In Fall 2014, the NYU Abu Dhabi Athletics Department resumed the bicycle-borrowing program at NYUAD in an attempt to encourage students, staff members, faculty and family members to explore Saadiyat Island and promote exercise among the NYUAD community.

The program started two years ago in Sama Tower; students borrowed bicycles on weekends to get around the city or train for triathlons. With being on an island this year, Athletics has made a few changes to the policies of bicycle rentals.

All cyclists must first complete a bicycle maintenance course. In this course, cyclists will learn about the cycling policy of NYUAD and general bicycle care. Cyclists will learn how to replace damaged tires and safety tips. The first course was at the end of September and over thirty cyclists attended the course.

“The course entails learning how to do basic maintenance things like repairing a punctured tire or replacing a punctured tube. So if you’re out riding and your get a flat tire you can do the replacement yourself. Knowing how to oil and grease a bike and just knowing how to take care of a bike,” said Associate Director of Athletics, Wayne Young.

Athletics will also provide repair and safety equipment for all cyclists. Upon signing out a bicycle, cyclists will receive a helmet, a lock, a tool kit and an extra inner tube. There is also a 100 AED deposit for each bicycle that is borrowed, which will be refunded once the bicycle is returned in good conditions.

“They must wear their helmet when riding the bike. If seen without a helmet the bike will be confiscated,” said Coach Wayne.

In the past, due to the location of Sama Tower, students didn’t feel comfortable riding bicycles in the city. However, on Saadiyat, where traffic flow is light, cyclists can feel safer on the roads. As a result, it is expected that the bicycle-borrowing program will be more popular amongst the students.

“Bikers need to keep the bike on Saadiyat Island because getting off the island means they are going to get onto the highways and cross bridges and that’s not a good thing for people who aren’t familiar with bikes and the roads here,” said Coach Wayne.

In order to increase access to bicycles, Athletics has increased the number of bicycles from 19 to 49. There are beach cruisers, mountain and road bicycles.

Borrowing bicycles will be limited to two weeks initially, subject to change based on demand. Log in to the NYUAD Student Portal to find out when the next bicycle maintenance course is.

During the Eid al-Adha break, students took advantage of this program. Rather than calling a cab to go to Saadiyat Public Beach, many NYUAD students cycled over to the seaside.

Freshman Rafal Cierlica said how pleased he was about the bicycle rental program on Saadiyat.

“The program is really good and the guys are very helpful. When my gears didn’t work they helped me fix it on the spot. I just hope they won't run out of mountain bikes once people find out those are the best suited to getting around Saadiyat Island. I’m also hoping that one day they allow us to leave Saadiyat and maybe go down to the Corniche,” wrote Cierlica.

“I think [the program is] great. I was hoping there would be something like this, and it exceeded my expectations to be honest. I used my bike to go across campus, to Saadiyat beach, and a few rides exploring Saadiyat in general,” said freshmen Boyan Stoychev.