By Chase Harber-
Clouds and rain have ridden the skies over Louisville for the past 48 hours, but not Thursday. It was a beautiful morning to get out and ride a bicycle, and what better company to have than the president of the University of Louisville himself, James Ramsey.
This was the fifth year that Pedal with the President has been organized and kicked off from the president’s residence, Amelia Place, in the Highlands. The venture begins with everyone leaving together from the residence and then navigating their way down to campus. The group splits along the way with some heading to the Health Sciences campus and the others heading to the Belknap campus.
The event is planned to raise awareness and encourage students, faculty and staff to use bicycles as a mode of transportation. Biking can strengthen your pulmonary system, your heart and lungs as well as help work your muscles. The economic benefits include savings associated with parking, fuel and expenses that come with an automobile such as insurance.
Biking not only helps your heart and your pocket. It also helps the university as it tries to lower its carbon footprint. A total of 18 percent of U of L’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from commuting, including the amount of resources used for maintaining, securing and enforcing parking of cars on campus.
Justin Mog, the assistant to the provost for sustainability initiatives was very excited to see this environmental initiative get under way.
“Nothing invigorates me more than a fun ride into campus with President Ramsey! His smiles and gung-ho attitude always buoy me up for another year of promoting more sustainable practices at UofL, like biking, walking, busing, or carpooling to campus,” said Mog. “We’d love to get more students involved in future rides and are considering a Pedal with the President to a UofL basketball game downtown.”
More sustainability events can be found at louisville.edu/sustainability/events.html
