I heard rumors of a bike club at Macalester when I accepted—I even saw it listed as a club on one of the many pieces of coaxing literature I received from this school. Its presence definitely served to increase my attraction to Mac. However, upon arriving on campus, I sorrowfully discovered that this club was hibernating. In fact, it had been out of commission for several years. But this is no longer the case… Mac Bike has been awakened from its hibernation; indeed, it is in full swing. We began our weekly meetings over a month ago, and have been going strong ever since.

We decided that we want to have three main focuses as a bike club: bike repair, bike rides/celebration and bike advocacy. We are also very interested in beginning a bike sharing program, so that Mac students will be able to borrow a bike for a day, week or even a year, and then return it so that other Mac students can use it. But we aren’t necessarily a typical bike club; we are also political, and work to be environmentally aware and sustainable. Biking promotes a culture of community and simplicity, energy-efficiency, space-efficiency and physical/mental health. In addition, it is an important empowerment tool, especially for youth. All around, biking is a positive thing, and we wish to promote it as many ways as possible.

We think it’s very important that people are self-sufficient on their bikes. Therefore, one of our goals is to help people learn basic maintenance skills so that they can keep their bike in good working order on their own. We’re going to bring in bike mechanics from local bike shops to lead workshops on important bike fixing skills. We also think it’s important that Mac students have access to a bike workshop on campus, so that they don’t have to travel off-campus and pay lots of money for simple repairs. Therefore, we have opened up the Mac Bike Shop for regular weekly hours. Our grand opening of the shop was this past Tuesday. Future shop hours will be Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m. Someone with bike repair knowledge will always be on hand during these hours to help people out.

We also want people to realize how remarkable bikes are. Biking is the most energy efficient form of transportation—by biking, you get the most bang for your energy buck. In addition, it’s fun as all hell. Nothing is more satisfying than biking swiftly down Summit into the sunset… going nearly as fast as the cars. So far, as a club, we’ve had several kick-ass bike rides. One was a beautiful fall river-side ride around the Cities, another was to the St. Paul Farmer’s Market, and, most recently, we rode to the Halloween Critical Mass. Critical Mass is a monthly (last Friday of every month) global celebration of biking. As the Minnesota Critical Mass web site says, “We ride to create a temporary autonomous zone; a place where bicycles do have the right of way—and not just on paper; an ephermal non-imaginary safe, quiet, clean and fun use of the public good, the streets which we all pay for and the air which we all breathe; a place where the rules are designed for bicycles, not cars” (check out: http://www.minnesotacriticalmass.net). We joined well over 200 costumed-bicyclists to take over the streets of Minneapolis, including a small freeway. It was an exhilarating and empowering experience. Mac Bike’s aim is to organize fun, refreshing and empowering bike rides for students of all biking levels. We also plan to do other activities to spread the love of biking, including bike dances and rallies.

Finally, we want to take a political stand, and be advocates of positive change in this automobile-centric society. We worked to encourage the college to put up more bike racks. If you haven’t noticed, there’s been a severe lack of bike racks recently. People have had to resort to locking their bikes to handrails, trees, trash-cans, etc. However, Physical Plant is currently in the process of installing new bike racks. We’re also working to get bike racks on more Twin Cities buses, and to get a U-Pass for all Mac students (we’re advocates of public transportation as well). Eventually we hope to join forces with other bike groups to work for more bike lanes and paths in the Twin Cities. More bike lanes and paths would mean a safer and more respectful atmosphere for bikers.

There are many Mac students with a passion for bikes. Mac Bike is a great venue for these students to get together and learn new skills, go on fun rides and promote biker rights and safety. So, if you’re passionate about bikes, or even if you couldn’t care less about them (but need to learn how to fix that damned flat tire on that bike that you ride to the drug store once a month), get involved! Everyone is more than welcome. Come to our weekly meetings on Wednesdays (10:15 p.m. second floor Campus Center), stop by the Shop on Tuesdays, and/or join us on our rides! Mac Bike is back, and rearing to go.

For more information or for ways that you can get involved, please contact Claire Stoscheck at x7165. To find the Shop: Go to the laundry room in the Wallace basement, walk (courteously!) through The Mac Weekly office and the shop is the first door on your right.