Originally Posted by
Matt144
Actually, I would be hesitant. In DC, big events usually end up with "Dock-Blocking." When everyone takes a CaBi down to the event, and there's not enough space in the stations to drop the bike off. You then either have to carry the bike around with you and pay for the time, or drop it off way out of the way. They have started setting up corral services for big events and morning rush hours, so you may want to see if they plan on that for the festival. Honestly, you're fine locking up your bike downtown with a U-lock, especially during a daytime festival. There will probably be a thousand other bikes locked up in the area as well.
I ended up riding my own bike to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Mall. As it turned out, I would have been screwed either way - lots of tourists and others folks renting out CaBi bikes, and every legit bike rack was full. Lots of cyclists resorted to locking their bikes to parking meters, trees, even some of the fencing at the festival. A few just kept their bikes with them wherever they went. I ended up locking my bike to a parking meter, with the U-lock below the meter so that it couldn't be pulled up - just about everybody who used a U-lock did that. Also used a cable looped through the saddle in a manner similar to this, except with the cable run through the front wheel, as the rear wheel has a frame lock and with its IGH is a royal PITA to take off anyway:
How to lock your bike - Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
Bike was fine when I returned to it, except for bird poop on the saddle.