Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
I'm currently in DC on a weekend pleasure trip. It's been interesting from a cycling perspective -first, single speeds seem to rule in this mostly flat terrain. I've seen some really nice single speeds here -and I'm surprized by the number of cyclists and bicycles I've seen in DC. I actually saw quite a few families on bikes, which really surprized me. Mind you, it seems the car drivers are a little impatient, though I haven't seen any crazy driving (yet!). Interestingly, most people seem to cycle on the sidewalk a.k.a. pavement, and from what I've seen, no one -either pedestrian or cyclist -seems to go crazy. It seems a reasonable enough coexistence -admittedly from a very limited observation time. Also add to the fact that much of DC has fairly wide pavements and the National Mall has wide paths, so perhaps it's not as bad as it sounds.
Anyway, much like London, they have a Capitol Bike Share program. At first, I wasn't interested in using them, but fast forward walking about 10 miles doing the touristy sites (the Whitehouse, Lincoln Memorial, reflecting pool, the obelisk memorial thingy, the Smithsonian Air and Space (fantastic, worth a visit if you like that kind of stuff)..... I saw a bike station close to the capitol building... and what can I say? My feet were tired, the idea of getting from the Capitol building to my hotel close to Dupont Circle (where conveniently there was a bike station which I'd noticed!) with relatively little fuss and effort was just too much. I'm a bit obsessive in getting around under my own power instead of using a taxi/subway/bus, so I went for it.
First, the cost is $7 (~five quid) per day to use a bike, with a $2 charge for 30-60 minutes of use, and then $6 for 60-90 minutes of use (I think similar to London, the first 30 mins were free on top of the "membership" charge.)
The bike is here (see if you recognize the building in the background):
What's nice is that the road in front of the Whitehouse is closed, so you can cycle along without worrying about traffic quite nicely.
I enjoyed the bike -it certainly wasn't the usual quality I'm used to (oops, bike snob alert!) but you know what? It got me around with minimal fuss. The bike was heavy, in a gloss red finish, with a single spar downtube, with LED lights when you pedal. The brakes on my bike were... meh.... adequate. Before I swiped my credit card, I tested a bike that was available in the racks (you swiped your card, and then received an unlock code good for 30 secs that could be used for any of the bikes in the rack),
but I couldn't tell if the brakes were that good when it was locked in the rack. The tyres were very well inflated -but I wonder if they were solid tyres or something. When cycling along, there was some form of generator that powered some front and rear LED lights.
My wife was way impressed with them, she thought they were a really great idea -me, I'm not so sure. But I would do it again as . One thing that is interesting, is that DC got $9 out of me that I wouldn't otherwise spend, so I hope this thing works. Anyway, once I pushed the bike back into the stand, I went to a corner shop, and I got these (the one out disappeared soon thereafter!):
Anyway, much like London, they have a Capitol Bike Share program. At first, I wasn't interested in using them, but fast forward walking about 10 miles doing the touristy sites (the Whitehouse, Lincoln Memorial, reflecting pool, the obelisk memorial thingy, the Smithsonian Air and Space (fantastic, worth a visit if you like that kind of stuff)..... I saw a bike station close to the capitol building... and what can I say? My feet were tired, the idea of getting from the Capitol building to my hotel close to Dupont Circle (where conveniently there was a bike station which I'd noticed!) with relatively little fuss and effort was just too much. I'm a bit obsessive in getting around under my own power instead of using a taxi/subway/bus, so I went for it.
First, the cost is $7 (~five quid) per day to use a bike, with a $2 charge for 30-60 minutes of use, and then $6 for 60-90 minutes of use (I think similar to London, the first 30 mins were free on top of the "membership" charge.)
The bike is here (see if you recognize the building in the background):
What's nice is that the road in front of the Whitehouse is closed, so you can cycle along without worrying about traffic quite nicely.
I enjoyed the bike -it certainly wasn't the usual quality I'm used to (oops, bike snob alert!) but you know what? It got me around with minimal fuss. The bike was heavy, in a gloss red finish, with a single spar downtube, with LED lights when you pedal. The brakes on my bike were... meh.... adequate. Before I swiped my credit card, I tested a bike that was available in the racks (you swiped your card, and then received an unlock code good for 30 secs that could be used for any of the bikes in the rack),
but I couldn't tell if the brakes were that good when it was locked in the rack. The tyres were very well inflated -but I wonder if they were solid tyres or something. When cycling along, there was some form of generator that powered some front and rear LED lights.
My wife was way impressed with them, she thought they were a really great idea -me, I'm not so sure. But I would do it again as . One thing that is interesting, is that DC got $9 out of me that I wouldn't otherwise spend, so I hope this thing works. Anyway, once I pushed the bike back into the stand, I went to a corner shop, and I got these (the one out disappeared soon thereafter!):
