In looking for a new mode of transportation and buns of steel at the same time, some Tufts students are relying on two wheels and a set of handlebars.
But whereas a typical college campus breeds biking culture within its confines, the limited but growing number of Tufts students who bike say they've picked up their wheels to travel off the Hill.
One reason many students choose to bike is for its benefits over taking the T.
"I got sick of walking to the T, waiting for the T, and then having the train drop me ten minutes from where I wanted to be," sophomore Justin Griffin said.
He explained that by bike he can get to Harvard Square in 10 minutes and Boston in 30 minutes, while using the T takes much longer and costs more.
"[With a bike,] you can go absolutely anywhere. Boston is made for bicycles. You can't get anywhere in your car with all the one-way streets and, it's bad for the environment, but biking is healthy," senior Eva Birk said.
Another benefit of biking, students said, is that it is always available.
"The subway shuts down before clubs do and before shows end," junior Miguel Miro-Quesada said. With a bike, however, Miro-Quesada explained that a rider is independent from the subway schedule and can get home without a cab fare or a wait.
Birk, who is one of the many bike riders who live off campus, explained that riding her bike to school every day from her home in Inman Square is both faster and healthier.
For Griffin, owning a bike allows him to explore Boston.
"My roommate, [my] friends and I ride together. We find somewhere we haven't been before and make a ride out of it," Griffin said.
Birk said biking has allowed her to explore the local area. "There are such great neighborhoods in Boston and around Somerville that Tufts kids just don't take advantage of because they stick to the tried-and-true Mass Ave. and Red Line," Birk said.
But because of the steep hill that seems to define Jumbo life, biking on the Tufts campus can prove to be slightly more difficult than elsewhere. In addition to the high amount of energy and muscle required to bike up the hill, it can be frustrating to navigate on a bike through the high volume of students and cars.
"I don't like biking through campus. I bike fast and hard, so I don't like to interrupt traffic," junior Mose Berkowitz said.
In addition to the difficulty of riding, bikers cite a lack of enthusiasm from other students and lack of support from the school as negatives.
"I don't think a lot of Tufts students bike. Many have bikes, but there is not much of a bike culture," Berkowitz said.
Miro-Quesada also cited problems with bike racks on campus. Because certain areas lack enough bike racks and racks are not cleared of snow during the winter, bikers are deterred from riding - and the University has no program to take care of the many abandoned bikes around campus.
"A lot of campuses are doing more," Miro-Quesada said.
Harvard is associated with "Quad Bikes," which offers inexpensive bikes and repairs to students. The school has also organized programs for bike recycling and bike rack maintenance. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, too, has taken steps to help bikers by hiring former Tufts students as consultants to make the campus more bike-friendly, according to Miro-Quesada.
To address some of these issues at Tufts, Miro-Quesada founded a club devoted to biking last year.
"I didn't feel a sense of community at Tufts, so the club was a way to foster a sense of cohesion at Tufts and to connect students to their community," Miro-Quesada said.
The club, whose members include both Tufts undergraduate and graduate students and as well as students from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, has plans to advocate for more bike racks, particularly covered ones. The students also hope to organize programs to raise awareness about safety issues, to run workshops on how to fix and take care of bikes and to lead tours to help students get to know the city.
Bikers from Tufts said that their fellow students are hesitant to pick up a bike for a variety of reasons.
"Students think they'll get lost," Birk said.
Miro-Quesada explained that students also may be afraid of Boston's cold weather - but he said there are ways to combat such problems.
"Winter biking is just a matter of layers," Miro-Quesada said.
Berkowitz also cited the geographic diversity of students at Tufts as another possible reason that biking isn't as popular on campus. For students from locations as far as California or even overseas, bringing a bicycle to college is a costly endeavor.
Schools like Haverford College and Davidson College have addressed this issue by organizing communal bike programs in which the university buys bikes for public use for any student to ride from one destination to another.
Miro-Quesada proposed that this could be an interesting program for Tufts to adapt and suggested bikes could be used as an alternative to the Joey.
"If more people are exposed to the experience, more will get the great feeling of a 30-minute walk becoming a seven-minute bike ride," he said.
Another factor that deters students from biking is the safety of the bike and the rider. Although students say bikes have been safe on the Tufts campus as of late, potential riders should be aware that bikes are likely targets for thieves.
"Right now [bike safety] is really good, but at times there have been bike theft rings that steal every [bike] they can find, but that has not happened recently," Officer Linda D'Andrea of the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) community-policing program said.
To keep bikes as safe as possible, the program recommends that students register a bike with the police department. After filling out a bicycle registration form, TUPD gives each student a tamper-resistant, numbered registration sticker to place on his or her bicycle. The sticker will both scare away potential thieves and will allow the police to return a stolen bike to its owner.
TUPD also recommends all bikers use U-shaped locks, which are sold for $35 from the Administrative Services branch of TUPD.
Another safety issue of bikes is the danger of riding in a city like Boston.
"Powder House Circle has claimed the bikes of many friends," Miro-Quesada said.
Berkowitz explained, however, that navigating traffic is just part of being a good biker.
"I feel safe biking in Boston because I know how to bike. I'm aggressive and attentive. The most important thing is to maintain communication between bikers and drivers," Berkowitz said.
Berkowtiz did explain, however, that some areas may be more dangerous than others, citing parts of Allston and Commonwealth Ave. as being particularly difficult roads for bikers because of the narrow roads and lack of bike lanes.
For now, most students continue to choose public transportation.
"I take the T because it's easier. It's close by, and I like walking," sophomore Aviya Slutzky said.
