Minnesota ranked No. 2 on this year’s League of American Bicyclists’ Bike Friendly States list released last week, a title St. Thomas students have contributed to.

The state jumped two spots from No. 4 in 2013. The league gave Minnesota a perfect score in the policies and programs category, and noted programs like the Share the Road campaign, a push for Vulnerable Road User Protection Laws, and committed state funding to bicycle infrastructures as reasons for the ranking.

Senior Matt Ghiloni, president of Bicycle Enthusiasts at St. Thomas, credits the Nice Ride system with giving people access to bikes.

“We have every different type of person—different cultures, different religions, different races, old, young, wealthy, poor—riding bikes. There are some great organizations here in the cities that allow people who have nothing to have access to bikes,” Ghiloni said. “Nice Ride allows everyday people to ride whenever they want, and it allows business professionals to avoid sitting in rush hour traffic.”

Senior Mitch Schaps helped direct the Nice Ride initiative and said that since the bikes were set up on campus, more than 330 students signed up for the discounted membership.

“Since we started the grant, people have taken over 4,000 rides, and we’ve become the most successful partner Nice Ride’s ever had,” Schaps said.

Bicycle Enthusiasts at St. Thomas operates the Bike Share program, a system that allows students to rent bikes for free from the library. Any person with a St. Thomas ID is able to rent a bike for free, along with a helmet and lock.

According to Ghiloni, the Twin Cities are especially accommodating to cyclists.

“Mass transit has been great as well because it works alongside people who walk and people who ride. There are bike racks on busses and on the light-rail system,” Ghiloni said. “We also have a lot of bike paths, bike lanes and the greenway in downtown Minneapolis.”

Additionally, Ghiloni said the Sierra Club is working to get protected bike lanes on the main roads.

“They have them in San Francisco and Portland. They’re great for families or people who aren’t comfortable biking in traffic because they’re wider lanes,” he said.

Ghiloni said that efforts to increase bike safety will benefit a wide variety of groups.

“There’s people that cycle to work. There’s people that cycle to school. There’s people that cycle for fun,” Ghiloni said.

Sophomore Matt Willis bikes to school every day and said that the only disadvantage is coping with the rain.

“It’s not fun, but at least I’m not walking in the snow anymore. I just couldn’t bike in the conditions we had this winter,” Willis said.

Junior Cole Baker rides bikes about four blocks to class and said St. Thomas is a bike-friendly area.

“You have numerous streets with bicycle lanes, and it’s a very beautiful area of the city for biking with a lot of beauty and scenery,” Baker said. “You can go down and bike along the Mississippi (River), or you can ride on Summit (Avenue) for as long as you’d like.”

Schaps said he was not surprised by Minnesota’s standing in the Bike Friendly list.

“From what I’ve heard from Minneapolis, they’ve been pretty consistent as far as good biking structure goes,” Schaps said.

There are four Nice Ride locations on campus, and the bikes are provided from April to November. Schaps added that the bike stations are well-centered throughout the campus.

“If you look at the curves and paths that St. Thomas has going through it, it’s naturally a good area to bike through as long as you’re watching out for people walking on the paths,” Schaps said.

Michelle Doeden can be reached at doed1842@stthomas.edu.