Sadly there were more conflicts and other activities going on this weekend than we had realized so the turnout was a bit smaller than usual. We weren't even able to stay at FTT because Big Brother had a t-ball game this afternoon. It was still great to get out in the fresh (and extremely pollen-filled) air and get a good bike ride in with some wonderful folks.
We decided to go big this month for Kidical Mass and attempt one each weekend. It's so helpful to have such a great board of Kidical Mass parents who are willing to plan and organize these rides with me. Today, we branched into South Land Park territory for a ride to Fairytale Town. The part that I was most excited about for going to FTT was how much they wanted to be a part of our group. David, their grounds manager, had contacted me months ago to find out if we would want to head over there and test out their new bike parking at the front entrance. Of course we did! He even passed along discount coupons for us to use. Sadly there were more conflicts and other activities going on this weekend than we had realized so the turnout was a bit smaller than usual. We weren't even able to stay at FTT because Big Brother had a t-ball game this afternoon. It was still great to get out in the fresh (and extremely pollen-filled) air and get a good bike ride in with some wonderful folks. Today was also the opening day for the Oak Park Farmer's Market--the best farmer's market in Sacramento. To make it even better, they just installed a new bike rack that was filled with three cargo bikes in the first half hour. I was very impressed at its lockability and how many bikes it fit while still being a pretty cool design. The boys and I all got more miles to log for May Is Bike Month and our Tiny Helmets team. This year, I went easy on myself by only pledging 250 miles for myself and 100 each for the boys. It's also been busy in the bike education arena for me lately. Last week, I had an awesome day working at one of the local schools during their bike rodeo. We had kids from 1st grade up to 5th grade riding bikes, scooters, and skateboards. There was an obstacle course for them to practice stopping, weaving, scanning, and merging. I was so impressed at how well they all did, even with such a short amount of time. I'm really looking forward to the next month because I have bike and pedestrian classes every week until mid-June!
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I used to run stop signs, roll red lights--all the time. I was never that biker who dangerously blew through intersections without looking, however. I thought I was being safe and sneaky--Idaho stopping in California. I am a biker, not a car. I need to move! I don't do that anymore. I stop. All. The. Time. Every light, I wait patiently. Every stop sign, I come to a stop and look both ways (although I don't always put my foot down, that's not required by law). I choose to ride predictably because that's the best way to keep myself and my kids, when they're onboard, as safe as we could possibly be. Reason #1 I don't want anyone to be able to place blame on me if I'm ever in an accident. Insurance companies are chomping at the bit to find the biker at fault. If I'm cruising through stop signs and disobeying traffic laws, they're more likely to come after me and say "look, you did that wrong, you probably did this wrong, too." I will be able to go to every red light camera and show that I am calmly waiting for the light to turn green just like everyone else. I will have eye witnesses to attest to my niceness. It's not going to be my fault in an accident. Reason #2 I don't want to do anything that I wouldn't want my children (or my students) doing. My kids watch every move I make. One day, they're going to be on their own bikes, barreling down the street (properly), and I don't want them to think it's acceptable for a biker to ride through intersections or ignore right-of-way rules. For one thing, children don't have the distance-judging abilities that adults do. They also don't have the same reasoning skills, either. Their eye-brain connection hasn't figured these things out yet. My flippant actions could put my children in danger down the road. Biking is dangerous and it takes serious concentration and decision-making, just like driving a car. If I can instill these behaviors in my kids now, I will feel better about them being on their own, both on a bike and in a car. Reason #3 I don't want to be a jerk. It's bad enough that there is too much cyclist-hatred out in the world, I don't want to be contributing to it. Every time a biker disobeys the law, drivers around them say "see, that's why bikers are so horrible." I make a conscious effort to be courteous and generous. I always try to stop for pedestrians and say hello as they pass by. I smile but politely refuse when a car driver tries to wave me through and it's not my turn (also because that can turn into a dangerous situation very quickly if other drivers aren't paying attention). I ride as if I am a legal driver of the road--which, surprise, I am! I want the same rights and recognition as car drivers. With those rights come the same responsibility. I wish that drivers would see me following the rules and think to themselves "wow, I guess all bikers aren't terrible" but in reality, they will usually only see what they want to see--bikers misbehaving. Let's try and cut that down, please, to give us all a better reputation. I can understand why bike drivers would want to keep moving. It's hard to start rolling again from a dead stop (try that with 80 lbs of kid, too). It's also not as fun. It takes work and balance, something that car drivers don't understand since they just push their foot a little to stop and go. It can also be scary. Oftentimes, you'll have car drivers squeezing in behind you and, most of the time, expect you to keep going. This is usually where I use my stop/slow arm signal. Not everyone still remembers what it means but it does draw attention that I'm about to do something. If there is a car really encroaching in my space, I might actually take a minute to put my foot down and really check the intersection before I go (yes, this is a little bit of passive-aggressive behavior, I'm sorry). Shifting down before you stop can really help you regain your momentum after stopping, which I'm getting better at remembering these days. Sadly, everywhere I go, bike and car drivers are disobeying the laws set in place to keep us safe. Twice last week, I watched cars stop at a red light then drive through as if it were a stop sign. I watch bikers riding down the wrong side of the road and plow through stop lights and stop signs without even touching the brakes or turning their heads. These people are dangerous for everyone on the road, especially the more vulnerable users like pedestrians and other bikers. I would like to see them all ticketed and required to go to traffic school. Car drivers, of course, should be held at an even higher standard as they are also driving a deadly 2,000 pound machine. I was thinking that if bikers start using stopping as "interval training," we might be able to get more riders to do it. Man, it sure works them glutes!
It was, thankfully, a pretty quiet weekend. This week had been exhausting! After my two days at Practical Cycle, I was looking forward to starting my new adventure of working with the Safe Routes To School program in Natomas. This is going to help me finish my LCI training and also get me started putting this training to good use--teaching these youngsters to love bikes and learn how to drive them properly. I am always surprised that people don't always think the way I do when it comes to biking. I watched a family on bikes ride down the wrong side of the road while the kids rode on the sidewalk next to the adults in the street. These were huge, quiet, fully-bike-laned neighborhood streets. I could barely keep myself from catching up to them and telling them that they were teaching their kids improper and DANGEROUS bike use. The school that we are working with already has a great base of kiddy bike riders. I was shocked the first time I rode up to see 20+ bikes and scooters locked up in their own dedicated bike parking (I'll have to get a photo when I can get it and not look like i'm taking pictures of the children) AND that was a rainy day where most kids melt if they get caught in a sprinkle. The NNTMA has been working with this school for the past 3 years and helps implement "Walking Wednesdays" for kids to get prizes for walking to school. I love watching these kids absorb this bikey knowledge and am amazed at some of the poignant questions they ask. They are open minds and ready to find the freedom of biking. I love to imagine these little people riding bikes and growing up to be more conscientious drivers of both bicycles and cars, making the streets safer for everyone. The only difficulty with this new venture is that this school is exactly one BionX battery's worth of miles. It is a 24 mile round-trip, often in windy condition and I'm usually crunched for time (because that's just how I roll--late). I rode on level 3 this week, each direction, for Wednesday and Thursday. I was really excited for Friday but the boys finally got too sick to go to daycare and my sore back went out completely. I had to decide that going another 24 miles that day, BionX or not, was probably not the best idea. I took Friday off, went to the Chiropractor, and nursed my back and two little boys. I was pretty happy to have a quiet weekend after that. I even took a couple of days off riding, just because I had no reason to go anywhere. It was pretty awesome. Next week, a few more days at the grind (actually, Practical Cycle is my respite from my crazy home) and then an awesome BONUS day there because Elly Blue is coming to town on Wednesday! I am so excited for the evening of Dinner and Bikes and to finally meet one of my favorite Bikey Heroes! It's not too late to RSVP and join us! I'm going to make it to another couple of classes at the school, next week, too. I need to practice my teaching skills, especially before we get out onto the bikes! I think I might even try bringing my charger with me so I can top up during class and zip home on level 4...
It certainly was an intense weekend! I made it back home just as the dark settled in. I did get my bike ride from Davis but decided to forego the milkshake as I had overloaded on sugar the whole weekend. The wind was stronger than I had anticipated but luckily for me, it was generally at my back. I cranked my ride out, letting all the information from the seminar settle down and blow off my disappointment for not having passed the certification completely. I still have some more work to do to polish up my presenting skills before The League feels I am solid enough to be considered an LCI. It was definitely a bummer to find out, but not something that I felt was baseless nor was I the only one who needed to brush up a bit more.
I needed my ride more than anything after that. I love the trip from Davis; the long straight-aways, the deafening Causeway, and the contrastingly beautiful sloughs teeming with life that one can only see from atop their saddle--this is my heaven. The rhythmic up-down-up-down of the pedals is my meditation. Having a buffer between being in class and getting back to my busy home was perfect. My boys were as sweet (and crazy) as ever and my honey had a big bowl of spicy chili waiting for me. A quiet evening tonight and back to the grind in the morning. I think it'll be an early night to bed. This weekend we checked out a new restaurant called Bacon and Butter. Seriously, it is as delicious as it's name. From what I hear, you need to get there before 8:30am to get your table and food in a decent amount of time. We had a blast. The boys were amazingly well behaved and my hot chocolate had been infused with bacon and cayenne with the texture of pudding. Jose ran off to watch the Superbowl while the boys and I napped blissfully. We woke up to watch Kipper The Dog because I was lazy. Now we have another fun week ahead of us. A couple of days for me at Practical Cycle, a few days with my boys, and then I have a great weekend of Licensed Cycling Instructor training in Davis. I get to avoid the commuting stresses by riding my bike out there Friday afternoon for class that evening, staying with my grandmother in Davis nearby, then biking home on Sunday after the program. I can always take the train (because I'll have my "normal" sized bike, cargo bikes aren't allowed on Amtrak...) if I'm not up for riding or it gets too late on Sunday but a Redrum milkshake is a pretty awesome excuse to ride my bike home.
This weekend, I took the Traffic Skills 101 course offered through the League Of American Bicyclists. This is the prerequisite for their League Certified Instructor training. With this certification, I can go on and teach others about cycling safely with traffic. There is an especially high need in Sacramento for LCIs to teach school-aged children. Brainwash them young! Get them on bikes early and often. Indoctrinate them to the freedom and joy of pedaling along on your own. There is a lot of misinformation about what a cyclist should do and where they should be on the road. Parents don't do their children any favors by trying to keep them on the sidewalk, or even worse, in their car. I am so excited about this opportunity to work with children and watch them light up as they learn how to handle a bike with confidence and skill. The class was in Roseville on Friday night and all day today. I was bummed, at first, thinking that I would have to drive all the way out to Roseville (~50 miles roundtrip) but I put a message out to the class asking if there were any carpool options. I ended up arranging a ride for Saturday but since she was leaving straight from work, I was going to still have to find a way in for Friday. Luckily, I realized that by taking the bus and my folding bike in, I would still be able to get a ride back! It took a fair amount of maneuvering, especially after getting to the stop and realizing that I didn't have enough cash, then I didn't have enough change, then I got on the wrong bus, then I had to bike around Roseville (yikes!) in the dark and over some of the most poorly designed roadways. Anyway, I got there! I was proud of myself and I have still not had to drive since last year. In fact, this was the first time I had even been in a car since before New Year's. We are definitely learning how to minimize car trips. Today's class was mostly about bike handling skills. We did some drills in the parking lot: scanning, emergency stops, shifting, etc. It always seems much harder when you're trying to focus on the actual technicalities instead of just riding. The only part that I had real trouble with was the quick turn--an essential skill to avoid a right- or left-hook. It takes counter-intuitive steering to lean into a sharp turn, safely sweeping you out of harm's way. I am going to keep working on that one until it's second nature. Although many of the topics covered and general lessons were pretty familiar to me, it's always great to relearn and remind myself of what/why I am doing certain things. Also, it's always good to realize the skills you are lacking or slipping on so you can be a better driver on the road.
I really think this is a class that everyone should take--bikers and (especially) car-drivers alike. Did you know that the number one cause of bike accidents are bikers riding the wrong way down the street? Did you know that the fault of bike accidents is almost a 50-50 split between bikers and car drivers? Doorings and being hit from behind are actually pretty low on the list of causes, although the resulting damage tends to be much more extreme. As the League says "cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles." This is a message that we all need to be reminded again and again. I especially enjoyed meeting other cyclists and the instructors of the class who all had the same passion for bicycling and making the roads safer for everyone. I certainly feel safer on my bike now and reenergized my confidence in taking the correct and safest position in the flow of traffic. Please take this class as soon as you get the opportunity! |
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