Marine Corps marathon

[PotomacCyclist]

Rebalancing will be difficult for Capital Bikeshare (moving bikes to empty stations and removing bikes from full stations). I’ve never used Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) during the Marine Corps Marathon but I would expect some of the stations to fill up quickly during the race. It will probably be hit and miss for you.

At the very least, I would download the free SpotCycle app. It’s available for Android and iPhone. You can check bike/dock availability in near real-time. However, the map on the app can be slow to load at times. I would also expect WiFi and cell networks to be jammed up in areas with a lot of spectators.

Other than that, I’d just say that you should be prepared for some overtime ride fees. If you get a 24-hr or 3-day membership, you can use the bikes as often as you want, as long as each individual trip is under 30 min. 59 sec. If a particular trip exceeds that time, you’ll get charged extra fees. The $2 charge for 30 min. to 60 min. isn’t too bad, but the fees start climbing rapidly after that.

60:01-90:00 – $6 total
90:01-120:00 – $14 total

At each half hour mark after that, the total charge increases to $22, $30, $38, $46 and up.

In most of the key spectator areas, there will be other bike stations not too far away from the ones closest to the race course. So if your 1st choice is full, take a detour and dock the bike and check it out again and return to the viewing area.

Both the CaBi website and the Spotcycle app will show you where those other stations are located. The paper maps at the bike stations don’t always have the most current station information. They don’t always list all the nearby bike stations. You scan through the map on their website a few times this week, to get some idea of other stations, in case your 1st choices are full on race day.

[scoot]

Does anyone know if people can bike across Memorial Bridge during this event?

Specifically, I’m hoping to get from Arlington to the Metro Center area between 1 and 1:30 pm. Is Fort Myer to Arlington Cemetery to Memorial Bridge an option? The official closure list says nothing about Memorial Bridge. WUSA9 does include it (along with Constitution and 23rd Sts, but curiously not Henry Bacon Drive) but doesn’t provide any closure times.

It looks like the marathon route uses VA-110 and Ohio Drive, so I wouldn’t be crossing the course itself at grade. Should I also expect the bridge sidewalks to be crowded with spectators?

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