Sixth Annual Campus Bike Week a Success
By Karen Brooks
Media Inquiries- Biking Consultant
The sixth annual Campus Bike Week brought a whirlwind week of events that helped get more people in the CMU community interested in, and able to choose, biking for their transportation needs.
Campus Bike Week started in 2019 as Bike to Campus Day, an alternative to the annual tradition of Bike to Work Day/Week/Month, which happens in May. Mid-September was chosen as a perfect time to encourage and celebrate biking at CMU, after the busyness of the semester’s beginning and before the weather turns cold and wet. Since then, it has grown to a week-long series of events at CMU and other universities in the Pittsburgh area (most notably our next-door neighbor, Pitt), all showcasing how riding a bike can be healthy, sustainable and fun.
Highlights from this year's week at CMU:
- We offered for sale 40+ used bikes that had been abandoned on campus and collected earlier this year. All of the bikes were sold in the first two hours! We hear and understand that there is a huge demand for inexpensive bikes and are working on solutions. In the meantime, if you are still in need, here are several local shops that sell used bikes:
- We offered two opportunities to take a Confident City Cycling class, and a total of 17 people ventured out to learn how to ride more safely on city streets.
- If you are interested in taking this class, one more opportunity will be offered this year by BikePGH on Oct. 8. You can also email Karen Brooks at kbr00ks@andrew.cmu.edu to set up a custom class.
- During our Bike Fair, we talked to a lot of people about resources – such as POGOH bikeshare, bike racks on PRT buses, and a book on local rail-trails written by CMU professor Mary Shaw and her husband, Roy Weil (Freewheeling Easy) – as well as shared information about the new campus dismount zones and shared path. We also handed out several hundred Pittsburgh Bike Maps, Biking 101 Guides, e-Bike Guides and reflective ankle bands.
- Stop by the Transportation Services office, next to the East Campus Garage entrance on Forbes Ave., to pick up bike maps and other info.
- We promoted a new effort led by grad students to start a bike shop on campus: the Tartan Bike Project.
- We gave away more than 100 light sets and approximately 30 helmets at Operation Illumination, helping keep newer riders safe on the streets.
- We got to meet and talk to hundreds of people and share our excitement about biking!
Join one of our email lists to find out about more campus biking opportunities this fall.