A rack of bikes at University of Chicago awaits return of their riders. Someday.

The lifestyles of bicycles in urban areas and college campuses has always fascinated me. Some bikes sit chained to street signs for weeks on end, months even. Years?

One walks past one of these chained bikes on the way to downtown from the train station and it begs the question: is the bike forgotten?

Morbid fantasies

Or, those other morbid fantasies come to mind. Was the owner killed on some other bike, leaving the machine out in the elements day and night, in all sorts of weather?

Or perhaps the story is less exotic in its way. The owner moved out of town in a hurry or simply doesn’t care that an old bike is left to rust in the rain and snow. The brains of some cyclists are hard to figure out. Contrast a neglected bike with one ridden by a streaking messenger through traffic and the spectrum is hard to conceive. One bike is a mark of the unliving and the other is the tool of a livelihood.

Impractical genius

On the campus of the University of Chicago I photographed a rack of bikes stuck in the snow. It was obvious they weren’t going anywhere soon. What isn’t always so obvious is––why? Certainly riding bikes in the snow on an urban campus is not so easy, and college students generally take the path of least resistance. Just look at those footpaths across the College Green. The sidewalks are ignored.

So they are not about to rough it out riding bikes in snow. There are drifts and piles and ice slicks, and one is more prone to crash. Especially with a hangover or a head full of final exam material.

So I guess it makes sense. It just hurts to see the bikes suffer alone.

Squeezed out

The other reason for neglected bikes is that there is seldom little space in a college dorm to store a bike. The configuration of a room with two beds and tight closets simply won’t allow it. Fraternities and sororities might have room in their houses for bikes, but that’s no guarantee. So the college bikes sit out in the snow and rain in all seasons. The seats soak up moisture and split. Chains rust. Gear cables lock and brakes too. Riding one of these outdoor bikes after a winter in the elements is an adventure of sorts, like shaking off dull thoughts after a long night’s sleep.

One would think that the bikes of some of the world’s brightest people would get better attention. Yet a bike, like so many machines and gadgets in this world, is just a tool for a brilliant mind. A way to get from one place to the other a little quicker. And often nothing more.

Personalities

I’ve been on enough college campuses and in cities and towns around the country to know that bikes also take on the personalities of their owners, and that process can be quite revealing. Duct tape holds together weather-worn seats. One set of brakes is missing completely. Yet people ride these machines because they don’t care that their bikes don’t work well until their bikes don’t work at all.

The bike fixer

A fellow in the town where I live scours the landscape for forgotten and abused bikes. He fixes them up and people buy these bikes like they are rare gems. He is discerning, this bike repair guy. He once took a look at the ancient Schwinn Varsity in our garage and deemed it beyond easy restoration. I think he just didn’t feel like carrying the damn thing that day. It must weight 40 lbs.

Yin and yang, bikes and people

This is the yin and yang of the bike world, with a deep netherworld between. Some people treasure their bikes and protect them from all harm. Others leave them to rot in the rain and don’t even know how to oil the chain. You hear these people on bikes clattering down the trail. Their bikes are louder than thought. Maybe that’s why the bikes get left behind. Smart people don’t like anything that competes with their thought processes.

But I for one, consider the bikes worthy of more than that fate. No matter how primitive a bike may be, it deserves better than to have rust take over the chrome of the handlebars, or to fall apart without hope.