[Kbikeva]

3/7/2022 Family Owned Restaurant

In El Paso, it’s WAY too easy to go for the “Mexican Family Restaurant” so I decided to be a little less obvious.

This German pub is family owned by Germans who became Americans after their military service. Ft. Bliss (the Army Base here) used to have a HUGE detachment of German military training with the US on the Patriot Missile System as part of the NATO defense pact. The community was so large that it supported German churches, schools, bakeries and restaurants. With base re-alignment and the waning of the cold war, most of the German military mission was relocated. But those who had established their post-military life here stayed.

Lucky for those of us who love authentic German food and beer!

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[Kbikeva]

I saw so many great murals today, but marked most of them to go back to on my next 10 miler …

This was at Old Sheepdog Brewery. It’s by a local artist, Tino Ortega (@ortegtino). He specializes in these murals that look like party balloons. I can’t imagine them being well received in DMV but down here, they make sense. He also does other work, much of it jaw dropping.

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[Kbikeva]

@Serdar 217742 wrote:

3/5/2022 – Bike shop
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Handy Bikes is a veteran-owned business in Alexandria. This is my go-to shop where Pete and his team provide an excellent client-oriented service. The store partners with Port City Brewing, and their Pedals ‘n’ Pints ride serves as the store ride every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.

I didn’t realize they had a storefront! I always thought they were a mobile shop only. Good to know!

[Kbikeva]

03/06/2022 Brewery

Old Sheepdog is a local El Paso Brewery. I had to fight the wind to get down there today, but the tailwind home was awesome!

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[Kbikeva]

@bikingjenn 217722 wrote:

3/5/22 Local Bike Shop…was worried it might not be there…an institution in Arlington

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It’s alive and well. Owner Larry is one of the mainstays of getting decent commuter bikes between the legs of those who love to pedal to work! Thanks for highlighting the shop!

[Kbikeva]

#publicartfinder #2 for today Interesting gate to the water park.

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[Kbikeva]

#publicartfinder #1 for today

Coffee shop!

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[Kbikeva]

3/5/2022 Bike Shop

Since I ride a Trek while I’m here (and omg do I miss my Surly), I patronize this shop. I like it because they have an automatic sliding door. But they don’t do shop rides, don’t have any bike parking, and don’t do much to encourage a community to build around them. I’m not sure how they stay in business, actually, except there’s not much competition here.

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[Kbikeva]

@SFrank 217687 wrote:

3/5/22
Bike shop
M3 in Vienna

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They just closed. Supposedly an e-bike outfit is negotiating for the space. M3 just couldn’t weather the pandemic + competition with 2 other bike shops in town.

[Kbikeva]

Ugh – did you all see Miss Manners about LFL’s? I wonder if this is happening to some of the perpetually empty ones in our area. People can be such entitled jerks.

Despite this — Have a wonderful last couple of weeks with the game!

Dear Miss Manners: We love having a Little Free Library in our front yard. We enjoy seeing neighbors and passersby look through the books, take one or two, and maybe make a special trip to leave a few that they’re finished with. We’ve received thank-you notes from people who appreciate our little library.

However, a pair of women have started roaming our neighborhood, emptying all the Little Free Libraries into large bags that they carry. It got to the point that our library was being emptied every few days. We saw them this morning, carrying bags stuffed with books, and we confronted them.

They were extremely belligerent. One claims that she takes them to give to her students, meaning she either has several hundred students, or they all read a few dozen books at a time. They also seem to have tastes including beginning-reader books, Stephen King thrillers, romance novels and cookbooks. I’m pretty sure they are all being sold somewhere.

The woman who did most of the talking claims that the word “free” on the library entitles her to take as many books as she wants. I agree that she should take as many books as she wants to read, but she readily admits she is not reading them.

We put a “Closed” sign on our library, but we may try opening it again in the near future with a little sign in the window outlining some rules. But really, I don’t know what to do. It isn’t a police matter, and in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that important, but I can’t stand these two women feeling entitled to take all of the books in the neighborhood.

[Kbikeva]

@karenbikes2@gmail.com 217641 wrote:

3/4/2022 periwinkle

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That’s one of my favorite “hidden treasures” of Reston’s Public Art!

[Kbikeva]

3/4/2022 Periwinkle

I had to stick my arm inside the fence and hope that they didn’t have a dog. If you look closely, you can see my reflection.

And you can see quite a bit of periwinkle in the more subtle shades of the curve.

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[Kbikeva]

@bikingjenn 217536 wrote:

LFL 3/2/22 one half block from the empty one i found on Monday. 3104 S 6th St, Arlington
Why do people think anyone wants their old computer books or textbooks? Commonly seen during this LFL hunt.

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I think people don’t know what to do with them. Libraries don’t want them, used books stores don’t either. If they’re hard cover, they’re not “recycle”. So they rationalize that “someone” might need this. Plus, back in the day when we had to purchase textbooks they were SO expensive there’s probably some mental thing about just throwing it away. All that said, feel free to take them out of the LFL, and deposit them in a trash can nearby if you think they’re really not useful for anyone else.

[Kbikeva]

Publicartfinder#2 for today (yes, in the 2nd 10 miles).

Boomer, I looked at the sculpture and thought, “WWBD?” So I laid down on the ground and got the cat and that amazing sky.

You’re welcome.

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[Kbikeva]

Publicartfinder #1 for today. I think this piece and the others nearby are the result of a former art student who couldn’t part with his/her work and whose partner said, “Get that stuff out of my house/yard.” So now it surrounds the building where the almost-artist works.

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[Author]

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