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Blog Entry 8 of 12 DNC Street Beat
Hello there, I'm Erin Feese, a community journalist for YourHub.com. I'm pounding the pavement during the Democratic National Convention Aug. 25 through 28 to offer a woman-on-the-street view of what is going down downtown.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~erinDNC

Freewheelin'

Contributed by: Erin Feese   on 8/27/2008

12:30 p.m. Aug. 26 -- I'd heard about the Freewheelin' program and seen the green tents all over downtown, so thought it was time I checked it out for myself.

Similar to the bike sharing program that has taken off in cities such as Paris and Berlin, Freewheelin' has set up seven stations in the downtown Denver area with a total of 1,000 bikes that are available to rent for free. You can rent a bike and then drop it off at any of the stations between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m..

I started at the station at 15th and Wynkoop. In less than 15 minutes, the friendly volunteers had me outfitted with a bike, a lock, a helmet and a map. All you need is a photo ID and a credit card (they swipe it for collateral just in case you don't return the bike).

You can also pre-register at www.freewheelinwaytogo.com before you come out.

Anyway, I haven't ridden a bike in literally years -- so I rode off a bit wobbily. The bike I rented was "self-shifting" which took a little getting used to, and it didn't always shift when I wanted it to. But overall, it was a nice bike, and did the job.

I soon felt the exhilaration of the wind in my hair as I breezed past the people on foot and waved jubilantly to other Freewheelers. I saw at least a dozen people sporting the telltale green stickers on their bikes on my trek to Tent State University (more on that in the next blog).

My childhood love for bike riding has been renewed, and now I am set on buying a bike. It's a whole new way to see downtown!

Hot and sweaty from my ride, I reluctantly handed over my bike at the station at 13th and Bannock St., near the Denver Art Museum.

"Are you returning? Great!" one volunteer exclaimed. When I asked how it was going, she gestured to the empty bike racks and said, "Well, we're out of bikes. People must have gotten the word."

Mitch Lubitz, communications manager with Freewheelin', told me that by the end of the first day of the convention, Aug. 25, more than 1,000 people had tried out the program. At about 2 p.m. Aug. 26, the number of riders was at 2,254.

"People love it. They like the idea of not having to find a parking space," Lubitz said. "We've had politicians, delegates, media, residents -- a real mix of people."

He said about 1,500 people from 44 states preregistered for the program.

Freewheelin will be in Denver through Aug. 28 before ridin' on to the Twin Cities for the Republican National Convention next week. If you can't make it downtown to try the program before then, thebike sharing program plans to donate 70 bikes to Denver. The location of the station or stations hasn't been determined.

My butt is a little sore, but I definitely recommend giving Freewheelin' a try.



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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Erin Feese

Denver , CO

Erin Feese has posted 12 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 6/7/2006. Erin Feese 's average blog rating is 5.
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