Possibly the greatest struggle with biking to school is the actually bike storage, appropriate clothes, and transporting all your school supplies. I was very fortunate in this regard as I was able to use my dad’s office who is currently on sabbatical. This meant that I could keep extra clothes at school and keep my bike safely locked up. However there are some great options at UBC that can make your biking experience manageable.
1.) Bike storage
Most of the building around campus have bike racks that allow you to lock-up your bike. This certainly a quick and easy option if you aren’t to concerned about your bike, or if you have quality locking systems.
Another options is to obtain free access to the UBC secure bike storage facilities located around campus. This requires you to fill out a form that is required to be dropped off at the UBC Bike Kitchen/UBC Bike COOP located in the SUB. The link for the form is given below:
http://trek.ubc.ca/files/2011/09/Consent_Form_Sept_2011.pdf
If you are still apprehensive about either of these options then there are private bike lockers that can be rented for $10.00 per month (includes a $35.00 deposit). The link to apply for these lockers is provided below:
2.) Lockers
One of the troubles with riding to school is the limit to how much stuff you can pack to bring out (the heavier your bags the harder the ride). You may decide that it is good to have a locker on campus that allows you to have spare cloths on campus or keep some of your textbooks just to lighten the load when you’re commuting. If you’re interested in renting a locker for the semester there are different sizes available through the Student Recreation Centre. Rates and locations can be found at the following link:
http://www.recreation.ubc.ca/locker-rentals/
3.) Showers
For those of you who get a little overheated on your ride to school taking a shower might be necessary for both you and your classmates. Probably the easiest place to do this is the Student Recreation Centre directly across from the Bird Coop. If you are going to get a locker this is one of the locations you might choose to make things more easy with keeping towels and toiletries.
4.) Bike repairs
The UBC Bike Kitchen/COOP is a great spot on campus to take your bike if you have any problems. The staff there are very friendly and always willing to help with any issues. They even offered to provide me with some gear for this project! Here’s a link to their websites:
http://thebikekitchen.com/
http://bikecoop.ca/