I TEST FOR YOU: Capital Bikeshare

Hi there Tuesday campers. Not to rub it in, but I had a really great weekend. It was a total Mary Poppins, i.e. practically perfect in every way. The one hiccup? I managed to break not one, but TWO spokes on Lo'retty riding with the VeloGirl on Friday. (See? told you the weekend was awesome.) So, i needed to take the wheel down to my local bike shop to get repaired, which is about 2.5 miles away. Normally, I would just ride the bike down there...except, I COULDN'T ride my bike down there, on account of the two broken spokes. What to do?

At first, I was all bummed out, because I was going to have to ride the...sigh...bus there. There is NOTHING I dislike more than riding the bus. Oh sure, the bus has it's place, don't get me wrong. Like when it rains. Or, when I feel like experiencing terrible new odors. But not on a Saturday, when it is a sunny, humidity free 80 degrees outside. No one should have to bus it on a day like that.

Just when I was ready to commit the ultimate sin against a beautiful weekend day and head down to the stop, I remembered this new Capital Bikeshare program. Actually, I never forgot about it. I just didn't want to pay for an annual membership for one day's worth of errands. But then, after consulting their website, I discovered that I could buy a 24 hour, unlimited ride pass for 5 bucks.

(Cue Matt doing happy dance)

Once again, the mighty bicycle had saved me from the noose of public transit. And no, I'm not exaggerating. Okay, maybe a little, but just for emphasis.

Sure, I could have kept the entire experience of using Bikeshare to myself. But how does that benefit the bicycle curious portion of mankind? It don't. So, I figured I would give you all an update of how this program REALLY functions, using three randomly chosen categories I arbitrarily created in order to judge it.

Each category is graded on a scale from one to 5. "1" being, 'I'd rather take the Bus', "5" being 'Hella-awesome!'. Without further ado:

Category 1: Station Convenience/Ease of Use -- 5

Put in my native tongue, the ease of use factor is wicked high. Especially since there is a station four row houses away at the end of my block. In fact, 14th Street seems to be the backbone of this system--during my ride, I spotted five other stations along a two mile stretch. Repeat, FIVE stations within a two mile stretch. None of which were anywhere near a metro stop, interestingly enough.

Getting the bike is easy enough. You swipe your credit card at the bike rack and tell them what type of membership you would like. At that point, they spit out a little code number that you bring to the bike you would like to rent. You type in the code on the keypad next to said velocipede, a light turns green, and you pull the bicycle off the rack. Could not be easier.
When you get to a station near where you want to stop and walk around, you just pull your bike up to the station, stick the front wheel into the rack, and the bike locks itself to the unit automatic-like. Real impressive, and real simple.

Category 2: Bike Comfort and Ride--3.5


The bike itself is kind of a mixed bag. I dig the overall shape of the bike, especially the fenders, the top tube styling and the basket in front, which comes with a bungee cord for securing whatever items you don't want to fall out--like a bicycle wheel, in my instance.

But, the bike is HEAVY. Too heavy if ya asks me.

To compensate for the weight, they have geared this three speed bicycle real low. The result is a bicycle that is easy to pedal, which makes it fun to ride most of the time. But, it is also easy to pedal until there is no more resistance, or until one "spins out", if you like. I did this alot, even in the highest gear on flat ground, and I am not a speed demon. So, my suggestion would be: make the bike a little lighter or use a higher range of gears. Or both.

In should also be mentioned that this bicycle hates, HATES hills even more than I do. Just a goddamn chore to push it up that 6 block 14th street hill that leads to Columbia Heights. In the lowest gear, you might as well get off and walk. Your only chance is to put it in the highest gear and pedal JUST slow enough so that you don't spin out. In other words, it was the definition of tedium.

Category 3: Overall BikeShare Utility--4

It has to be said that I rather enjoyed my experience on the bike, and it really helped me out of a tight spot. I like riding high in the saddle on a cruiser style once in a while--it really is fun to take in the sights at a gentleman's pace. However, even in my neck of the woods where stations are plentiful, I have a hard time envisioning this service helping me out with more than one errand here or there that I can't perform on my regular ride. Would I recommend a full year's membership to someone who is looking to start commuting to work? Probably. But for the rest of us, it just makes more sense to keep it in mind only when and if we need an extra set of two wheels.