Free Breakfast for PSU Bikers (Plus, an Idea for Portland State Bike Sharing)

• PSU BIKE SHOP
• Portland State’s brand new bike co-op

Cyclists can get their pastry fix at Portland State this week. Students are giving away free Boy Gorilla coffee, pastries and fruit outside the school’s brand new Bike Hub on 6th and Harrison from 9-11 AM today through Thursday.

The students are also selling raffle tickets to raise money for an interesting new program: bike sharing at Portland State. While the city of Portland is trying to raise support for a $2.64 million Portland bike sharing program, a group of PSU students are trying to develop their own campus-wide version.

According to PSU bike shop chief Ian Stude, the Portland State students are modeling their idea on University of Oregon’s bike loan program, which lets students rent refurbished bikes for $12 a term. They plan to collect bicycles abandoned at the end of terms, fix them up into commuter bikes and rent them out on the cheap to students and faculty who want to ride. Stude estimates that there are between 20-40 bikes abandoned on campus every year, but many of those such junk that they’re not worth refurbishing into a safe commuter bike. Currently, abandoned bikes are donated to the Community Cycling Center and Bike Farm.

“It’s a really up in the air, nebulous project,” cautions Stude, who says there’s no date set for when or if bike sharing would unveil at PSU. There are still organization and administrative hurdles (such as the dreaded word “liability”) keeping the students’ idea from becoming a sure thing. But in the mean time, the coffee and pastries are very real: 6th and Harrison, 9-11 AM, through Thursday Jan 7th.