Great C&O Canal Walk and Critter Sightings!

Had a wonderful walk along the C&O Canal Sunday with my girlfriend. Beautiful wintry day, and several delightful surprises!

(Note: click on an image to enlarge it.)

The first bit of excitement was a small hawk zooming across the towpath directly in front of us and perching in a tree overlooking the river. As regular readers have probably figured out by now, I'm a bit of a nut on raptors, so this was very cool. Based on the size and markings, from the quick glimpse of him flying, I guessed it to be a Sharp Shinned Hawk. Another walked speculated it might have been a Kestrel Falcon, but I didn't think so. Based on the photos I took of it perched, and looking at bird books and websites, I think we were both wrong. The hawk had a long tail, common to both Kestrels and Sharpies, but the rounded tip shown in this photo isn't typical of the Sharpie, and the lack of any russet tones rules out the Kestrel.

So what was it? At the moment, I'm leaning toward either a small/young Cooper's Hawk (which does have a rounded tail), or a Merlin, a slightly bigger relative of the Kestrel, without the russet coloration. The Cooper's is far more common, but this bird was rather small for a Cooper's. Anyone else want to chime in? This photo was taken with a 12x zoom, and then cropped heavily to feature the bird. The original and a couple of other shots are at:

C&O Canal, Jan 30, 2011

The next fun thing was the canal being frozen hard enough for my girlfriend to try out her "new" skates! These were bought for all of $7 at a local thrift store, and look virtually brand new. I don't have any skates, so I basically just slid around on my boots, and watched and cheered as she and her dog zoomed around the ice. Such fun!

We were out in the afternoon, from around 3:30 to 6:30, and the light was just amazing. And we saw a beautiful sunset too boot. On the return walk, we had three other wonderful surprises... First from far off we got to watch a red fox trotting about the ice in the area known as Widewater. He appeared and disappeared several times, seeming to hide among the small rocky islands in the basin there. Suddenly, he made a decision and set out across the ice, ultimately climbing the bank and vanishing into the woods on "our" side of the canal.

A little while after that, we startled a great blue heron, which took off with a mighty flapping of wings, circling around to finally sail off over the river ahead of us. It was nearly dark by then, so we were at least as surprised as the heron was. Really amazing to see it rise from the dark waters and fly into the darkening sky.

Finally, as we were nearing our starting point, and the sun had been down quite a while, we both stopped, transfixed... at first I thought I was hearing things... or mistaking something for a sound I haven't heard in a very long time. But no, we both stopped and listened, and there was no mistaking the sound of a large pack of coyotes, on the far (Virginia) bank of the Potomac, singing their eerie song! The last time I'd heard that sound was when I lived in Flagstaff, AZ, about a decade ago, and it was surprising, exciting, and a little chilling to hear it here. There's just something so wild and strange about their call... I remember being alone in a tent, far back in the Coconino National Forest, and hearing that sound. It's really like nothing else you've heard.

Check this link for some audio clips and info on coyotes:

http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=720

And:

http://www.kwic.com/~pagodavista/coyote.wav

for a direct link to a recording of coyotes.

All in all, a wonderful, beautiful walk, and a delightful day. Made all the better by a hot meal and a quiet evening talking about it afterwards.

More photos:

C&O Canal, Jan 30, 2011

Snow!

Well, after a few "dustings" this winter, yesterday we actually got a real snowfall. I don't know the official numbers but unofficially I think we got about 8 inches here in Vienna, VA.

I'd driven to work in the morning, figuring I'd leave my truck at work and walk home if the snow really came. Walking home last night, I was amazed at how bad the roads were. The main route east out of town was at a total standstill, with cars getting stuck, some being abandoned by their owners.

One nice thing that came out of it all... I got to see a number of instances where folks pitched in to help a stuck person out. It's good to see people helping one another out on the road, since so often it seems more combative on DC area streets and highways.

It's very pretty here today, and since it's not warming up too much too soon, it's probably going to stay that way a while.

More Photos

Winter is for Project Bikes!

Well, I as have written in the bikes@vienna blog, now is the perfect time of year to tackle a project bike. And that's just what I'm doing!

Follow along as my girlfriend and I put together her next bike. Our starting point is this:



A Velo Orange Mixte frameset. She and I both have a fondness for this style of frame, and the Velo Orange version is really lovely. Fully lugged steel construction, classic styling, and a pretty blue paint job. I presented the frame and fork, still in the original shipping box, fully gift wrapped, at Christmas. I was certain she'd figure out what it was... in fact, I asked one of my staff, after I wrapped it "If you were to get something like this from someone you knew was a bike person, would you guess it was a bike?" and he laughed and said of course!

Well, imagine my surprise when my girlfriend had no clue, even as she peeled the gift wrap off and saw the box and Velo Orange label. I guess it was just not on her radar, because after the fact she said she thought MAYBE it was a set of fenders or something, but never dreamed it was a frame. Anyway, a great surprise, and she's very excited to start the process of picking parts and accessories and building it up with me.

As an amusing sidebar, we just discovered this blog post from another DC-area bike blog, in which the writer documents the unpacking of the very same frame in a very humorous "for me?" format. Of course, since it appears she bought it for herself, there's not the element of true surprise, but it's fun reading. And a really interesting blog all around.

So what's the plan? Well, it's still taking form, but at the moment, we're aiming for a bike to use for shopping, commuting, riding around town, and maybe a little touring. And it's got to be stylish to boot! We've been poking around online looking at other people's bikes, as well as various parts and accessory suppliers' websites, and bouncing around ideas. So far it's looking like we're going with a Shimano Nexus 8 speed internally geared hub, and probably some flavor of Shimano dynamo hub on the front.

Watch this space for future developments!

Big Changes Here

Hey gang! I've written a little bit about some changes in my life here, but I haven't sat down to write about the biggest change. Until now.

Regular readers know that I've been working as head mechanic at bikes@vienna for a little over five years now. Well, that's all changing now. No, I'm not leaving the shop! Rather, John Brunow, founder, owner, boss and friend, has moved back to Iowa, where his parents live and where both he and his wife Ces grew up. In fact, they'll be living in the very town where Ces grew up, in a house built by her grandfather, with the very same phone number she had growing up.

So what's that mean for me? It means that I am taking over ownership and operation of a bicycle shop, something I've idly thought about on and off for years, what with my love of cycling. I don't know that I ever really expected it to happen, and certainly not in this manner, but it's a wonderful opportunity and I'm excited and honored that John put it in my hands. I have a lot to learn, but I've been lucky to work with good people, both here and at the Community Cycling Center (Hi Beth!) in Portland. And I was lucky to have found some small business counseling services that offer free or nearly free classes, counseling and support here in Northern Virginia. I'm also fortunate to have good people working for me, which makes a world of difference.

For those that don't know, bikes@vienna is an unusual shop. I like to tell folks that "we sell what other shops don't", and that's pretty accurate. You won't find a road bike in the shop, unless it's a customer's bike in for repair, or one of mine. Nor will you see mountain bikes, though you might see a few bikes that vaguely resemble mountain bikes. We don't even sell the ubiquitous "hybrid" style of bike that's the bread and butter of most shops.

What do we carry? Primarily a mix of folding bikes and recumbent bikes and trikes, with a few other oddballs mixed in, such as the Rans "crank forward" bikes, a sort of semi-recumbent. Those of you who are regular readers can probably guess which way I lean, since I've rhapsodized so much over my Brompton and folding bikes in general. I do love the folding bikes, and am quite the Brommie enthusiast, but I think the recumbents are very cool too. If you've never tried one, get to a shop that has a variety and spend an hour or two or three riding. Compared to conventional bikes, the range and differences in design are really striking. I'll write more on that in the future, but for now, suffice to say our selection is quite varied.

So as I move forward on this new (to me) venture, watch this space for the musings and thoughts and joys and challenges of a small business owner, as well as the regular stuff you're used to reading. And if you're in the DC area sometime, please stop on by. You'll find a quiet, low-key shop that has a unique blend of products, services, and staff.

A Trip Down Memory Lane...

... with books! Books that those of you of a certain age (can you say Boomer?) might very well recognize.

A while back I stumbled on a book in a library sale, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, in an abridged Random House Landmark edition, and it brought back fond memories of hours spent in the library as a kid. And I've spent a LOT of hours in the library, then and now. My mom worked in our local library as I was growing up, and I had the rare treat of being able to go into work with her and have the library to myself for a good half hour. Sheer joy for a kid who loved books!

The Landmark (and World Landmark) series of books were published by Random House in the 50s and 60s, written to a young audience (ages 9 - 15), centering on American and world history. I remembered reading a number of them when I was in elementary school, and I credit them with contributing greatly to my love of both history and reading, which I've carried through to this day.

So what did I do? I poked around online, learning more about the series, including the fact that it's apparently popular today with the home schooling folks. And I found other people who had fond memories of them, such as "The Boomer Child's Bookcase". And I corresponded with my brother and mother, both of whom remembered the series well. In fact, my brother (the first kid in the family) remembers having a subscription to the books as a kid... making me jealous in retrospect! So I decided to pick up a few of the books I remembered best, courtesy of Alibris.com, and it's been a lot of fun so far reacquainting myself with them.

One of the surprising things is how many of the images from the books I remember, both photos and artwork. The covers were particularly evocative, such as the one for The Flying Tigers, by John Toland. Which brings me to another remarkable aspect of these books... they were written by well known authors and historians, including Toland, William Shirer, Quentin Reynolds, Sterling North, Richard Tregaskis and others. And while they were clearly written to a younger audience, they don't read as if the authors are "talking down" to the reader. No wonder my brother and I grew up to be "book nuts" and history buffs. In fact, my brother even has a Master's degree in history, though he makes his living as a musician and music teacher.

So, how many of you out there remember this series of books? What era of history did you find most interesting? Due in large part to my dad's service in the Army Air Force in WWII, that era has been my focus, then and now, but I find any aspect of history fascinating. How about you? There's Gettysburg, by Mackinlay Kantor, and Paul Revere and the Minute Men, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher... or The Story of Atomic Energy by Laura Fermi and Exploring the Himalaya by William O. Douglas (associate justice of the Supreme Court and credited with preserving my beloved C&O Canal as a National Park). Please share any thoughts and memories you might have about these wonderful books.

Recent Events

Hey gang!

Time to catch folks up on what's been going on in my life of late. It's been far too long since I've posted, and a lot has happened.

First, as I had said in the last post, I've moved. I didn't know I was moving until shortly before I had to, but it's all worked out in the end. I'm now settling in to my new place... it's a roomy basement apartment in a single family home, with my own kitchen, living room, dining area, bedroom and bath. It's a little farther from work than my last place, but that's ok, I was kinda thinking I wanted a little bit longer ride to work, so I got that.

My little cat Tybalt is also settling in, feeling more at home every day. For those of you who have never owned a cat, trust me, change is NOT their favorite thing in the world. From the time I first started boxing things up, through the process of moving out, staying in a temporary place for a week, and moving in here, he's been a bit freaked out. In my old place he spent most of his time hiding in the rafters.... once I moved here, he burrowed under my blankets whenever I wasn't here, as near as I can tell. But for the last week or so, he's been out and about in the apartment when I've come home, so that's a good sign.

In the middle of all of that, there was the Vienna Halloween Parade, and as always, bikes@vienna made a splash. This year, John's goal was to get as many trike owners as possible to come and hook up their trikes into one giant train, aiming for 25 trikes in all. And I was hoping to assemble a "Brompton Brigade" of Brompton owners, riding and folding their bikes along the route.

Well, neither of us really met our goals, but we still had a lot of fun and made a memorable sight. We ended up with two trike trains of about a half dozen Sun EZ "delta" style trikes, which made quite a sensation looping and circling down the street. On the Brompton side... well, there were only two of us, myself and Christy, who was decked out in a great witches outfit and had lighted plastic pumpkins hanging from her handlebars. In the end, we ended up with me hopping off and folding my bike, walking a short way, and unfolding and remounting, while Christy circled around me, now and then doing appropriate "Vanna gestures" to call attention to what I was doing. Even the announcer at the reviewing stand was impressed, commenting on both the trike trains and my "transformer bike", as he called it.

So far, I haven't been able to find any photos of us in the parade, much to my disappointment. I know folks were snapping photos, but I just haven't been able to track any down online. I'll post links if I find any, or if anyone out there knows of some, please let me know!

New Digs and Apologies

Hey gang!

I just wanted to let my loyal readers know that I have not fallen off the earth... I've just been in the midst of moving for a while now. I found out rather unexpectedly in late September that I was going to have to move, and the intervening time has been rather busy and unsettled. But I'm in my new place now, slowly unpacking, and getting back into something like my normal life. So please watch this space for future news! I promise to write more soon.