biking Berry
Tim & Dillon ... biking near the Ford Complex at Berry College (GA)
After 3 weeks at school, lots of kids decided to make a last trip home over the long Labor Day weekend. Dillon had several things to take care back here, “stuff” to re-deposit, other stuff he’d forgotten to bring, so Tim and I headed down to Berry College to pick him up and bring him home. We took our bikes down and took some time in the afternoon to ride around the campus and explore parts of the seemingly endless grounds before heading home.
A little bit about Berry … A small, private Liberal Arts college located in NW Georgia. With over 26,000 acres, it is the largest contiguous college campus in the world. Parts of it are designated Wildlife Refuge, there are approximately 70 miles of biking and hiking trails, a gazillion deer, beautiful old and new architecture, and close to 2,000 students. The nature of the campus also provides a wonderful arena for research opportunties – from biodiversity and conservation, to water quality and agri-studies.
One of the most interesting aspects of college life at Berry is their on-campus Work Experience program. Nearly every student participates in some type of paid, “meaningful work experience”; Dillon’s job is with the campus’ environmental “Green Team”, which connects with his studies in chemistry and environmental science. There are also several on-campus Student Operated Enterprises, conceived and impemented by students – my favorite being the newly formed Viking CycleWorks, a small facility offering bicycle repair services and basic parts/supplies. Their slogan: “You break it, we fix it”.
Viking CycleWorks - student-run enterprise at Berry
It’s a perfect college campus for biking – from the quiet campus roads to the amazing trail network. Although most of the academic and student-life buildings are centrally located, it is spread out enough that cycling is the perfect and preferred means for getting around. We kind of ran out of time – riding around the main campus, and visiting the Mountain Campus – but I look forward to another visit to check out more the trail system.
Enjoy the long weekend – get outside on your bikes! 😀
(More images on my Flickr set).
the new Audrey B. Morgan Residence Hall ... and lots of bikes
Ford Auditorium (can you spy my bike? 😉 )
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shebicycles 
Whoa… checked out the flickr set… campus is brilliant. I think he’s in store for some great times the next 4 years.
Isn’t it great that you can give him such a kick ass opportunity? Well done mom & dad. You must be uber proud of this 🙂
J, thanks … but let me tell you, he got the opportunity almost entirely on his own. Worked very hard in school, and got merit scholarships, a leadership fellowship, etc. He’s very self-driven/self-motivated, and we are very proud of him for sure. And he gets to do lots of biking there, too – so what can possibly make me happier?!! ;)) As you know, parenthood can be a crazy journey, it’s rewarding when you finally discover you didn’t completely hose things up, lol!
This campus looks and sounds amazing. 70 miles of biking trails? This architecture? Wow. Dillon you’re going to have one heck of a college experience ^_^
Hey Shaun – thanks for stopping by! You definitely need to take your bike down some weekend for a visit. You guys would have a blast! 😀
Wow, that campus is absolutely gorgeous! Wish I’d known about Berry back when I began college (what seems like both yesterday and a million years ago – haha)! I might have completely rethought my major, rather than going to an ugly urban university to get a healthcare-related degree! Biking never even entered my mind back then and I honestly don’t remember seeing anyone biking around campus. But then, I was usually stuck in one single building, just occasionally going to another, so maybe there was a bit of biking in more central parts or near the dorms. I lived off-campus and the main building was on the outskirts, so it was more like going to work every day than a college experience – didn’t even get to choose my classes since we had a set curriculum! With that being said, maybe I should go back for a second time – and choose Berry! 🙂
That is so cool that the campus has it’s own little bike shop. I think every college should have that….and maybe one day they will.
Loving it as always, Cassi.
Darryl