The Bike Blind

   
I'm going to be honest with you. Competitive cycling is not my favorite sport. It's ok but it's got a lot of subtleties that are just kind of....confusing. Time bonuses? 23 days straight? A team where only one member wins? Who can keep it straight?
Baseball. Now that's a game. 9 innings, 3.5 hours, final. 0.4 seconds to decide whether or not to swing. Hit and run, suicide squeeze, and cutoff.  Curveball, screwball, and spitball. Brush offs and walkoffs. Now those are sports terms. While the rest of my co-miners here at the salt mine may not share my enthusiasm for such "Ball and stick" sports one thing we all can agree on is the simple pleasure of a nice bike ride.
One local baseball gem, the Madison Mallards have married America's greatest pastime with the simple bicycle ride by accomodating those who decide to Go By Bike to their games this summer. The Trek Bicycle Store "Bike Blind" (a play on the word "Duck Blind" which ironically is something you sit in while you are attempting to kill ducks) is an area next to the entrance that features a free secure bike valet and the stadium's best parking. On Saturdays friendly Trek Store staff will be on hand for bike washing and simple maintenance while you enjoy the game.
The Bike Blind is the brainchild of the Mallards front office who noticed that their standard bike racks were often full and some of their fans were forced to find more creative methods of bike parking. Having a guarded, secure area is nice but the best part is definitely the country club coat room-style service you get. If you plan on heading out to the game, forget about worrying about parking. Take the bike.

And So It Begins

Sorry for the hiatus cats and kittens but it's the most wonderful time of the year here at the salt mine. The time of year you stuff 9 bikes into single occupancy hotel rooms. The time of year when you're up at 4:30 to catch morning light, scout locations, meet with models, wardrobe, shoot until sunset, download photos, eat, catch up on email, pass out, wake up at 4:30. It's catalog season! My lifestyle book has taken on a different look over the past couple of years as we try our best to feature different geographic locations around this beautiful nation of ours. Two years ago it was the Pacific Coast, last year the American Southeast. We always try and pick locations that meet the following criteria: Pleasing landscape/architecture, bicycle-friendly, and not in a dry county. When the team met this year we looked around the table discussing potential locations and settled on the most important location of the past 365. Washington DC. I hadn't been to the city since I was on an 8th grade field trip and I have to say, it was great to go back. The District did not disapoint and I thought I'd share a few of the little "bits of tid" I picked up from the time we spent rolling around the city:

1. When you are conducting a photoshoot outside of the White House, do not use the word "shooting" use "photography". There are men on the roof of that home that will look at you with binoculars and make you uncomfortable.

2. "Rolling Thunder" is not a weather forecast. It is 10,000 motorcycles and it will slow your bicycle photoshoot down.

3. Every building is important. Even the ugly ones.

4. It's not a good idea to stand outside the US Treasury building at lunch time and ask the people coming outside if they could please make it a "working lunch".

5. When parking, read all of the signs. There are usually a lot of them.

6. On second thought, don't drive. Ride a bike. It's much easier and you can park super close to the monuments.

7. 4:45 am is the absolute best time to visit the Lincoln memorial. I was only ready to do it once but an unfortunate "formatting" mishap forced me to do it twice. My future kids are screwed if we ever take a family trip to DC.

8. 8th graders are just as annoying now as they were when I was in 8th grade.

9. Washington DC is possibly the only city that actually gets busier during Memorial Day weekend.

10. When a hotel says "Garden View" they really mean "Basement Hole".

This year's catalog drops mid-August and can be found at your local Trek dealer. If you'd like to submit an idea for next year's location, light up the comments section below!