Nice set of photos. They made me miss the summer I spent in interning at a tech firm in DC during my grad school years. I spent several weekends riding a loaner bike around those nice off-street trails.
Best, Franklyn On Friday, September 28, 2012 9:15:48 AM UTC-7, Joan wrote: > > Grant visited us in the DC area yesterday afternoon and evening - and I > do mean evening. The group ride (about a dozen people) started a little > after 5 pm, we went about 17 miles round trip. After much chatting back at > the shop, and the addition of another 15 people or so, Grant started his > talk after 8, in the dark on a section of parking lot above College Park > Bicycles. Larry and Linda Black - owners of College Park as well as Mt > Airy Cyles - were terrific hosts. Great bike route on the Painted Branch > Creek trail and then through the Ag Center (Beltsville Agricultural > Research Center, division of the USDA) - nice rural riding in a very built > up area. There were some snacks and drinks for everyone when we returned > to the store. > > I met the Mystery Bike in person - oh, and its owner, Tom A! He's a > delightful guy, it was great to meet him. The bike is definitely unusual > and looks really comfortable. Bikes in attendance - a couple of Romulus's, > 2 Hillbornes (Greg and Paul, who drove up from Richmond) - one with single > top tube, one with double. A Quickbeam and a Simpleone, couple of All > Rounders, an Atlantis (or two). One Bleriot, of course. I've probably > missed some (I didn't take any notes!) > > I'm not sure but I think Tom, Richard H (he has a new Hilsen), Ed F and I > were the only people from this list who were in attendance. If I missed > someone, give a shout out. > > Grant's talk was interesting, especially hearing (as others have noted) > where he was as a biker for nearly 30 years - racing for over 6 years, but, > he said, for 22 years after that, he continued to view biking as requiring > pre-planning for speed and split times, and recording all kinds of > measurements about his rides. He said that if he went for a casual ride > with his family, he needed to go for his own "workout" ride afterwards. I > think all of that background gives enormous credibility to where he is > today about biking, fun, unracing. He and I also talked books (not Just > Ride) and general stuff. He's a neat guy just to hang out with. > > I asked him if he invented "burpees", the answer is no. But then he gave > an impressive demonstration. He can do an excellent fluid "burpee"! I > find them very hard, and can do them only awkwardly. > > Pictures - > http://www.flickr.com/photos/30856149@N04/sets/72157631643353543/ > > Joan > By the way, I rode to College Park from my house in Arlington, winding my > way through downtown DC and then winding through Northeast DC. Those 15 > miles took over an hour and a half - traffic, lights, a couple of stops for > route discussions. I used Google maps biking directions, though Google's > first choice used a busy road for part of the ride, and I went over the > route piece by piece on my own before printing but still there were some > busy roads and uncertainties. It was close to 9 pm when the gathering > winded down and I took the subway home. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/woPF9zF5LBEJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
