<p>My daughter is an incoming freshman, and so we don't know whether the large campus could lead to long walks between classes. Do students bring bikes to VT? If they aren't that useful between classes, have any of you or your kids found them to be useful in other ways?</p>
<p>I would also like to know whether it is useful for a freshman to have a bike. My daughter will be living at West Ambler Johnston. Would it help to have a bike for getting to class, or to get around otherwise?</p>
<p>I would say ‘no’ to the bike for getting to classes. If you are a recreational biker that will use your bike during free time for exercise, recreational purposes then yes, but to think that it will help you get around campus for classes, no. The campus roads/sidewalks are very busy during school hours with pedestrians and cars and in my opinion trying to navigate a bike around all that would add more time onto your ‘commute’. Also, the time it takes to secure your bike at each building, dealing with it when a rainstorm breaks out (which they do A LOT), snowy days, etc. Just not worth the hassle. All classroom buildings are walkable from the dorms within 10 minutes if your are fit.</p>
<p>Also, not as easy to take short cuts over non-paved paths, stairs, etc. with a bike - you’d have to stick to the roads if you were on a bike.</p>
<p>Get a bike when you live off campus and for whatever reason don’t want to take the bus or drive. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend having a bike while living on campus, for reasons gigagirl described. </p>
<p>I agree with the advice here. On campus riding a bike may save you a little time, but it will likely be a wash between taking longer routes around campus and having to find somewhere to lock it up. Off campus I had a bike and loved riding it to class instead of driving (parking was awful) or taking the bus. There’s still sometimes an issue finding somewhere to lock it up though.</p>