[Kbikeva]

Serdar, I just saw this today after I did my inaugural FS ride. I’ll start it tomorrow.

However, I have to say that in El Paso, I’m not sure who the immigrants are! There are people who come and go across the border daily, with loads of family on both sides who have been in this area for generations. In the 1920’s there were a number of Lebanese immigrants to the area so there are some prominent families with Arabic-sounding names, but again, now they’ve been here generations. I recently visited a lovely bakery specializing in Mexican pastries. Most of the signs were in Spanish and people were coming in and out carrying big cooking pots. It turns out people were stopping by to pick up their Sunday morning “Menudo” — a dish that uses tripe and is supposed to be an excellent hangover cure. In Northern Virginia, that business would probably be classified as “immigrant”, but here it is just one more piece of local culture!

At any rate, thank you for offering this opportunity to use my eyes to see the influence of immigrants around me!

[Kbikeva]

Looking forward to your posts about LFL’s you encounter. I’m still out of town so I’ll be doing a round up of submissions on each Sunday. So if you don’t see any response right away, don’t think I’m ignoring you!

I heard a podcast the other day in which one of the listener mails discussed a tradition I wish I had done with my kids — but I’m going to do it with grandkids when that comes along. On Dec 1 the parents presented the kids with 25 wrapped books. They alternated who got to open one each day. In the evening, they read the book as a family. It served as an advent calendar for them. I love this!

It also occurs to me that it would be fun to do this as a “gift” to a local library — present them with 25 books from their wish list, wrapped, and let the librarians have the fun of the daily unwrapping! I don’t have to wait for grandkids, right?

Kelley

[Kbikeva]

@consularrider 209928 wrote:

One park, two different attributes: Tuckahoe Park on N Sycamore at US 29 in East Falls Church.

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Old sign, new sign? One definitely looks more friendly. Something about that yellow…

[Kbikeva]

@chuxtr 210209 wrote:

And that would be kbikeva on Team Lucky 7, who rode 539.2 miles on 24 coffee rides. Congrats Kelley! I’m still working on your prize package, but I know for sure it will include bike swag from my pals at Marque Cycling:

– Almost celeste padded bar tape
– A couple of side entry water bottle cages

But I still need to figure out what the coffee part is going to be.

And I’m going to award a runner-up prize to LeftyLaura on Team Onety-One, who rode 461.4 miles on 22 coffee rides. You’ll also get a couple of side entry water bottle cages from Marque. Plus a TBD coffee-related something.

kbikeva and LeftyLaura – Please contact me via email the_penas at yahoo dot com so we can arrange a mutually convenient day/time for me to give you your prize packages. Would be even better if we could do it as a coffee meet up. I live in Arlington, if that helps.

CONGRATS!

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Thank you so much! This was a challenge we could do with great pleasure. Since we ride together, we will be happy to come meet you in Arlington and have a coffee to celebrate. We didn’t get down there much for coffee rides so there is much territory to explore. Thank you again.

[Kbikeva]

@LeftyLaura 210145 wrote:

3/19/21 – Freezing Saddles 5 letter word (or longer) subanagram

While KBikeVA & I are submitting the same photo today, I am choosing not to take the easy way out and just copy her words, though I have been known to copy thought out word of others, but I’ll go it alone. This is my second year of the Saddles and I never really embraced the pointless prizes until this year. Having a riding partner has been a tremendous help, most of the time. As we are unique individuals it has been two photos, two parks, two arts while sharing the coffee stop. I couldn’t have done two coffee stops a day for many reasons. The photo shows the “Garden” and the “Island”.

We have become such good biking buddies that I’m patching out to NJ for a rest & a pizza. It was fun to meet folks on the Reston Art rides and online, such an interesting crew.

Thank you to dreverl & JoM for tallying this. (There must be an app for it). Enjoy the FSLNHHP and remember clockwise is the only way it works.

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I think I’ve been insulted…good thing you’re in NJ for the weekend. Just wait until you see the route I plan for Tuesday…

[Kbikeva]

@bikedavid 210148 wrote:

For my last entry, I went to visit the I’m Speaking Mural at the Southwest waterfront in honor of International Women’s Day. It is a crochet composed of 150 people across the country each stitching a square!

I wondered how it was going to hold up to the elements, but after all that rain, it still looks great!

[Kbikeva]

3/19/21 – Freezing Saddles 5 letter word (or longer) subanagram

LeftyLaura and I are submitting the same photo today because throughout Freezing Saddles we have ridden together to find two different examples of whatever the quest item was. This time, the same sign shows “GARDEN” and “ISLAND”, which both qualify, but both of us and our bikes are still friends after the 77 days of fun.

Thank you again drevil and JoM for taking this on. It’s been so revealing to me in many ways, not the least of which is how much I need to work on my photography skills!

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[Kbikeva]

My last publicartfinder for this game, but certainly not my last for hunting down art in the wild!

I’ve seen this piece as I’ve ridden my last .25 mile each time I’m heading home, but it’s in a private yard and up a nicely maintained path, so I was a little leery about whether I should/could get close enough for a photo. Since today was the last opportunity to get a point for bravery, and because the woods are filling in with green so it will soon not be visible from the path, I went for it! I have no idea about the artist or name of the piece, just that it’s in Reston off the Turquoise Trail.

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[Kbikeva]

@Indiana 210098 wrote:

3/18/21 – Blue US Postal Service Collection Box
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It was difficult to make this one interesting but your backdrop certainly does!

[Kbikeva]

In case you never want publicartfinder to end, check this out! https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/event/art-in-bloom-hunt/

Also, Tracie Griffiths Tso, one of the artists, is an acquaintance of mine. Better yet, her husband is a bike commuter and advocate!

[Kbikeva]

It’s called Nokomis and it’s located in Reston. I guess I could technically do a ride tomorrow to hit all the remaining pieces in Reston, starting and stopping my Strava 20 times, just so I can “win”. But I believe that the spirit of FS is to encourage riders to get out and ride daily, so I’m going to remain a daily rider and choose one more to post tomorrow. It’s been great fun, Boomer, and thank you for doing it!

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Info about the piece: https://publicartreston.org/project/untitled-3/

[Kbikeva]

3/18/21 – Blue US Postal Service Collection Box (or if not in the U.S., the equivalent) with your bike leaning against it

I thought it fitting that near end of Freezing Saddles, which challenges us to ride every day through every kind of weather, when sometimes doing so meant that only we and the postal workers were out, drevil chose this object to find. And predictably, as I started my ride today, it began to rain again. I had carefully scanned the radar but … at least it was warmer rain than the last time. There is a box oh so close to my house, but I wanted a bit more mileage so rode past about half a dozen of them before getting to the local post office for this photo.

Perhaps the unofficial motto of the postal workers should be the unofficial motto of the Freezing Saddles every-day-riders: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these riders from the determined completion of their appointed rounds.

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[Kbikeva]

@Boomer2U 210041 wrote:

3/17/21 – Leprechaun

I was fearful that I wasn’t going to find a rainbow, leprechaun nor 4-leaf clover, and then all of a sudden, while stopped at a red light, there appeared a leprechaun on his way to the St Patty’s Party at the Beach [emoji905] Shack in the Little City of Falls Church!

Sent from Boomer_Cycles via my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now THAT is a hat for a true believer!

[Kbikeva]

@AlanA 210042 wrote:

If I take a picture of my dog bite I got on my ride today (It’s sort of turning greenish on four sides), will that count?

Ouch — you know, in the last 3 days I’ve had numerous dogs lunge at my wheels when I’m on the road and they’re on the sidewalk with a human. Fortunately, they’ve all been leashed and grabbed back in time — but I have to wonder what the heck is going on? It’s the first time I’ve seen this type of behavior in years! Maybe spring fever? Or COVID weariness?

[Kbikeva]

@CaseyKane50 210001 wrote:

3/17/21 – Rainbow, Leprechaun, or Four Leaf Clover

Good fortune smiled on me, as I found a leprechaun, next to a shamrock (aka clover) on Thayer Avenue in Alexandria. The owner of the home told me his next display will include the Easter bunny.

Do you get an extra point for it also saying “Casey”?

[Author]

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