Hendry: Biking in Vermillion a pleasant experience

This week, for the first time in maybe a year, I put some air in my bike tires and hopped on for a ride. I didn’t go too far beyond campus, but almost as soon as I swung my leg over the seat I felt a rush of happy, bike-riding memories — both alone while finding beautiful places around town and with my dad back when I was younger.

Biking is a healthy and relaxing hobby I’m trying to develop, and if you ask me, Vermillion is a pretty great place to take it up. For the most part, traffic is so tame that basic watchfulness  — both on the part of cyclists and motorists — is typically enough to keep you safe.

Sure, bike lanes would be nice, but I hardly expect such a project to be undertaken when most sidewalks and roads are safe enough on their own.

Of course, with all that being said, there are areas of town I tend to avoid when I’m on two wheels, Main Street being the big one. Bikes are not allowed on the sidewalks, which is understandable considering the store fronts, but cycling on the road is risky when a parked car could begin backing out at any second.

I know when I’m the one in the car trying to back out of Silk Road on a busy day I struggle just to see if there’s any on-coming cars, much less a lone cyclist coming down the road. Beyond avoiding that stretch altogether, I don’t have much of a solution for biking downtown.

Perhaps the biggest safety note I have for bicyclists relates to rides around campus. I’d almost guarantee anyone walking to class during a passing period has been surprised by a bike squeezing past them on the sidewalk. I’ve been that unwitting pedestrian, and I’ll admit I’ve also been that harried cyclist just trying to get where I need to be.

Sometimes it’s just luck of the draw — traffic happens, and groups of friends like to walk side by side no matter how much of the rest of the path they block. Other times, just a simple little “On your left!” or “Excuse me” gets the job done. In four years, I can think of a cyclist doing this once, and I appreciated it much more than being surprised.

As someone new to the fitness scene, I feel pretty fortunate that, for the most part, Vermillion is such a bike-friendly town. It all comes down to basic awareness of your surroundings on the road and a bit of common courtesy when you’re late to class on campus.