Now is the winter of our discontent. And man was i discontent this weekend. What was suppose to be a nice weekend turned out to be a really crappy one. The only riding I got was on Saturday going from Point A to B and then B to C. From B to C, I got DRENCHED. So, no photos of bicycles this past weekend. It actually snowed on Sunday. SNOWED.

So here's what I got for you: my own hipster ride, complete in all her glory... for now.

As I talked about in my previous accessories post, I've consciously accessorized my ride with vintagesque items. My front light is in that style. I went with a somewhat modern rear tail light because 1. I couldn't find a vintage-style rear light and 2. I would like not to get run over at night. The Brooks saddle is timeless of course. I have the vintage aluminium corked bottles and cage. I actually don't ride with the bottles often, I like to use the cages for wine. The double-sided kickstand seems to work well so far. And then the pièce de résistance is my wooden crate.

I've stained it and put a logo on the sides. Eukenbrau is my good friend Jamie's home brew label. He doesn't have a serious operation by any means but he has a cool last name that works well as a beer label and his beers are damn tasty. His father made up this logo for a X-mas t-shirt present. What better way to be more hipster around the District than to sport a beer crate for a beer label that NO ONE HAS HEARD OF? Hell yeah... on Friday morning, some guy noticed the logo while I was waiting at a light near U Street NW and asked where he can get Eukenbrau. The light turned green and I said "YOU CAN'T" as I sped off.

The crate is built to Soviet tank specifications so it can take serious abuse. I've also made it so there are vertical side inserts inside so you can separate bottles. There's two inserts... with only one in, you can get a row of three 16-20 oz bottles and then put two growlers in the larger compartment. The crate is bolted to my rear rack and there are additional drain holes. My father, who wanted me to be an engineer like all Asian fathers, would be so proud of the design.

But it's sort of opened Pandora's box. Now that I have access to a woodshop, my mind is thinking "WHAT ELSE CAN I CREATE???" I've had no less than three friends post this photo (or similar) on my Facebook:

Now part of me is seriously thinking about it. Sure would look bad ass at this year's D&Q Seersucker ride!

We're so damn close to spring, I can feel it! What I actually felt was the cold drizzle coming down this morning on the bike ride home. At least it wasn't snow. Only one photo for today, I had to give more love to Public Bikes as I saw this green V7 last night in the Golden Triangle just south of Dupont. DC is pretty much a Linus town so anytime I see a Public (based in SF), I have to represent. On the way to my destination to the Golden Triangle (which is the cross of M St., Conn Ave. and 18th St. NW), a girl was going the other way on a Public M8i. I yelled out "Nice bike!" and she gave me the creeper stranger danger glare. :(

Anyways, this is just like my ride except it's all stock from Public. Matching rear rack, stock saddle and even bell from Public. I really hated the stock saddle, it was too mushy for my fat butt so it made my ass sore on longer rides. Public sells them for $5 so that should tell you something about them. You can spot a Public by their signature three color bands on the chain stray frame and front fork. Some older models, like the orange M8i I spotted the other day, will have it on the front lip of the front fender.

 So. Done. With. This. Winter. Got my ride in yesterday but goddamn, was it windy out. I can handle the temps, it's the wind that makes it unbearable. I had to ride out to a couple hardware stores for some hipster projects I'm making so had to go to Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom. It has been pointed out to me that I should not give such specific locations for bicycles I see around town, on the very slight off chance some enterprising bike thief (of which this town has many) might actually read this blog (unlikely, my traffic is miniscule) and use the info for his/her own ill-gotten gains. So I will stick to just neighborhoods from now on.

I was excited about this ride as aside from Rania's and my bicycles, I never see anyone with a Public Bike. This is in Capitol Hill and it's in the signature Dutch orange that Public Bikes are kind of known for. This is the M8i model and the owner went all out with the orange... orange frame, rack and even bell. Interesting facets is the head badge is on the lower support bar for some reason and they added clamp-on bottle cage. That's one of the complaints about Public Bikes is that there are no braze points to add on a screw-on bottle cage.

This was a really interesting find... located in Foggy Bottom, it's a German Excelsior Fahrrad Nostaglie Luxus. It's about as Dutch as you can without being Dutch.It has skirt guards, a rear O-lock, full chain guard, dynamo bottle-powered rear and front lights. However, it seems to have a drum brake on the rear wheel but caliper brakes on the front wheel. Totally weird but totally cool.

Different location in Foggy Bottom, this is another Critical Cycle ride that is a clone of the Public Bikes. Pretty vanilla, I like that the owner has a matching green plastic milk crate on the rear rack. Looks and color coordination are very important to District Dutch. This is the second CC bicycle I've seen and the second CC bicycle I've seen without the front vintage light. Must be a design flaw that they go missing like that.

A Breezer Downtown EX, same location in Foggy Bottom. A few things to note on this bicycle: First, notice the saddle... it's a comfort saddle without a horn... dainty! Next, that's a pretty heavy duty Abus chain lock on there. I really need to get an Abus for my ride. And last, I love the Human Rights Campaign sticker on the seat post frame tube. Holla! The teal plastic crate has gots to go though.

And it's not a District Dutch post unless there's a Linus bike involved. Same Foggy Bottom location, this is a Linus Roadster 8... at least it's not a Dutchi. Only interesting point is I have no idea what that circular wheel is on the U-lock. Any takers?

Let's talk accessories. I forced myself to take an evening ride last night around the monuments and I took this photo of my bicycle in the dark as a teaser. There are several aspects that compose a Dutch-style city bike. Here's a good list from the subreddit citybike:

• Upright riding position
• Chain case or chain guard
• Skirt guard
• Mudguards (fenders)
• O-lock (rear wheel lock)
• Internally-geared hub
• Dynamo (hub or bottle/sidewall)
• Permanent lights
• Bell
• Drum brakes / coaster brake
• Rear rack (luggage carrier)
• Center kickstand

A true Dutch bike will have all these things. For US purposes, having a good number of these is as good as it's going to get. To me, the bare minimum is an upright riding position, fenders, full or partial chain guard, rear rack and a classic look. I threw in that last one because it's my list, my blog.

I also feel at the very least, have some sort of front and rear light if you plan on riding at night at all. It absolutely amazes me how many people I see on the streets of the District with NO lights after dark. WTF mate? I am not a big supporter of having to buy bicycling accessories in the way of specialized clothing. At most, I have a cuff collar that is bright yellow with a reflective strip that cost me all of $2. So if you're not going to invest in reflective clothing like me, better have some damn lights then.

Whether it's dynamo-driven or powered by batteries, get some lights on your ride. You can get some LED flashlights with mount off of eBay for all of freaking $5. There is no excuse to not have lights on when you ride in the dark. Go buy a $2 LED flash light from THE Home Depot and electrical tape that bad boy to your handlebars. I have actually done that in a pinch. For my bicycle, I have a Fenderbot PDW tail light on the rear fender. I had a Linus headlamp as a front light but the exposure to all the salt this winter weakened the mount so it fell off at some point during a ride in the snow. So it's been replaced with a China-made vintage light that looks exactly the same but was 1/3rd the price. I went cheap because eventually I would like to go with a dynamo bottle system to keep it vintage legit.

Rear rack, as a city rider, is also paramount. Why ride a bike to get around the city if you can't carry stuff to do errands? So I have a gray rear rack from Public Bikes... I didn't get black because I did want to have some color contrast. With the rack, you should get some kind of basket, pannier bag or saddle bags so you can carry cargo. Me? Because I'm a hipster dork, I actually built a wine/beer crate for my bike. I used to use an actual wine crate but since it wasn't built for constant use/shock, the nails kept coming out. So I spent one weekend reverse engineering that crate, because I did like the size and capacity of it, with my buddy Tom (who really did all the hard work) and we Soviet engineered that thing into something that can take ALL THE ABUSE. It's pretty awesome. So I still need to stain it, spray paint a logo on the side and add some vintage handles. So what you see here is the unfinished product.

I also replaced the stock single arm kickstand the Public bike comes with because it's garbage. Any kind of wind will and has blown my ride over. So I replaced it with a Civia double-leg kickstand. I decided not to get a folding double-leg stand because... I'm a hipster and thought the U-shape stand would look cooler.

I also have these vintage water bottle cages (and aluminum bottles with corks) on my front handlebar that a friend bought me as a gift, totally unsolicited. It just showed up out of the blue and my friend said "Well, it looked pretty hipster and I know you're a hipster so I bought it for you." Swoon. The bottle cages double nicely for holding thin wine bottles upright or wider wine bottles upside down. Legit!

Last, I have a brass bell... it is super loud. I feel guilty using it behind old people because it scares the crap out of them. You should see younger people barrel roll out of the way when I lay on this thing.

I'd like to get some skirt/coat guards on the rear fender as I do ride around with my long overcoat on, like I did last night. Apparently, getting aftermarket metal ones is pretty tough in the US... man, just being a cyclist in the States is tough.

What do you have on your bicycle?

I forgot one photo from the weekend, this was also parked outside the Carnegie Institute on Friday night. It's a Fuji Sports 10 from the 1970s. The basket looks dainty but was pretty sturdy. Much like the Bridgestone I showed a while back, this too has a red rear wheel reflectors, which is pretty common for bicycles made in Japan. The girl totally busted me taking a photo of her ride and gave me a creeper stranger danger look. :( I just love city bikes, is that so wrong?

Once again, Washington, DC flirts with spring... only to have hopes of its full return dashed by incoming cold weather and possibly snow. This past weekend had glorious weather on Saturday and OK weather on Sunday. That means myself and a lot of residents of the District were out enjoying their bicycles.

Friday night outside the Carnegie Institute. I rode there after work to attend the "Sustainable DC" film and Q&A Panel for the 2014 Environmental Film Festival being held in town. I saw this electric blue Ross Eurotour bicycle from probably the 1980s and just had to park my ride next to it. Love the chrome fenders which match up well with the bike rack and basket. Classic look and built like a tank. And oh yeah, this is my girlfriend's bike. Cruising around town with her is the definition of bike love!

A lot of attendees of the panel rode their bikes there. This is also outside the Carnegie Institute, a nice cream-colored Linus Mixte 3 bicycle. Linus Bikes must love the DC market.

I didn't catch the model of this single-speed bicycle but I liked the gold color scheme of the frame and grips. Interesting that it doesn't have a chain guard. I don't like the modern Terry saddle and seat bag. On 18th St in Adams Morgan on a Friday night.

Saturday and great biking weather! A standard Schwinn Admiral parked in Mt. Pleasant. The black and chrome is pretty classic and I like the white thread trim on the pleather grips. However, that chain has not seen a drop of oil probably in the lifetime of this bike. I'd be surprised if that chain doesn't snap sometime this summer.

Not something you see every day in DC, a Virtue One single-speed bicycle. Virtue is based in California but the bikes are manufactured in South Korea. It's a sharp inexpensive looking ride that is similar to the Pashley Guvnor and Linus Gaston, I'm really not a fan of the leatherette/pleather seat/grips. Apparently the owner did not go full hipster, as they added an aftermarket kickstand to it. Also parked in Mt. Pleasant.

YALDB (Yet Another Linus Dutchi Bike) on Barracks Row in Capitol Hill. This one only stood out because it was a really large frame. Like really large. Also an interesting way to use both a U-lock and wire cable to lock up your bike.

There are so many interesting facets about this Raleigh Sprite 27 parked also on Barracks Row. I love love LOVE the big honkin' front light on the handle bars. The owner has also been riding this bike for a long time elsewhere as well because those are bicycle registration stickers on the seat post. The District has been talking somewhat about instituting bicycle registration as well. If those fees were to go to much more bicycling-specific infrastructure, I would pay it. I also really like the collapsible basket pannier. The owner obviously also really love their bike, as they're using a proper two lock system on it. Although I would put the U-lock around the rear wheel through the rear frame triangle and use the cable lock on the front wheel.

Sunday night outside the new Trader Joe's on 14th St NW. Again, yet another Linus Dutchi bicycle, but I loved the wooden flower box/crate on the back of the bike rack. Someone is ready to do some serious grocery shopping! Hipster mode over 9000. I have to admit, I had a wooden crate on the back of my ride this evening as well because I had to haul some stuff up to Columbia Heights. Which made it convenient for me to stop at TJs for some Two Buck Chuck. While the crates look super hipster cool, they add a lot of weight to the back of your bicycle so you have to be a bit careful with the extra weight.

Awesomesauce weather out, thus time to ride! Lotta people out and about this Thursday evening after what seems like The Long Winter. A lotta bikes too!

Nice vibrant blue Sears Roebuck Free Spirit... these seem to be popular around town. I love the DIY Ikea basket on the rear rack and if you look closely on the support bar, the owner has a name plate on it. Hello Brittany! However, the vintage combination cable lock from the 1980s has got to go or else this bike will. Parked on New Jersey and Independence SW next to the Hill.

I creepered up to this fine gentleman on East Capitol and 3rd and told him he had a nice bike. It's a Bobbin Daytripper in a nice subtle brown colour (see what I did there?) and the owner was game enough to let me take his photo. The guy on the CaBi, not so much. I liked his taupe pannier bag as well. I really need to get some kind of pannier bag for daily use. Now that I think about it, this guy was quite color-coordinated in 50 shades of brown. Man, I'm on a roll here.

I took this photo because I really couldn't avert my eyes from the colors. I think it's a Schwinn Point Beach cruiser bike. It nominally fits a city bicycle description: Upright riding, check. Partial or full chain guard, check. Rack of some sort, check. Two wheels, check. That very tilted position of the seat seems really uncomfortable. And these old school bike racks really suck because you can only lock up the front wheel. In theory, this bike should already be stolen. But they're only like $150 from Walmart so... whatevs. The owner did care enough for this bike to personalize it with lots of stickers. Parked by the parking garage in Adams Morgan.

I rode my bicycle to a birthday celebration last night, hoping to dodge rain showers during a break. I was not so lucky and got caught in a torrential downpour. I don't kit up for weather save for my normal rain coat and a USMC-style duck hunter cap so I got drenched. I did see a couple of city bikes on the streets but there was no way in hell I was stopping to snap pics. I'm not that dedicated to this blog.

So I got nothing for you today in way of District Dutch bicycles. That said, I noticed this morning that Public Bikes has a sale on the B67 Brooks saddle for $96 USD. That is a really good price and you rarely see Brooks saddles on sale anywhere. I bought my B17 saddle locally at The Daily Rider because, y'know, I like to support my LBS but if you're pinching pennies and always wanted a Brooks Saddle, click it.

I love my Brooks saddle. Absolutely love it. Love it in the way you birthed a baby for 40 hours in labor, the kid turned out to be a shitty kid for the first 30 years of his/her life and made your life miserable, but then became a mature responsible adult and showed appreciation to their parent by buying you a surprise world cruise for your retirement. No joke, it is going to be a pain in the ass, literally, riding on a leather saddle at first. But once it is contoured specifically to your own ass, it is BUTTER. The sales guy at TDR said it takes a regular rider 3 months to break in their ass saddle. THREE MONTHS. And that is with lathering Proofide ever so lovingly on your saddle every week.

I'm not humble bragging or anything but if you ride every day, it will only take you like 3 weeks to break it in because that's how long it took my fat ass to do it. And I have a lot of fat on my backside so if you have a bony ass, it will probably take you 2 weeks of riding every day.

The leather saddle is one of those touches that I think make a Dutch-style bike look the part. So get one for your ride.

This winter in DC really sucks this year. Ton of snow days and really crappy weather in general. This was not the genteel south I was promised when I moved out here! While I managed to HTFU and ride about 97% of the days this winter, it really drains you. This last storm kinda broke my back... I don't want to touch my bicycle until it's really nice out. Which hopefully will be this weekend.

That said and whining aside, I still have to use my bike as my main transportation source in the District. I'm too cheap and too Asian to shell out for cabs/UberX these days and some of my friends live in areas that aren't that readily accessible by pubtranpso. I'm looking at you, goddamn X2 bus. So when it's a choice of sucking it up and riding in 10 minutes of freezing ass weather or taking somewhat warmer methods of public transportation but wasting 35 minutes to get there, I'll choose the bike every time. Ain't nobody got time for Metro!

Washington, DC has a lot of cool neighborhoods. They're all cool, really. And you get to see the District through different eyes when you ride through it. I pledged to this cool circle map that this letterpress guy in Portland (natch) kickstartered of four different cities he wanted to tour and make maps of. I think it does a really good job showcasing all the different neighborhoods that this city has to offer. And it makes it easy for a Simple Jack like me to see where I've been. Roadies talk about doing century bike rides (100 km)... this summer I'd like to do a circle bike ride - hit every circle on this map in a day. Except maybe Fort Totten. Fuck that hill.

This past weekend I visited the Military Through the Ages living history event at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg, VA. There were military reenactors representing units from all over time, from Roman centurions to the Vietnam War. There was one World War 2 German unit there that had these vintage bicycles. I don't know if their claims are true, but they told me they had gone to the Czech Republic looking for old German halftrack vehicles... the deal fell through but they ended up buying these period bicycles instead.

I couldn't tell if these single-speed bicycles were from the 1930s/'40s nor was I trying to call them out. All three bikes were certainly really cool. I loved the spring saddles on them and all the accoutrements like the tool boxes, saddle bags and gear added to the look. All three had bottle dynamos on the front wheel to power the vintage front lights. The frames looked super solid and were spray-painted black... each rider was at least 250 lbs with body mass and gear and they all still glided along when riding around the site.

Yes, I am a dork... I go to military reenactments and check out the bicycles. Welcome to District Dutch.

A nice, clean Linus Dutchi 3. You see a lot of Linus bikes in the District as several stores carry that brand. Only thing of note is this is probably the worst way to lock your bike. Someone with a simple hex driver can undo the rack supports and seat post and boom, your ride is gone. Parked outside the Argonaut on H St.

This ride was beat to hell but I think it's a Trident AMF. I liked the double basket pannier and cylindrical bell. Ding fries are done! Along Mass Ave by Gallery Place.

From Bike Ride 1 of tonight: A Huffy Timberline 3-speed from the 1970s. Love them muted '70s color schemes... so much beige. Outside Sweetgreen in Conn Ave. in Dupont.

I thought this was the same Linus bike I had seen outside BicycleSPACE a couple weeks back. It is not... different color grips, little tool saddlebag and no leather cross strap. It's still a really sharp looking bike. Not technically a city bike because of the lower handlebars and no fenders or chain guard, I really like the vintage look. So I'm hipster, sue me. This is a Linus Gaston 3 and it was outside the SW waterfront Safeway.

This one was a real treat. This gentleman was riding with his two daughters on the west front of the Capitol Hill building. This is a 1960 AMF Westpoint that he bought in West Virginia. He had owned one as a kid and just had to have it. He plans on fixing the internal front light and switch, replacing the old school bulbs with LED ones.

Another Sears Roebuck Free Spirit bicycle. Great condition and I liked the triangle front reflector. On Conn Ave. in Dupont.

My girl on the second awesome Saturday of the year. I've named her Sloane. At the Jefferson Memorial.

Really lovely white Peugeot mixte frame bike. Love the B17 Brooks saddle on it (both rides actually) and the heart stickers on the frame. Definitely a couple as both bikes have matching saddles and bike lights. Bike love!

A Made in Japan Bridgestone bicycle, which it proudly states on the stem. Probably from the early 1980s. Interesting points are the rear axle kickstand and red rear wheel reflector. By the convention center in Mt. Vernon Square.

Snow day! While I didn't go into work, damned if I was going to be home-bound all day. Went out and rode in the snow, which was actually a lot of fun but tiring. Took a pit stop at Port City Java in Eastern Market and took a photo of my ride parked in the falling snow. I wasn't the only one, a couple came by and the girl posed with my bike while her man took photos. Share the bike love!

Don't know the make or model of this bike but that is a Public rear rack on it. Thought that was interesting as most people don't really know about Public Bikes. Parked outside B Too on 14th St. NW.

A public bike rack and pump in NoMa at 3rd St. and M St. NE.

A Gary Fisher Simple City bicycle... used to be a very respected brand until Trek bought them for the name and started pushing out Made in China bikes under the Gary Fisher name. I liked that this bike was a color other than black, which my ride is guilty of. First bike in DC that I've seen with a coffee cup holder. Outside the Dept. of Transportation in Navy Yard.

Very sharp Linus Gaston 3 bicycle outside BicycleSPACE in Mt. Vernon. Interesting that it had no fenders and I like the little shifter on the frame. I really liked the pannier bag, also from Linus. Last, it has a leather carrying cross strap to lift the bike from the bottom of the frame with a straight arm carry, instead of by the top cross bar with a bent arm carry.

A Windsor Oxford which is a low cost made in China (states it right under the stem emblem) city bicycle. I did like the blue color of the frame. I don't like how the stem is parallel to the ground. City bikes are generally suppose to have the handlebars above the seat for an upright riding position. This was by Big Bear in Bloomingdale.

Another affordable city bike, this one is a Bobbin from the UK at Eastern Market. Love the yellow color, there are three things about this bike:

1. Using an Abus folding lock... I totally want one.

2. The little mud flaps on the fenders.

3. It's an internal hub geared bike, so there's no derailleur. I should have gotten one of those.

Another domestic Dutch-style bicycle... Trek Cocoa. Again, I like the skirt guard but don't like it doesn't have lights. Also surprised the front wheel isn't gone as it's a quick release. Parked across the street from the Hill intern dorm housing in NoMa.

Sears Roebuck Free Spirit bicycle, probably from the early '70s. Stem mounted shifters and a kooky speedometer. Kinda rough shape but vintage cool nevertheless. Located by Barracks Row. 

Real bicycle porn. Everything I've posted up to now have been relatively inexpensive Dutch-like domestic bikes, Public bikes included. This is a Jorg & Olif, a Canadian outfit that imports real Dutch bikes and adds some features. They run about $1200+, putting them right up there with Pashley UK bicycles. Love the double sided kickstand and wheel locking system. Both this and the Electra were parked outside The Bike Rack off of 14th St. Surprising as that shop seems very focused on road cycling.

An Electra Royal Amsterdam... I like the full chain guard and skirt protector. But what I really like is the vintage Land Rover parked next to it.

Nice simple fixie outside Harris Teeter in NoMa. My ride is in the back, I've added a Brooks B17 saddle at this point and some vintage lights. I've since lost the front light unit during a snow ride.

The District has some variety of bike posts. This one has been one of the more unique... tooth-shaped! Located at 4th St and G St. SW, it has a QRF code on it which I haven't gotten off my butt to read. I bet it's an advertisement for a dentist.

A pretty Linus bike with sweep back handlebars. Gorgeous Brooks B17 leather saddle, something I plan on adding to my ride. Along the 15th St bike track downtown.