Errandonnee + Amis = Amisdonnee!

The weatherman was calling for temperatures in the high 50s. There was just one thing to do. Go for a long ride. Justin, John and Ryan were going to ride a 60-mile loop from DC to Alexandria to Prince Georges County to DC. I was going to join them but between my bad back, my late return from picking up my daughter at BWI and a profound sense of sloth, I opted out.

Instead I headed out to run some errands as part of the 2014 Errandonnee Challenge. After doing some yoga and mastering the day’s crossword puzzles, I hopped on The Mule and headed to Old Town for some exciting banking action. Not knowing if the Mount Vernon Trail was ice free I took side streets all the way to Alexandria. The hills that I encountered did not much bother my back which is still beset with random nerve pains.

Once the banking was done I headed to Haute Dogs and Fries, a rather ambitious little hot dog place at the north end of Old Town. I had a Fenway Dog and an Haute Dog with some fries. It was most scrumptious. On the way out I checked my Twitter feed and saw that my friend Rachel (Don’t Call Me, Bob) Cannon was feeling lonely at her job at a nonprofit used bookstore in DC. Since I like Rachel and books and had nowhere else to be, I decided to be there. I happened to glance at the menu board on the way out and saw that they sold Whoopie Pies. I figured Rachel could use a little Whoopie in her day and procured one.I chose the red velvet pie over the Guinness pie because a Guinness Whoopie Pie would make me hurl. (I am a thoughtful gift giver.)

Once the Whoopie Pie was safely stowed in my handlebar bag, I was off and riding. The Mount Vernon Trail is notorious for being congested on nice days and today was no exception. Once onto the 14th Street Bridge I had a brief reprieve before riding into thick swarms of tourists. Maybe that should be swarms of thick tourists, but either way there were a lot of them.

I made it to 17th and K Street in DC and could not find the bookstore. After a few tweets to Rachel and some Google mapping I found it. I tied up The Mule next to Rachel’s new green Surly Disc Trucker, a touring bike to die for. I had bike envy. Rachel bought the Surly after being run over by a car in Prince Georges County last December. It’s nice to see that some good came out of what was probably a horrible experience.

As readers of this blog know, I think Rachel is pretty darn cool. She’s a grad student, snail wrangler, DC bike tour leader, bike rack installer, book store clerk, kitty saver, and erstwhile sitcom star all in one. We talked a blue streak for about an hour. We solved global warming, the Ukranian and Venezuelan Crises, and acute Nutella addiction syndrome.

Before I left I bought a book on her recommendation. I did a little browsing and saw that this store is one that I have to come back to with an empty pannier or two. In addition to books they sell CDs and DVDs. Even with the low prices, I could spend some serious money at this place. The store is called Carpe Librum. It is owned by a nonprofit called Turning the Page. Proceeds from sales go to benefit DC public school students and families. They accept donations of old books, CDs, and DVDs so I may actually take them some of mine in the future.

As I was leaving the bookstore, I checked my Twitter feed and saw that Ted was riding at Hains Point along the Potomac River about a mile away. Hains Point is on the way to the 14th Street Bridge so I headed over to see if I could find Ted. Sure enough, I wasn’t there more than ten seconds when I saw him on the road ahead. We did two 3-mile loops down to the point together. The weather was pretty darn splendid.

After leaving Ted, I crossed the river and headed for home on the Mount Vernon Trail. It was even more congested than earlier but I had a nice tailwind and the views were hard to beat so I stayed on the trail. Once clear of Old Town the traffic on the trail thinned out. I saw a photographer at the Morningside bald eagle nest so I stopped to check things out. I didn’t see the nest but a man and a woman came running toward me. As they approached I realized the woman was Kate, a friend from my former job. She and I worked an Earth Day event one year. I have tried to get her into cycling but she prefers to huff and puff up hills on her own two feet. To each his own. We had a brief chat and went our separate ways.

My odometer registered 40 miles as I pulled into the driveway. 60 degrees, 40 miles, 3 friends and 3 errands. My work here is done.

Errandonnee Summary

Errandonnee #2

Category: Store other than a grocery store

Miles: 6

Observation: You do mobile banking your way, I’ll do it mine.

Errandonnee #3

Category: Lunch

Miles: 1

Observation: If you call hot dogs, Haute Dogs shouldn’t you Frenchiy the “dogs” to so you get Haute Chiens? Mais oui.

Errandonee # 4

Category: Library (cause a used books store is pretty close to being a library)

Miles: 9

Observation: If I lived close to Carpe Librum, it would make sense to just move in. What a find! Thanks, Rachel.

Some Flickr pix here.

Errandonnee #1: The Mule Does Drugs

Errandonnee #1: The Mule Does Drugs, a photo by Rootchopper on Flickr.

It’s time once again for the Errandonnee Challenge. I hadn’t planned on riding today at all. My local pharmacist called me and said that if I didn’t pick up a 2-week old prescription they would cancel it. So I took off in jeans and oxford shirt on The Mule.

Category: Personal Care and Health
Distance: 3 miles
Observation It didn’t occur to me that picking up drugs on a bike called The Mule might be regarded as suspicious by law enforcement. I hope the DEA doesn’t come knocking at my door tonight!

Taking the Rest of the Day Off

Five hours.

Yep, Five hours. I wovelled my ass off today. I did it in two shifts. The first go ran from 10 am to 2. I added an hour after the snow stopped falling.

Looks weird. Works wonderfully. Look at how much snow is on that sucker!

Mrs. Rootchopper had to work so I was working solo. If I didn’t own a wovel, I’d be dead now. I used a conventional shovel for a small amount of the work around the edge of the cars but otherwise it was me and my fulcrum. (Wasn’t that a Harry Nielson song? I guess not since nothing rhymes with “fulcrum”.)

In spots, our 4 or 5 inches of snow was really 2 or 3 inches of snow on top of two inches of heavy slush. It was a work out. I will have awesome triceps from pushing down on the handle of the wovel. They will hurt like hell. In fact, by about 9 a.m. on Wednesday I’m gonna be in a world of hurt.

For now, I am taking the rest of the day off.

Good Riddence February

February was a month I’d just as soon forget. I spent most of it with my back all messed up. As March begins, my back is almost back to normal.

Somehow, bad back and all, I managed to ride 353.5 miles. I rode to work only six times. Five of these commutes, totaling 150 miles, were on The Mule. The other 6.5 came on Little Nellie on a commute to and from the car dealer. I rode an estimated 63 miles during 4 rides on Big Nellie on the trainer in the basement. The remaining mileage was from seven rides on The Mule.

So far this year, I’ve ridden to work only 16 times. My total mileage for the year is 809.5. I’m way off last year’s pace but that will all change assuming my back heals properly.

My yoga plan has hit a snag. I can’t for the life of me do one of the poses in the book. (I’m pretty sure the woman pictured in the book is not human.) So I skipped yesterday. Today I did the same set of poses I did last Wednesday.

March is here. It’s almost 40 degrees outside. That’s more than 10 degrees below normal but way better than yesterday’s freeze-a-thon. So I’m jumping on Little Nellie and going to the bank.

Frozen Delusions

I didn’t check the thermometer but at 7 a.m. it was 10 degrees at the airport. I think it is safe to assume that I was dealing with single digits when I left home. To add to the festivities I had a nice little headwind.

You’d think I’d complain about freezing my noo-noos off. You’d think I’d bitch and moan. I won’t do either. It was actually a pretty nice ride in. Granted, I’d much prefer not wearing so much clothing but I was pretty comfortable.

I took a couple of short cuts to avoid ice in Old Town, but otherwise it was a normal ride to Friday Coffee Club. Even my back seemed to be holding up. Until I dismounted at the end, that is. Oil me, Scarecrow. I reached down to take a drink of water and both my bottles were solid ice.

Inside Swings House of Joe, the joint was jumping. I didn’t really expect many people but there were ten or so. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. So take that winter!

Brian rolled in. He seemed to be bundled up but he looked like he’d ridden by way of Nome. Then Dave showed up. Ditto. Finally, just before I left Kirstin appeared. Except I didn’t recognize her at first for all the stuff she had on. She looked like a whole bunch of clothing with a smile near the top. As I left I gave her a hug and it was like holding a human-sized Popsicle. Lordy!

I was expecting my back to be all sore when I got to work but it felt almost normal.

I was out in the sub-freezing temperatures for about 90 minutes. My finger tips were cold at the start of the ride. I alternated putting my hands in my pockets for a few miles and the discomfort went away. My toes started to get cold for the last mile or two before Swings. The rest of me was toasty.

It was 30 degrees when I left the office. On the way home it dropped down to 26. Again I was pleasantly surprised that I was comfortable the entire way.

Now that I have mastered winter bike commuting for another year, we can begin springtime.

Riding in the cold makes me delusional.

The Snowman and the Mule

My back bothered me all day yesterday.Nevertheless, I decided to give bike commuting a try this morning. Dressing wasn’t a whole lot of fun but I got out the door bundled up for the 22 degree start. Once I got on the Mule I was fine.

I was a little concerned about ice on the Mount Vernon Trail so I walked the first icy patch on the Dyke Marsh bridge. I could have ridden it as it turns out. Just before re-mounting I spotted a little snow man perched on one of the posts on the boardwalk.

Whenever I have to deal with extreme cold or rain or wind, I approach the ride with a sense of dread. Far more often than not the ride ends up being just as much fun as on a nice day. Today was no different. Once I was back underway, I fell into my usual morning bike commute trance.

I modified my route to avoid some icy spots. It wasn’t until I reached the 14th Street Bridge 12 miles from home that I encountered one that looked troublesome. I rode it without trouble, but just seeing the ice made me tense up. Just south of the Memorial Bridge I came upon about 50 yards of serious ice. I tried riding past it on the grass but my wheels sunk in. Dismounting was pretty painful.

There was quite a bit of ice on the TR Bridge boardwalk. I rode the entire thing trying not to tense up as I did.

I used a head pad on my back during the day. This seemed to loosen things up.

After work I went to the new Heavy Seas Ale House to have a drink with fellow bike blogger Tinlizzie. The beer was good and the conversation even better. She pointed out Bike Arlington’s Tim Kelley and I introduced myself. Later, I met Suzie, who works with TInLizzie. Suzie wants to start bike commuting from Alexandria to Rosslyn. Allow me to be of service!

We talked a lot about what bike she should buy. What route to take. What things to avoid (aggressive gearing). What she would need (lock, method of carrying stuff). I neglected to mention the Circle of Death. (Everything in its proper place.)

After two pints of beer on an empty stomach, I began the long journey home. As soon as I left the garage I was hit by a powerful wind. Dang. And I was in the middle of a traffic jam. Dang again. And the wind was swirling. Dang dang dang.

Once I cleared the high rises and made it to the Mount Vernon Trail the wind straightened out and gave me a nice, steady tailwind. Most of the ice from the morning was gone. I was a little wobbly for the first 7 or 8 miles but I steadied for the second half of the commute. And my back felt fine the entire way home. Go figure

My only regret about riding home was that I had my back to a meteor in the night sky.

15 Miles In

!5 miles in.

If I’m lucky I average 12 miles per hour. Each ride in takes 75 minutes.

There is no music. There is no news. There is no “Traffic and weather together on the eights.”

Just my bike and me and a ribbon of pavement from home to the office.

LIke this:

I breath. I shiver. I sweat. My legs spin. Pedal, pedal.

I turn. I huff and puff up a hill. I turn again. And again. And again.

I look for deer in the woods along the road.

I hear a dog bark.

I stop. I wait for traffic at a cross street.

The coast is clear. I go.

Repeat.

I swoosh down a steep hill. My face is cold. Tears well in my eyes. I am flying blind. Neil Young was wrong. Flying on the ground is right.

I cruise through an S curve, first right then left.

I survive the Parkway crossing. Cars rush by. Hurry, hurry. Can’t wait to get stuck in the Old Town traffic bottleneck.

On to the Mount Vernon Trail. The Dyke Marsh boardwalk. Sun rising over the PG County hills to my right. Red wing blackbirds making a racket. Mama and Papa goose waddle next to the culvert under the Parkway. Soon there will be babies. Fuzzy green goslings.

The serpentine trail guides me. Cars rushing to my left. Trees stilling to my right.

The Hoppy Guy runs with his improbable gait.

Past the Belle Haven bald eagle nest. No one home. Geese on the river. Ugly National Harbor scars the far river bank. Ugly Porto Vecchio scars the near one.

Down into Jones Point Park beneath the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Masses of concrete swooping somehow overhead. Making concrete attractive isn’t easy.

Around Fords Landing and down Union Street in Old Town. I ride past the coffee zombies at Starbucks. Beans! Beans!

Back on the trail past the construction site at the old Sheet Metal Association building. No longer covered in ugly army green metal. A brick façade is going on today. A forklift next to the trail raises a stack of dry wall panels high. Please don’t drop them on me.

Around the powerless power plant. Another boardwalk. And another. A mallard waddles across the trail and splashes into the beaver pond where the trail used to be. The umpire in my mind calls, “Safe!”

Snow is falling. Big puffy flakes attack my glasses. One, then another goes into my eye. Cold tears.

Even light snow muffles the sounds of the airport and the cars rushing by. Pedal, pedal.

The forecast has scared away most of the bike commuters. I am alone but not lonely. Along the river now. The city to my right is obscured by a fog of a billion swirling flakes.

Black ice ahead. Tense up. I ride across without touching the brakes or turning the wheel. No problem, thank god. Falling would suck.

Across one more boardwalk this one covered in the white dust.

Up the hill to Rosslyn. Like football, it builds character. Not really. They just tell you that so you won’t complain.

Down the sidewalk dodging the smartphone walkers. Tweet. Bing!

Into the garage. Around the cars waiting to be parked. Wave at the attendant.

15 miles in.

Driving Little Nellie

Yesterday, while doing day two of yoga, I felt my back pop. It felt like one of my vertebrae went back into place. It felt pretty good. After my back surgery and eight weeks of misery many years ago, I was lying on the floor and each one of my vertebrae clicked into place. It had never happened before and hasn’t happened since. It was a totally surreal and relaxing moment. So having just one pop was a nice reminder.

Today was yoga day number three. My flexibility is still pretty sad. During one exercise my neck started making crunchy noises as I turned my head. A little oil, please Dorothy.

Instead of riding to work, I put Little Nellie, my Bike Friday, in the trunk of our 2004 Accord and drove it to a dealer in North Arlington for some TLC. I was a bit worried about lifting the bike and getting it in and out of the trunk but my back tolerated it just fine. The second test was riding the 3+ miles to my office on the Custis Trail. Bike Friday’s are tough on the back. My back didn’t mind at all. In fact, it felt pretty darn good.

My back did stiffen slightly during the afternoon but loosened up when I walked around a bit. The ride back to the dealer featured a nasty headwind and the big hill out of Rosslyn on the Custis but my back was okay.

When I got home, I pulled Little Nellie out of the trunk of the car. The chain got all discombobulated from folding the bike. I wrestled with the bike to free the chain from where it had gotten hung up between the chainrings and a folding joint. This all should have hurt my back but I didn’t even get a twinge.

My back finally went on protest after dinner. Sitting in the hard chairs in the kitchen seem to really aggravate my lower spine. A little walking around loosened things up again.

I seem to be getting better at last. The question is the yoga helping or would I have gotten better anyway.

Tomorrow is yet another test: a full 29+ mile commute in the cold.

No guts, no glory.

Re-cycle Ride

The weather was too nice to do something prudent like rest my back. I needed an excuse to go somewhere that was easy. I had three dead batteries from my old Nite Rider lights so I decided to take them to a place in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood that recycles them.

Before leaving home I did yoga session number two. All the same stuff as yesterday with three additional exercises added. Yesterday’s back bends looked not unlike the Washington Monument. Not exactly limber. Today was better. The three new exercises included one that I do every morning. The other two made me feel like the Tin Man. It’s going to take a few days to get things working right. Even so, my back felt pretty wonderful and I felt like I was 2 inches taller. Funny how standing straight up can do that for you.

The idea was to do a flat ride which means the Mount Vernon Trail to and from home. I figured the trail would be a zoo on a nice weekend day so I headed up Fort Hunt Road. On a whim I decided to ride over to Telegraph Road and cross into Alexandria there. This added two or three short hills to the ride. Until I got to Del Ray and found out the store doesn’t exist anymore.

Plan B was to ride to the Bradlee Shopping Center in the western part of Alexandria. I rode up King Street, up being the operative word here. Traffic was light but King Street is not much fun to bike on. The area around the shopping center is traffic hell and no place to be on a bike.

As you have probably already figured out I survived.

My back behaved the entire way until I dismounted. Ouch.

I rode back through Park Fairfax, a development of apartments and town homes built over 50 years ago. I love this neighborhood but every single inch of curb space was taken up by cars. People had fewer cars back then.

I had more strength in my legs and back today but after 20 miles I was sucking wind. Fighting your body is exhausting. I took the Mount Vernon Trail home to avoid any unnecessary hills.

My dismount at home was most unpleasant. I was no longer standing straight but after a few minutes of rest and a hot shower I came back to vertical.

Tomorrow I’ll only ride about 6 or 7 miles. I have to take one of our cars to the dealer which is only 3 1/2 miles from the office. Little Nellie will get the call. We’ll see if her normally back-unfriendly ride does any damage to my back.

You might think that all these posts about my bad back was getting me down. Pshaw, I say. This evening my friend Charmaine and I made arrangements to go to North Carolina for 3 days of riding near the coast during the first weekend of April.

Spring, bring it ON!!!!

Time to Stop Messing Around

I am really, really, really getting sick of this back thing. It is definitely better than a week ago but I still can’t stand up straight after sitting in a chair.

This morning I broke out the big gun.

I’ve done this program in the past with Mrs. Rootchopper. It’s not easy. The first day is just a short warm up with three exercises. Each one of the first day’s exercises involves a back bend. Dang, am I stiff. Even with my limited range of motion, I could feel my back loosening up. About an hour later. I was standing tall and straight and my back felt fine.

Sadly, this lasted only about 20 minutes.

I spent the rest of the morning dealing with some small tasks around the house, killing time as the temperature outside rose. When it broke 60, I hit the road.

I didn’t have anywhere to go so I rode around the Fort Hunt neighborhood near my home. I took the Mount Vernon Trail down to Mount Vernon then rode the streets of Woodlawn. During the ride I came upon this cool house with two giant windmills on the roof. A few years ago, a man in a Tesla waved me down while I was riding Big Nellie, my long wheel base recumbent. He was an engineer who was interested in energy saving machines, designs and devices. When we parted, he told me he was building a house near Mount Vernon that would produce more energy than it consumed. Perhaps the windmill house was his.

I rode to the west side of US 1. A new road is under construction that will connect US 1 to Telegraph Road. This will be a welcome addition to the street network. I hope it has bicycle lanes on it.

The ride home was very flat and boring. Just what my back needed. I managed to ride a little over 30 miles. It felt like 50 thanks to my gimpy back. The dismount at home was not a pretty sight.

Tomorrow is day 2 of the yoga program and the last warm day of February. I’m riding whether my back likes it or not.