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Bike share blog

BIKE SHARE BLOG: Explore Syracuse and save cash with the bike share program on Day 3

By Ben Farr

My name is Ben and I like to bike. I’ve biked from Syracuse to Philadelphia and deliver sandwiches in my spare time. This week I’ll be reviewing the Student Association’s bike share program. Follow along each day as I try it out.

Day 3

Save yourself the $2 for bus fare this week and try using this Interactive map to bike down to Destiny USA. This route is almost entirely on marked bike routes and should take about 40 minutes.

Day Two

Bikes were in high demand today at the Schine Student center and at least one — two by the time I was done — were already out of order. I started out impressed by the orange rentals. The seat was comfy, handlebars felt good, and the weather was just right for a ride. All of the parts of the bike functioned initially and it was easy getting downtown on the green bike paths.

It took all of 20 minutes from signing out the bike to get to the Warehouse and then another 20 to get to Destiny on the Creekwalk. Things got a little hairy halfway down the trail when my handlebars started to come loose. At first it wasn’t too bad, just a little bit of sway away from the wheel.

And then oof. Every ten or twenty I was catching myself or using both my feet to stop me from sliding into traffic. I limped the bike down the bridge to Destiny for lunch — a sloppy, dripping bourbon chicken sandwich and root beer — and tried to keep limping the bike back home, but it got bad. I stopped at a hardware warehouse and borrowed a wrench to tighten it up. Fortunately, the problem wasn’t too bad and the bike was fixed.

Once back, SCPS came out and inspected the bike. It’ll be taken out of commission until Mello Velo can check it out.

Although a little harrowing, I think my Bike Share experience was the exception, not the rule. The sheer convenience of the program is great and I wouldn’t have gotten my fix of sweet Cajun without it.

Day One

The bikes are Kona Cocos — women’s city bikes — outfitted in Syracuse orange paint, fenders, daytime lights, bells and baskets. Cocos normally retail for $700, making the bikes some of the more expensive ones on campus.

You won’t be going road racing or mountain biking on them, but they should be reliable. The bikes come with disk brakes, which are much more powerful than most will be familiar with. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some students flip over the front wheel in the first month.

Follow along tomorrow, when I try to take one around Onondaga Lake.





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