It’s official–I learned how to ride a bike this week! Yesterday, I finished up Part II of the “Confident Cycling” class. This was a pilot class for the Florida Bicycle Association; Part I was a three-hour lecture-style class and Part II was a six-hour road class. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding on one more thing to my already crazy week (especially 30+ miles for the class on Saturday!), but I am really glad I went.
The classroom-class was an excellent introduction into the practical side of riding. It wasn’t focused on vehicular cycling per se, but it did feel like it had a commuter-cyclist focus. I was a bit surprised to see that most of the graphics and such showed riding in the bike lane. I have really mixed thoughts on that, but I’ll get into that another time.
I got an email on Wednesday with the route for Saturday’s road class and about broke out into a cold sweat when I read things like “drills” and “individual exercise turning onto Colonial.” I was thinking of the many reasons I might cancel (the kids really were sick!), but ultimately knew that these skills would keep me safer out there on the roads and thus Saturday’s class couldn’t be avoided.
The class included a lot of drills like turning, shoulder checks, quick stops, etc. I feel a lot more confident about my bike-handling skills after the class. The most valuable, though, was regaining confidence in my bike. I love my bike. Like, a lot. However, I have to admit that all my earlier issues had left me feeling less than 100% confident in my bike. It wasn’t the quality of the bike or anything like that. I was just carrying a bit of uneasiness around after nearly losing my rear tire and I hadn’t quite recovered. There were several times during the drills that Keri and Mighk (who both lead the class) were like, “Well, you don’t need to worry about that on the X.” I feel like I am riding the Volvo of bikes! The best was seeing that I could just about stop on a dime with my brakes–the very same brakes that I had been fretting over. Being reassured that I can trust in my bike and that this bike is safe enough to carry around my daughter was huge.
The ride was awesome. Downtown on a Saturday was so relaxing–I can’t wait to get out for a nice family ride! We covered some great exercises, including passing a highway on-ramp and crossing diagonal railroad tracks; these are things that I don’t normally experience on my ride, but would hate to be caught off-guard by with no knowledge of how to respond.
Turning on Colonial--one of Orlando's crazier roads (photo by Keri Caffery)
The class ended pretty late and Jesse had to meet up with me to bring my lights, so we made a night of it and enjoyed a nice dinner out as a family. The girls got rowdy with my phone on the ride home, so I got to practice all my new handling skills by swiping the phone from Sofie and then doing a hand-off to Jesse (all mid-ride without swerving once, thank you very much!). We had the clearest sky I’ve seen in ages and the most incredible view of the stars. Looking up while Sofie tells me that she’s putting the brightest star in her heart so she won’t be afraid of the dark reminds me why I love my bike so very much.
Wonderful post, Angie. It’s all coming together, isn’t it.
I love how the handling skills translate to child management!
BTW, the crossing crash illustrations depict bike lanes because bike lanes (and sharing wide lanes) exacerbate those type of intersection crashes vs claiming a narrow lane. It’s a way of disabusing people of the idea that bike lanes are a safe haven. They have appropriate uses, but they are definitely not a safe haven.
When we get those set up in animation, we’ll be able to show various road configurations and the difference between them.
Sofie rocks and you do too xox
It’s great that you could attend such a class and have that resource right there. I feel like my cycling has totally been “baptism by fire”– just getting out there (plus, learning A LOT through family cycling blogs).
So I think I saw your comment on the one Flickr photo of a homemade rain cover (a bakfiets type bike but it may work for the Mad). Look at this one– Maybe you could find a busted trailer locally to make this work for you:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanerh/4109007901/
It IS all coming together!
I see what you are saying, Keri. It worked for me. I’m no fan of bike lanes, but all the graphics just seemed like more evidence of why you should just take the lane!
@Sara – I am totally lucky to have the resources I do. I’m sure I’ll repeat this often, but whatever Orlando lacks in bike culture is totally made up by the incredible bike advocates we have. People in the bike community (particularly the aforementioned Keri and Mighk) not only want you to ride, but will make it possible by riding with you, helping with routes, etc. It’s made all the difference in the world for someone like me.
Oh – you mean the chicken feed cover?? That was awesome! And too funny about this one – my husband was just messing with our trailer the other day. It looked like a good fit, but definitely not something that would be easily stowed. We’re also thinking of getting a double stroller sun shade and seeing if that will work.
[...] Originally published November 15, 2009 on 4onaQuarter [...]