Bicycles are everywhere on campus, and whether you love them or hate them, they're here to stay.
Zach Wise, senior in communications, said, "I live about half of a mile away, over behind Mike and Ed's, and I can leave my house and be in my seat in the Haley Center in four minutes."
Wise contacted The Plainsman the day after his interview to share he had beaten his record by one minute.
The main reason many people have so much disdain for bikers is the collisions and near collisions they have to deal with while walking on the concourse. Luckily, Wise has not crashed into anyone, but he has had some other problems.
"This is why I don't walk places," Wise said, "I was walking on the concourse, hit one of these little rivets with my shoe, and I forgot how fast gravity works 'cause I was sprawled out on the ground and people were laughing at me."
Wise, the physical training instructor for Marine ROTC, said he wasn't deterred for long by the fall, but it confirmed for him that walking is something he tries to avoid.
For Wise and others who choose to commute via bicycle, the University has stations in different locations across campus where bikers are able to hang their bikes up, and tune it with the tools and pump provided.
Carson Legg, senior in architecture, said he doesn't use the stations.
"They suck," Legg said. "They're left out in the elements: rain, snow, fire, wind. They're not taken care of, so they just get jacked up. One of the pumps ruined my valve."
Legg isn't the only person who ignores the bike maintenance stations. Amelie Thomas, junior in early childhood education, said she hasn't even given them a chance.
"I don't ever use them," Thomas said. "I don't really think they work, and I don't really want to find out."
Thomas, an Auburn Outdoors employee, said Auburn Outdoors has provided a solution.
"We have a bike shop in the bottom of the [Recreation and Wellness] Center," Thomas said. "In the rental area, there's a place where you can take your bike and work on it, and we have a bike person that can help you."
The shop has thousands of dollars worth of tools and pumps that will not harm your bike. While things are looking up for bikers' maintenance, not everything is smooth sailing.
During Thanksgiving break, Wise said someone stole approximately $8,000 of property from him, including his bicycle.
Weeks after the incident, Wise said he saw what was undoubtedly his green bike cruising shamelessly past his house, ridden by a man who later identified himself as Jay Walker.
"There's no doubt that that's my bike," Wise said. "So, I throw my long board to the side, run up, grab the handlebars and body check this guy off of my bike. He goes flyin' and lands on the ground. Then I kind of look over and I'm like, 'I want my bike back.' That's really what I said to him."
None of his other stolen property was ever found, but Wise said he is back to happily riding his bike to and from class in three minutes.
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