Read “Storming the Dominican: Our Ride in the Rain” on News of the Revolution.

Revolution Cycles and Kettler Management Partner for Bike Sharing

November 9, 2010

The City Hub will provide bike share access for Kettler employees and residents

Revolution Cycles is pleased to announce a partnership with Kettler Management that will allow both employees and residents of Kettler to enjoy the people-managed bike share program at the Revolution Cycles City Hub, located in Crystal City, Virginia. With the formation of this unique relationship, residents from more than sixty-five Kettler Communities, including more than 15,000 apartments, will have low cost access to the City Hub’s fleet of Trek Allant bicycles.

The City Hub opened in March of 2010 and has focused on getting more people on bicycles through an innovative, human-operated bike share program. Crystal City residents as well as employees of Crystal City businesses currently benefit from the bike share program, and Revolution Cycles looks forward to more people riding bikes through its new partnership with Kettler. “We feel that the Revolution Cycles bike share program is the perfect fit for our residents and employees,” said Karen Kossow, VP of Sales and Marketing for Kettler. “Many DC apartment renters don’t own their own bikes and this program will allow them to enjoy all of the fabulous trails that the DC area has to offer.” Known for providing exceptional amenities in pedestrian-friendly communities, Kettler is the first land developer in the DC Metro area to offer bike share access to all of its residents and employees.

Revolution Cycles, Inc. was established in 1997 by Mike Hamannwright, President and CEO, and Santiago “Pinkey” Gonzalez, Vice President and lead mechanic. After several years of success in Georgetown, Revolution Cycles opened its flagship store in Clarendon, VA in 2002, and locations in Rockville, MD and in Stafford, VA in 2004. Focusing on excellent customer service, Revolution Cycles was named DC’s 2010 Best Bike Shop by the Washington Post Express and a 2008 Consumer’s Choice Bicycle Shop by the League of American Bicyclists. Revolution Cycles has also been listed as a Top 100 Bicycle Retailer in the US in 2010, 2008, 2007 2006, and 2005. To learn more, please visit revolutioncycles.com.

Founded by Robert C. Kettler in 1977, Kettler is among the largest private real estate and property management companies based in the D.C. metro area and one of the nation’s top 20 multifamily developers. The firm’s diverse business model has led to the delivery of five million square feet of commercial space and over 50,000 homes. Kettler’s apartment portfolio includes high-end, market rate, affordable and fee-managed assets. In 2008, Kettler Management was awarded the prestigious “Pillars of the Industry” award in the property management category by the National Association of Homebuilders. Currently, the company is developing transit-oriented mixed-use projects and managing a growing portfolio of third-party assets. For more information, visit www.kettler.com.

One of the most contended points in bicycle advocacy is how cyclists fit into the overall transportation picture and what course of action best benefits individual riders and cyclists as a group.  Two distinctly different schools of thought exist: vehicular cycling and segregated cycling.  While the vast majority of cyclists fall somewhere in between the two extreme ends of the spectrum, there are also a number of passionate advocates who remain firmly on opposite sides of the fence.  So what is everyone so excited about?

Read on at CommuteByBike.com.

Published on UtilityCycling.org on 5.25.10

On Friday morning, before the sun had made its daily appearance, I was on my way to set up shop at Northern Virginia’s largest Bike to Work Day pit stop in Rosslyn, Virginia. Through my position with a local bicycle retailer, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to represent our company as we offered bike safety checks, tire inflation and cycling advice to the masses of commuters enjoying DC’s annual Bike to Work Day. The day’s events are organized by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and BikeArlington, and the overwhelming success of the Rosslyn pit stop (as well as the other thirty-four stops in the DC Metro area) was a tribute to the incredible and important work that local bicycle advocacy organizations do every day to ensure that more people can experience the utility of cycling.

Nearly eight hundred cyclists rolled through our stop just across the Potomac River from the national’s capital, and because of the support and incentive provided by the local advocacy organizations, more than a few of these commuters were enjoying their first of many trips to work on a bicycle.

Read on at UtilityCycling.org.

March 15, 2010

Before the sun had made its appearance on Monday, I was on my second cup of coffee and attempting to get ahead (or catch up?) on the infinite number of details that required my attention before the new City Hub opened its doors to the public later in the week.  In the midst of Monday morning email chaos, I received a message indicating that Mr. Gary Fisher had reserved a bicycle from the Hub for the duration of his visit to DC for the tenth annual National Bicycle Summit.  After a long snowy winter on the trainer and strong coffee on an empty stomach, my cardiovascular system was ill prepared to handle the news of our first customer.   The sky was beginning to show shades of orange, and a week of exhilarating, exhausting and encouraging events was about to commence.

A week later, the days and nights spent at the shop seem like a blur.  Somehow, we tuned and organized one hundred new bicycles, unpacked thousands of pieces of cycling accessories and apparel, went for a night ride with Gary Fisher on the Mt. Vernon trail on the new Trek Allants, completed an unknowable number of marketing and merchandising projects, social networked until Chris’ hands fell off, and consumed enough coffee and espresso to support a small country for several years.  On Wednesday, Mike stepped out of the shop and onto the stage to discuss the role of bicycle retailers in local advocacy in a rather timely seminar at the National Bike Summit, and Jakob was called onto the carpet the next day to talk about bike share programs.  Friday morning finally/suddenly arrived, and our first guests on opening day were Trek President John Burke and several members of his marketing team.  For me, any week that has cycling legend bookends is a pretty good week.

Mike, Pinkey and Jakob are veterans of opening new shops.  The City Hub in Crystal City is the fifth Revolution Cycles location, and these guys have been through the process a few times, but each location presents interesting new challenges.  Take bicycle sales out of the equation and focus on bike share and bike rentals in a much smaller, boutique space and you end up with a few unique situations for consideration.  This was my first new venue adventure, but for both me as well as the crew that has a bit more experience turning a vision into something with four walls, it was pretty incredible to see all of the little projects that we were juggling start to fall gently out of our hands into place.  From being awarded silver status as a Bicycle Friendly Business to gaining the attention of industry greats, the week was a historic and satisfying one after months and years of hard work.  More importantly, though, we did something different.  We did something a little risky.  We did something that we believe in, and that we feel is long overdue.  We made bikes more accessible.  And for us, getting more people to share our love of bicycles, to understand how bicycles can make you feel better in so many ways, is the most satisfying reward that we can receive.

As an invincible adolescent growing up in Western Pennsylvania, crashing my way through trees and mud puddles and rocks on two fat tires was the ideal way to spend an afternoon or a weekend or a summer.  I rode my bike to the trails and to various other destinations that were of interest to a 13-year-old troublemaker, but my goal was always to find some dirt and branches and to see how long I could stay upright and pedaling at unhealthy speeds.  Since relocating to DC a few years ago, my goals have changed a bit and, consequently, my eyes have been opened to an entirely different breed of bicycles.

Prior to my move, I had my old Kona mountain bike tuned-up, politely declined the ‘slicks’ that my longtime bike shop suggested, bought myself a nice new cable lock, and off I went to urban living, after-market front suspension and all. My new goal was to get to work and school in one piece.  I spent four glorious weeks riding my bike around the city, happy to have a memento from home traveling around with me everyday.  However, one night when I emerged from my evening class and went to unlock the Kona, it had vanished.  Heartbroken, I scrounged up some change and made my way home via public transportation.

Losing my mountain bike was a blessing in disguise.  I invested in an entry-level road bike and an expert-level U-lock (the road bike and the lock weigh approximately the same amount).  The difference in ease and efficiency in navigating a road bike through the city is difficult to quantify (it cut my twenty minute commute down by about twenty-five percent, but maybe I just started getting lucky hitting the green lights).  It certainly felt effortless pushing my 700x23s up a hill while carrying a day’s worth of clean clothes, books and food after my commuting foray began on suspension and not-so-artisan steel.  With the extensive network of paved trails and bicycle-friendly roads in the DC metro area, I now ride on my skinny tires for fitness, for recreation and for transportation, and a new kind of bicycle obsession has taken shape in my life.

But don’t worry- there is a happy ending for the Kona, too.  As it was a rather unique bike with a crazy white fork on the forest green frame and a sticker from a PA bike shop, and as my separation anxiety was not a well-kept secret, a friend actually stumbled upon the bike a few weeks later on the street, recognized it immediately, and miraculously returned the Kona to its rightful owner.  Fortunately, my living quarters are large enough to accommodate multiple bicycles, and my heart is big enough to accommodate tires of all shapes, sizes and tread patterns.

As the dark, cold mornings abate and the road temperature rises above freezing, the crowd on Sunday mornings begins to take shape after a long winter of hibernation and much-resented alternative activities.  Adorned in long-finger gloves, arm warmers, toe covers and ear-to-ear grins, we set out at a pace significantly slower than the one we spun so proudly in the late fall.  We start to shake off the cobwebs, and we have to remind ourselves and each other to signal stops, point out potholes, and call cars passing, as these obstacles typically are not present during the mind and butt numbing winter trainer sessions.  Riding in a straight line and not riding into a hole does not seem like an insurmountable task, but at the start of each season, we must acclimate to the joys and dangers of riding elbow to elbow and tire to tire.

With each week, the group grows, and the small cluster of inefficient cyclists stretches into a faster, more confident paceline.  We’re remembering how to draft, and appreciating the speeds that we can attain early in the season if we work together and avoid overlapping and tangled wheels that can send the latter half of the group spiraling into the nearest ditch.  The veteran riders set the pace and take turns pulling at the front of the pack, and the newer members of the peloton (or those of us that spent the off-season watching television from the couch rather than from a set of rollers) hang on at the back and take advantage of the slipstream.

No two Sunday rides are the same.  While the core group of cyclists remains intact from week to week, the ride is always a dynamic experience that keeps the leaders and the loyal followers interested, even if the 30-mile loop remains the same.  We attract people through word of mouth, who show up at the shop ready to ride and to learn names as we rotate.  We pick up soloists along the way, who sometimes ride off the front and pull our leaders along, and who sometimes need to tuck into the pack to recover.  We break apart when the big guns need to hammer it out through the straights, and we regroup after the long climbs or the occasional mechanical issue.  Our Sunday ride is built around a philosophy of bringing together the hammerfests and the newbies, the weekend warriors and the weekday commuters.  Sunday morning is a time for sharing our love of speed, sweat, and spandex with each other regardless of how or why we ride bikes the other six days of the week.  The beauty of the Sunday ride is more in the incremental increases in the number of devout participants rather than in the fluctuating average miles per hours.  The enthusiast who thinks of a draft as an icy cold beverage to be imbibed after the outing is just as welcome as the cyclist who shaves his legs to reduce drag, as long as he or she enjoys the ride.

The CSC Invitational, which will take place in Arlington, Virginia on Saturday, June 2, is proud to host a unique mix of riders, from professionals of international acclaim to amateurs looking for a break.  In the technically-challenging 100 one-kilometer laps around downtown Clarendon, anything can happen, and riders from the 2006 World’s number one ranked pro team, CSC, will face the same obstacles as the riders that make up the Composite All-Star team presented by Battley-Harley Davidson.  It is any man’s race, and the opportunity for local competitors to land on the podium in a USA Cycling National Racing Calendar event can open the door for these young riders into the world of professional cycling.

In 1998, Russ Langley and the CSC Invitational, then known as the Clarendon Cup, were both green in the world of cycling.  The race was in only its second year, and Langley was in his first race.  The DC native took first place in the amateur event that day, and both Langley and the CSC Invitational have seen concurrent successes since their beginnings a decade ago.

Langley built his reputation locally as an all-around rider when he won the Mid-Atlantic Bicycle Racing Association’s (MABRA) Road Race Championship in 2001, and was then named MABRA’s Best All-Around Rider in 2002.  He turned pro in 2005, and after a stint with Rite Aid, Langley now rides for Battley-Harley Davidson.  Recently, Langley found success close to home when he won the first stage of the Tour of Virginia; he blew through 5 miles in just seconds over 8 minutes in the opening time trail through Natural Bridge, Virginia.  On June 2^nd, with almost a decade of racing experience under his belt, Langley will return to the CSC Invitational and will fight to relive the win that inspired him to pursue a career as a professional cyclist.

Ken Johnson, also part of the Battley-Harley Davidson team, is a Vancouver, British Columbia native who now resides in the Washington, DC area.  Johnson participated in last year’s CSC Invitational as a member of the Battley-Harley Davidson crew, and hopes that his experience on the Clarendon course as well as on a variety of other National Racing Calendar (NRC) Criterium courses will aid in a strong finish at this season’s event.

Beginning in 2001, Johnson spent several years racing on the West Coast in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.  He made the move to the East Coast in 2005 and quickly found a place with Battley-Harley Davidson upon his arrival in Washington, DC.  In 2006, Johnson won the overall MABRA Pro 1/2 Championship, and played a strong role in leading his Battley-Harley Davidson team to the MABRA Team Championship as well that season.  Early in the 2007 season, Johnson has participated in the NRC’s Tour of Virginia, TriPeaks, and BikeJam in Baltimore, Maryland, and he finished first in Virginia’s Dismal Dash Time Trial.

Both Russ Langley and Ken Johnson serve as great inspiration to the young talent in the DC area, demonstrating that with determination and hard work, local riders can earn a chance in national and international competition, and still return home to participate in an NRC Criterium.  As a national event in a community setting, the CSC Invitational continues to offer riders of all backgrounds an opportunity to test their skills on the grueling Clarendon course.  To learn more about Russ, Ken and how their experience with the CSC Invitational has impacted their lives as cyclists, catch them chatting with CSC Invitational founder Rob Laybourn on WUSA9 this Thursday at 9am.

Revolution Cycles City Hub to open in Crystal City

The company’s fifth location will serve community businesses, residents, and visitors with bike sharing, accessories and a full service center

ARLINGTON, Virginia – Revolution Cycles, in partnership with the Crystal City Business Improvement District and Vornado/Charles E. Smith, is proud to announce its plans to launch a unique cycling concept located at 220 Twentieth Street in the heart of Crystal City.  Revolution Cycles City Hub is scheduled to open in the spring of 2010, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the National Bike Summit on Capitol Hill.

Revolution Cycles City Hub will have 100 Trek bicycles available for residents, businesses and guests to use for touring the area and riding for fitness on the local trails in addition to the new regional bike share program that Crystal City plans to launch for shorter point-to-point trips.  With a focus on serving the needs of local commuters as well as providing transportation solutions for businesses and visitors, the Hub will feature a selection of cycling accessories and apparel as well as a full service technical center.  By helping the Crystal City community take more trips by bike, Revolution Cycles aims to present the bicycle as a solution for going green and staying fit.

Revolution Cycles has served cyclists in the DC metro area for over a decade since opening its doors in Georgetown.  The fifth location will also be owned and operated by President Mike Hamannwright and Vice President Santiago ‘Pinkey’ Gonzalez. “This unique partnership provides us with the opportunity to blend our retail and bike share program experience to further our goal of promoting cycling and its many benefits to more of the community,” said Hamannwright.  “Crystal City is an ideal location to launch our new “City Hub” concept: a retail shop focused on bike sharing, rentals, accessories and repairs.”