The Tiger Bikes program, a University of Memphis bike-share service, is starting a cycling club on campus.
The club will host its first meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the University Center Room 208 to discuss what potential members want out of the club.
"We're just trying to promote a culture of cycling on campus and a culture of commuting for sustainability's sake, and because parking sucks," Tom McGoldrick, a junior philosophy major said.
McGoldrick is a mechanic for Tiger Bikes and the president of the cycling club. The club will function as a registered student organization, and McGoldrick hopes to put as much power in the members' hands as possible.
"I started this club, but it's not mine," McGoldrick said. "The club belongs to the members, and we just want to know if they want to do group bike rides, fundraising, races or whatever. It's all up to the cyclers."
The Program is supported by the Green Fee, a $10 fee that is added to all full-time students' tuition, that goes toward projects aimed at making the campus more sustainable and efficient.
The Tiger Bikes program officially started last spring, but this is the first semester that anyone has used the program. In fact, they rented out all 50 of their bikes in the first week of the semester.
About 60 to 70 percent of the renters are international students, and, since the number of international students is growing each semester, the demand for bikes has spiked, according to McGoldrick.
Reinder Yntema, a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands, has been renting from Tiger Bikes since the beginning of the semester. He uses his bike to ride around campus and to get around the city. While his main purpose for biking is transportation, he says he does find it relaxing.
"I don't know if I would join a cycling club, because I'm not really into cycling that much," Yntema said. "A bike is really just a way of transportation for me, but it would be useful if there were some cycling meetings that would help (students) get to know the city more."
Cycling rates vary across the United States, but McGoldrick sees the trend spreading to the Bluff City.
"If you go out West, man, people see biking as a lifestyle," McGoldrick said. "That view is just now catching on here in Memphis, and we hope to help push it along as much as we can."
Renters are required to turn in their bike after two weeks, and then they're issued another. Because of the shortage of bikes, however, renters are put on a waiting list until bikes become available.
"Tiger Bikes needs more bikes, so we are going to petition for more, but we also thought it would be a good idea to start a club to aid all of the bikers and to promote a sense of community for bikers on campus," McGoldrick said.
