As we’ve mentioned before, genuine flattery goes a long way with us at Capital Bikeshare, especially when you boast about your key fob in front of people (we love that!) – that’s why when Fred G. submitted his entry in hopes of becoming December’s Member of the Month, we just couldn’t say no.

Being one of the “lucky founders of the program,” as Fred so eloquently puts it, he’s made Capital Bikeshare a staple in his life ever since the midnight registration back in September of 2010.

While reading over the submissions our members send us in hopes of being selected as the next Member of the Month, we have the tendency to get a bit, well, “overexcited,” from the creativity of our loyal members.
This month’s winner is the epitome of what we mean, and after the awe effect wore off, we had to do a double-take with Phil Y.’s story… or would MacGyver be a more apt name? You be the judge.

Flattery will get you absolutely everywhere with Capital Bikeshare! That’s why when casual CaBi user Jefferson S. asked us to hook him up with a Capital Bikeshare bicycle to participate in the Nation’s Triathlon, we just had to make him our next Member of the Month. Because seriously? A triathlon? What was he thinking? We’ll let Jefferson tell you himself what he loves about the Capital Bikeshare program and what possessed him to choose one of our solid little red bikes for a race.

At Capital Bikeshare, we really like numbers – miles traveled, trips taken, calories burned – the bigger the better, as far as we’re concerned! That’s why when it came to choosing our newest Member of the Month, we asked ourselves, “Hmmm….who is our oldest member?” The answer to that, friends, is one Mr. William N., age 79 and a member of Capital Bikeshare for nearly two years. We caught up with William for a brief chat about his experience as a member, and we think he serves as a great example of how Capital Bikeshare really does work for a broad spectrum of people of all ages. Read on for more about our August Member of the Month.

Larry Taylor has biked almost 100 miles across DC since getting his Capital Bikeshare membership in May.  But Larry is used to clocking big-time mileage, having run 220 miles as member of the Back on My Feet (BoMF) running team.

BoMF is a non-profit that promotes the self-sufficiency of those experiencing homelessness through running.  Larry joined the team at Clean and Sober Streets in September 2011 and has made significant strides, competing in road races from 5K’s (3.1 miles) to 10K’s (6.2 miles). In his journey to overcome homelessness and addiction, physical exercise has played a major role. Given the rising costs of transportation, Capital Bikeshare offers an inexpensive, healthy alternative that complements his new active lifestyle.

Larry is using his Capital Bikeshare membership to attend job interviews and GED prep classes.  He recently celebrated his one-year sobriety milestone, and has successfully completed BoMF’s Next Steps Core Curriculum, which includes four hours of financial literacy education with Bank of America and eight hours of job readiness training with Accenture.

Larry is certainly on track to hold the lead in the race for his life and everyone that meets him knows he’ll keep reaching for greater distances beyond the finish line. So without further ado, here’s more about our latest member of the month, Larry T., in his own words…

In honor of the month of Father’s Day, we chose Steve G. as our June Member of the Month after he wrote to us about the impact that Capital Bikeshare has had, not only on his own life, but on his son’s as well. Steve writes:

Not the most compelling CaBi member of the month story [oh, it’s compelling, Steve!], but I’m a Bikeshare Dad. I ride with my son who is in the second grade and has his own bike. He knows how much I rely on its service and that it gets me home from work to see him faster than any other mode. Instead of asking how many years until he is old enough to get the car keys, he wants to know when he can get his own Capital Bikeshare key fob.

Steve had some outstanding answers to the rest of our questions too. Read on for more about how Capital Bikeshare has transformed his life and how he has used it to bond with his son.

Wow, did we have a load of great submissions this time for our May Member of the Month! It’s always hard to choose just one, but Julie M.’s story stood out to us because she is making the world a better place for our geriatric citizens of the District – and she’s taking Capital Bikeshare along for the ride! Here’s what Julie told us:

Don’t diss the ‘burbs! Our April Member of the Month, Mike E. of Fairfax, VA, proves you don’t have to live in the District or Arlington to make Capital Bikeshare a big part of your life. When Mike had finally had enough of his 75-90 minute car commute to Navy Yard every day, he started eying CaBi as the potential silver bullet for alleviating his commuting nightmare.

Normally, we write up a recap of everything we found most interesting about our Member of the Month. But we had to break with that tradition this month and just let Martha S. speak for herself (with occasional commentary in brackets). We think you’ll see why:  (click the post link to read more…)

We might never have known about Fritz S., our November Capital Bikeshare Member of the Month, had it not been for a very convincing submission on his behalf by his devoted girlfriend, Claire. Sure, we know he’s a member. We have his personal information. We even know where he lives. But without Claire’s touching email to us, truly a testament to her love for him, we never would have gotten to see the real Fritz S.—a man in love with his key fob.

Our September Capital Bikeshare Member of the Month was actually nominated by a friend—that’s how amazing (and humble) she is. We chose Pam D. because of her sheer chutzpah as a one-woman marketing machine, who’s not afraid to startle fellow CaBi riders that she spies on the street with shouts of “Yeah bikeshare!” And also because she really wants a Capital Bikeshare hat, which pulled at our heart strings.  Although her friend, Allison, had plenty of gems about Pam to share with us (Pam has a full-page Capital Bikeshare ad hanging over her desk), we’ll let you hear the rest from the winner herself:

Our Capital Bikeshare Member of the Month, Larry M., is a solutions man. We like that. When the responsibilities of parenthood dragged him away from his beloved bicycle-commuting habits—with morning school drop-offs, conjugal carpooling and the like—did Larry curl up in a fetal position and curse his fate? No. No, he did not. He became a Capital Bikeshare member instead. Since November, 2010, Larry has been making use of Capital Bikeshare at least twice a day throughout the work week, both for meetings and to “commute from downtown to the bus stop at the bottom of the big hill.” You know. The big hill. With the bus stop. Read on for more about Larry-the-Dad-Who-Overcame-Children-and-Hills-to-Ride-Again:

After hours of heated, closed-room debates a very cordial email chain about who to choose as our July Capital Bikeshare Member of the Month, we finally settled upon Rebecca Y., a plucky senior at Georgetown University and a member since May. To be perfectly honest, she had us at “Studying at one of the few universities in DC without a metro stop can really be a pain in the *%#.” Truth. She then proceeded to tell us why Capital Bikeshare is absolutely the hottest and most necessary investment a college student can make.

We’re delighted to welcome founding member Patricia S. into the illustrious ranks of the uber-exclusive Capital Bikeshare Member of the Month Club, which currently boasts two members. After sifting through piles of submissions (six) from eager CaBites, our expert panel of judges selected Patricia because she: