Students and faculty of Lancaster’s Franklin & Marshall College have begun exploring the community mounted on new blue and white college bicycles.
The mountain bikes were donated to the school by alumnus Michael Zane earlier this month. Zane is the founder of Kryptonite Bicycle Lock Corporation and the company’s chairman and president until its sale to Ingersoll-Rand in 2001.
Zane spoke at “the Great Bike Rollout,” an inaugural ride by students on the 96 bikes on April 3. The ride was the highlight of the college’s “Sustainability Fair,” according to information posted on the F&M web site.
The 96 bikes, with Franklin & Marshall painted on the downtube, are available to students and faculty for individual use. They will be able to sign them out for the academic year, or for occasional use. A nominal fee will be charged to cover maintenance and equipment replacement, the college site reports.
About 20 of the bikes will be available to the college’s Athletics and Recreation department.
According to the article on the college’s web site, Zane believes riders will gain a fresh appreciation of the Lancaster area through the use of the bikes.
“Lancaster County is a great place to cycle,” said Zane, “if smelly at times,” referring to the rich odors of agriculture. The Boston resident recalls coming back to the city and not recognizing certain places and buildings that had been around when he was a student nearly four decades ago. He attributes this to the blur of images perceived through car windshields.
“It’s not that I’m down on the automobile,” he points out. “But there are things that are better appreciated from a bike.”
(Photographs compliments of Franklin & Marshall College)
