College Ecology Club's Bike Day prompted a bike rack petition and offered a look at UP's bike culture
By Malori Maloney
Portland is renowned as the one of the most bike-friendly cities in the U.S. and the University of Portland may be beginning to follow suit.
A Call for More
Since the fall semester began, bike racks have been consistently crowded and full during peak hours. Consequently, the sight of bicycles locked to poles, railings and other fixtures has been extremely common. Many say that this indicates a need for more bike racks on campus.
Last week, College Ecology Club coordinated Bike Day to encourage students to bike to school and to reward those who did with free food, coffee, safety information and bike repairs. Additionally, the club collected around 300 signatures petitioning the need for more bike racks, senior Patrick Mannhard of CEC said. Now the club is collecting more signatures in the dorms.
"What we'd like to do is make it more viable for people to ride their bikes to school and have a safe place to put them," senior Ingrid Hannan of CEC said. "A big part of alternative solutions is making it easy because no one's going to ride their bikes if there's not a safe place to put them."
Hannan said that CEC would like to see a greater number of centrally located racks as well as covered racks for rainy days. On Monday, Mannhard, Hannan and other CEC members presented ideas and goals to ASUP on behalf of the club.
"Physical Plant has talked about (getting more bike racks), Public Safety has talked about it, ASUP has talked about it; it's something that's on a lot of people's minds," Hannan said before the Senate meeting. "We're just going to show that this is what we, as students, want our money to be spent on."
After the meeting, Hannan expressed satisfaction with the way the Senate received CEC's ideas.
"Everyone seemed really receptive to what we had to say, and we had a great group of ecology club members there to demonstrate the importance of the issue," Hannan said. "I think and hope progress will be made soon."
UP's Bike Culture
Evidence of the growing popularity of biking at UP can be observed in arenas beyond the overflowing bike racks.
"The bike culture on campus has definitely been getting bigger," senior Jake Benz said, who currently organizes "midnight bike rides" around North Portland. The weekly rides, which are unaffiliated with the university, began last year and provide an opportunity to get outside and take a break from studying, Benz said.
The UP Midnight Bike Ride Facebook group currently has 84 members. "Don't be scurred, grab your friend, get off the couch and we can roll out in force," read an announcement for the first ride of the year. "The more people the better."
The Outdoor Pursuits Programs also offers weekly bike rides, albeit during daylight hours. Destinations include Forest and Kelley Point parks, among others.
The rides take place each Thursday afternoon, from 4 to 6 o'clock and the bike shop in Howard Hall has bikes available for those who need them.
The bike shop also offers loaner bicycles for those who need to run an errand or want to take a ride around town.
Rentals are free, but students may only keep them for the day and may only rent five days total during a single month. If a student rents on Friday, he or she may keep the bike until Monday, as the bike shop is closed for most of the weekend.
The shop provides bicycle repairs in addition to rentals. Most repairs cost between $2-$6, not including the cost of parts. According to the shop, they offer parts for 50 70 percent less than the typical bike shop.
Why Ride?
Students cite a variety of motivations for choosing to bike instead of driving or using public transportation.
Mannhard cited the economy as a major motivator for students.
"I think the gas price is killing people," Mannhard said. "Students here are facing an economic crunch."
Others, like Benz, ride out of both enjoyment and necessity. Benz lives a mile away from campus and doesn't have a car. Some of his housemates do have cars, but still opt to ride to and from school.
Of course, the desire to be sustainable pushes many to leave the car at home; environmental concerns are a driving force for the CEC's efforts to increase bike rack availability.
Mannhard also pointed out the community-building element of biking.
"Bikers here make the community real because they put faces on campus instead of steel boxes," Mannhard said.
