If you're attending the ultimate blowout -- the concert and fireworks on the National Mall -- there's generally only one catch: getting there. And getting back. (Does that count as a second catch, or is it still part of the first one?)
Listen, buddy, no one WANTS to deal with the lack of parking, traffic jams and crowded Metros full of tourists.
So are you feeling particularly impervious to being hit by cars? Great! Ride your bike to the Mall!
This Fourth of July, from 2-10:30 p.m., the Washington Area Bike Association is providing a free bike valet service. Drop off your big-kid two-wheeler with a bike babysitter, and pick it up when you're ready to leave. Sounds pretty sweet, right? (Don't lie -- we know you're just dying to see Aretha Franklin, Natasha Bedingfield and Barry Manilow perform. Nerd!)
You can find bike valets at the southwest corner of 15th Street N.W. and Independence Avenue S.W., and also at the southeast corner of the Lincoln Memorial.
WMATA will not be allowing bikes on Metrorail July 4, but your bike is still welcome on Metrobuses -- or, more accurately, dangling dangerously off the front of the Metrobuses.
Basically, this whole bike valet thing is a win-win-win situation -- your bike stays safe and secure, your trip is easier AND you're being environmentally friendly. Just remember, wear your helmet. Well, you can take it off during the festivities. Otherwise you'd just look weird.
