Students pedal for UCLA’s annual Bike to Campus Week
Bikes fill up the racks on Bruin Walk. UCLA’s annual Bike to Campus Week begins today, with UCLA offering tune-ups and refreshments for cyclists.
By Yanting Li
May 16, 2011 12:09 a.m.
The pit stops will be places where cyclists can get refreshments and tune-up their bikes. These locations are held at three places around Westwood.
As a self-proclaimed lazy student, David Chen prefers to drive his Honda to class.
In honor of UCLA’s annual Bike to Campus Week, however, Chen will switch to his bicycle to make the trek from his Midvale Avenue apartment.
“Usually my old bike is just sitting there on (the) balcony,” said Chen, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student. “But I feel like when there’s a week when I’m reminded of all the good things I can do by using it, I make more of an effort.”
Hosted by UCLA Transportation, the event is intended to encourage people to try biking as a sustainable and healthy transport alternative, according to a UCLA Transportation statement.
Throughout the week, UCLA Transportation will provide “pit stops” on campus and in Westwood where cyclists can get refreshments, information and tune-ups on their bikes.
The event is being held in conjunction with various other city and national events, such as L.A. County’s Bike Week LA, said Herbie Huff, co-founder of the UCLA Bicycle Coalition.
“The biggest thing about these events is that they are a yearly reminder that biking is an option,” Huff said.
Huff, an urban planning graduate student, said most people who don’t bike don’t often think about biking. Events like these get the word out, she said.
Liz Allen, a fourth-year political science student, said although she already enjoys biking to school on a regular basis, she is looking forward to Bike to Campus Week
She said she hopes the week will encourage fellow students to start biking more often.
“Not only is it great (for) the environment, it’s a way to force yourself to exercise,” she said. Allen said she plans to stop by the pit stops and tune up her bike on her way to class.
“That right there is another reason to bike,” Allen said, laughing. “It’s much easier to maintain than a car.” Even though she hopes the event will encourage those who don’t usually use bicycles to bike, Huff said that realistically, most of the people that come out to the events are those who already bike.
“It’s really a reminder of why you’re doing it,” Huff said. “You get to talk and interact with other people in the bicycle community. That is definitely something that keeps people riding.”
