One of the most attractive qualities of Eugene is that it has an awesome bike culture. This year, our city was number nine on Bicycling Magazine’s top 50 bike friendly cities. Unfortunately, in 2006, Eugene also made Kryptonite Lock’s annual top 10 Worst Cities for Bicycle Theft List. That being said, there are a number of opportunities in Eugene to maintain your bicycle, and a few simple steps you need to know to protect it. While on a bicycle, Eugene is your oyster, so make sure you know where you can fix your bike and how to evade the sneaky bike thieves.
The most exciting innovations in Eugene’s bike culture this school year are the recently installed bike “Fix It” stations. The Bike Program has currently installed four stations:
- Between the Knight Library and the Teaching and Learning Center in McKenzie Hall
- 13th Avenue and Kincaid next to Condon Hall
- Outdoor Program Barn at 18th and University
- East Campus Global Scholars Hall
The Bike Program is hoping to install two more, one at Mill Race Studios and another possibly at the EMU. These stations include wrenches, tire levers to take off tires, and a bike pump. Cyclists will be able to hang up their bikes on two poles and get to work on maintenance.
“I’ve had my bike in Eugene for nine years and I’ve never had it stolen,” says Outdoor Program Office Coordinator Rithy Khut.
How has Khut been able to beat the statistics? Khut says to always lock your front wheel and your frame to the bike rack or fixed object. Khut recommends buying a U-Lock as opposed to the cable locks because they are harder to cut through. If it’s overnight, Khut says to lock your bike in a bike corral somewhere well-lit with a lot of traffic. What if you have a bike that’s really expensive? Say in the thousands? Khut says if you have a really spendy bike, to keep it inside your house/apartment or a University bike locker.
So there it is. Biking in Eugene is a risk, but it is one absolutely worth taking. Eugene is much more accessible by bike than car. You can get anywhere you need to go quickly, and with so many accessible bike lanes and beautiful river bike paths, biking is a must in Eugene. As the saying goes, it is better to have biked and lost than to have never biked at all. But if you listen to Khut’s advice, you could be happily biking in Eugene for the duration of your education and beyond.
