Those areas will probably be no bikes too, though who knows.

We will go in as far as possible on the bikes and then lock them up and walk. We'll get as close as we can before it gets dumb and we get cold, and then sit tight or turn back.

Just curious--how did it go biking to the inauguration? Were there lots of bicyclists? How was parking?

Thanks!

(obviously, I wish I was there and I know that biking would be the best way to get around. but, then again, with a million people I could see issues developing)

Here's some news from gwd, a BF member who worked in the bike valet station at the Inauguration.

Biking was great, the whole family went with some friends. Really no problems with traffic. Parking was a snap too, the Park Service had lined the entire mall with bike racks. Actually the Park Service probably thinks of them as portable fencing, but they worked as bike racks for thousands of people.

^^^ I was gonna say, I didn't see any bike racks, just lots of portable fences and barricades.. ;)

I left the bike at home and walked. I live a block from the Senate, though, so distance wasn't an issue. I didn't leave home until almost 10, so I ended up following the herds through the middle of downtown, around the White House, then down to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

I watched the oaths on the jumbotrons by the WWII memorial, listened to Obama's speech, then gradually made my way east once the crowds started to clear out.

So, now I'm off of my feet for the first time in 8 hours or so. Really a huge day here.

Really a huge day everywhere in America.

True, but as far as DC and big events with huge crowds are concerned, nothing else compares.

So far no crowd size extimates, because they have nothing to compare it with. CNN ciommissioned satellite photos and they have intelligence analysts trying to come up with an estimate from those.

I kept hearing "2 million people..." but I think these were just early guesses.

Biked down, and even got my wife (not a cyclist) to bike down with me! Actually, she wanted to. It was great. We had sections of closed-off road all to ourselves, like around Dupont. We got up to the checkpoints, so did not go onto the mall, but rode our bikes around the glee-filled streets of downtown after the inauguration. Got some pics and vids. Will post at some point. Biking was definitely the way to go!

I believe that figure -- at least 2, if not more.

Inauguration Bike Pics
 

Here are some pics of the scene after Inauguration

++1. Been here all my life and have never seen ANYTHING like this. Truly an amazing day. :beer:

What a glorious day. I biked down the Capital Crescent and used the exceedingly well organized bike valet parking at 16th & K. Kudos to the volunteers and organizers. It took me just a few minutes to drop off my bike and even less to pick it up in late afternoon. I brought a pair of lightweight hiking boots to change into and a pair of jeans to put over my cycling tights after I got downtown. I met a friend at a nearby Starbucks and we walked to the Mall and found a good place to stand near the base of the Washington Monument facing the Capitol with nearby jumbotrons. The crowd was in a joyous mood. I've never seen a crowd like that before, and doubt I will ever again.

I love bike valets. If you don't have them at a big event, the bikes get all jumbled together like hurricane debris. I was at an Obama campaign rally in October. One girl was crying because a stranger had carelessly locked his bike to hers. She was late for work because she had to wait for him to come and unlock it.

Those look great. I live in the Chicago suburbs and didn't go downtown then election night and regret it now. The husband of one of our receptionists is a retired Chicago cop, one of the group that assaulted the protesters during the 1968 Democratic convention, and he was ready to go back for a repeat performance that night. Glad to see that nothing like that happened at either place - especially glad to see so many people bicycled to both events.

Just got the hi-res sat images from 11:20am Tuesday pass over DC. PM me your email if you want a copy, but be prepared to recieve a 7mb file to whatever address you submit. These haven't gone to press yet from my understanding

I biked down with my wife. Left at 10 am, got in at 11, watched the ceremony, home by 2 pm to watch the parade on TV and warm up our toes. We locked up right on Constitution and 21st. No problem with crowds, lots of portapotties, no cars on the streets. Rode on the empty highway for a while back home. Biking is the best form of transportation ever. I saw lots of cyclists, though it would have been more in warmer weather.

I biked in from Rockville on the %$#!! Rock Creek trail. You can read all about it on my blog.

I must say that I was kind of put off by some of the attitudes here about how inconvenient it would be and who wants to be in DC with all those people. It was great and kudos to WABA for making it easy.

http://web.mac.com/harrycampbell1/iW...28BB71DB1.html

I rode in with a few friends. we didn't get much ceremony time because we did not check our bikes in. Once it got too crowded we moved to another spot. I really just enjoyed riding empty streets. It was almost surreal like a zombie or end of world movie having entire streets, highways and bridges to ourselves. Rolled through Gtown, up to Adams Morgan to a few bars and around town some more.

Difference of opinions. Me, I'm crowd phobic, wasn't going near the place.

Here's a link to the satellite image:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44....all.satellite/

I was standing in the large mass on the east side of base of the Washington Monument. From ground level, it looked like it was a nearly solid mass of people all the way to the Capitol. When the ceremony ended and we walked over to the west side of the monument to head toward 18th & Constitution, everyone in my area was astonished to see people all the way to the Lincoln Memorial (there were jumbotrons all the way to the Lincoln). But from the satellite photos, it was evident that people were in a series of distinct masses along the Mall. The spaces were due to either being fenced off and/or not being able to view a jumbotron from the area.

There really wasn't anything on the Mall that was truly fenced off. The parade route was blocked, as was the staging areas for parade performers (the Ellipse for the civilian marching bands, and something like 4th or 6th for floats and horses). Other than that, it appeared that anyone could go anywhere as long as they were willing to loop around the barriers.

If the satellite photo was taken at the moment of the oath of office, I was standing just about 30 yards west of the WWII Memorial, on the north edge of the reflecting pool, about halfway along the short, slightly widened section of the pool.

gwd, is one of the bike valet stations visible in the image?

Hmm -- CCrew, do you know when that image was taken? Judging by the angle of the shadow of the Washington Monument, it looks (to my untrained eye) like it was well before noon. Maybe 11:15-11:20?

If that's the case, I was still walking. I'd put myself between north of the White House and on my way down the hill from Rawlins Park.

Here's a link to the Washington Post's image, which states it was taken at 11:19am. I haven't compared the two to ascertain if they're the same image.

http://specials.washingtonpost.com/i.../?hpid=topnews

There were several areas that I could see just east of the Wash. Monument which were fenced off due to various reasons, such as a big tower with a few people standing on top. Security or cameras, I would guess.

Could anyone else hear the chanting from just east of the Monument when W's face first appeared on the jumbotrons as he was walking inside the Capitol? Thousands were singing, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye". Also, the nearest row of porta-potties I could see each had a person sitting on top for a better view! Not sure how they got up on top.