"Ice? No problem. It makes it more of a challenge," Wechsler says. "I like biking in the winter more. Sometimes it's a bit of a problem with clueless pedestrians. They expect you to drive over a pile of snow when they can just as easily step aside."

The worst problem about bicycling at Harvard is that many of the roads do not have extra space for bicycles, Hastings says. Parked cars only add to the congestion.

"There's not much planning for bicycles," says Hastings. He also says that conditions are better for cyclists in Japan and Germany, where he has lived. In both countries, special areas are marked on the sidewalks for bicyclists, he says.

Lobbying the University

Hastings says he has argued with University officials to create bicycle lanes in the Yard, and he has gone to town council meetings to urge the city to extend the Charles River bicycle path.

"If more people use bikes, it might generate some interest in new bike paths and facilities for bicycles," says Hastings.

Bicycle owners say that problems with weather, bad road conditions and thefts have led them to buy cheaper bikes, made for rugged terrain riding, rather than more expensive 10-speed racing bicycles.

Zomopoulos says she recently bought a new bicycle, but it was stolen only a month and a half after she bought it. Rather than replace it with another new bike, she decided to buy a used bike instead. "If you have an old bike, very few people will want it so you're pretty safe," says Zomopoulos, who describes her current bike as an "ugly bright green Schwinn."

Hastings says that he owns two bicycles, one 10-speed bike for summer riding, and a balloontired three-speed with special foot-brakes, that he rides during the winter and wet weather, when hand-brakes do not always suffice.

Bicycle Exchange employees say they try to provide another solution to the weather problem, by selling different styles of bicycles to Cambridge bikers. Employees say that the store has recently sold more flat-tire bikes. Because these vehicles are designed for use on all kinds of terrain, they can be used throughout the city in all kinds of weather.

The store usually suggests the City Cruiser, "the perfect city bike," to student bikers and city bikers who are not serious about the cycling sport, Weber says. The Cruiser is a three-speed bicycle, which can survive the rough, badly paved streets of Cambridge, employees say. The model also lasts forever, says Weber, because it does not break down in icy or rainy weather.

Faced by the many hassles that come with riding a bike, some students say they have given up and decided that biking on campus is not for them.

Charles Henebry '89 says he does not ride his bicycle around campus because he was involved in a bicycle accident two years ago. And he adds that he does not really miss biking.

"I don't really have time to worry about locking up the bike, or getting the bike stolen," he says. "There are potholes all over the place around here. When I did bike, it would take just as much time to lock up the bike, which kind of defeated the purpose."

Valerie S. Feldman '90 lives in the Quad, and she says most of her friends ride bikes to class, but she finds biking too much of a hassle.