Black Crowes – "Let Me Share the Ride" (1996)

Let me share the ride

Let me share the ride

A few days ago, I was riding my bike on the Sligo Creek hiker-biker trail and minding my own business when I saw this shared bike parked just off the trail:

A few minutes later, I saw this shared bike:

Shortly after that, I saw this pair of shared bikes parked side by side:

I counted 20-odd shared bikes parked along the six miles of the Sligo Creek trail that I covered on my ride.  None of them had been left anywhere near a Metro station or bus stop or major intersection.  

What the hell?

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The Washington area is awash in shared bicycles.

Capital Bikeshare, which has been around since 2010, is the largest of the DC-area shared-bike operations with more than 4300 bikes spread out among almost 500 docking stations in the District of Columbia and suburban Maryland and Virginia.

A Capital Bikeshare bike

I purchased a Capital Bikeshare membership last summer.  For $85 a year, I can take an unlimited number of rides.  But I can’t keep a bike more than 30 minutes without paying an extra charge.  

Sometimes the docking stations where Capital Bikeshare bicycles are deployed are empty.  That’s bad if you’re looking for a bike to ride:

Other times the docking stations are filled to capacity.  That’s bad if you’re looking to drop off a bike at the end of a ride:

A few months ago, I planned to ride a Capital Bikeshare bike the mile or so from a Metro station to my dentist’s office.  But the docking station nearest the dentist was completely full – so I couldn’t leave my bike there.  The two next-closest stations were also filled up.  I had to go to a fourth docking station to find an empty space to park the bike.

That’s important because you have to secure the bike to a dock or take the risk that someone will steal it – leaving you on the hook for a $1200 lost bike fee.

The good news is that no one in his or her right mind would steal a Capital Bikeshare bike.  They are heavy and ungainly and uncomfortable, and I can’t imagine riding one more than a few miles.

But for me they are the best alternative when it comes to covering short distances in downtown DC because they’re faster than walking and less expensive than cabs or the Metro.  (Plus cabs get hung up in traffic, and you usually have to wait a few minutes for the next Metro train to show up – so bikes usually get you where you want to go just as fast.)

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Last September, the county where I live – Montgomery County, Maryland – allowed four dockless bike-sharing companies to place their bikes on the mean streets of Silver Spring.

The biggest advantage of dockless bikes is that you aren’t required to check them out from or return them to a docking station – you can grab one wherever you find it, and leave it wherever you want.

Feel like leaving your shared bike on its side out in the middle of nowhere?  No problem:

The biggest disadvantage of dockless bikes is that there’s no guarantee that there will be a bike available at any particular bike location.  And dockless bikes are sometimes left blocking sidewalks or doorways by their I-can’t-be-bothered riders.

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LimeBike, which is the largest dockless bikeshare operator in the U.S., has raised $62 million from investors and has placed some 10,000 bikes in 30 American cities.  They dropped off 240 of their green and yellow bikes in Silver Spring last October:

I saw 16 of them along the stretch of the Sligo Creek trail I rode.  I suppose it’s possible that someone taking a walk on the trail might decide to hop on one of them and ride it back to downtown Silver Spring, but it’s far more likely that the company will have to ferry them back in one of its trucks it uses to reposition its bikes where they are needed.

I also saw four Mobike bikes and five Ofo bikes sitting along the trail.  Each of those companies are Beijing-based behemoths that own millions of bikes and operates in hundreds of cities, mostly in China (where bikesharing is hugely popular) but also in other countries.

An Ofo shared bike
parked next to a Mobike

I saw only one Spin bike.  Spin is a West Coast startup company like LimeBike that’s also investing in shared electric scooters:

As I previously noted, none of those bikes had been left anywhere near a Metro station or bus stop or major intersection.  I can only guess that most of them were ridden by returning commuters to the point on the trail nearest their homes.  They presumably left the bikes there and walked to their residences.  (I’m not sure why you wouldn’t just ride the bike all the way to your house, unless there is some rule against parking on sidewalks in residential neighborhoods that I don’t know about.) 

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The dockless bikeshare companies operating in the DC area charge $1 per 30 minutes of usage.  You find bikes – which have built-in GPS technology – by using an app, and you use the same app to unlock the bike built-in locking mechanism.

I’ve not been tempted to try one of the dockless bikes.  For one thing, I have my Capital Bikeshare membership, so I can ride their bikes for free.  (David Copperfield’s old nurse, Peggotty, described her husband as being “close” with money.  I’m a bit close with my money as well.)

For another, I’m not too excited about downloading the app, opening a new account, and figuring out how the checkout system works.

Too damn complicated

The dockless bikes do look a little more nimble and rideable that the Capital Bikeshare clunkers, but they aren’t nearly as nimble and rideable as my own bikes.

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“Let Me Share the Ride” was released in 1996 on Three Snakes and One Charm, the fourth Black Crowes studio album.  

The song is about hitchhiking, not bikesharing, but . . . whatever.

Melody Maker once described the Black Crowes as “The Most Rock ’n’ Roll Rock ’n’ Roll Band in the World.”  I don’t know about that, but I do know that “Hard to Handle” and “Remedy” are silly records.

Here’s “Let Me Share the Ride”:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Loudon Wainwright III – "Tip That Waitress" (1993)

She handles her tray with panache and aplomb

Her brother's a Quaker, her dad was in ‘Nam

Tip that waitress!

The first three weeks of my life as a retired guy have been mostly about (1) grandsons, (2) biking, and (3) beer.

The last couple of 2 or 3 lines posts focused exclusively on biking and beer.  This one mixes in some grandson stuff, as well as some incisive social commentary.

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The day after I returned from my Virginia Capital Trail trip, I headed to Capitol Hill to visit my younger grandson, Thomas.

I took the subway to Union Station, where I used my Capital Bikeshare membership to unlock a shared bike to ride to Tommy’s house:

Capital Bikeshare bikes are heavy and clumsy.  You don’t want to ride one very far.  

But there are Capital Bikeshare docking stations all over DC and the surrounding suburbs, and the price to ride them is right – $85 for a year’s membership, which entitles you to an unlimited number of rides as long as they last no longer than 30 minutes.  (I’m not sure what the reason for that annoying policy is.)

I loaded Tommy into his stroller and we headed to Lincoln Park, which is the largest park on Capitol Hill.  It’s a very popular destination for city dwellers looking for some open space for their kids and their dogs to enjoy.  

See the statue behind Tommy and me in this selfie?

Here’s a closeup of it.  It depicts Abraham Lincoln emancipating a slave:

Tommy was seven months old the day I took him to Lincoln Park.  He’s an affable lad, but he's sort of a one-trick pony: he doesn’t do much more than stick stuff into his mouth:

(Nice hat!)

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After returning Tommy to his mother, I checked out another shared bike and rode to a docking station near Public Option, a small brewpub I had heard about only recently.

Unfortunately, that docking station was filled up – there was no room at the inn, so to speak.  So I had to ride to another docking station six blocks away and walk back to Public Option.

A Capital Bikeshare docking station

I called the Capital Bikeshare customer service line and politely expressed my displeasure with their misfeasance and stupidity while walking back to Public Option.  (I don’t know much the guy who answered my call gets paid, but it’s not enough to have to deal with assh*les like me.)

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Public Option is a small, no-frills microbrewery that's about three miles north of Lincoln Park:  

A sign on the door said that Public Option’s maximum capacity was 134 people.  I would have guessed more like 34– seating was limited to a few picnic tables out front, maybe half a dozen small tables inside, and four spots at the bar.

But there were half a dozen Public Option beers on tap and free Cheez-Its:

And the brewery’s owner and the young lady helping him pour pints couldn’t have been friendlier and more welcoming.

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One thing that’s unique about Public Option is its strict “no tips allowed” policy.  Here’s what its website has to say about that policy:

THOUGHTS ON TIPPING PRACTICES

Market-based economies have bestowed innumerable benefits on humanity throughout our history by enforcing a dynamism in the ways we produce and distribute goods and services.  From ancient bazaars to the New York Stock Exchange, markets have flourished under a wide variety of rules. . . .

One established "rule" or norm in restaurants is the practice of tipping.  When I eat out, I normally leave 20%.  I know that the servers can't live on their base pay.  And I assume that they will share some of their tip income with other staff.  But let's take a look at what these assumptions rests on.  If I see that an establishment lists the price of a beer as $6, I know that the actual price is 20% higher, or $7.20.  Further, I assume that the staff at the establishment is not being paid a living wage and that it is up to me as a customer to step in with a subsidy.

You won't find one of
these at Public Option

The tipping system has worked pretty well in restaurants for many years.  But it has its flaws.  Although staff at some restaurants make a very solid living on tips, at other places tip-based income can be unpredictable.  Additionally, gender, age and racial biases can skew outcomes for individuals.  And the dynamic is complicated, with servers relying on their employment at an establishment to give them access to their wages, but relying on individual customers for those wages.  We believe it's time to try some alternatives.

The Public Option pays a starting wage of $15/hour and provides full-time (40 hours/week) work.  We ask customers not to leave tips as our prices provide for living wages for all employees.  If a customer leaves a tip, it will be added to a fund which will be donated to a local non-profit to be decided on by the staff.

Can this work?  Will this model accrue a competitive advantage to The Public Option?  Will we play a part in displacing a flawed incumbent system with something better?  Or will we just crash and burn?  Who knows?  

I don’t have strong feelings about tipping.  I’m a pretty cheap guy, so you would think I be in favor of a no-tipping policy.   But tipping doesn’t really bother me – I understand what the expectations are when it comes to tipping at restaurants and bars, so I factor that into the equation.

Having said that, I’m all in favor of the Public Option trying something different instead of just going along with the crowd.  “Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend,” as that dirty Commie Mao Tse-Tung once said.  (Yes, I know it’s spelled “Mao Zedong” nowadays but I grew up spelling it the other way.)

Chairman Mao

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A 2010 article in the International Journal of Hospitality management reported the results of research showing that the lyrical content of songs played in restaurants has a significant effect on tipping behavior.

One would think that every waitress in the country would be pushing her boss to put today’s featured song on the playlist at the restaurant or bar where she works.

“Tip That Waitress” was released on Loudon Wainwright III’s 1993 live album, Career Moves, which was recorded at the Bottom Line in New York City:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

Five Americans – "Western Union" (1967)

Got your cable just today

Killed my groove I've got to say

(It sucks when your groove gets killed, doesn't it?)

The United States is a very different place than it was a decade ago, thanks primarily to an explosion in the number of microbreweries and bicycle-sharing networks.

Here are some fun facts about microbreweries:

– There were 4131 breweries in the United States in 1873.  But there were just 89 in 1978, most of which were operated by a just a few large breweries.  

– That increased to 110 in 1985, 858 in 1995, 1477 in 2005, and 4269 in 2015.

Some of the beers brewed in the Washington area

– There are 70-plus breweries in the Washington, DC, area – that’s more than any other city in the Eastern time zone except for New York City.  Many of those are in the city, and are very accessible even if you don’t have a car. 

And here are some fun facts about bicycle-sharing programs:

– More than 700 cities worldwide operate bicycle-sharing networks, which allow riders to borrow a bike at one station and return it at another station a short time later.

 – The Chinese cities of Wuhan and Hangzhou operate the largest systems in the world, with 90,000 and 60,000 available bikes, respectively.  The only non-Chinese city to crack the top 12 is Paris; its Vélib’ system has over 18,000 bikes, or one bike for every 97 residents. 

A Capital Bikeshare bike

– In 2008, Washington, DC, became the first city in North America to build a bike-sharing network.  Today, Capital Bikeshare is the third-largest system in the United States (after New York City and Chicago), with over 3000 bikes available at 370 stations in DC and three adjoining suburban jurisdictions — Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland.

Put microbreweries and bikesharing together and what have you got?  You’ve got my day last Friday.

After lunch with my older son and his wife, I headed to the Capital Bikeshare docking station nearest to my office in downtown Washington, DC, and checked out a bike.

Capital Bikeshare docking station

Like most bike-sharing networks, Capital Bikeshare is easy to use as long as you have a credit card.

You insert the card at a Capital Bikeshare station and choose between a single trip for $2, a one-day pass for $8, a 30-day pass for $28, or an annual membership for $85.   Enter the code into the docking mechanism to unlock your bike, and off you go.

Capital Bikeshare stations are
everywhere in downtown Washington

I chose a one-day pass, which allows as many rides as I want to take for a 24-hour period.  I can pick up a bike at any docking station and return it at any another station.  The only catch is that any single ride that is not completed in 30 minutes or less triggers an additional fee.  (This isn’t as big a problem as you might think.  If you’re trying to get somewhere that’s more than half an hour’s ride from your starting point, you can always stop at an intermediate station, return your bike, check it out again, and continue your ride.)

My first stop: the Right Proper brewpub

From 7th and F — which is just in front of Washington’s most beautiful public building, the Old Patent Office Building, which now houses two Smithsonian art museums — I rode 1.3 miles north on 7th to T Street, docked my bike at about 2:00 pm, and walked one block to the Right Proper Brewing Company’s brewpub and restaurant, where I tasted Blanc Slate (a farmhouse ale) and Baron Corvo (a strong “keeping beer” that is fermented in large oak barrels, which gives it a somewhat vinous character).

The first beer of the day

At 3:30 pm, I walked back to the same docking station and rode 3.5 miles (east on T, right on Florida Avenue, left on R, right on the Metropolitan Branch Trail, left on M, right on 4th Street N.E., left on L, left on West Virginia Avenue, left on Fenwick, and right on New York Avenue) to the bikesharing station nearest my second stop of the day, Atlas Brew Works.  From there it was about a half mile to the brewery, where I arrived about five minutes after it had opened at 4:00 pm.

Tasting at Atlas Brew Works

Atlas CEO Justin Cox and my older son were at Vanderbilt University together.  Both then went to law school.  My son went to work at a big Washington law firm, while Justin founded a really cool microbrewery.  (Justin’s dad is sooooo lucky!)

I sampled several Atlas beers, including its District Common and its 1500 (similar to a German Helles lager).  Unfortunately, the Atlas tap room had just run out of Town and Country, a Belgian strong ale that’s aged in red wine barrels. :-(

A recycled beer-barrel urinal at Atlas

At 4:30, I returned to the same docking station, checked out a bike, and headed for the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, which was 1.7 miles away.  (I went south on Fenwick, left on West Virginia Avenue, left on Montana Avenue, left on W Street, right on Brentwood Road, through the Home Depot parking lot, and left on Washington Place, which dead-ended at the Metro station.)

A Red Line train

I headed north on Metro’s Red Line and got off at the second stop, Fort Totten, where I checked out my fourth bike of the day at about 5:30 pm and rode 0.8 miles to Hellbender Brewing.  (I went up the hill on 1st Place N.E., right on Riggs Road, left on 3rd, and left on 2nd.)

A yoga class at Hellbender Brewing

There were no Capital Bikeshare stations near Hellbender, an unpretentious and out-of-the-way little brewery, so I knew I was going to miss the half-hour deadline for the first time all day.  Keeping the bike for an hour instead of 30 minutes cost only $2 more, and it was happy hour at Hellbender, which meant I saved a buck on the four-beer flight I ordered.

My Hellbender favorites were its Bare Bones Kölsch and its appropriately-named Red Line red ale, but all four of the beers I sampled there went down easy:

Beer and dill-pickle-flavored chips at Hellbender

At 6:20 pm I was back on the Red Line, heading for a classy downtown eatery for one more beer (a Devils Backbone Schwarzbier) and some tasty deviled eggs topped with even tastier fried oysters.

By 8:00 pm, I was back on the Metro, where I promptly fell asleep.  Fortunately, I woke up just in time to hop off the train at my stop.

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The Five Americans, who were originally called the Mutineers, met each other in 1962, when they were students at Southeastern State College (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) in Durant, Oklahoma.

I used to pass through Durant when I was driving home from college and vice versa.  It is home to the “World’s Largest Peanut” statue, although many say that statue is most definitely not the world’s largest peanut.  

Never a dull moment in Durant!

“Western Union,” which was a #5 single for the Five Americans in 1967, has nothing to do with breweries or bicycles — shared or otherwise.  But it’s a great little sixties Top 40 tune that popped up on my iPod while I was on the microbrewery-by-bicycle tour I wrote about in this post.  That’s enough to qualify it to be today’s featured song.

Thanks to TV and the movies, I know all about telegrams even though I never received one.  But I'm guessing that my kids don’t have a clue what these lines from “Western Union” mean:

Western Union man

Bad news in his hand . . .

Fifteen cents a word to read

A telegram I didn't need

Here’s “Western Union”:

Click below to buy the song from Amazon: