Capital Bikeshare: Easy for tourists, convenient for late-night revelers, it should be a big weekend for the 1,500-strong fleet of bulky red bicycles. District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle says Bikeshare is as popular as ever, with a five consecutive days last week in which the service registered more than 7,000 rides. The 8,295 rides last Saturday were the second-highest total since its inception. But things might get a little hectic near the National Mall on Sunday with the Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally (next photo) barreling into town. Lisle says the 400,000 expected bikers could make rebalancing the Bikeshare stations on and near the Mall a bit of a challenge. And Eric Gilliland, Capital Bikeshare’s general manager, writes in an email that while most weekends see the system get 60 percent of its use from members and 40 percent from single-day riders, the three-day weekend might be closer to a 50-50 split. Just please, whether you are a regular customer or a visitor buying a $7 day pass, don’t do this.

Photo by Chris DiGiamo

Capital Bikeshare, which has been monitoring the hurricane throughout the day, will close the system at 6:00 pm tonight due to expected high winds and heavy rain. All bikes out at that time can still be returned, but new rentals won’t be possible.