Brittany Lofton
News Reporter

Mesa State College is not the only thing that is getting new buildings and makeovers. The MavBikes program is being revamped to better suit the transportation needs of students.
Chad Thatcher, Outdoor Program director said, “Two years ago, Mesa State had a ‘no biking’ policy around campus. Now, they have suited the campus to be biker friendly with wide corridors and more bike racks.”
MavBikes enables students to rent a bicycle for the duration of the semester for $150. Students can sign up to rent a bike at Breanne Meier’s office in the recreation center. After the semester is over, if the bike is in working order, students get their money back.
The program did fairly well last year as a new service for students. Thatcher is still trying to get a few things sorted out. Last semester, many bikes were brought back with flat tires, broken chains, bent handle bars, among other problems. This led Thatcher to make a few changes.
“At first, we tried to figure out why students were not biking,” Thatcher said. “We found out that students had no bikes so we fixed that problem. If they did have a bike, they had a flat. If they got a flat on their car, it is like the end of the world and they will stop everything they are doing to fix that flat tire on the car and that could take all day. But fixing a flat on a bike, takes five minutes.”
The Outdoor Program decided to offer a small bike repair station to fix those small problems and keep the bikes rolling. If the renter has a flat, they are advised to drop by the OP office and pay a meager $4 to have the flat fixed by a mechanic.
Thatcher encourages students to stick around to learn how to change and fix a flat. If the student does stick around, they will get a free patch kit so it will not take away time and money to keep riding. Once students learn, they are also able to use the tools in the OP office to change it themselves. If there is a persistent problem with flats, one can get a thorn resistant tube, a slime shot and installation of the tube for $14.
Thatcher has received complaints from students that they worry about the bike being stolen or the lack of headlights for night riding, but the OP has teamed up with Bicycle Outfitters, located at 431 Colorado Avenue, to offer a solution. Bicycle Outfitters offers a 20 percent discount on bike locks, front and back lights and other products when they show their student I.D. They also offer 10 percent off bike purchases.
On 7 p.m. on Sept. 22, the Outdoor Program is offering a free basic bike tune-up class to help students learn the basics of fixing problems with their bikes. They will instruct students on how to fix a flat, adjust brakes, grease a chain and give more details about MavBikes.
To get more involved with the biking community, GJ Junk Ride has a ride around town on the last Thursday of every month, even in the winter. They ride starts at 7 p.m. at 10th and Main. There will also be a costumed ride to local galleries and parade through town as a part of KAFM’s second annual Zombie Prom at 8 p.m. on Oct. 1.

blofton@mesastate.edu