BikeShare the Mall with Me

Continuing down the list of "things I've never done, but have always wanted to do," my Mom and I joined Capital BikeShare for the day and biked the mall. 

We picked up our bikes by my office/The Capitol, and made our way down the mall to the Lincoln memorial.  It was a spectacular day (weather-wise) for riding bikes.  In terms of ease, though, well, let's just say I was sweaty-palmed and white-knuckled for most of the ride.

The day was beautiful, alright, so beautiful that seemingly every man, woman, and child within a 25 mile radius had the same idea we did.  Not to mention it was also the National Storytelling Festival, so between Constitution and Independence from the Washington Monument to the Capitol was a solid, seething mass of tired/excited kids and just plain tired parents.

It was a dodge-and-weave situation for much of the afternoon.  I'm pretty sure I lost 3 pounds in water weight just from the amount of stress sweating happening during the ride.  Confession: this may come as a surprise, but I'm just not that adventurous.  Bike ride alone on the paths at the mall? A-ok.  Bike ride with 100,000 other people who all (myself included) have no idea what they're doing? No, gracias.

I was feeling pretty proud that I made it all the way down to the Lincoln in my nervous state.  My mom was great to put up with my constant breaking and oft-panicked facial expressions.

Verdict: both awesome and awesomely stressful.  I'm excited to go again when there isn't a child-friendly event.  Maybe in the evening when the monuments are lit up?  Who's with me?