Sustainability is all the rage. In this trend, massive research dollars and thousands of minds have been committed to coming up with the newest ideas for improvement (i.e. CSB/SJU Year of Sustainability). Out with the old, inefficient technology and in with the new, green inventions. But personally, the campaign slogan is out with the fairly modern, and in with the centuries-old transport. My bike may not have a reverse gear, but I find it more than appropriate to reflect upon St. John’s and St. Ben’s support of cyclists.
Cycling is the most efficient and reliable means of transportation. What is needed is the machine, itself, and legs with will power. This is without the exhaustion of our precious fossil fuel reserves — something we certainly need to focus on in the coming years.
This comes with the joy of getting yourself from place to place with your own two legs. The tranquility that comes with being able to hear yourself think is a priceless entity. Only those who have experienced the sense of achievement that comes from conquering the nastiest hill in town, then flying 35 mph down the other side — all on tires less than an inch thick — know what I’m talking about.
It should be noted that this joy is hard to find buckled down in your dorm pawning noobs, and even harder to find sitting in rush hour traffic. The liberation from these habits that comes with cycling is also priceless. What it comes down to is our campus lacks the necessary facilities to adequately support those who share this love.
My proposed plan is threefold and spurs from what other campuses around the nation are doing to take part in the sustainability cause:
1) Bike storage: Currently, the only means of support offered for cyclists are cheap bike stands. Other colleges have managed to build indoor facilities that house bikes safe from various elements and out of the hands of thieves. The ski-team does have a locker in the palaestra, but what good is this for the rest of the students? A locker-room with bike hooks accessible with a key-fab is not too much to ask.
2) Repair and maintenance aid: Just like a car requires an oil change, a bike requires maintenance, as well. The closest means of fixing a bottom bracket or lubing a chain is in St. Cloud. Making this more available would not just fill the need for such facilities, but also encourage growth of the cycling community by providing the needed comfort of knowing you’re taken care of.
3) Educate: Along with the needed facilities, and also in an effort to popularize this great sport, I believe it would go a long way to incorporate classes in bike safety and maintenance into the course offerings of the university. Cycling is a marvelous sport, but sport comes with risk. To minimize this risk, and help teach the practicality of this means of transportation, I believe a little bit of education would go a long ways.
Through this plan, I hope to open the eyes and ears of other students on campus. I would like to see a more enthusiastic approach by campus administration, providing more adequately for people who want to further their experience with cycling — an experience capped by the current situation. Together we can make a change for the better and explore the fountain of youth that can be found on the bicycle.
This is the opinion of Drew Breyer, an SJU sophomore.