One very good way to improve crowded parking conditions at Texarkana College would be for Texarkana students to ride bicycles to school instead of driving cars. You read correctly—bicycles. On larger campuses, bicycles are the biggest craze since fraternity pins. Students have discovered several advantages to bicycle riding besides solving the parking problem.
Bike riding is refreshing and provides excellent exercise for the fitness- and figure-conscious. Cycling is highly recommended for athletes. Members of the varsity swimming, track, football, and basketball teams at many colleges participate in cycling programs in their off seasons to keep in top shape. Knute Rockne, famous football coach at Notre Dame, was an ardent advocate of cycling. He often ordered his entire football squad to ride bicycles to develop stamina. One track coach at William and Mary accredited the success of his outstanding miler to the boy’s faithful exercising on a bicycle.
Colleges are expanding, and a mile measuring from one end of the campus to the other is not uncommon. Cycling students need not worry about racing from one part of the campus to another within a 10-minute break between classes.
Here are reports about the popularity of bikes on larger college campuses:
- Fifteen acres of land have been designated to accommodate its two-wheel traffic by the University of California at Davis. There are about as many bikes as students (4,900), and most of the professors have caught the cycling bug. At Cal Davis, an active group of campus cyclists call themselves the Cal-Aggie Wheelmen. The members conduct a vigorous program of cross-country riding and racing.
- Special “highways” – designated paths with their own road signs – have been constructed for University of Illinois cyclists only. A 1,450-mile bike marathon last spring drew over 300 students from Monmouth College, Illinois.
- On the four main highways entering Oberlin, Ohio, home of Oberlin College, signs are posted reading: “Caution—4,000 Bikes in Oberlin.” Campus officials estimate that 80% of the students use their bikes every day.
- The “Little 500” bike marathon, patterned after the classic auto race at the Indianapolis Speedway, has become an annual event at Indiana University. “Little 500” weekend is almost as gala a campus event in Indiana as Dartmouth’s celebrated Winter Carnival.
Who’ll be the first to start the bicycle craze at Texarkana College?