Photo by Karon.

When it comes to getting around Washington, an impromptu, late-night party outside the White House sounds like precisely the kind of thing that Capital Bikeshare was designed for — after all, the revelry lasted well after midnight, so Metro wasn’t really an option. (And driving? Forget about it.) So it’s not shocking that a large number of Washingtonians decided to hop on a big red bike to make their way down to the White House. The big question: what did all those people do with those bikes when they got there?

This morning, we spoke with DDOT spokesperson John Lisle, who confirmed that Bikeshare experienced “very high ridership between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. last night” — 558 rentals, including more than 300 between midnight and 2 a.m. (Clearly more than the three stations closest to the White House could handle.) Lisle did note that a large majority of the renters “were casual users,” and that there were still a few bikes rented during that time span which still had not yet been returned to a dock. (DDOT wouldn’t give out the exact number of bikes that were still missing.) That in and of itself isn’t too suprising — after all, people are welcome to hold on to the bikes for up to 24 hours, so long as they pay the usage fees. (Keeping the bike for longer than 24 hours, though, will set you back a cool $1,000.)

But what about mixups which may have arose when people placed their bikes on makeshift “bike racks” around Lafayette Square, went to celebrate, then came back and accidentally grabbed someone else’s bike?

“We haven’t had any complaints about bike mixups,” said Lisle. “But if there is a mixup, they should call the Bikeshare customer service hotline.” (That’s 1-877-430-BIKE.)

Given the number of Bikeshare cycles which were in use around the White House last night and the size of the crowd, we’re willing to bet there’s at least one person who — if not today — will probably get a surprising bill sometime soon and will be frantically dialing that number.