Even if you haven’t got your own bicycle, Karen Michael’s wants you to experience the pleasure of commuting on two-wheels.

Maybe you’d like to bicycle from campus to the Nugget Mall; to Fred Meyer; or to any and everything commercial in between. Or maybe you’d like to bike to the movie theater, the glacier, or possibly Auke Rec. You only have one little problem, you don’t have a bicycle because it wasn’t worth the trouble to bring up here from Washington State, Chicago, Atlanta or wherever you may have called home.

UAS-Juneau and its new Bicycle Club intend to rectify your problem with a rental program offered out of the Rec. Center. The program is still in the development stage, but rentals may end up being free to all Rec. Center members.

As the student leader, Michael hopes to organize students on campus for trips around Juneau. She also hopes to encourage bicycle awareness and use, and community adoption of bicycling as an alternative mode of travel by “celebrating and promoting transportation by bike.” Further, she wants the group to “help each other fix, maintain and create bikes by using deserted bikes from around town.”

Michael requested UAS support from Student Government last September. Then, at a meeting on Oct. 13, she petitioned for financial support from the Activities Department.

Michael proposed the club would gather, refurbish and then maintain old or abandoned bicycles and go on bicycle tours. She wants “everyone in the Club to have a comfortable and safe riding experience.” Phil Paramore, Rec. Center Manager, concedes the idea had already been in consideration in some variation before Michael made her proposal.

Paramore said that the general plan is to have bicycles available for check-out much as kayaks, tents and other outdoor gear. He also says that there are some other concepts being considered. He would like to make rental available for up to one year, not just over night or on weekends, for starters. Paramore would also like to have a bike repair shop accessible to all Rec. Center associates and possibly the Juneau community at large. Bicyclists often don’t have the apparatus or tools to make their own repairs and must instead contract with professional technicians.

It would be the responsibility of the Bike Club members to maintain the rolling stock and make the major capital investments for the shop, but UAS and the Rec. Center would keep the shop stocked with service goods like machine screws, lubricants, rags and other cleaning supplies.

John Bilderbeck, faculty adviser for the new club, envisions bringing awareness of bicycling to the community as an important aspect of the Club. He would also like to see the Club have community repair days.