I just got back from an overnight trip to Alexandria, Virginia to pick up a new bike. It’s a huge cargo bike that Jenny found online, like eight feet long and maybe 85 pounds, with a cargo box up front (the brand is Bakfiet, for those following along). Anne arranged to borrow Sarah’s pickup, and I drove down yesterday with John R to get it.
It was not quite a buddy movie, no adventures or anything — we just drove down, dealt with Baltimore and DC traffic (nothing major), and met the owner at a parking lot near Mount Vernon. Owner Vince seemed to be a pretty nice guy, and told me about how he used to use the bike to transport his daughters around, before they got too big and started riding their own bikes. I assured him it was going to a good home, and would soon be transporting another little girl…
A little bit of wresting (we also removed the bucket for transport) and we had the bike secured in the truck bed. We drove over to our hotel and checked in, and then took an Uber to a local brewpub called the Aslin Beer Company for dinner.
Neither of us had ever heard of them, but apparently Aslin is a local powerhouse, with multiple brewpubs in the area and even one as far away as Pittsburgh. The place we went to was packed — it was Trivia Night — but we found the last two seats at the bar, and had a great meal washed down with some really good west coast IPA’s. (My meal was a pepperoni and hot honey pizza, which I was prepared to have my doubts about but it was amazing.) We had a good time, but we were tired and didn’t really last long, we just did what we had to and left.
Back at the hotel, I discovered that my room was just close enough to the lobby that I could hear the horde of teenagers (some group on a bus tour) coming and going from the elevator to the pool. That died down by about 11:00, thankfully, and probably when the pool closed, and I slept fine from there out.
Today was an easy return: I met John (along with a horde of hungry teenagers) in the breakfast area, and after breakfast we had an uneventful drive home. We arrived just after 1:00, just about 25 hours, with a round trip total of maybe 450 miles.
And now we have this beauty!
