2021 June Safe City Cycling class – Part 2
Previously, you may have caught Bike Walk Wichita’s 2021 May newsletter report on our first of the two-part Safe City Cycling course. The classroom portion was at the BWW headquarters. The following article below follows the same students and covers the second part of that class held outside in their neighborhood.
June 6th, 2021 – Story & Photos: Jason H.
SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 2021
A group of kids that have all grown up together and live near each other around their city block, quite often, like many kids their age, bike ride together. There are about 16 children living on the block, ages ranging from 9 to 14. So, being at an age where they want to ride their bicycles more often and venture out into their neighborhood, their parents reached out to Bike Walk Wichita and signed the children up for the Safe City Cycling class.
Like many neighborhoods in Wichita, this small neighborhood has some nice “quiet streets.” Quiet streets being a phrase many Bike/Walk advocates are familiar with. Not necessarily meaning quiet in sound, but rather a low-speed, “motor vehicle-less traveled street.” A safer street to engage in outdoor activities for those who may have limited access to parks, playgrounds, and multi-paths.
Nonetheless, one of the mothers Nicole reached out to Bike Walk Wichita. Nicole points out, “So all the kids play together, and they’re out on their bikes. At these ages, our kids are riding through the streets, somewhat unsupervised now. Some are getting to that age where they want to ride to the school or to the nearby Dairy Queen. So we thought we should take advantage of this cycling class.” Nicole’s children who attended the class, are her three daughters Ana, 13; Claire, 12; Gabriela, 11; and her son Micah, 9.
The class traditionally teaches riders to become more familiar with the rules of the road. It leads to riding safely on the streets, how to be visible and predictable to motorists. How to best position yourself on the road. Experienced cyclists might be surprised at how much they can learn about safe cycling. The class is divided into three parts. A classroom session, parking lot drills, and avoidance maneuvers, then followed by an instructor-led group ride to practice on the road.
The class goes through each skill, one by one. These include multiple riding avoidance maneuvers. To name a few, “The Rock Dodge”, “The Instant Turn”, “The Quick Stop” and also learning how to look behind you without swerving or changing direction. All these practice drills help riders avoid accidents and crashes while enhancing awareness of sharing space with other road users.
“We want to be safer because all the kids in the neighborhood ride around together this time of year. I’d like them to become more aware of their surroundings while riding”,
— LaChrisha (Marcos’ mother)
By the end of the parking lot drill portion, a few of the students could be heard impressing upon their parents what they had learned. I asked Marcos 11, what he thought of the class. “The class was pretty good. I learned quite a bit. At first, I didn’t get the idea of riding the road, but I guess I’m kinda getting used to it.” Soon it was time to do their final portion, a group neighborhood ride.
Bike Walk Wichita has a group of, League Cycling Instructors, LCIs. They’ve worked hard to achieve the nationally recognized League of American Bicyclists certification. This particular class was taught by LCIs Shannon and Gary. They usually teach adults, but they made an exception for this particular group. Shannon explains, “Since all the students in this class are under the age of 14, it presented a few changes to the class. Traditionally we teach you to ride your bike as though you are a driver of a vehicle. So being under the driving age, this group hasn’t learned what all the road rules are yet. So we taught that portion a bit differently. We adjusted the group ride portion, specifically to their neighborhood and things they need to watch. I think the class has gone well.”
– Story+Photos: Jason H.
For more information about our classes, keep an eye out on our website’s Bike Skills Page, Calendar, and our BWW Facebook events
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