Halloween got you a hankering to mix Frankenstien and fixies, boogeymen and bicycles, vampires and velos or any other alliterative cycling-monster themed pairs? Well, if you live around Washington, D.C., then you have a plethora of options.  And options are a good thing, especially with Hurricane Sandy breathing down our necks, potentially making for a wet and wild Halloween. Here are some (all? I looked. I really did) of the area's Halloween bicycle events.  Friday: Critical Mass Halloween Ride Being that it's the last Friday of the month, there will be a Critical Mass Halloween ride on …

Local cyclists may remember a few months back that the Hyattsville City Council approved a $55,000 plan to install 180 new bicycle racks in locations throughout the city. Well, they are now being installed. Yesterday, Jim Chandler, director of community and economic development for the city of Hyattsville, Tweeted a picture of one set of the new racks installed down at Magruder Park. Eventually the racks will dot locations across the city. A full map of Hyattsville bicycle improvements can be found here. 

As part of an burgeoning effort to turn my two-wheeled exercise into a competitive activity, I registered to race in the Crystal City Diamond Derby on Sept. 29.  The Crystal City Diamond Derby is a combination of a bicycle race and a fashion show. It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously, and I think that's what attracted me to it. I was looking for a low-pressure way to gauge my readiness for the Hyattsville CX which I'll be riding in this weekend.  Held in a subterranean parking garage in Crystal City, the Diamond Derby featured races for kids and adults, fashion, food, music and …

Hello and welcome to a new regular column here called Mike on a Bike.  My name is Michael Theis and I ride bikes a lot, hence the title.  I'll be using this column to let you know about news relevant to local cyclists in northern Prince George's County and the Washington, DC, area.  Over the next few weeks I'll be visiting and reporting on a number of area cycling events, including the Hyattsville CX, the Crystal City Diamond Derby, the rolling hoopla that is DC Bike Party, and a peek at BicycleSpace social rides.  So, without further adieu, here's my first Mike on a Bike column: Your Own …