Capital Bikeshare and Exercise in the District

I have become addicted to bike riding. I'd forgotten how fun it can be to ride two wheels through a forest.

Actually, I only had that experience once, in an average sized park in Eastern Columbus. Needless to say, it was a glorified circle through the woods and the park. While I enjoyed it greatly, I did not have a vehicle to tote my bike to and from the park, and riding there and back would have been too long, and too dangerous of a trip. I did end up riding my bike around my hometown while I was in Ohio, before moving to college and dying on the hills.

I never knew what happened to that bike. It was a hybrid road/mountain bike, suitable for the dirt trails and concrete paths that crisscrossed the Warren Wilson campus. The bike survived the first two or so years of college, including being buried in three feet of snow during a torrential snow storm, and being left multiple places by a collegiate Nick who was too preoccupied with running around on adventures and making new friends. Come my junior year the bike just seemed to vanish from the summer hold. I think I spotted it around campus a couple of times, but it was now a part of the communal bikes of the college, to live on forever as spare parts or a refurb from the bike shop.

Georgetown Waterfront Park

Ever since then, I had not touched a bike or even thought about riding a bike. I developed a poisonous mindset about people who rode bikes and exercised. All the people I saw riding around in their spandex tights and neon logo shirts really got on my nerves. Why? Because I felt as though they were actively saying they were better than me and everyone else. They had the money to have fancy bikes, nice athletic clothes, and in my mind it seemed like most bike riders looked down as they passed other people walking or driving their cars, especially if said people were fat. The riders sporty glasses always seemed like they were angrily looking at me, and it seemed as though their minds were mentally telling me "Why aren't you doing this you lazy piece of shit?" This attitude stuck with me for all people doing any kind of physical fitness in public. Of course, these thoughts are nowhere close to being true. They were informed by the many childhood memories of being bullied and criticized. And of the relentless media message that I was never good enough.

A couple of weeks ago I had a paradigm shift. I went for an annual physical checkup, and my doctor diagnosed me as pre-diabetic based on my blood tests. My triglycerides were slightly elevated. Here I was, in a new city, walking more, eating healthier, and being overall happier. Since I had really cut back on the sweets and the unhealthy foods since Ohio, there was only one solid way to move forward: Exercise.

Because of my incorrect thoughts on people who exercise, I really, really, did not want to do exercise in the traditional "join a sweaty nasty smelling gym and be judged" method. After I researched up and down online, I could not find a sensible guide for how to start exercising. The top results consisted of fit people complaining about fat people taking up their machines, how to make sure you look the best to get the guy/girl when exercising, and how to not be judged when going to a gym. I couldn't find one article or any information about the regular logistics on what to buy, wear, or how to begin to go to the gym.

On top of the internet articles and my own perceptions, I think gyms are boring. There's nothing to do, nothing to see, and you're in a room with other people you don't really interact with. It seems like a terrible place to be, and that there are so many other places and exciting things people can be doing with their time. Even though my work has a very nice, very well air conditioned gym with lots of different equipment, these concerns have still prevented me from going. But then I discovered Capital Bikeshare.

Sunset on the Potomac

When you are in Washington DC it's hard not to see Capital Bikeshare (CB) bikes and stations. They are everywhere. People ride them everywhere. The stations seem to be on every street corner. And this is exactly why I decided to take the plunge and commit myself to a yearly membership. For the first month or so of me living here, I have seen all kinds of people using CB: Men and women in business suits doing small errand runs around the city; everyday hikers and residents using it to get from Point A to Point B; tourists using the bikes to ride up and down the National Mall and see the sights. Almost everyone I have seen using CB is not the stereotypical biker I have been use to for the past five years. The system really seems to be for anyone and everyone. This kind of exposure led me to join in. Because if I can see guys in suits riding alongside tourists in their vacation shorts, then this was a crowd I could feel comfortable riding with.

I have been using CB for about two weeks now, and I absolutely love it. I try to ride very day as much as I can. The system is ridiculously easy to use. Simply stick the key in the slot to unlock the bike, or use your credit card and get a code, and go. That's all there is to it. You don't have to worry about fixing the bike, maintaining it and all the equipment on it or anything. If there's ever a problem, you simply push the wrench on the stand when you put it back, and it gets fixed. I know this sounds like an infomercial, but that is pretty much the entirety this entire paragraph.

On top of being extremely convenient, CB also has done wonders for my health. I know it's cliche, but exercise does really make you sleep better and feel better. But before you start to turn away because you think I'm going to start spouting speeches like a fitness nut, please don't. I don't ride miles a day, and I still die on hills. I mostly ride downhill and on flat ground because it's all I can do. And I'm not going to push myself to do those in the foreseeable future. Goals are nice, but actually doing good things for your body is nicer, and there's no need to intimidate your mind into not doing anything with over ambitious goals or results. Right now I'm enjoying the wind in my hair, the adrenaline of going downhill at fast speeds, and seeing new places in the city without having to ride a hot and humid Metro to get there.

Finally, bikes are such a natural match to my desire to explore. On a bike I'm not static. I'm never in one place, watching a screen, or spinning a wheel. The wind carries the scents of the city, and my balance coordination and navigation skills lead me to places unknown. I've seen a sunset on the Potomac, the bustling of the National Harbor, the historic buildings of Anacostia, the woods along the Capital Crescent Trail, and the shores and islands of Arlington. All of it by bike, all of it fairly inaccessible by transit and walking alone.

Just today I was riding a bike down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Southwest Waterfront after a heavy heat-breaking rain, and I thought to myself with the Capitol in view: "There's something nice about this. Something about it just... fits."

View from the Frederick Douglas House in Anacostia