The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Bike

  • Students Suffer from Frequent Bike Thefts

    Students Suffer from Frequent Bike Thefts

    Humboldt State University police say a student on campus gets their bike stolen every day

    Many Humboldt State University students have their bikes disappear from where they left them. Either a front wheel attached to a bike rack with the lock around it or a frame without a back wheel remain. Some thieves can even take the whole bike by using bolt cutters to cut the bike lock. Bikes are expensive, and having them stolen is a real cost to a student.

    Kaitlin McKie, a 23-year-old student at HSU majoring in engineering, lives off-campus. Her partner’s bike was stolen at their apartment complex. She said bike theft has been going on for a while.

    “Use U-locks instead of the cable locks,” McKie said. “They’re a little bit heavier—a little bit harder to put on the bike rack—but it’s definitely worth the investment.”

    Bike thieves can dismantle newer bikes from the front and back tires by lifting a lever on the wheel and unscrewing it, which releases the wheel from the frame. This makes it easy to remove the frame from the front tire or remove the back wheel. This technique is manufactured for bike owners to easily break them down to create a more convenient way to travel.

    University Police Department Sergeant John Packer said a student’s bike is stolen on campus every day.

    Jack McLaughlin, a freshman chemistry major at HSU, said three of his friends had their bikes stolen this semester on campus.

    “Never leave your bike for a minute,” McLaughlin said. “Always keep your eyes on your bike. If you can, bring it into the classroom with you. If you’re leaving it somewhere overnight, bring it inside with you.”

    University Police Department Sergeant John Packer said a student’s bike is stolen on campus every day. While it’s hard to stop these crimes from happening, there are ways to prevent it.

    Packer suggested you register your bike at the police station. This allows officers to match your serial number to a newly confiscated bike to return to you if it is stolen.

    Police officers can find your bike at a pawn shop by matching the serial number to the numbers that the pawn shop will register in their system. Pawn shops can even give police officers copied images of the seller’s ID, which police can use when investigating the crime.

    “Ride your bike every day,” Packer said. “If you’re doing that, you know where it is, you’re locking it up, you’re moving it around from point A to point B. It will be with you at that point in time.”

    Packer also suggested investing in a Kryptonite bike lock. These bike locks are well known for being tough, reliable and hard to cut. If you don’t want to buy one a Kryptonite lock, Packer said a simple, thick chain with a lock can do the trick.

  • One More Reason to Ride a Bike

    One More Reason to Ride a Bike

    Saving money and the planet at the HSU Bicycle Learning Center

    Humboldt State University’s Bicycle Learning Center made the transition in September 2018 from a student club to an Associated Students program umbrellaed under HSU’s Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program.

    Steven Sperling volunteers at the BLC while pursuing his master’s in business administration.

    “Bicycles are the most efficient form of transportation there is for human beings,” Sperling said. “Bicycles can and should save the world, period.”

    Originally founded in 1992, HSU’s entirely student-staffed Bicycle Learning Center is a free resource available to all HSU students in need of bike repairs. The transition opened up two part-time instructor positions, paid for with student fees, that are currently split between three students.

    “Probably the biggest thing that I’m working on here is how to share my bicycle knowledge efficiently,” Sperling said. “Learning how to teach is one of the things that I’m most excited about learning while I’m here.”

    • BLC Director Julian Palmisano scours the donated pins bin on Jan. 29. | Photo by Dakota Cox
    • Colton Trent hard at work at the BLC on Jan. 29. | Photo by Dakota Cox

    Current Director Julian Palmisano has been a member of the BLC since he transferred to HSU from Santa Barbara City College in 2017.

    “We all started as volunteers at the shop to serve and build community, utilize the resources and gain experience,” Palmisano said.

    The BLC does its best to provide all of the tools necessary for maintaining a well-conditioned bicycle, along with as many consumable parts that they can get their hands on. With a budget of only $800 provided by WRRAP, the majority of parts that cycle through the BLC are donations.

    “Sometimes we just don’t have stuff and we have to tell people like, sorry we can’t help. Which is a real bummer.”

    Colton trent

    Colton Trent is an instructor entering his third semester volunteering for the BLC.

    “The budget provides a buffer in case we run out of stuff,” Trent said. “But for the most part we can function pretty well trying to up-cycle and recycle things.”

    As a result of their small budget, the BLC can only provide a finite number of students with bicycle maintenance.

    “Sometimes we just don’t have stuff and we have to tell people like, sorry we can’t help,” Trent said. “Which is a real bummer.”

    The BLC encourages donations in the form of tools, bicycle parts and old bikes that will be refurbished and donated to a student-rider in need. All cash donations that the BLC receives go directly into the shop’s spare parts fund.

    In the fall semester of 2019, the BLC saw over 180 documented student visits, totaling over 100 hours of bicycle maintenance. By spreading the trend of using bicycles as a primary-method of transportation, the BLC is promoting a healthier lifestyle with a significantly smaller carbon footprint.

    Located in the eastern tunnel by the Redwood Bowl, the BLC is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, with instructors and volunteers standing by to assist and educate students in bicycle repair.