I love to travel. I haven’t gotten into traveling by bicycle yet because most of the traveling I’ve been able to do in recent years is light and last-minute and short. I don’t get to travel as much as I’d like, but I’ll bet there are few people who wouldn’t say the same thing. I’d love to get into bike touring once my dissertation is defended and my second AmeriCorps year is over and my life gets a little more stable.
In DC a few weeks ago, we saw stands for the bike sharing program in Washington called Smartbike DC. One was even pretty close to our hotel. If we had more time, it would have been lovely to ride around, even to the Tori Amos concert we were in town to see (my early 30th birthday present). But we weren’t there long enough, and, well, it didn’t work out this time.
But, dang. Washington is flat! At least, compared to Baltimore it is. And those bikes look fun to ride. Next time. Next time!
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08.17.09 at 8:18 pm
Dan-o
Man, those things are cool looking.
08.17.09 at 11:40 pm
Johnny
A couple of the racks were empty that Saturday, which I guess is a good sign:)
08.18.09 at 7:01 am
-Vince
Remember… DC was built on a swamp. They are known for their steep terrain.
The empty rack makes me think that those bike are easy to steal. I wonder how they protect their investments from riding into the sunset.
08.18.09 at 9:27 am
Johnny
They were full on Friday, but I think folks checked them out Saturday. Those things were all over, which was awesome! I think I saw a few color schemes, too.
08.18.09 at 5:27 pm
Damon
Smartbike’s starting to take off. The up side is that they allow point to point travel, as opposed to Zip Car, which requires round trips. The downside is that they’re all anchored to Metro stops. So I haven’t been able to find a reason to use that vs my own bike, or Metro.
Johnny, I’d put DC on par with Baltimore for hills. Try getting out of Rock Creek Park, or downtown and you’ll see. Parts are very flat (within downtown, east to west in the middle of the city, Capitol Hill), but others will remind you of eastbound Northern Parkway and Coldspring Lane hills (off 83). Next time you’re here, let me know! Bring your bike! We’ll tour…hit a few beer spots!
@Vince–I don’t know that theft would be an issue so much as vandalism. DC is a target rich environment for bike thieves, so there’s less of a reason to steal a branded, easily recognizable bike when you can go for one that you can pass of as your own. Otherwise, the bikes are locked to the rack when not in use. The rider is responsible for security during use.