Spring Break
Editorial: I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
11/19/08 - Imagine if we all rode bicycles on the Kingston campus.
All right, it's a little late 19th century, but just imagine for a moment.
Racing from class at 210 Flagg Road to Edwards Hall might be a little bit easier.
Students who prefer the outdoors as opposed to sweating it out at the gymnasium would have a better alternative.
And it certainly would solve the parking problem on campus. The average University of Rhode Island student could shave 20 minutes off of his or her early morning stress-routine trying to find a spot in the Fine Arts Center parking lot.
Plus, it's a great way to avoid the dreaded "freshman 15," right?
Bikes can be a good way to get up that mountain we call the elephant walk next to the Memorial Union on a dry, brisk day.
A majority of undergraduate students live on campus, and many live just five minutes away. Why take up a parking space?
Having a bicycle on campus cuts travel time in half - instead of it taking 20 minutes to get from Barlow Hall to the Fine Arts Center, it will take you less than 10.
Sometimes waiting for the bus at the Plains Road lot or in front of the Boss Arena isn't an ideal situation either. The bus isn't always there exactly when students need it, and walking can be a drag, especially when the wind is biting at your cheeks at the bus stop.
At the turn of the 20th century, bicycles significantly decreased the amount of pollution and crowding streets in cities across the world. This still rings true today.
According to the Bicycle Club Cascade Education Foundation, 77 percent of commuters in China travel by bicycle. Fifty percent of commuters in the Netherlands also bike to work, while only 1.6 percent of U.S. commuters use a bicycle as means of transportation.
But students can be among 60 million other Americans that bicycle at least once per year by taking part in just one weekend ride with the URI cycling club - and you don't have to be Lance Armstrong to join.
The team offers students who want to try to stay in shape a place to gain support for their passions and efforts to reach their goals.
Of course, no one expects students to volunteer for a joy ride on two wheels when it's raining or sleeting this December, but it might be something to at least consider for the spring.
All right, it's a little late 19th century, but just imagine for a moment.
Racing from class at 210 Flagg Road to Edwards Hall might be a little bit easier.
Students who prefer the outdoors as opposed to sweating it out at the gymnasium would have a better alternative.
And it certainly would solve the parking problem on campus. The average University of Rhode Island student could shave 20 minutes off of his or her early morning stress-routine trying to find a spot in the Fine Arts Center parking lot.
Plus, it's a great way to avoid the dreaded "freshman 15," right?
Bikes can be a good way to get up that mountain we call the elephant walk next to the Memorial Union on a dry, brisk day.
A majority of undergraduate students live on campus, and many live just five minutes away. Why take up a parking space?
Having a bicycle on campus cuts travel time in half - instead of it taking 20 minutes to get from Barlow Hall to the Fine Arts Center, it will take you less than 10.
Sometimes waiting for the bus at the Plains Road lot or in front of the Boss Arena isn't an ideal situation either. The bus isn't always there exactly when students need it, and walking can be a drag, especially when the wind is biting at your cheeks at the bus stop.
At the turn of the 20th century, bicycles significantly decreased the amount of pollution and crowding streets in cities across the world. This still rings true today.
According to the Bicycle Club Cascade Education Foundation, 77 percent of commuters in China travel by bicycle. Fifty percent of commuters in the Netherlands also bike to work, while only 1.6 percent of U.S. commuters use a bicycle as means of transportation.
But students can be among 60 million other Americans that bicycle at least once per year by taking part in just one weekend ride with the URI cycling club - and you don't have to be Lance Armstrong to join.
The team offers students who want to try to stay in shape a place to gain support for their passions and efforts to reach their goals.
Of course, no one expects students to volunteer for a joy ride on two wheels when it's raining or sleeting this December, but it might be something to at least consider for the spring.
