A bike was one of the top items on my list of things to bring to college. It’s not that I mind walking, I just hate how long walking takes and knew that having a bike would be much more efficient. What I didn’t know was that the availability of bikes on campus would be far and wide due to the LimeBikes that have swept Notre Dame’s campus. While these LimeBikes do come in handy when in a pinch — I’ll admit, I’ve ridden a LimeBike from point A to where my bike was parked at the library so that I could ride my own bike back to my dorm –– they have also become quite irritating to me. First of all, these bikes are everywhere. The “lime” green color pervades the campus. But the main problem is LimeBike users leave the bikes anywhere they want, whether it be standing, leaning or sometimes even lying on the ground. They can be found in the middle of the sidewalk, outside of building entrances, behind other parked bikes in a bike rack and even up in trees. In fact, the carelessness that riders sometimes use when abandoning their bikes can actually be quite dangerous to other bikers or pedestrians. Several instances have occurred where I have been riding my own bike or running with my team and have had to swerve onto the grass to avoid crashing into a LimeBike that is parked across a sidewalk. The other thing I find frustrating about LimeBikes almost contradicts my first frustration: when they are parked in a bike rack. These bikes lock to themselves, which is one of the reasons they can be ridden anywhere and dropped off at any point. Therefore, they do not need to be parked in a bike rack. They are simply taking up a spot for a bike, such as mine, that actually needs to be locked to something. And because of the back tire being locked, LimeBikes are impossible to move unless I pick up the entire bike and carry it away. It seems as if students forgo all common sense when using LimeBikes. I implore my fellow LimeBikers of Notre Dame to take care of these convenient modes of transportation, because if they continue to be taken advantage of, these omnipresent bikes may disappear as fast they came.
Claudia Magnussen
Freshman
Dec. 5
