Fort Collins, and CSU as well, are well-regarded as having really good biking places all around the city. You can practically bike anywhere in town, and may not even need a car when going to CSU, which eliminates the need for an expensive parking pass. These following items range in necessity with differences in the type of riding one does around CSU, which can vary from just commuting to class to downhill mountain biking.

A lot of these items are also cheap to buy but provide a lot of good value, so they’re great for a college student’s budget.

1 — A lock

When parking your bike, always remember to keep it locked properly, and the most common and most inexpensive way is with a U-lock that you can get for cheap at any bike shop around town or for free at the CSU police department while registering a bike (more on that later). There are several ways to lock a bike, however the best tends to be around both the wheel and the frame of the bike, as well as a stable grounded item which can be as simple as a fence. Locking around the frame is important because if you lock around just the wheel, someone can detach the wheel from the bike and make off with it.

Wishing I wasn’t speaking from experience on the last one, but I have now learned my lesson.

2 — A helmet

I am not saying that a helmet is not important, it very much is, and can often be life saving when you crash. The type of helmet depends on the terrain, since I won’t be seen riding around campus in a full-face downhill helmet, but I will if I’m riding steep downhill in the mountains. Even if you’re convinced you won’t or can’t crash, they will happen when you least expect it. Speaking from experience, I’ve gone to the hospital and had to get stitches right above my eye after crashing at less than ten miles per hour on campus without wearing one.

Another thing about helmets : it’s cheaper to buy a new helmet than to recover from a concussion or worse…

3 — Knowledge of Bike Paths

As I have said earlier, there are a lot of good bike paths all around town, and they offer nice scenery all around them as well as convenience to get to the places you want to go. A popular path around campus is the Mason Trail, which runs along the train tracks just west of College Ave from the northern edge of CSU’s campus all the way down to the southern edge of town. Another popular path is the aptly-named Spring Creek Trail, which runs from Spring Creek Park near Horsetooth Reservoir out to Poudre river. Speaking of the Poudre, there is also a trail that runs along the river almost all of its length, and can be accessed north of Old Town.

There are also several major roads that have separated bike lanes, so you can be protected from cars flying by. However, one big street where bikes aren’t protected is College Ave.

4 — A light

A light, which are kind of cheap, are very useful for late nights since not all of the streets are lit perfectly at night, or if you want to not get hit by cars when on the road when it’s dark, since that’s typically bad.

They can usually be found on Amazon for fairly cheap, around $10 to $20 for a decent one that can be recharged after using for more than 6 hours. However, some more powerful lights can be found for more, and are usually much brighter than a typical light is. All lights should be able to attach to a bike’s handlebars pretty easily, although can sometimes move around if the terrain is bumpy enough.

5 — A water bottle

Staying hydrated is good, especially in a dry place at a high elevation like Fort Collins is, so make sure you bring a water bottle along, especially if it’s going to be really hot. Like a helmet, it’s better to bring one than not, and often times people forget to bring one. Being dehydrated has its issues, and one of them is that you can get lightheaded and not think clearly, which is not ideal on a long ride up to Horsetooth Reservoir.

If it’s a really long ride, also plan on bringing snacks and energy bars to keep moving along the trip. Seen above are my personal water bottles, which fits nicely in my backpack and hold 24–30 oz of water.

6 — A registration sticker (if at CSU)

CSU Police offers students that they can register their bikes on their website, and it only costs $10 and you get to keep the sticker throughout your time at CSU, and it’s definitely better than getting a bike stolen (also sadly speaking from experience). You should keep note of your bike’s serial number as that is necessary when filling out the registration paperwork. This is typically found in the crank area of the bike, but can be difficult to read sometimes especially on older, more-worn bikes.

Another thing is that, if possible, make sure that you know what the bike’s serial number is, so take a picture of it just in case your bike gets stolen.

7 — Some First-Aid

Crashing is not good, so make sure to bring first aid along with you on big rides, maybe not on smaller rides, but especially if going into the mountains, where often helicopters have to take you off the mountain if the injury is bad enough. Those flights can often be much more expensive than a usual ambulance ride, but are necessary in areas where ambulances can’t reach. However, some first-aid would be ideal to bring along in case of crashes, and it can consist of a Band-aid and maybe a roll of gauze tape if warranted. Again, it’s better to bring it and not need it than to not bring it but have to race back to where you live to fix up the smallest injuries.

2024 Update - For this one, we had to create of list of things that were apart of a similar topic, and write about them.