Campus Bike Share Stations

Campus bike share stations are spaced about every 3 blocks. The bikes are heavy and clunky, but they get me from the north dorms to the engineering building in 7 minutes instead of 20 on foot. The time savings between classes is the whole reason I use them. Docking is simple: push the bike into the slot and it clicks. Pull it out with your student card. The front basket holds my backpack so I don't have to ride with weight on my shoulders. Tires are solid rubber, not pneumatic. They never go flat, but the ride feels harsh over brick pavers. Every crack in the sidewalk comes straight up through the handlebars into your wrists. The app shows which stations have bikes available and which are full. I've learned the patterns: the station by the dining hall is always empty by 9 AM, and the one near the library fills up by noon. It costs nothing with the student plan, which the university subsidizes. More students would use it if the bikes were lighter and the seats weren't always set at the wrong height with adjustment levers that stick. The system isn't glamorous but it solves a real problem. Campus is too big to walk between buildings in a 10-minute break, and cars are useless for distances this short. My one complaint is the gears. Three speeds, and the transition between them clunks hard enough that you feel it in the pedals. Still, knowing a bike is always within a 2-minute walk is worth the rough ride.