You’re free at last. No sneaking into the house when you’ve missed curfew. No mom insisting that you pick your clothes up from the floor. And you can throw your wet towel anywhere you, please. Long-awaited college life has finally begun, and students smart enough to bring their bikes to campus earn PhDs in wisdom.
Why bring your college bike to campus? Well, for one, you can make money riding your bike casually. You save money on insurance, gas, and repairs by leaving your car home. That alone contributes to environmental responsibility. You get a ton of exercise, don’t have to worry about parking and in the mornings you oversleep, you can ignore heavy traffic and zip your way to class like a bullet.
Pedaling is a lot faster than walking, for sure. But there are other pros of biking which you should consider as well. But bringing your bike to campus doesn’t mean that you can take it for granted and ignore commonsense rules for keeping your bike in shape so it’s always there when you need it.
Keep these 6 tips in mind so you can focus on your studies and the opposite sex by riding the same bike that got you to your first freshman mixer to the day you collect your cap and gown for graduation.
1.Register Your Bike
Register your bike with campus security or police and choose a bike storage rack close to your dorm that sees plenty of traffic, say experts at Ground Control.
Campus CCTV systems add another measure of security as does a proper bike lock. According to the National Bike Registry, “a four-year student bicyclist faces a 53-percent (1 in 2) chance of losing their bike to theft”. Don’t become one of them.
2.Find a Local Bike Shop
Don’t ignore your bike if it starts giving you trouble. Put the phone number of the town’s bicycle repair shop on speed dial for big fixes and apply due diligence to taking care of minor problems immediately so they don’t turn into big ones.
Ask your parents for bike tires that won’t go flat when your birthday or Christmas rolls around.
3.Know Rules and Regulations
If your college publishes a guide for campus bikers, don’t toss it into a drawer and forget about it. Some areas on campus may be off-limits to students.
You should know rules and regulations applying to bike riders that, if ignored, could trigger a ticket, say administrators at Vanderbilt University who publish directives on their website.
4.Wear a Helmet
Don’t be an idiot and leave your commuter helmet in your dorm room because you just had your hair cut and styled and you want to look awesome for the cutie in your next class.
Your folks are investing a bundle in your education and they expect you to graduate with a career, not brain damage. “Fitting a helmet is “a one beer job” task,”.
5.Don’t Drink and Ride
On the topic of beer, the subject of drinking on or off-campus deserves to be addressed when it’s just you and your bike on campus roads and lanes after you and your pals celebrate finishing that mid-term exam in biology.
“A study at Johns Hopkins showed that one drink multiplies your probability of serious injury or death by a factor of six. Four or five drinks multiplies it 20 times.”.
6.Invest in a Messenger Bar
Practice safe bike, by investing in a messenger bag so your books don’t fly out on your ride and cause an accident. Affix front and tail lights to your bike and stash a rain poncho in the bag so you’re ready for emergencies. Having a good and reliable multi-tool is a must as well. You can even do some small fixes in your dorm room.
Consider stowing your bike in your dorm room or invest in a fold-down bike that can be tucked into your closet. It goes without saying that you should never act like a jerk when you ride around campus or you risk giving all college bike riders a bad name.
Cyclist karma can be brutal!
