Smiling down on us from tube heaven

I installed this tube on my front wheel 2012 and during its 18,000 mile life, I invested an entire patch kit in it.  It was hard to say goodbye to it this morning when the valve stem tore open.

Bike Lock Fail

And with luck there will still be some for my kids to inherit

Phil Wood grease, purchased from Ann Arbor Cyclery in about 1978.

I couldn't have imagined then that this mundane purchase, one of a thousand or so similarly forgettable items I must've also bought that year, would follow me around for 35 years and that in 2013 I'd still be using it to lube pedal threads.  (A bit less remarkably, I still have the Campagnolo Nuovo Record low-flange front hub that I got that same day, but it hasn't been ridden in years.  Lots more use out of the grease.)

I don't rebuild many hubs or headsets nowadays, so I don't pull this out of the tool bag very often and there's a good chance it will last me the rest of my life.

The King is dead! Long live the King!

Top photo:  Brooks B-17 Special saddle.  Installed March 1999, retired July 2013 (terminal tear in the metal nose).  36,500+ miles over 14 years of near-daily use.

Bottom photo:  Brooks B-17 Special saddle, installed July 2013.  (It's a good 3/4" shorter than the older saddle, which had stretched out over the years.)  Check back in 2027 for a performance comparison.

(I may yet try to have the original repaired.  The leather was still supple and strong.)

Moscow bikesharing

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Moscow - which seems like a pretty treacherous city for cyclists - has a bike rental system.  This sign translates roughly to, "Map of parking locations", "Bike rental network of Moscow".

 The rack was well stocked -



but prospective customers might find the twisted metal to be a little off-putting -

3401 Water Street, N.W.

Here's a fun progression that's been pretty much invisible to auto commuters; the location is Water Street, N.W., Georgetown, a few hundred feet from where the CCT empties out.

Hibiscus Cafe put up a nice mural here some time in the early 1990s.  I never actually ate there - the first time I tried, it was a Monday and it was closed; and by the time I tried again, it was closed for good.

A fitness center / gym then occupied the site for a few years.  They closed in maybe 2007.  I liked that they never put up their own signage.

Only in March of this year did it occur to me to photograph the murals I'd been riding by for more than a decade, and good thing too because just a couple weeks later they were gone!  An outfit known as the Water Street Project moved into the space and painted over them.

After only a couple of weeks the site was vacant again, the mural whitewashed altogether.  It seemed like an awfully quick demise for the new tenant but later I learned it was only a 10-day project, a flash gallery of some sort.  I wish they hadn't painted over the (IMHO) much more attractive and interesting Hibuscus murals for something that was going to come and go so quickly.

Within just a few days the new folks had put up their own sign - uninspired, but at least informative.  Malmaison is (according to the Georgetown Dish) going to be a "dessert bar and lounge".  I am not sure when it's scheduled to open.  Time will tell whether they come up with a more interesting exterior motif.  I doubt though that it'll last as long as Hibiscus's great effort, though.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

More mysterious CCT signage

It always starts slowly like this. Before you know it they'll be coming for our handlebar-mounted Kindles -

Who is this for?

I mean, it seems to me than anyone driving a car on the CCT is unlikely to be deterred by a sign. Even if it is in an unusual and arresting shade of yellow.

I love the bike

Downtown Washington DC. Morning rush hour. Connecticut Avenue closed from the Washington Hilton all the way down to E Street in anticipation of a motorcade - but who still gets to ride down the middle of the road?

From the Archives - CCT under construction

In 1995, the Capital Crescent Trail above the Arizona Avenue bridge was still under construction. I took a ride one day to document the progress. At the time the trail was a bit of a secret, and it was a great adventure to be out on it. Nowadays riding along the trail is pretty ordinary, and the adventure is seeing how it looked in its early stages. Here are three photos from the uphill segment of the trail between the bridge and the Dalecarlia Reservoir buildings. We start with an impassable Arizona Avenue bridge:



A few hundred feet up the road in a hollow beneath Potomac Road, N.W., was a Volkswagen carcass, apparently shoved over the down the hill from above. Or perhaps it fell by accident. In any case there would have been no easy way to get it back up. There wasn't much left of it by the time I came across it. (The hollow remains but the VW was removed right about the time the trail was paved.) Click for full-size, and a better view.



Finally, we have the unpaved trail itself. It looks so tranquil.

Please Dear God -

find a way for me to move back to Ann Arbor!

(Sign above a lockbox bolted to a wall outside Zingerman's Deli.)

Off topic - C&O Canal trip

Before we set out my brother asked, "will we need fenders?" No, I replied confidently; weather reports are clear. Here we see the price of my hubris. (My innocent brother paid the identical price over three days, but as we know the universe is a cold and unfeeling place.)

Washington without windshields - guerrilla art

One spring day this sculpture simply appeared in middle of a vacant lot on the southeast corner of Connecticut and Military Avenues, N.W. It was visible from the street but you'd probably never notice it from inside a car. It remained in place for about three weeks whereupon it vanished as quietly as it had arrived.

Equally perplexing was the fellow (visible on the left hand edge of the photo) who had set up a folding chair right next to and above the sidewalk (the lot is elevated by about 4 feet) and was comfortably reading a manuscript of some kind. He denied any connection to the sculpture and then discouraged further conversation, which seemed incongruous from someone who'd taken the trouble to set himself up in such a visible and public place.

Dalecarlia Tunnel at 100

Dalecarlia Tunnel, Capital Crescent Trail, Maryland. Completed in 1910. I haven't heard of any commemoration planned, which is a bit surprising given the trail's popularity and the affection people have for it. Maybe I'll swing by Costco, buy a cake and hand out pieces some Saturday.

Here's a great photo of the same spot in 1974.

Washington without windshields - Stinky Whore Café

At 15 or 18 miles an hour you notice things that you might well overlook when driving by. And it's easy to stop for a closer look. This is the Café Putain qui Pue, or "Stinky Whore Café", located on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams (actually 9th & Q Streets NW), along with its motto, "Always Closed".

UPDATE: The photo is from 2009. Sadly the Stinky Whore Café is no more. See here.

Tranquil evening scene

Abner Cloud House, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal near Fletcher's Boathouse, Washington, D.C. Built in 1802 and now the oldest standing structure on the canal. Also visible from the adjacent Capital Crescent Trail.