The KAIST Riding Club is a recently created group that consists of members of the KAIST community who simply love to bike. The KAIST Herald met with two students who run the KAIST Riding Club to hear more about their activities and how they would like to develop in the future.

Can you briefly introduce yourselves?
[Kim] I’m Jin-Young Kim, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science. Before I came to KAIST, I was at Sogang University, where I started and managed a cycling club. At KAIST, I missed cycling with other people so I decided to start another club here.
[Lee] My name is Chang-Whan Lee, and I’m a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. After entering graduate school I found the need to look for an activity that I could do independently because it is difficult to get people together for large team sports like soccer. Bicycling was both a suitable and convenient choice, and I joined the KAIST Riding Club to bike with other people.

So when and how did the club start?
[Kim] Last fall I opened an online café on the Korean portal site Naver, but it was made at a pretty bad timing since winter was so near. Unless they’re bike fanatics, most people don’t like to go cycling in the cold weather. We switched to creating a group on Facebook this spring and we now have 47 members. Our group currently consists of undergraduate students, graduate students, and KAIST employees. Anyone who is part of the KAIST community can join, even people who just have a part-time job on campus!
[Lee] There were quite a lot of people at KAIST who biked for fun, but there was no network of any sort. They didn’t have a way to contact each other and go cycling as a group. So that was the initial purpose of this club – to become that network.

What is a typical ride like? What route do you take?
[Lee] Thanks to the Korean government, Daejeon has amazing bicycle roads. We can go pretty much anywhere. Daecheong Dam, Ppuri Park, Sejong city, and Gasuwon-dong are some places we frequent.
[Kim] Sometimes we ride to Donghaksa or just bike along Gapcheon. In the future, we are planning to make a list of famous restaurants in Daejeon so we could go on food expeditions by bike.
[Lee] On average, we bike around 30 km, but longer trips are around 50 km. We ride at around 23 km per hour on average, but the speed varies according to who is with us on that particular trip.
[Kim] The purpose of this club is to bike together. So we always adjust our speed to the most inexperienced person in our group. The most experienced person bikes at the front and sets a pace that everyone can follow.

Do you need a very good bike to travel such long distances?
[Lee] Not really. You just need to take care of your bike, making sure it doesn’t rust. We even have people riding Tashu bikes to Daecheong Dam. The only problem is when you go mountain biking. If you don’t have a bike that’s approved for mountain trails, it could break and you might get badly injured. Otherwise, any bike is fine.

Are there many female members in your club?
[Kim] We have five registered female members. So far, three have come to our general meeting, but none have participated in a bike trip yet. Maybe they have reservations about biking with a group of guys, thinking it might be too hard to keep up, but that’s actually not true. Many guys are actually quite out of shape. Still, we are planning more leisurely trips so that our female members will be encouraged to participate in the future.

Many people in your club probably own expensive bicycles. How do they keep their bikes safe, considering the fact there are so many cases of bicycle theft on campus?
[Lee] I live off campus, so I can keep mine in my room. There is one member who carries around three locks. He uses one to bind the front wheel to a bike rack, wraps another around the front wheel and frame, and ties the third lock around the rear wheel and frame. Others just try to find a location that’s relatively safe. Bicycle safety is a huge problem on campus nowadays. We would really like to urge KAIST to provide safe and secure locations where students can park their bikes. With just a little investment, KAIST could greatly improve student safety and welfare, and protect students against such cases of theft.

Does the KAIST Riding Club do any activities other than cycling?
[Kim] We’re thinking of conducting surveys that could help KAIST in setting up some bicycle-friendly policies and facilities. We are also thinking of starting petitions, launching campaigns, and organizing seminars on subjects like bicycle safety and etiquette.

Do you have anything else you would like to say?
[Kim] Bicycling can be a wonderful source of stress relief. Cycling trips are like a short journey. You can bike at a leisurely pace while enjoying the scenery, stopping occasionally to look at the sky, wandering along a river, and getting lost in your thoughts. I hope more people will join us so that we can share this amazing and invigorating experience together.
[Lee] To conclude, I would like to say that cycling is an activity that anyone can enjoy if they simply have the heart. Some people think it requires a handful of technical knowledge or expensive equipment, but that is completely untrue. Also, KAIST has consistently been a university with one of the greatest numbers of bicycles on campus. However, there are not many events, campaigns, and programs that cater to the needs of people who ride bikes at KAIST. It’s time to be more concerned about our bicycling culture, and I believe that the KAIST Riding Club can play an active role in strengthening it.