New Ride, New Route, New Year!

A lot of people have been txting, emailing, and/or asking "How did I get to work today?"

I didn't think I had that many followers or people who cared. So without further ado, I give the Commute of 2011:

This year, I upgraded my route to longer and more scenic roads. Instead of capturing all the decay and ugliness of the 'D', I will try to capture more prettier and tranquil sites.

I also upgraded my bike. I bought a Trek 1.3 Road Bike with Shimano 105's throughout. That is biker's jargon for "I spent a lot".


The new route:






or click here
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4513389

The morning is cool, crisp, and clean.

This is why I do it. All of a sudden, it all makes sense and I forget how much this bike costs.

The road and the surrounding neighborhoods look a lot better then Gratiot/6 mile. Yes?

Above is my fav GP home. I will try to get more info and better pics this year of this house.

GP stops and the 'D' starts

House for sale in Indian Village.... I will split it with someone - I get the summer weekends.

Same House for sale in Indian Village

Same House for sale in Indian Village

Ride On!
See you in the streets,
Jason

Run Through DC Neighborhoods

I spent the weekend running around the DC area. This time however, I did not do the usual tourist route. This time, I took in some of DC most desirable neighborhoods.



Hotel Palomar Arlington
http://www.hotelpalomar-arlington.com/
My all time favorite hotel. The employees are nice; the room is modern, and the shower head is waaaaaay awesome.





Pic is bad, sorry. But this is a backyard to an old house off the Georgetown canal.



the old house off the Georgetown canal.

Dupont Circle - A Washington, DC Neighborhood

http://dc.about.com/od/neigborhoodprofiles/p/DupontCircle.htm


Dupont neighborhood
A quaint Farmer's Market and Flea Market




These Pickles are the best. I found him selling his own pickles and family receipt. The spicy ones were way hot. Good side business idea!



I really liked the facade of this concrete home in Dupont.

Adams Morgan Main Street

http://www.ammainstreet.org/

What a great little neighborhood. Full of shops, nik-nacs, book stores, and food.

Here are some pics of Adams Morgan (I ran into a parade also)

Embassy Row

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embassy_Row

Swiss

Greece

Yes, that is a dead bird on the string. It suppose to bring good luck to diplomatic talks.


Jerome (ca. 347 – 420) is best known as the first translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. His edition of the Bible, the Vulgate, is still an important text of the Roman Catholic Church.
This statue, originally located at the Franciscan Abbey, was moved to the Croatian embassy after Yugoslavia was dissolved & the Croatian state was formed.





muslim mosque on Embassy Row




Hey Satya, this is the India Embassy. I tried my Tele Gu but no one understood me.


Bunch of Big Shots in the car waiting to get into the party of India

Stop and Smell The Roses

Many have asked when the updates will be posted and if there's any new routes.

So, here is my first blog of the 2010 Spring season.

Many of changes happened to Detroit over the winter. So to make sure I enjoy all 16 miles of my daily commute, I wanted to stop and smell the roses every time I passed a beauty.





The sun rises behind the abandon building. Last year there were families and kids playing in that alley but this year you can see blight taking over.











Last year there was two ladies that used to sit on chairs outside of this apt building. They would listen to the radio and wave to a crazy white guy wearing a bike helmet. I wonder where they are now? At least the wood that boards the homes have not been stolen... yet.





Just rows of empty homes. No one around 7/Schoenherr anymore.





Sorry for the blurry shot but I always liked this house. All brick, breakfast nook, hardwood floors. Nature is starting to take over the house.



Same house as prev but wanted to make sure it was all brick.





The smell from the burned wood still permeates through the wind. Nothing like the smell of charred wood in the morning! In fact,I can still taste it... yuck!!




I like the new siding but I think I would have done more with the porch. A little boy used to live here and play with his dog in the lot next door. More faded memories.

How would you like to live next to this gem?




The from occupants moved out gracefully I hear. They left the furnace too. Anther 1940's all brick gem.




This house is not abandoned (yet) but I loved the fence so much I just had to capture the moment.








The porch is very cool. Do you know how much $$ this house would cost if you tried to rebuild it?





I was very sad to see this. As you may recall, I captured this hotel last year in a previous blog. All those many years and happy customers. No more Hotel Paris :-(

Put out the fire and leave the building to sit for decor.




This is the corner of 6/Gratiot. There used to be a Remer Drug store on the corner which sat there for years empty but the sign has been up since the 70's. That too up in smoke.





Finally, a Rose that still grows in the city. Assumption Grotto is taking real good care of their shrine. Very tranquil here.

See you on the road