The rainy months of winter are the kinds of weather that makes most people stay indoors, but the UO Bike Program is aiming to change that.
In partnership with Collin’s Cycle Shop and six other organizations, the UO Bike Program is preparing to hold “Ride in the Rain: A Celebration of Wet Weather Bike Transportation” this Wednesday,an all-day event meant to promote the University’s new short-term bike loan program and to encourage student cyclists to feel more comfortable commuting on their bikes year-round.
The celebration will feature on-site bike mechanics, a rain gear fashion show, live music amplified by pedal-generated electricity, a community bike ride and a “track stand” contest that will allow students to compete for a rain jacket. It will also mark the introduction of the bike loan program, which will give students the opportunity to rent out bikes for short periods of time rather than for an entire term, as in the past.
Globe, a commuter bike label that is part of esteemed bicycle company Specialized, awarded the University 14 new cargo bicycles worth a total of $10,000 that will be used for the new loans after the UO Bike Program won a Specialized Dealer Grant. Other partners contributing to the short term bike loan program include Planet Bike, Castelli USA, Kryptonite, Grunden’s, the University’s Office of Sustainability and Cyclone Bicycle Supply.
Event organizer and UO Bike Program Coordinator Ted Sweeney expects between 400 and 1,000 in attendance and says he wants he wants the event to aid students in feeling confident about using their bicycles in less-than-ideal weather.
“If we don’t ride our bikes in the rain, we don’t ride our bikes for a good part of the year,” Sweeney said. “We shouldn’t be limited by that.”
Jay Loew, a partner at Collin’s Cycle Shop, which assembled the 14 cargo bikes provided by Globe and is the University’s primary event partner, is happy to be working with the UO Bike Program to put on “Ride in the Rain.”
“It seemed like a perfect way to blend what we would like to do as a business and also to help the community and the University of Oregon student body,” Loew said. He added that he hopes the celebration will demonstrate that “it is relatively easy to commute year round with relative little planning and a little bit of the right gear.”
Taylor Meizlish, a UO bike program mechanic who will be doing on-site bike repairs during the event, hopes that the celebration brings more attention to the services that the UO Bike Program has to offer.
“I think there are a lot of people who want to work on their bikes who don’t know we’re here, don’t know that their student fees are funding us,” Meizlish said.
Sweeney agrees, and said he wants student cyclists to leave with a greater sense of community and the knowledge that help is available to them if they need it.
“My real hope is that students will come to the event and leave feeling there are a lot of services and supporting elements on campus that they didn’t know about before,” Sweeney said.
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