Just like attitudes towards Birkenstocks, the idea of commuting by cycling is subjected to a distinct division line between those for and those against it. However, the general consensus amongst cyclists is that they think everyone should convert to their side.
Replacing your feet with a bicycle can increase your sleep time due to a reduced morning travel time to campus. Short breaks between lectures can be filled with positive and productive breaks at home, full days on campus don’t have to be planned out, people can look at your calves grow, and the wind in your hair will give you that effortless beach-day look.
An attempt to make cycling cool and fashionable again. PHOTO: Julia Fleming
If you live further than campus surrounds, then biking instead of driving will eliminate fuel costs, save time by avoiding traffic, increase your fitness, and the stress of finding a parking place can be removed from your psyche forever.
Dylan Burke (21), an engineering student at Stellenbosch University, started riding to campus in his third year once his morning commute tripled in distance.
Burke asked himself how he could get to campus in the quickest and cheapest way whilst expending the least amount of energy. His conclusion was that a bike would be the way to meet these requirements while being environmentally friendly was a bonus.
Similarly to Burke, Leo Figueira (21), a burly resident of Verreweide Street, also expressed himself vivaciously while speaking positively about his change to cycling to campus, saying that he has an extra 40-60 minutes to spend in a day since migrating onto his Avalanche mountain bicycle.
Road safety and the worry of being hit by one of the frantically moving vehicles in Stellenbosch is a common concern, not helped by the parking shortage around Stellenbosch which leads to bike paths being blocked by parked cars, pushing cyclists onto the busy roads.
However, if more people cycle, parking will become a smaller issue, and safety will subsequently increase for cyclists.
A shiny Volkswagen acts as a beautiful bike path obstacle for cyclists to look at in the morning. PHOTO: Mike Wright
A communal fear is the worry of Stellenbosch’s rampant theft, of which expensive bicycles are quite prone to. One way to quash this fear is the option of hiring a somewhat theft resistant Matie Bike, coming in at R1000/year if a full deposit is warranted.
Andrew Williams, from the Matie Bike office, said that 320 Matie Bikes were hired last year and only 7 cases of theft were reported. This can be attributed to the bicycles being branded as part of the university, decreasing resale prices.
If riding a Matie Bike isn’t for you, then there are multiple security cages set up around campus for secure bicycle storage.
Other than theft and monetary reasons acting as bicycle repellents, other students showed various other reasons for not riding a bike:
“I wish I wouldn’t look weird on a bike, because it saves a lot of time. I’d ride in sports gear, but not to campus,” said Andrea Holdcroft (21), sharing views with Laura Bosman (21) who said that the clothes she wears and the bag that she fits her enormous stack of BAcc work into are not conducive nor ergonomically suited to cycling.
Dylan Burke excitedly posing atop his Matie Bike, anticipating his commute to campus in the morning. PHOTO: Mike Wright
Bruce Rouillard (21), a fitness enthusiast, explained that he wouldn’t worry as much about what he looks like while riding, if he was to cycle to campus, because “you judge yourself more than others judge you”.
Burke further stated that “despite being hesitant at first [to ride a bike], due to walkers greatly outnumbering the peddlers, I quickly overcame the ‘cycling stigma’ and became proud to free-wheel to all of my 8am lectures”, and Figueira said “I look at others and just think ‘shame’” as he zooms blissfully and quickly on his two-wheeled metal horse.
So, other than more free-time, sleep, fitness, beach hair, and sturdy calves, what other reasons do you need to make the change?