You can never have too many accessories.

The weather was beautiful last week for biking around the city. Not too hot, not too humid. Loved it!

This week in bicycle news: BicycleSPACE, an "urban concept store" (I have no idea what that means, either), is now open in Mt. Vernon Square; these bike thieves were caught on video (link courtesy of Prince of Petworth); bike racks as an art concept downtown.

Speaking of bike theft, what do you guys do to prevent your (t)rusty steeds from being snatched? What kind of locks do you use? What would you do if you found your ride stolen? Would you support a city-wide registration system if it meant it increased the chances of you getting your stolen/lost bike back?

I attended Columbia Heights Day/DC State Fair yesterday and had a fairly good time. The only thing I could complain about was the overabundance of campaigners, to the point they obscured the rest of the booths. If I hadn't known it was a community festival, I would have thought I'd wandered into some sort of 9th level of hell where every single candidate was gathered to personally slap their stickers over every inch of me, and I was slowly tortured by thousands and thousands of paper-cuts from pamphlet-wielding "supporters".

Stil, I got to support the DC Rollergirls by buying a nifty t-shirt, bought a "I survived Snowmageddon" t-shirt at another booth, sampled Pleasant Pops (mmm, peaches n' ginger!), and tried Sweetflow frozen yogurt for the first time. Overall, a pleasant way to pass the day. Still, I wish there had been a dunking booth...

My accessories for Betty arrived yesterday (just in time to show them off at the state fair!). I was disappointed that the vendor sent the wrong color though. The liner and cup holder are supposed to be a PINK zebra print. Oh well. And I need to take my Betty over to the local shop to see if they can install my rear "skull" LED light. The fender might need to be drilled. And I think the stereo speakers I bought are a bust. It has a nasty tendency to smoke and stink if the input is jiggled in the slightest (not a good thing on a bicycle). I hope it's just bad wiring, and something I can fix when I have time (for those that are curious, it is the Nirve MP3 Stereo Speaker/Bag). I'll do a full review of the items I ordered after I've had time to play with test them out fully.

One more week until I'm outta here to relax in the OBX! I think I can make it...

A photo-dump, for your pleasure:

Betty's new accessories. The liner was supposed to be a PINK zebra print. See the airplane and cup holder?

Magic Hat. I wonder if they got paid for this advertising? I know car owners do it. Why not bicycles?

Columbia Heights Day.

I have no idea what is going on with this sign. Did they purposely put it under the parking sign? How did the parking sign get mangled?

This where a row of bike racks used to be. Did they get removed because of the new installation at the Columbia Heights metro?

Scoot rack or bike rack?

Fossil!

I like this mural.

Neat concept! The sign under it states that the air compressor is broken and the owner would appreciate donations to help fix it. I wrote down the email address but I think I lost it...

Abandoned bicycle, tagged by DDOT before they take it away.

What kind of plant is this?

I really like the "treebox" garden here. You can't see everything in this picture, but it looks like a tiny fairy wonderland.

This is the house with the treebox gardens. The gardens go all they way up to the front door.

Remember to ride safe, and be kind to each other.