Gravel and Grind; Friday DC coffee club

Wed 11.18.2015 2m
Thur 11.19.2015 4m
Fri 11.20.2015 3m

Thursday I drove down to Frederick MD with RC to look around at a bikeshop/ coffeeshop mashup that we've heard great things about: Gravel and Grind.


This is a coffee shop and a bike shop. There's some students sitting at a table socializing and working their social media, a few people at a counter surfing the WiFi, a touring cycling looking at options in Rivendell bags and a bikecamper checking out new gear - all in the same place.


This is what every bike shop should look like:


This is what every coffee shop should look like:


This is RC and I drinking really excellent pour-over coffees and sharing a Middle-Eastern pastry called Ma'amoul.



Frederick, which is a town I've driven through fifty times but never stopped in, has an awesome historic downtown, a vibrant walkable business district, and a canal-way that reminds me of RiverWalk in San Antonio. I could go back there and spend a few days.


Friday we drove into DC. We wanted to join the C&O at Fletcher's Cove but the rush hour inbound turns the access rode into one-way going the wrong way, and we couldn't get there. We ended up parking in downtown.

Our goal was to join the Friday morning Bike Commuter Coffee klatch, having run Friday mornings from 0730 to 0900 for over four years. This was really cool; a running gathering of bike commuters, some stopping for just a few minutes and others enjoying a longer visit. The size of the group varied from a dozen to probably 25 cyclists. Excellent coffee by Swing's Coffee, open-air seating with a roof overhead, plenty of open space for bikes and kibitzing.



Most folks seem to know each other, but they were very welcoming to newcomers. Got to meet MaryG and Ed-F, @MrTinDC, and the blogger behind Tales From the Sharrows, which is DC's 37th most popular commuter bicyclist blog.



Rode around town, and down the length of the Mall. Got to see the Korean War Memorial which I have not seen before. Really tremendous, with glossy marble in the ground representing water in rice paddies.




This one soldier's statue seems to vary from the others and to me, invokes a classic Roman warrior aesthetic.