May 26, 2017
I Tried Capital Bikeshare and IÂ Loved it!Â
by Samantha Huff
It’s been almost a year since I took my first Capital Bikeshare trip from Rosslyn to Pentagon City, and I was hooked immediately.
As a native Northern Virginian who grew up biking between parks and landmarks, I was drawn to the idea of going from work to yoga along the scenic Mount Vernon trail.
On the day of my first Capital Bikeshare trip I was still hesitant to ride on the road with cars – this was during rush hour after all – so I cheated a little and picked up my bike at the Iwo Jima Memorial/N Meade & 14th St North station, which put me right on the trail to Memorial Bridge.
Maybe it was the wind blowing through my hair, or maybe it was passing all the cars trapped in a crawl on Washington Boulevard, I felt a sense of freedom as I pedaled my way eastward. Faster, more experienced bikers flew past me but I felt confident and comfortable, and the big red bike made me feel like I belonged with them.
I took a wrong turn by the Pentagon but discovered the Pentagon Lagoon Yacht basin between Boundary Channel Drive and Columbia Island. It’s a beautiful little site and I know I’ve driven by it man times without ever noticing it. This begged the question, what other hidden treasures can I find while biking that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise?
At the end of my trip, I had biked a little under four miles in about 27 minutes. According to my Capital Bikeshare account trip summary, I burned approximately 145 calories… not that I’m counting or anything!
At the time, SafeTrack was just beginning and segments of Metrorail were beginning to close or single track for long periods of time. But I saw it as an opportunity to explore new transportation options to get to and from work, and was excited about the new places I would discover by bike.
These days I use Capital Bikeshare more frequently to travel between meetings or when I don’t want to wait for a bus or train. I’ve gotten to know DC and Arlington a lot better and have even become a safer driver as a result. It’s such an easy and obvious way to get around and I’m so glad I got my membership!
Claudia is a Business Development Manager for goDCgo’s Residential Services team. To learn more about her program and how your residential property can begin offering transportation as an amenitity to tenants, visit goDCgo.com/residential.
