Updated: 06/28/2007

Ohio City Bicycle Co-op

1823 Columbus Road Cleveland 44113 www.OhioCityCycles.org  216 830 2667

Who Needs a Bike Drivers' Education Course? - Jim Sheehan

   Most of you CrankMail readers are already experienced cyclists: you ride often, and many of you ride long and hard, too.  You ride with other experienced cyclists on club rides, you keep up with the trends in bike technology, and probably know at least a bit about bike advocacy. You have first-hand experience with the traffic conflicts and safety issues that affect all cyclists -- from Lance Armstrong to the old guy on a rusty cruiser picking up cans around Ohio City. So what could you possibly learn from a 9-hour course on bike riding?

I'm not a club rider, but I had spent lots of time on a bike -- as a commuter, racer, tourist, messenger, and even teaching kids' Earn A Bike classes -- before I took Road 1 as the prerequisite to getting certified to teach it by the League of American Bicyclists. I sure didn't think I had anything to learn, and that I'd just have to sit through it. But I was wrong: I needed that class. I ride differently now, and I enjoy it more, because of what I learned and how it was presented. There is more to really effective cycling than just knowing that “cyclist fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.”

   Bike Drivers' Ed is taught at OCBC in a 6-hour class at 9AM on the second Saturday of every month during warm weather, with the mechanical prerequisite held separately twice during the first week of the month (in a 3-hour class -- not required if you don't need the LAB certificate).  In June we will have some out-of-town students, so the mechanical portion will also be offered on the second Friday evening. Please call or see our website for more details, and to sign up. We will guarantee that you will learn something you can use in your cycling life, or we'll give you back your $65. We can't give you back the nine hours, but you'll spend it riding your bike, so how bad can that be?

-ADDED: 4/14/07

You, the Bicycle Advocate...

     The National Bike Summit, held recently by the League of American Bicyclists in Washington DC, was a chance for committed advocates in the cycling community to really do their stuff to influence how government treats cyclists. There are also groups of dedicated volunteers here in Ohio, and locally, working for changes that benefit anyone who rides a bike. They deserve our thanks, and support.

     Actually, effective bike advocacy benefits all of society: it's not hard to find statistics on how much congestion, pollution, and disease – which we all pay for – is averted by every trip made by bicycle instead of by car. So every time you ride to go somewhere – to work or to the beach – you are clearly part of the solution. You can be content (even smug, I suppose, if you want) just using your bike to get around, without having to sit in a lobby asking any politicians for anything.

     And even though most club rides are basically just riding around in circles, every motorist's opinion of cycling's value to society is shaped by every interaction with every cyclist. So we can all be advocates every time we ride. Its the way we ride that can help accomplish the goal we all share with those dedicated bicycle advocates; respect from all drivers, and a right to the road for all cyclists.

     OCBC is not an advocacy organization: this is kind of bicycle advocacy we do. We help people gain the skills they need to use their bikes more, whether it's to ride to work everyday, or around in 20-mile circles Effective driver communication is one of the most important skills we teach, and who knows, if you find yourself in a Senate lobby someday, it might even help you effectively communicate a case for the Bicycle Commuter Tax Benefit!

     Bike Drivers' Ed Road 1 classes are held at the co-op every month. See our website or BikeLeague.org for details.

ADDED: 2/16/07

New Season: New Programs, New Trustees − New Name?

                  We've been missing from CrankMail lately, not because we haven't been doing anything; actually, just the opposite. Expect regular contributions here in the future, though, thanks to a grant from the Saint Luke's Foundation, which funds the work of Assistant Director Peter Garver to provide better communications, data-collection, and program evaluation by improving our website, members' database, and outreach, through upgrades to our  information technology.

Other changes include the suspension of our summer century ride (the SCRABBLE), and “relaxing” of other rides into more casual (but still fun, and free) events. We're doing a lot more education − which is what we're here for − and want to take time to plan how we can do that better for events we host ourselves. On the subject of education: we now offered a free, one-hour class on basic mechanical bike safety several times each month, no registration required. This is a prerequisite to our membership classes and Bike Drivers Ed course, but will benefit anyone who rides a bike. Class schedules are on our website, and will be in a paper calendar in CrankMail next month.

A major philosophical change underway is a restructuring of our board of trustees to include community members in addition to our dedicated volunteers.   We are seeking folks with talents and energy,  who will attend six Wednesday-evening meetings per year, to help us make many more changes to better accomplish our mission to “Help anyone help others use bicycles as much as they can.”

One of the first tasks contemplated for this new board is a review of the name of the organization, to better reflect our educational mission, and broader geographical scope. Any suggestions from CrankMail  readers on this, or any other topics, are always welcome!