Happy Birthday Bikeshare!

Did you know that Capital Bikeshare's first birthday is coming up on September 20, 2011?? Last week, @bikeshare tweeted that there have been 814,155 rides to date and wonder whether they can make it to one million by September 20. I'd like to help them achieve this goal so I'll be riding at least 4 or 5 bikes a week until then. Join me if you can!

Photo Source

They are having a party, on Thursday night, the 22nd to celebrate their birthday, as well as car free day. Let's all go car free, jump on a bike, and head to yards park for the celebration!

BikeShare Email and Riding

You may remember an e-mail that I sent to Capital Bikeshare a few weeks ago asking what their policy is for riders who go over their allotted 30 minutes of free riding because they arrive at a station and all the docks are full. Before I left for Florida, I received a very nice response from a customer service representative informing me that if one goes over their allotted 30 minutes for no fault of their own, they will not be charged.

Then, I got another e-mail a few weeks later with my updated account information. I logged in for the first time since I activated my account and saw that I have only used a bikeshare bike fourteen times since my first ride on April 27. That is an average of 1.3 times per week and I know I can do better than that! Fourteen busrides would have cost me $21 and fourteen metro rides would have cost $31.10 (at the very least!) so I've almost already gotten my money's worth. But it's not about the money, it's about the riding! I hereby challenge myself to up my average to at least two trips via bikeshare a week. I will check back in a month or so with my progress.

So for all you commuters in this city, be comforted in knowing that customer service at Capital Bikeshare is quick in responding to your inquiries and that they will not charge you if you get stuck with nowhere to dock. I hope that you're sharing a bike more than 1.3 times a week and, if you're not sharing at all, I hope you'll consider joining. It is a really cool thing!

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Biking to Ingrid

One night last week, Ingrid and I made last minute plans to eat food and drink wine on her eighteen-story high rooftop. We decided to meet at SweetGreen in Logan Circle to grab food to go. Not having ridden the bikeshare beyond Dupont Circle, I decided to venture a little further. There were two very crucial questions to which I needed a yes answer in order for this venture to be a success. First: Could I ride (slowly on this three-speed bike) to Logan Circle in my allotted 30 free minutes? Second: Where are there stations in Logan Circle and would there be space available for me to dock?

 The first question I could not answer with certainty so I simply had to have faith in my legs (and the traffic). The second question, however, I could answer thanks to my trusty iPhone and the “SpotCycle” App. Spotcycle is a mobile app that uses GPS to display the location and status of bike stations near you. They have locations in the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK. It is like nextbus for bikes and it is really accurate and quick to refresh.

This was my first time really using Spotcycle. And by really, I mean holding it in my right hand the entire ride and checking it every time I stopped at a light. I learned that Logan Circle bike docks are in high demand at 6 pm on a Monday night so I was a little frantic. But I got a spot two blocks away on 14th and Rhode Island and I also learned to chill out and risk my life a little less blatantly.

My ride lasted just under thirty minutes, which it wouldn't have had a spot not opened up on Rhode Island in the last three minutes. I assume the system is nice and smart enough not to charge if you go over because your destination station is full and you have to ride to another. But we all know what happens when you ASS-U-ME so I pre-emptively e-mailed customerservice@capitalbikeshare to confirm. I will let you know what I find out.

Biking is a wonderful thing but, in a place like the District of Colombia, it too can be stressful. Luckily I had fun with it and was graced with the presence of my pretty friend at the end of the ride. We got our salads- and I got a SweetGreen card which she scolded me for not yet having. We walked to her apartment and yelled to our frisbee friend Ross as he happened to bike by us on 15th street. We played with her bunny and then went to the roof to watch the sunset, rub away goosebumps for a change, eat and drink wine on lawn chairs, and have a wonderful and exciting discussion about life.

Some Rights Reserved

 

 

Bikeshare Day 3. And silver city DC

Yesterday I planned to ride to work and left my apartment at 8:52. I got to the Cleveland Park station and there were ZERO bikes there. So I started the walk and called my boss to let her know I'd be a little late. It was no big deal but a little disappointing to know the bikes aren't 100% reliable. But I still believe in the bikeshare and I know they have people working constantly to move bikes around an ensure that no stops are left empty. And it was good that I had to walk. I need to not become lazy and stop walking the measly 8/10 of a mile just to save an extra five or ten minutes. I am so very lucky that my options are a fifteen minute walk or a five minute bike ride. Or a three minute bus ride if it's raining. My commute coats nothing or next to nothing and I am not affected by the continually rising gas prices. I read this morning on NBCWashington that those prices are boosting bikeshare popularity. So maybe more and more stations will pop up around town.

In other bicycle news, I read on that Washington, DC has been upgraded to a silver friendly bicycling community according to the League of American Bicyclists "bicycle friendly community program". Until now, DC was ranked as bronze but the introduction of two bikesharing systems, new downtown bike lanes, bike boxes, the bike station, the Wilson bridge path, and more, have bumped us up to silver.

The city continues to be a great place to live, to bike, and to run but, for now, I'm leaving it for New York City where I'll be riding my bike 42 miles through the five Burroughs tomorrow morning. More on that to come.

Bikeshare Day 2

I promise I won't do this every day I ride a bike. But I rode to work today so it's day 2. It was uphill so I sweat a little more which is less favorable to sweating on the way home. But there's not much else to tell of my ride. This post is one for reminiscing.

Yesterday, I mentioned my turquoise helmet that is better suited for a twelve year old girl. My parents have tons of these cheap-o target helmets in their shed in blue, pink, silver, and more. It's a bit frivolous but it is nice to be like a free local bike rental shop when any friends or family come in town. And it's nice when one of us signs up for a helmet-less bike sharing system and wants to store one under their desk.

But I remembered that one of these helmets, this very turquoise one in fact, was once so much more than an extra collecting dust in the shed. It was once my armour on a great bike ride across Iowa, the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, actually. It was only a four day ride, when my parents and I joined the last half of the week in 2007, but it was still significant. I went looking for pictures of this helmet on Ragbrai and this is all I could find, apparently I was aware of how dumb it looked or I just took less pictures of myself then.

Nope, still took pictures of myself.

Avoiding pictures of the helmet?

I was such a dorky biker back then. I rode the whole way in sambas purchased in or around 1998 and soccer shorts. I also rode this trusty hybrid Bianchi that is now owned by my friend and co-worker Kate. She rode her first triathlon in it in September so it's still livin' the life. Maybe I wasn't a dork but just less of a poser. My dad however, has never been a dorky biker or a poser.

#1 Dad, #1 Biker

My Uncle Tony has always been cool as well.

Cool and Strong.

And a child at heart.

As the story goes, we rode a lot, we ate a lot, we slept in tents and we had fun.

Me and all the fifty year olds :)

They love their field of dreams references.

Betsy bikes so she can eat. And more..

Finish.

 

I was also a little chubs back then, despite all the biking. But still not afraid to hunch over handlebars in my sports bra. I have ditched the sambas and soccer shorts on my long bike rides but I'm bringing back a piece of history with the turquoise helmet from Ragbrai 2007.

Bikeshare Day 1

I received my key for Capital Bikeshare a few weeks ago but have been holding out on activating it until I had set plans to ride. The one year membership begins the day you activate your key. Well, today I ended up working until 5:50 but wanted to have time to run after work. So before leaving, I signed into Capital Bikeshare's site, activated my key, and grabbed the helmet I have stashed under my desk for just such an occasion. I walked across the street and stuck my key in, watching the light change from orange to green, and struggled a little bit to pull the bike out of it's locked stand.

Bike Station, Van Ness

I rode .7 miles south on the sidewalk and it was efficient but it was quite an adjustment from Lucy. As expected, it was like riding a beach cruiser but a little weirder. The seat is really low to the ground, which is good for riding in skirts, and the handlebars are really high so you are basically sitting upright. The wheels are small and really thick so it feels pretty heavy to ride. There are three gears so you can't get going too fast. All these features make the bike safer and easier for the average person to ride, and they make it possible to do so in a suit or a skirt. But it did feel kind of hard to balance in the front because of the handlebar height and their distance from the front wheel. This might just be me, used to a road bike, but I'll adjust. I don't think I'll adjust, however, to the lack of speed and, therefore, can't imagine being comfortable riding on the street, especially during rush hour. But, come to think of it, I rarely see these bikes ridden on sidewalks. I hope it's not too illegal but, like a true girl scout, I'll put [my] safety first.

Power suit, power bike

I was surprisingly glad to be rained on as I rode home. I wondered how silly I looked riding so upright in my sunflower skirt and flip flops, with a turquoise helmet that's better suited for a twelve year old on my head. I locked the bike by the library and crossed the street to my apartment, amazed to be home within five minutes of leaving work.

Cleveland Park Library

I could definitely get used to this.

Sharing Bikes

Since I moved into the city in January, I have continued to contemplate two things:

1. Whether or not Capital Bikeshare makes sense for someone who already owns two bikes.
2. Whether or not joining capital bikeshare would result in frequent bike riding sans helmet.

For those of you who don't live in DC, and aren't familiar with Capital Bikeshare, it is a very cool thing. It is pretty self explanatory- it's a bike sharing service in the nation's capital that expanded on SmartBike DC in 2010 and now has over 1,100 bikes at 114 locations. It costs $75 to join for a year, $25 for a month, $15 for five days, and $5 for 24-hours. With this membership, you can take free 30-minute rides anywhere, anytime. After the first thirty minutes, you will be charged an additional fee that depends on the amount of time you use the bike. Members receive a bike key that they use at any one of the 114 stations to rent a bike, which can then be dropped off at any other station in the city.

 

I know it may seem a little frivolous to take advantage of this service when I have two perfectly good bikes sitting in my bedroom, ready to be ridden anywhere. And it is frivolous. But this is America, after all, and it also kind of makes sense. I can think of many times at which I've said or thought "this would be a lot easier if I had capital bikeshare." Like that time I was meeting Nikki at her apartment before taking a bus to our SoleMates dinner in Logan Circle. Riding my own bike would have meant leaving it at her apartment and coming back for it later that night. Or that Saturday night when I met Nathan and his friends at the Black Cat for drinks and dancing. Riding Lucy would have meant riding home "under the influence" at 2 am and that obviously wasn't an option. Or yesterday, when I was in a big hurry to get home to my kitchen where I had an hour and a half to bake and decorate Brendon's birthday cake. Biking would have cut 12 minutes off of my commute, which barely counts as a commute as is. I truly do love lucy and I won't stop riding her around this city but the beauty of the bike share is in the one-way trip. It's like a revolutionary cab service that is there when you need it (because the stations really are everywhere), that costs you $75 a year, that (according to Betsy Shaw) makes you feel like you're in Paris, that is good for yourself and good for the earth, and that puts you not in a car but ON A BIKE!

In contemplating my two questions, I've thought of all of this and I've seriously considered taking the plunge. But I have continued to be burdened by the later question: what would this mean for my helmet wearing? I take helmets very seriously. If you are my friend and you don't wear one, you know this, because I nag you a lot. I also nag you if you ride at night without lights. (ehem... Ingrid) I know that my chances of getting in an accident are slim but why even risk it? I believe in good luck and I believe in bad luck and I am superstitious enough to think that the one time I ride without a helmet, my bad luck will get the better of me and I won't be well-equipped. But I also know myself well enough to know that I will be spontaneous and I will probably want to pick up bikes and ride whether I have a helmet on me or not. And, why would i just have a helmet on me? Oh wait, let me pull that out of my back pocket...

So the contemplation had been just that- contemplation. And some discussion. But no action.

No action until this morning when I opened my e-mail to find a particularly exciting message from living social. "Your Daily Deal. Washington, DC. Bikeshare Month ($12) or Year ($37) Membership." Well hello red bikes with funky handlebars and yellow writing! For $37 a year, I think we're going to be good friends. I have taken the plunge and I am more excited than I expected to be. It's like another rite of passage that confirms my existence as a DC resident. If flashing my DC license for the first time, ordering a Stella at L'Enfant Cafe this week, made me a little giddy (Dork? Yes. In Paris? Unfortunately not.), I can only imagine what it'll feel like to pick up and drop off one of those bikes for the first time. Maybe I romanticize it but I don't care. This is a good community to be a part of. And so I've joined it.