bike adventure!
on to take a photo at Mariachi Plaza when I ran into James. We had just met at the New Urbanism Film Festival the weekend before.
WeLove2Bike! 