Saturday, November 6, 2010
Dahon gone...
...but not forgotten. Here's a video featuring my now-missing Dahon bike. If you spot it for sale on E-bay or Craigslist, just give me a holler.
Dahon Gone...
...Gazelle vandalized.
I hustled out of work today to meet up with friends when I was stunned to see one of my bikes had been vandalized and the other stolen from inside a secured garage. My Dahon fold-up was taken, my Gazelle Medeo, which served me so well last Saturday as I covered the Rally for Sanity/Fear for WTOP, was vandalized. Someone stole the front wheel, and did some damage to the front end when they did.
But I wasn't alone. And that didn't make me feel better. It seemed there wasn't a bike on that rack that hadn't been vandalized; seats yanked out of tubes, wheels ripped off frames and dumped, some twisted like potato chips, others just cast up against a wall.
That indicated two things to me: the people who did this had time, and I'm guessing weren't working alone. There had to be a group. A bike rack that had been packed with bikes of all kinds was suddenly looking pretty spare.
Building staffers were notified, police contacted, reports filed.
One small positive: I met more of my neighbors. Nothing brings people together like a shared problem.
More on this later. But now I need sleep: I'm headed to the HeartWalk fundraiser to walk, and to support my colleague Jamie Forzato, who got me on her team "Left Side, Strong Side!" And yes, that's a Remember the Titans reference. We hope to beat Heart Disease...one step at a time.
Before I sleep: register your bike, get a rock solid lock (my Bianchi wasn't touched, I had some serious chains on that one--same with the Gazelle) and keep your eyes peeled for a blue Dahon fold-up bike. If you see it on Craig's list...let me know. Oddly, they took the frame without the seat. (I often take my bike seat with me...foolishly assuming that makes it a less likely theft-magnet.)
I hustled out of work today to meet up with friends when I was stunned to see one of my bikes had been vandalized and the other stolen from inside a secured garage. My Dahon fold-up was taken, my Gazelle Medeo, which served me so well last Saturday as I covered the Rally for Sanity/Fear for WTOP, was vandalized. Someone stole the front wheel, and did some damage to the front end when they did.
But I wasn't alone. And that didn't make me feel better. It seemed there wasn't a bike on that rack that hadn't been vandalized; seats yanked out of tubes, wheels ripped off frames and dumped, some twisted like potato chips, others just cast up against a wall.
That indicated two things to me: the people who did this had time, and I'm guessing weren't working alone. There had to be a group. A bike rack that had been packed with bikes of all kinds was suddenly looking pretty spare.
Building staffers were notified, police contacted, reports filed.
One small positive: I met more of my neighbors. Nothing brings people together like a shared problem.
More on this later. But now I need sleep: I'm headed to the HeartWalk fundraiser to walk, and to support my colleague Jamie Forzato, who got me on her team "Left Side, Strong Side!" And yes, that's a Remember the Titans reference. We hope to beat Heart Disease...one step at a time.
Before I sleep: register your bike, get a rock solid lock (my Bianchi wasn't touched, I had some serious chains on that one--same with the Gazelle) and keep your eyes peeled for a blue Dahon fold-up bike. If you see it on Craig's list...let me know. Oddly, they took the frame without the seat. (I often take my bike seat with me...foolishly assuming that makes it a less likely theft-magnet.)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Answering Your Need for Tweed...
It's that magical time of year, when the fall colors dazzle and the desire to wrap yourself in anything but lycra as you glide through the streets of Washington on your bicycle signal that the Tweed Ride has come 'round again...
As always, you'll be asked to turn out in your tweedy best, and put your best bike manners--along with your fashion sense--on display.
And if you're wondering; yes, some folks really do know how to rock a bike helmet. Really.
The always gracious Eric Channing Brewer is inviting us all to become Dandies and Quaintrelles--even for just a day--and to enjoy the second annual Tweed Ride here in DC. The theme this year: "Betweed You and Me" .
As always, you'll be asked to turn out in your tweedy best, and put your best bike manners--along with your fashion sense--on display.
No, This Is Not More Post-Election Analysis...
...unless by analysis you mean a thought. And it's this: my earliest memories of election days have nothing to do with politics, but everything to do with community.It's not the talk of party politics I remember most. What I do remember are the hellos from neighbors, the gossiping in line, the comments from the grown-ups about how big someone's child had grown since the last time they'd voted.
It wasn't as though there weren't conflicts, of course there were. But on election day, the community came together for one thing: to vote. And even as a little kid, I got the very clear sense that no matter our differences, we were then, as we are now, all in this together.
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