With the beginning of each semester comes a rush to start anew - bicycles included.
Students have been forming lines outside the Student Government Bike Repair station outside the Reitz Union during the first few days of class, anticipating free care for their two-wheeled vehicles.
"Yesterday was nuts," said Ernie Quincosa, an employee at the repair station, about Monday's traffic. "When I was working here for one hour, I'd say 20, 25 people came in."
Scott Powers, another bike repair employee, said the long lines are the norm for the beginning of the semester and are partly caused by the bike repair team's lack of a manager, which has forced them to reorganize.
The lines were similarly long on Tuesday, with 12 students waiting with their bikes about 15 minutes before the repair shop's 3 p.m. closing time.
Student Body Treasurer Paul Drayton acknowledged there are problems with the repair shop and said SG plans to build an entirely new facility.
"Right now, it's not sufficient," Drayton said.
He said the facility will be enclosed with glass walls, and SG has allocated $80,000 dollars to the project.
"Hopefully, that will get under way in the near future," Drayton said.
The repair shop was criticized this time last year for not staffing enough workers during the back-to-school rush.
Workers at the bike repair are employed by SG and are paid about $7 an hour, Quincosa said.
He said there are usually two employees staffing the bike repair, but those roles aren't set in stone.
John Remington, a sixth-year Spanish major, said he had been in line for an hour waiting to get the chain on his bicycle fixed.
"Every time I've been here before, just walked right in," Remington said. "Took care of it."
