University Times

Pitt Police Officer Justin Reck makes sure Henry Ma’s bike tires are inflated properly, as part of Pitt Police bike inspections. Ma, a student in the Graduate School of Public Health’s infectious diseases and microbiology program, bicycles to school because “it’s quick, it’s faster than the bus, and it’s good cardio, of course.”

“This event inspired me to get started,” says Omid Fotuhi, faculty member in psychology (left), who began bicycling to campus from Fox Chapel. “It’s a really fantastic way to keep you healthy. It’s cost effective and it’s sometimes less time from door to door” than commuting by car. Sinjon Bartel (right), an electrical engineering and computer science student who co-leads the Pitt Bike Collective, helped adjust Fotuhi’s brake pad so it didn’t rub against the rotor. “Events like this,” says Bartel, “connect people from one community to another” at Pitt.

A bicycle commute, says Carolyn Ferguson, lab manager in the School of Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology, “is a great way to start the day and helps me focus on my work day a little better.” She travels from McKeesport along the Great Allegheny Passage trail and across the Hot Metal Bridge. Officer Mallory Skrbin shows Ferguson where to find her bike’s serial number to register it with Pitt’s parking office.

Stephanie Brulia joined the Bike to Work event even though she works at home; she wanted to support one of its sponsors, BikePGH. Cycling means everything from getting exercise to enjoying an activity with friends, Brulia says.

“They’re doing this event to promote people to bike – and it worked for me,” says Hashim Al Hassan, a graduate student in electrical engineering who cycled to Pitt from Wilkinsburg for the first time today. Officer Reck helps Al Hassan fix his brakes and straighten his wheel. Will he continue biking? “I plan to do some of the days, maybe every day,” he says.