[SDCBC] New Cyclist Education (was: Re: Pershing and the I-5)

[Eric Converse]

Grand idea Mr. Litchfield.  Online training would be a great way to get some of the education out of the way.  If done correctly it can be interactive, entertaining and educational (I hope).  Is the SDCBC considering an online training course?  This would at least make the theory accessible to everyone who wants it.

My 2 cents.

Eric


----- Original Message ----
From: "fuse at san.rr.com" <fuse at san.rr.com>
To: SDCBC at bikesandiego.org
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 11:37:42 AM
Subject: [SDCBC] New Cyclist Education (was: Re:  Pershing and the I-5)

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here - actually I'm greener than green, having only owned a bike for the last month.  So I think I have a somewhat different perspective on cyclist education, having recently been one of those in the "uneducated masses".

Having recently taken the Road I class, I know there is a lot of material to cover.  I also know that when I started looking for classes, the only one I found would consume three precious summer Saturdays, in Oceanside.  No way as a casual user am I driving 30 miles each way and missing three Saturday barbecues to learn how to ride a bike.  Sorry, but there it is.

I think the knowledge of how to cycle correctly in traffic should be available to everyone more easily.  I was one of the lucky ones.  Eventually I found you through the Ridelink website, had an experienced cyclist show me it was possible (thanks, Trevor), borrowed the "Effective Cycling" from the library (thanks, John) and practiced the basics at the Road I class (thanks, Jim).

So where does one start when trying to reach the uneducated masses?

I think you need to start with the bike shops.  Every time someone purchases a bike, or hauls their cobwebbed bike out of the garage and brings it to the LBS for a tune-up, they should go home with a SDCBC flyer, a booklet on how to ride in traffic safely, and a schedule of bike classes.  

What bike classes?  Well, the ones the SDCBC offers, for starters.  But also, how about traffic cycling as a physical education option in middle school?  Highschool?  Community college?  Get 'em young -- before they have their driver's license and so they HAVE to bike to get anywhere.

Some LBS have free clinics that cover basics, with the compensation being that you buy the stuff you need for your bike in the shop afterwards.  What if we had instructors cooperate with the shops to give a "commuter clinic" where the theory of cycling in traffic is covered?  Then they go buy their panniers to carry their work clothes.  Have a session covering traffic and leave out the bicycle maintenance (which really needs its own clinic) and practice.  It is not ideal, but I believe it may be better than nothing, which is what I knew last month.  

(Last month I was riding on the sidewalks - often the wrong way - because I thought it was dangerous to be in the road.  I read those gory newspaper articles too.)

I have no idea how to make this happen or who is going to pay for it.  I don't even know if any of these ideas are feasible, or if they are as terrible as my activist ability.  But if nothing else, it sure would have helped me last month to have a flyer pointing me in the right direction attached to my shiny new bicycle.

E. Litchfield


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