The whir of bicycle spokes on the Hill is an unusual sound, especially in the dripping heat of late summer.

There are students who pedal anyway, like Juraj Lord, a freshman from the Slovak Republic.

“I try to walk or ride the bike so I won’t get fat from the food you eat here,” he said.

Lord said he would drive, but he hasn’t had time to get his license. And he prefers to ride his bike anyway.

“It’s pleasure and purpose combined,” he said.

Nick Bacon, a junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn., said he had reservations about driving because of fewer spaces in the parking garage.

“Now that Western’s taken away three floors or four floors from the residents, it would be chaotic,” he said.

Bacon said he rides his bike from his apartment, parks it at the Downing University Center and walks to class.

“It’s like a nine-minute walk, but I turn it into a three-minute bike ride,” he said.

He said he thinks it’s fun to ride back down the Hill, but “if you get too much momentum it’s over.”

Frankfort junior Greg Rodgers said he bikes because he’s a slow walker and the bike makes it easier to get to class on time.

“I figure wherever I’m going will still be there by the time I get there,” he said.

As an English major, Rodgers has a lot of classes at Cherry Hall. But he doesn’t bike there.

“That’s a lot of hill to pedal up,” he said.

One thing Rodgers said he doesn’t like is people walking in the middle of the sidewalk, because they don’t leave much room for him.

“I guess it’s to spite (me) for having more wheels than they do,” he said.

Reach Marci Kacsir at [email protected].