Bike Riding Into a Changing World

This is my neighbor Stacey. I was flying down my hill on my bike, feeling like a kid again, when there she was, on her daughter's bike. And it hit me clear as day. You can't ever recapture that feeling of being a kid on a bike again if you weren't a kid on a bike! And look around our neighborhoods--do you see swarms of kids flying down hills on bikes? I don't. Not like when we were kids.

And so, it caught my eye at the excellent Enviro Expo this past weekend at the Atlanta Mart downtown (to which I carpooled with Judy of Sustainable Peachtree Corners) when I rounded the corner that housed the "bike-riding" booths.

I had a conversation with a gentleman at Georgia Bikes.org about the difference between being a cyclist and being a bike rider. I'm a bike rider. I ride from point A to point B, for fun and transportation. I don't ever see myself wearing lycra, but that doesn't mean I don't benefit from being able to take my bike out of my garage and go places easily and cheaply. My bike relationship is pretty basic.

And that's the point. Bike riding is pretty basic. And if your kids are not bike riders (or cyclists), they are going to be at a distinct disadvantage in a changing world. Colleges are now offering students free bikes and other incentives to leave their cars at home. No matter what happens (or doesn't) in Atlanta and Dunwoody regarding bike-friendly infrastructure development, chances are your children are going to move to a city that is more bike-friendly. Chances are their employers are going to offer commute alternatives that reward them for riding their bikes to work. And chances are they are going to be left out if they never learned to ride as a kid. Not to mention the joys of "remembering that first freedom" that they won't experience.

That's not saying you can't learn to ride as an adult. In fact, Robyn Elliott, of Bicycle Tours of Atlanta, told me that she just taught a class of five adult women how to ride bikes for the first time. It's just that there's a window during which it is easier to learn to ride. By the time your kids are 10, it's harder. The bikes they would need to ride are larger. Peer pressure works against falling on your face in the gutter. And our hills and aggressive car traffic don't make it a joy ride.

So, here's the thing. Robyn offers classes for all levels of bike riders. She will come to your neighborhood and teach a class. Your kids will learn how to make sharp lefts and rights, how to quickly avoid a rock or other debris in the road, what all the rules of the road are, how to use hand signals, how to scan (that means look backwards while riding forward without going into a tree!) and other skills outlined in the League of American Bicyclists curriculum.

I like Robyn. I think our community could benefit from her knowledge and experience. In fact, I asked her if she would do an intro thing to bike safety and skills at Sustainable U (along with the numerous other folks, most right here in Dunwoody, who have offered to teach their amazing sustainability skills--thank you! You'll hear specifics about all that by mid-January, by the way, once we have schedules and presenters locked in). In the meantime, check out Robyn's website at www.biketoursatl.com. And start thinking of bike riding as more than a pasttime and more of a priority life skill. Be honest--how strong a bike rider is your child? Is he or she properly equipped for a bike-riding future?