The Penn State Gestapo Bicycle Police need to give it a rest. Today I was on my way into the lab and I received a ticket for having an "unregistered bike" and for a "bike moving violation." The total cost of the ticket is $20. As far as the moving violation is concerned, I merely pulled off the street where I was riding and was headed for the nearest bike rack, which was less than 50 feet away. I had my foot out dragging on the ground, my hands squeezing the brakes, and I was clearly coming to a stop. It wasn't as if I was recklessly careening down a highly populated segment of the sidewalk at the speed of sound. I agree that bikers need to stay off the sidewalks, but I do not consider pulling off the street in order to park part of what the Gestapo should be clamping down on.

In addition, there are several other things wrong with this picture.

First of all, I could have parked my car in the parking lot behind my building and only been fined $15 for parking in a faculty parking lot.

Secondly, there are not enough bike paths and bike racks on campus. If Penn State wants to keep bikers off the sidewalks, then more needs to be done to accommodate them.

Finally, I suppose the bike rules only apply to student and faculty riders as the members of the "Team Bicycle Gestapo" regularly use the sidewalks between buildings as their own personal bike highway.

Concerning the bike registration, as far as anyone knows, I could have purchased my bike an hour ago. When you buy a car, you get temporary plates, the expiration date of which serves as a grace period before you can legally be ticketed for not having the car registered. Yet when I explained that the bike was not mine — it in fact is not mine — and that I had just received it from my sister a few days ago, the Gestapo on Two Wheels was unmoved.

Mr. Gestapo-in-Blue only asked to see Penn State identification and shot me a look that said, "Just the facts, ma'am."

For a minute there, I thought I was going to be cuffed and hauled in for questioning.

There are not enough vehicle parking spaces on campus and Penn State claims to encourage students to use alternative means of transportation.

However, the Bicycle Gestapo Police and the rest of their jack-booted ilk put bikers in a double bind with inadequate bike accommodations, obscure rules that are not well-publicized, inconsistent rule enforcement and penalties that are harsher than those applied to errant motorists.