By Jacob Peller, Staff Writer

Published Sep. 24, 2014

You’ve seen us around; we’re racing downhill, cutting around corners and feeling the breeze.

We’re the ones on wheels.

You can catch us on bikes, scooters, skateboards and even roller blades on occasion as we ride down the roads of UNCG.

Yet, there are many people who choose to walk to class every day.

So the question is: why aren’t you on wheels?

Odds are, you’ve seen me riding my scooter around campus.

To me, it’s more than just a fun outdoor activity.

You see, I have always had the misfortune of setting up a semester of classes without putting into consideration the sheer amount of distance between each class.

This is not always the case, but usually I’ll have that one class that starts in 10 minutes and is all the way across the campus.

Originally, I thought that just running would be enough, and for a time it was.

But then the courses started getting heavier and in turn so did my backpack.

I discovered early on that I couldn’t lug what felt like 100 pounds of rocks on my back and run across campus at the same time.

At least, for me, that just wasn’t going to work. That’s when I got my first set of wheels.

There are lots of different choices when it comes to transportation.

In fact, they’re as numerous and unique as snowflakes; and not your typical snowflakes, but those riding, gliding, trick pulling snowflakes.

But, for our sake, we’ll put them into a simple list of the fastest to the least unwieldy.

The first and most common is the bike.  You’ll probably see these zooming past you on the road, but more likely, you’ll see them on the bike rack in front of every building.

Bikes have the greatest speed of all the campus transportation; and although they may be slightly more bulky and take time to chain and unchain them up before class, they will still definitely help you make it to class on time.

The next thing you’re likely to see around is the skateboard.

Many students enjoy skateboards because they allow for just as much transportation on hills as a bike, but they also have the added bonus of being great for tricks.

For a skateboarder, it is just as much about the performance on their boards than it is about traveling with them.

You’ll likely see groups hanging out around College Ave, practicing Kick Flips and Pop Shove-Its.

So, if having fun on the run is more your style, you should consider getting one.

The least common, but my personal favorite, is the Scooter.

This is the perfect middle ground between the speed and maneuverability of the bike but with the compactness of the skateboard.

Anyone who uses a scooter has the additional bonus of being able to fold it up and carry it indoors.

I use mine as more of a heavy load transport, but I am told that you can do just as many tricks on them as you can do with a skateboard.

So now you know about all these wonderful ways of getting around.

But don’t just take my word for it.

I asked sixty different students what they thought about these types of transportation and whether or not they would be willing to try using one.

Of the total group, forty-seven said that they were interesting in using a new mode of transportation, but most were concerned about being able to keep balance.

By contrast, eleven people said that they’d rather walk and two felt the need to tell me about how the sidewalk was for walking only.

In the end the majority speaks for itself.

In the end it all comes down to personal preference, some people are just more content walking everywhere they go.

But for those with a more adventurous spirit who are willing to try new things, or perhaps those who are constantly late to class, I have a familiar question to ask: why aren’t you wheels?