This past week I had a problem. One morning while riding my bike to campus, I ate shit. It was not my finest moment. Rather than admit to my lack of balance, I blamed the fall on my late 1980s, baby blue Trek. The bike had belonged to my mother and likely went a decade without a proper tuneup. I had known for over a semester that my Trek was in need of various repairs, however I was too cheap to pull the trigger. My general lack of coordination aside, I knew it was time and I finally brought her to the shop.
The shop was a bit backed up. With ski season wrapping up, outdoor enthusiasts are preparing for biking season. I would be without my beloved Trek for four school days.
The next day I drove to class, and it hit me. Parking is a f—ing nightmare. For those four days I prowled around, struggling to find a spot.
The first few days were frustrating, but mostly uneventful. I seized the opportunity to improve my less than stellar parallel parking skills. Thursday presented a new challenge. That afternoon, some a–hole parked in a yellow zone and boxed me in. I had two inches between the front bumper of my Volvo and the car in front of me, and two inches between me and the car behind me. Luckily, a generous passerby was able to guide me. With his help, I performed the most perfectly executed fifteen point turn you could ever imagine.
Turns out, I’m not the first student to gripe about parking on campus. This seems to have been of concern for quite a while. But don’t worry, I’ve figured out the UW parking crisis: Ride your bike to campus.
Parking isn’t the only thing we can fix here. Think about the emissions we cut back on! People are always asking how they can help fight climate change in their day-to-day lives without quitting their jobs and living on a nudist organic farm just outside of Portland. I figured it out: Ride your bike to campus.
Because we’ve all been driving to campus, our emissions have cut our winter short. It was 45 degrees today. Summer is coming soon. We’ll all be wearing shorts when we get back from spring break. Limbs looking a bit spindly? I can think of no better way to tone those legs than, you guessed it, riding your bike to campus.
Now of course there are stipulations.
Live far from campus? (by far I mean over two miles). Fine, we’ll give you a free pass.
It’s below 10 degrees out? Fine, free pass.
Strapped for cash and worried about being able to afford a bike? Don’t fret. I found you a sick three speed on Craigslist for $75.
Pokes’ Spokes Bike Library is a great organization that offers rentals by the semester to UW students for $25, but trust me, that three speed I found you on Craigslist looks pretty rad.
Save yourself some time. Save yourself some hassle. Save yourself some gas money. Save yourself some planet Earth.
