<p>Hi, I’m an accepted OOS freshman, and I won’t be bringing a car freshman year. I was wondering, however, if I should bring my bike.</p>
<p>I will probably be living in the Ridgecrest, and was wondering how bike-friendly campus was. Are there locations to store bikes (As in, near the dorm in a safe location)? And I think I remember seeing bikes at other campus locations (notably rec center) but I’m not quite sure.</p>
<p>Overall, do you recommend bringing bikes? I hope to go to the rec center pretty often, and I’m thinking that with the 1.5 mile one-way walk, a bike is sounding like a pretty good idea. </p>
<p>My daughter is a new OOS freshman who did not bring a car. We ended up not taking her bike because we ran out of room in our vehicle, but she wants it and has been borrowing one from a roommate on Tuesdays and Thursdays when her schedule presents a challenge. We will be bringing her bike with us for Parent Weekend. She lives in Ridgecrest West. She could make it to her classes on time without a bike, but she said it doesn’t leave her any time for any needed detours.</p>
<p>I can’t speak from personal experience, however, from working at the library I’ve noticed that a lot of people on campus have bikes. There are certain roads on campus that don’t allow cars, just pedestrians, cyclists, and the Crimson Ride buses. The Crimson Ride bus system is pretty amazing it goes pretty much anywhere you need to go on campus and there are two buses for every route they operate so there usually isn’t much wait time at the stop. It seems like a bike would be a good idea for weekends though as the bus system is more like a taxi service (call with your pick up and drop off locations and wait 20-30 minutes depending on how busy they are). I would be leery to advise you one way or the other, b/c I wouldn’t want you to take my advice and then have a bad experience, but quite a few people around here seem to enjoy having a bike and the campus seems very pedestrian/cyclist friendly. Hope this helps</p>
<p>Defiinitely bring your bike, without a car, it will come in handy. You can use it to go shopping at the local Publix, you can use it to exercise, get around campus, go to classes, or just for fun. There are plenty of bike racks at Ridgecrest South, outdoors, some of the other buildings have covered racks, or indoor racks. Will your bike be safe?? Well, usually. Bring a good lock, remember to use it, remove your lights or computer gages (put those in your backpack), register your bike on campus, but like anywhere, vandalism can occur. In bad weather, some students bring their bikes into their rooms. Your bike can be your best mode of transportation, and the university is making a concerted effort to make the campus more pedestrian and bike friendly.</p>
<p>My D took a bike, and she says is really helps. She can get to her classes in just a couple of minutes- she has several instances in her schedule where she just has 10 minutes between classes. She rides hers every day.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter has also mentioned getting a bike to get around campus. Does anyone know if there is covered parking at Tutweiler? I would hate to have her get one, then have the crazy rain destroy it</p>
<p>^^^I don’t think so, but maybe someone who has a student in Tut can answer that. But sometimes when you are traveling around campus your bike will get wet, very wet. It is not a bad idea on a rainy day to have an old rag or small towel to wipe off the seat. Some students use rain ponchos to cover themselves and their bag as they ride in the rain. Others have waterproof backpacks, which I highly recommend. You can dry off, your computer or texts not so much.</p>