Alex likes espresso, especially before a big trip to DC.

Thomas at the Washington Monument.Henry looking up at the top.

We had another nice trip to DC. Some Greek food in Georgetown, parked near the White House, walked down to the Mall, visited the National Aquarium, the new Museum of American History, played frisbee on the Mall, raced to the Washington Monument, walked back to the car, drove to ThaiTanic on 14th for a great Thai dinner, then headed home. We didn't even leave Frederick til 1pm so it was a short trip, but the kids were tired.

Memorial Day:

Memorial Day picnic at a friend's farm near Thurmont, MD.

Henry launching balsa wood flier, he caught three fish in the pond (by himself).

Dinos in the grass.

After fishing, eating, frisbee, we found the gravel pile - what fun!

Douthat & Elizabeth Furnace

Nice weekend of riding. photo: dkeg

Henry IV

Birthday boy in the heat of the party.

The crowd building around the cake.

Lollipop cake with azul buttercream icing.
Helping hands abound.

Many friends and family came to help celebrate Henry's birthday this past Saturday. Seems like we accomplished quite a bit this past weekend: trail hike on Friday, Saturday morning appointments in my office, YMCA Healthy Kids Day event, making popcorn balls, rice crispy treats, icing, etc., party, sleepover, early Sunday morning mtb ride in the Shed, mother's day bike ride to the library, sushi dinner, movie, and finally - rest.

Capitol Hill

Norshed

F2

Stone Harvesting

The MORE workday in the Frederick Watershed was well attended. We made a big dent in the Blue re-route and I got to play with some big stone.

Press Time

My business sponsored a booth at the Frederick WasteNOT Expo earlier this month. Henry made the front page of the Gazette and Thomas, Michele, and Alex got a photo in the Frederick News Post. Curiously, the photos were taken at different times, by different photographers, but both were with the weaver.

This fun event was well attended by many friends and neighbors.

Boys

Tussey Memorial Ride

This past Sunday in the Shed, a bunch of clowns and I (head clown pictured here in purple) gathered to honor the passing of my beautiful labrabor retriever,Tussey Rally Russ.We were met with cold temps and 1" of snow at the Sand Flats lot. There were ten of us in attendance and we proceeded to hit Blue, Cutoff, Iceberg, F2, ????, Pit Trail, Supersweet, Trail of Tears, Salamander, and some fire road back to the lot.

We rode, had some Ten-Fidy at Tussey's gravesite, rode a bunch more, had some brews in parking lot afterwards, ate at Brewers Alley (smoked porter),and went to the Mark home to top it all off with some Voodoo stouts, espresso, and family - a very nice day.

There are pics and video available on Flickr - if you know the right people.

Tussey

Tussey passed away yesterday and is at rest up in the Shed - where she loved to work and play.

Lincoln 2 Lincoln - MetroDC Run

I had a day of continuing education training in Bowie yesterday and wanted to hit DC on the way home so I called Go Kart Mozart to see if he was available.

"Got a bike?" he asked. "No, but I have my running shoes" I replied. A couple of emails later and it was set - a Metro DC run from his home on Capitol Hill.

His home is the beige colored one. Like all Go Kart rides this one had a minor blip. He left his keys at work, so we were locked out of his house. After going through the garage and trying unsuccessfully to break in, he remembered that the neighbor may have keys - she did, and we were in.

A quick change and we were in full running regalia - me slightly overdressed for the close to 60 degree temps. Tony's plan was to do hill repeats at Capitol hill. I said I wanted to go by the White House to meet Obama and, after some prodding, we settled on a full-fledged tour of the Mall. We crossed the Mall near the Smithsonian Institution and ran into Ricky, JoJo, and some friends about to embark on an urban night ride. Ricky had a fixed gear bike he just built up and we all took a turn. I remarked that it looked like a clown bike and apparently this was solidified once I had my turn.

Funny how timing works out. The diversion with Ricky, et al slowed us down enough that as we were climbing the hill up to the Washington Monument we saw the President's helicopter drift by and come to an awkward landing on the White House lawn. We had the best view in the city and one minute later or a couple earlier we would have misssed the whole thing. What a feeling that must be as you sweep in past the monuments in the middle of the city and park it in the lawn (oh yeah, in secured airspace with combat heli escorts).

We made it to the Lincoln Memorial (which was hopping with people). Urban running is a blast, we tried some mild parcour moves, jumping steps, sprinting for green lights, etc. I was hurting a little on the final climb back up Capitol Hill and then Tony took me on a diversion to see Eastern Market, his rental property, and a great espresso bar. We stretched out in Lincoln Park (his neighborhood park) and headed back to his house.

His wife was wrapping up dinner and they kindly invited me to stay. After a nice meal, one Bell's Expedition stout, watching Lexi run the indoor obstacle course, and a stop at said espresso bar - I mainlined it back to Frederick. Easy peasy. (click on map for details)

Lincoln Park to Lincoln Memorial - 8.08 Miles. Definitely a keeper. This route ranks up there with the Philadelphia Art Museum/Kelly Drive "Rocky Run", Hill repeats in San Fransisco, South Beach/Ocean Drive (in the winter), Trail running in Marin County, CA, and that time I amost died running in Palm Springs, CA.

The Great Beer Run

Prologue: My friend Mike recently told me about a good source of micro-brews located in Altoona, PA - the Brew Zoo. Last month he put an order together of assorted ales and stouts which I took part in. There were many beers to choose from, but one that no-one opted for was the Voodoo Black Magick, an imperial stout aged for 6 months in bourbon casks:It went for $130 a case and, with all the others to choose from, this one was left stranded. Something told me if I threw it out to my MD/DC/PA/VA pals, we could split this thing up and everyone would be able to try it. I sent an email and exactly 24 minutes later it was sold out - with many folks left out in the cold. Matt at the Brew Zoo emailed me to say he had another case and in another 15 minutes, that one was sold too.

This post is about my trip out to pick them up. Knowing that there was really no good time to drive 7 hours to pick up some beer I left work Thursday at 4pm. Arriving in Altoona at 6:20, I met Matt and took this photo of their microbrew aisle.
After throwing three cases of fine stout into my backseat, I hit the road for Salix where Mike lives. There was quite a bit more snow in Cambria County and I arrived at Mike's a little before 7pm. So far, the timeline was perfect. Mike and Brenda had prepared some really tasty italian meatball, spinach, portobella pizza on whole wheat crust and we dusted off a bottle of McClaren Vale Shiraz to wash it down. Around 8:30 we headed down to the Windber Hotel, a recently renovated pub with a great draft beer selection and cool atmospherics. Mike and I have a couple draft pints of Victory Storm King stout and some good conversation with owner (who used to work in Huntingdon). The place is really comfortable. Sort of like Boxer's, but with a much larger bar. The owners built the bar out of recycled bowling lanes and restored the tin ceiling panels by hand. In addition to the draft beer selection they have a nice cooler of bottles to choose from.

Left the Windber around 10pm and made it home safe and sound a little after midnight. Here is my haul from the orginal buy that Mike put together. And here is a bottle of the Voodoo Black Magick at 15.5%ABV it's a sipper (and can be aged for years if you have the patience. Call or email me if you were in on the Voodoo order.

Mike told me that there are two more watering holes of renown in the Johnstown area, one downtown with great food and taps flowing with the likes of Ten-Fidy, Green Flash, Delerium, etc.; and the other a pub that specializes in Belgian ales on draft (6+ taps of Belgians).

With three quality mt biking options nearby and three pubs of interest, I am sensing a late spring weekend trip - anyone?

Playmobil Battle 2

Ice, Ice, Baby

Damn ice! Kept us from our mission today and we narrowly escaped intact:
Tussey proving that "all-paw drive" trumps all-wheel drive on sheets of ice. A little digging and shoveling gravel and we were on our way again.
We made the best of our abbreviated work day with some taste testing - here two quality IPAs. And here, two imperial stouts. Hopefully, next week will prove more productive.

18 Riders, 4 Hours, 11 Miles - Priceless

Nice ride in the Shed today. (photo credit: Jason Stoner)

17 Friends from MD, PA, DC cruised in for a sun-splattered winter ride on Iceberg, Grebeci, and Sally Mander. We were not disappointed.
Grabbed some quality food and refreshment afterwards at Brewer's Alley in Frederick. See you next time.

Happy New Year from Frederick!