[This post is written for Steve Fox's multimedia journalism class.]
A mother and daughter enjoy the spring weather in early March at the UMass Amherst campus pond.
Click here to watch video: Spring Weather at UMass A video by Christina Fong & Carol Lawless
These days, instead of waking up to the sound of plows outside my window, I am greeted by the lovely chirping of birds. It must be spring! Recently, the UMass Amherst campus has seen a transformation of its own: from a winter wonderland (read: treacherous sheets of ice) to a place where a mound of snow cannot be seen for miles. Finally. Geese have overtaken the field next to the campus pond. And nothing says spring like baby duckings in the campus pond! Students are seen standing outside chatting with friends more often now. In the winter, mostly due to the various wind tunnels on campus, students rush to an indoor safe haven between classes. One group of people always seem to brave the weather though: bikers.
Biking is an extremely popular activity on the UMass Campus. There is a UMass Bike Racing Club and a Bike Co-op in the Student Union, where the employed students fix bikes. Some pedestrians may complain that the bikers are reckless and will not announce themselves as they speed past those on foot, with only inches between them. But I see the bikers as smart…they are probably going to get out of the cold sooner than us and are getting their daily workout in while getting to class. Some drivers also feel animosity towards the bikers and believe that they should follow traffic rules and not just design their own, separate laws to follow.
Now that spring is here, bike racks are getting crowded. The tendancy to see a biker is becoming more and more common as the temperature rises. One Bike Co-op employee refuses to ride in the winter, stating because it’s too dangerous, while his co-worker relies on his bike as his means of getting from his off-campus apartment to class, braving all seasons. (Another worker has gotten clipped by cars on two separate occasions, and suffered broken bones–proving that perhaps bikers should follow traffic rules.)
A nearly-full bike rack at the UMass Student Union
