Almost every weekday morning, Crystal Scheiman packs a bag with work clothes, her lunch, and anything else she’ll need for a day of work at Illinois State University. The bag is then mounted on the back of one of two Specialized brand bikes Scheiman has affectionately named “Dorothy” and “Toto.” She sometimes even sports glittery, ruby red shoes.
“Especially if it’s raining out, I put those on, and I’m off,” said the unabashed Wizard of Oz fan.
Scheiman rides in the rain. And the heat. And the cold. If it’s above 12 degrees and there’s no lightning or ice, she rides. Instead of clicking her heels three times, she pedals 1.78 miles to her office in Stevenson Hall. It’s only a 12-minute ride.
An administrative aide in the Department of Philosophy, Scheiman initially began riding to work for exercise. She’s since realized other benefits. Though it’s rarely considered a form of civic engagement, choosing a bike over an automobile reduces one’s carbon footprint and alleviates crowded roadways and parking lots.
“Riding a bike itself is choosing a more sustainable form of transportation, but you’re being considerate in so many other ways,” said Elisabeth Reed, director of Illinois State’s Office of Sustainability.
Bloomington-Normal supports bike-friendly groups such as Bike BloNo, Friends of the Constitution Trail, and the McLean County Wheelers; Scheiman serves as secretary to the latter. The Town of Normal earned a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community award earlier this year from the League of American Bicyclists, and Illinois State hopes to one day earn the organization’s Bicycle Friendly University distinction.
Illinois State supports campus cyclists in a variety of ways. Bike ISU pulls resources together in a one-stop digital location that offers everything from a map of bike rack locations to information about the Reggie’s Rides program offered by Campus Recreation to instructions on registering and securing a bike on campus.
“We want our students to be environmental stewards, but if we don’t have the resources for them to do it, then they can’t or won’t,” Reed said. “Eliminating those barriers is really important, and part of what we are doing in this office is trying to make sustainability convenient and accessible for everyone.”
Bike ISU is managed by the Office of Sustainability, which also provides weekly bike maintenance and repair services on Fridays while school is in session. This fall, the office will offer a limited number of semester-long bike rentals. The pilot program will launch a partnership with the Office of International Engagement, offering international students bikes that have been donated or abandoned on campus.
“A lot of international students arrive on campus with a suitcase and not much else,” Reed said. “We hope this can be a good reuse story and it can be a program that grows.”
All bikes offered through the program will be inspected and checked for safety, and safety is a key tenet of Bike ISU and campus efforts to promote cycling. Foremost among them are Dismount Zones, high-traffic areas on campus where individuals riding bicycles, scooters, skateboards or other transportation devices must dismount and “walk
their wheels.”
The zones are part of a new campus policy adopted in 2023 to enhance campus safety. Though initial compliance rates leave plenty of room for improvement, Director of Environmental Health and Safety Adam McCrary ’11 hopes to see those numbers improve.
“It’s a culture change, and we know it will take some for people to comply,” McCrary said. “But we’re hopeful that within three years, when all our students will have begun their time on campus with this policy already in place, they’ll be more likely to comply with it.”
One of Illinois State’s most avid cyclists, Scheiman is all about safety. She wears her helmet, uses hand signals, and rings her bell when she’s passing others. Dorothy and Toto are both equipped with lights. Her usual routes don’t take her through Dismount Zones, but she’s prepared to “walk her wheels” when she encounters one.
“It’s a little thing to help keep people safe,” she said. “But it can make a huge impact.”
Five years after deciding to live healthier, Scheiman is doing just that. She’s “hooked” on biking, and her reputation as an ardent cyclist is legendary on campus. On days when weather is less than ideal, colleagues want to know: Did you ride your bike to work!?
“They’re kind of disappointed if I tell them I didn’t, and I just don’t like to see their sad faces,” Scheiman said, laughing. “So that’s motivating. I don’t want to disappoint people.”
