The Sentinel

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Culture

Idiots

Every quarter starts much the same way: nearly every student can be found crowding the sidewalks and walking to class. But as the weeks slip by, fewer and fewer people walk to class. Most people search for a way to get to class that doesn't involve walking. Planes, trains, and automobiles rarely get close enough to classrooms for most students, so during fall, spring, and summer quarters many turn to bicycles. There's a good chance you might be one of these people. You probably think riding to class with one pant leg up, listening to (insert random Indie band) on your iPod, getting to class quicker, and helping the environment is a totally great idea. Well, if someone hasn't told you yet, let me be the bearer of bad news: riding a bicycle to class is a terrible idea, and if you do, you are only helping to perpetuate a society of inconsiderate douchebaggery.

Don't get me wrong, bicycling is great. It strengthens the two largest muscles in the body (the gluteus maximus and the quadriceps), it helps reduce body fat, it has elements of both anaerobic and aerobic exercising which helps improve cardiovascular health, and if nobody else was going to class you would actually get to class quicker.

However, thousands of people are going to class. As most people know, cycling is best suited for casual suburban riding, on a bike path, or the Tour de France. Unfortunately, Ohio State is not suburban, has very few bike paths, and is not part of the Tour de France. So while bicyclists may find it more convenient to ride to class, they only serve to further congest traffic on High Street and Lane Avenue and once inside campus, they take up enormous amounts of space on sidewalks generally reserved for the thousands of student pedestrians.

Because of these cramped conditions, many non-bicycling students are arriving five, seven, even ten minutes late to class. Wendy Perkins, a sophomore, explains, "I leave my house every day at 9:15 for my 9:30 [class]. Every day I get there right at 9:30. But one day, this guy was walking his bike and taking up the whole sidewalk. I was like, 'Oh my God? Could you take up anymore space?' He ignored me, and I ended up being ten minutes late for class."

Wendy's unfortunate incident and others like it aren't unique to Ohio State. Dr. Richard Pennington, a Harvard professor and former Secretary of Transportation, has studied bicycling trends since 1999. According to Dr. Pennington, "Bicycling has always been big on college campuses, but within the last several years there has been a huge increase in riders."

Continued...

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