using d.c. bikeshare

when i was in DC a couple of weeks ago it was humid and hot. oh and with that humidity came some drizzles. i didn't let frizzy hair stop me. i was on a mission.

i had a couple of hours to spare before i needed to be en route to catch my flight, so i, of course, thought of only one thing to do: DC CAPITAL BIKESHARE. luckily the hotel i was staying in was merely 1/2 a block away from the nearest station.



as you can see, most of the bikes were already checked out. there was someone behind me in the process of checking out a bike, leaving two bikes remaining.

i went up to the sign to see what i needed to do. thankfully, it was very informative.

i needed to put down a $100 deposit to use a bike for 30 minutes which costs $7 total. it did take awhile for that $100 to be returned to me, but such is life i suppose. that was their day pass rate.

while i was reading these signs to make sure i got everything down correctly, some frequent user hopped on one of the remaining two bikes. i figured i needed to hurry up before there were no bikes left to choose.

i put the seat down to a comfortable height for this shortie, put my bag on the front and i was ready to go.

i had no idea where i wanted to go, so i just decided to follow some bike lanes around. i figured they would take me somewhere i would have wanted to see.

i noticed some things never change. empty bike lane. full car lane. full curbside parking. typical.

i also noticed that DC (in this neighborhood at least) appears to have done what JFK drive wants to do in golden gate park. DC's is possibly more effective due to their "soft hit posts" which separate the parked cars from the curbside bike lane.

then i just rode around and noticed signs and the riders.

i also saw a vandalized bay area original.

and when i was done wandering around, i parked at a station in front of a grocery store and got me a sammich for the plane ride back to SF.

it was a pleasant and easy experience to use the bikeshare. i can only hope that SF has been taking notes on their WAY long and overdue bike share system. time to get with the program already. stop the politickin, and get people on those bikes already!

los angeles on $100 a day via nytimes

you guyyyyyys, the frugal traveler (seth kugel) went to LA and discovered that to be able to do LA on $100 a day, the best option was....(everybody now) RENT A BIKE.

a lil excerpt (emphasis mine):

WHEN I told people I was visiting Los Angeles for a week without setting foot in a car, one word came up more than any other: “impossible.”

There is the fact that the county covers more than 4,000 square miles. That it has seemingly endless, overlapping multi-lane highways versus a tiny number of bike lanes. And oh, yeah: that it is bisected by a mountain range.

Taken together — not a great place to get around on a bike.

But what if you can’t afford to drive? What if, in fact, you wanted to visit the city on about $100 a day?

so, go on and read more from the frugal traveler! so happy this article exists about el lay in the nytimes. :) i think i may just have to check out this bike in la business very soon. perhaps i can bring a partner in bici dingding crimes. ;)