Air... Space... Rattlesnake

Sometimes one just needs a break from bike related stuff.  Ms. Geology and I took that break in the District a few weekends ago.  Used her teacher discount to get a night at 3-4 star (depending on who you ask) hotel, and a Living Social coupon to get an expensive dinner at a fantastic eastern Mediterranian restruant.  Best hommos, lamb, bread, food, I have ever had.  Got to try some pretty damn good Turkish red wine.  It's totally different from anything coming out of western Europe (i.e. Italy, France, and Spain) and complemented the dinner perfectly.  It seemed silly, actually, that the place had Italian and French wines on their menu at all actually, since their selection of Turkish, Lebanese, and Greek wines would have probably complelented the food better.

We were planning on spending the Saturday and Sunday down there, but I got pulled into work last minute on Saturday, so we went down for the night.  Sunday we went to the Air and Space museum and ended up spending all day there instead of trying to go anywhere else.



Live feed of the NASA control center for STS 133

 The moral of the story is I like airplanes.  And spaceships.  I hadn't been to DC (and the Air and Space Museum) since fifth grade, so there were a lot of changes.  My favorite was the now completed UAV exhibit.

Darkstar... what would you do if that snuck up on you... This is one of the formerly top secret drones that was frequently mistaken for, and reported to authorities as, a UFO



The X-45 drone



And the now infamous Predator drone.  This is what usually performs all those "drone strikes" you hear about on the news.

Pretty cool stuff if I do say so myself.  It was good to get out of town with Ms. Geology for a while, and both of us had a really good time.  Last weekend, I got to spend some time in Michaux building wheels and hauling firewood at the Weiser residence.  Rode one of my favorite trails, Rattlesnake, twice!  It was a true treat.



Looking back before the drop off into v.2

 Rattlesnake is the perfect combination of big rocks to ride over and fantastic outcropping to oggle at.  It appeals to all sides of my personality.  The new bike is amazing.  Having a rear hub with good engadgement has made it so much better.  I think I figured out why the bike felt weird handling wise: I was riding too slow.  The Epic is a bike that laughs at you and feels unstable when you're just toodling along.  When you push it through corners it sighs with relief and gives you everything you'd ever want from a bike.  I am amazed.



Not for toodling... Looking over the drop in to v.2

 Heading back to Michaux for the MACDC this weekend.  Weather looks good so it should be a blast!