Capital Bikeshare Is Throwing Itself a Public Birthday Party This Thursday

"CaBi," as Capital Bikeshare is affectionately known by its users, is turning one year old this Thursday. The private-public bike sharing organization is inviting the public to the party, and it does sound like fun. Here's the invitation:

Capital Bikeshare to Celebrate 

First Birthday

Public Invited to Free Festivities 

on September 22 

Capital Bikeshare celebrates its one-year anniversary on September 20, punctuating a tremendously successful debut. Since its launch in 2010, the bikesharing system has attracted over 17,000 members, logged nearly one million trips and amassed a total of 116 stations and 1,100 bicycles in the District and Arlington, VA, with more than 60 additional stations on the way.

To celebrate, Capital Bikeshare will host its First Birthday Bash on Thursday, September 22 at The Yards Park from 6-9 p.m. The party was planned to coincide with Car Free Day and Capital Bikeshare members are encouraged to take the Car Free pledge at www.carfreemetrodc.com. Admission is free and the festivities will include:

· Live music from 80’s cover band The Reflex
· Food trucks, including Red Hook Lobster Pound, Doug the Food Dude, Eat Wonky, Rolling Ficelle, Carnivore BBQ and Dippin’ Dots
· Free cupcakes from Sprinkles
· Free drinks from Honest Tea
· Games and craft brews from New Belgium Brewing to celebrate their launch into the DC market
· Giveaways, including exclusive CaBi Birthday Bash t-shirts to the first 1,000 guests, water bottles from Whole Foods, Capital Bikeshare helmets and bike lights from BikeArlington
· Moonbounces, bungee run, gladiator joust and wrecking ball
· Paper boy and slow bike races
· Raffle prizes
· Hoola hooping garden with HooperNATURAL
· The Natmobile on site with signups for free giveaways from the Washington Nationals
· Photos with plenty of fun props, courtesy of Smilebooth

10 Tips for Making the Most of Capital Bikeshare

by Herb Caudill

We're lucky in DC to have the biggest bike-sharing program anywhere in the US, with 1,100 bikes and 100 stations in DC and Arlington. I signed up for Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) when it first became available last fall, and it's the single best thing that the district government has done lately to improve my day-to-day life. Here in Cleveland Park we have stations at Newark & Connecticut (down from the 4 Fields), and Wisconsin & Macomb (in front of the Giant). There are also stations in Van Ness, Woodley Park, American University, Tenleytown, and Glover Park. 

Now that the weather is getting nicer, it's a great time to try it out. Here are 10 tips for getting the most out of Capital Bikeshare. 

1. Get the yearly membership. It's cheap - $75/year works out to about $1.50 a week, and for that flat fee you get unlimited rides (as long as your trips are under 30 minutes). It only takes a few seconds to sign up at www.capitalbikeshare.com .
2. Keep the key where you'll always have it with you. This little plastic rectangle is your key to the city, so keep it in your wallet or on your keyring. Once you get started, you'll notice that CaBi comes in handy in all sorts of unanticipated situations. You can use it for one-way trips, to go places where other public transportation is inconvenient (Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Georgetown), or just to shorten an otherwise long walk. 
3. Use the free mobile app (www.spotcycle.net, for iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android) to see where stations are, and which ones have bikes or empty docks. This site http://oobrien.com/vis/bikes/?city=washingtondc also provides a nice visualization of where there are available bikes or docks. 
4. Know where other stations are near your destination. Sometimes your preferred destination will be full, in which case you get another 15 minutes to leave it at another station nearby. This hasn't happened to me in a while, now that CaBi has figured out the daily patterns and keeps the bikes well distributed over the course of the day; but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
5. Learn your seat height. The big, comfy seats on CaBi's bikes are easily adjusted up and down, and the seat post is numbered so you can quickly set it to your preferred height.
6. Come as you are - You don't need special clothes. These bikes let you sit comfortably upright, and have chainguards and fenders so you won't get dirty. Spandex is all good and well, but it warms my heart to see civilians out and about in the city on their bikes in their regular clothes. A helmet is recommended, but it's not required (for adults) by DC law. 
7. Know where the bike lanes are. We're fortunate that DC's current and past administrations have all been committed to improving the infrastructure for cycling, and we have an excellent and growing network of bike lanes. Google Maps is a great resource - when you search for directions, just click the bicycle icon to get bike-specific directions and to see where the dedicated trails, bike lanes, and designated bike routes are. 
8. Know the rules of the road. You're allowed to ride in the street, in which case you have the same rights and duties that any vehicle has, including stopping at lights and stop signs. You're also allowed to ride on the sidewalk  anywhere in the city except for the central business district (between Mass, 23rd, and the Mall). There's a handy guide to DC, MD, and VA laws here: http://www.waba.org/resources/laws.php
9. Be courteous. Whether you're in the street or on the sidewalk, be especially considerate of the drivers and pedestrians around you. It's not exactly fair or logical, but for some reason jerks on bikes always come up as an argument against bicycle lanes (no one cites jaywalkers as a reason to get rid of sidewalks, or road rage as a reason to tear down freeways). We're all better off if there's broad public support for making cycling safer and more convenient, so go out of your way to be extra nice when you're on a bike.
10. Make sure the bike is securely locked when you return it. One of the most satisfying things about bikesharing is parking your bike in the dock and walking away, knowing the bike is no longer your problem. Do make sure that you hear it click into place, and see the light on the dock go green; if it doesn't lock securely you might be charged for extra time. (The one time this happened to me, CaBi's very friendly and helpful support staff at 1-877-430-BIKE was happy to reverse the charge.)

A New Way to Get Around DC

What if I were to tell you that there is a convenient method of transportation that would allow you to zip around town, flying past gridlocked traffic, at very low cost, on a zero-emissions vehicle that you can use without any kind of computerized reservation, and that you can pick up at any of dozens of locations (most near Metro stations) and leave at the location nearest your destination.  You'd think, "How is this possible?"

The answer is bike sharing, and it starts on Monday, Sept. 20 here in DC. Capital Bikeshare is signing up members now.  You can join for a $50 annual membership fee, or give it a one-month trial for $25, or pay $5 for a one-day trial. Once you're registered, Capital Bikeshare will mail you a key that unlocks any of its available bikes, which you can then ride for up to a half hour for free. (The next half hour is only a buck and a half.) You'd need to be an awfully slow biker to need more than an hour to get from point A to point B almost anywhere in the District.