This week was all street rides. I love my red groups. Mostly they still need to practice basic bike handling skills with minimal on-street maneuvers.We took a little off-pavement pathwhere we discovered the place where Sponge Bob Squarepants lives with his friends according to the boys who described everything in detail.The last class on the last day. Another super successful program!

Monday: Uh-oh, over the weekend, the playground was repaved. We had to redraw four 10′ x 100′ lanes – as in bending over and drawing lines with chalk.Students getting ready to watch a demonstration of the right hand turn, I rode while Pollyanna narrated:Then it was time for the students to practice:By Friday, we were doing the first on-street bike rides. Except for my red group. We stayed on the bike path.Three notable students this week. At left, Natalie who wore ALL pink one day to raise breast cancer awareness. She said, “Breast cancer runs in my family and I want it to stop!” Ana, who must have some kind of natural athletic ability. She was a non-rider and came to the first coaching session. Within 30 minutes, she had taught herself how to ride. Pershing who saw me taking the picture and asked if he could be in it also. Of course!

Week 2. More in-class lessons.Pollyanna taught Right-of-Way Rules. We also had one day of blacktop drills plus 2 days of after-school coaching. We asked 17 students (about 20% of students served) to PLEASE come to after-school coaching based on initial assessments.

This morning, I met a group of people attending the California Bike Summit conference who chose to go on a short bike tour of the area served by NNTMA (North Natomas Transportation Management Association) to see ongoing projects and various accomplishments. I didn’t attend the conference but was glad to be invited to go on part of this tour, especially since I am now a resident. We were welcomed by Howard Chan, Sacramento City Manager, and an avid bike rider. At left is Abbey Stumpf, NNTMA Marketing Communications Manager. At right is Becky Heieck, NNTMA Executive Director. At the first stop, we met a city engineer who works closely with NNTMA to make improvements.Next stop, Westlake Charter School where residents strongly objected to having the associated traffic congestion in their neighborhood. A wide-ranging and complicated plan was created to help with the anticipated problems. Solutions included a walking school bus to and from school every day and a web site so parents know where to park and how to move smoothly through the neighborhood. I left the tour at this point to hurry back to Natomas Park Elementary because the whole group would shortly be in our Project Ride Smart classroom to observe.

at Natomas Park Elementary. There are four 5th-grade classes. Pollyanna and I teach two classes per day between 11 am – 2 pm – great schedule – and we’ll be here all of October.There are 3 classroom sessions where students learn the rules of the road, right-of-way rules, all hand signals, and lots more. They watch short video segments then recap what they’ve learned with prompts from the instructors.Outside, we teach about brain function and the importance of wearing a helmet. One watermelon wearing a helmet is dropped with not a scratch (usually), the other watermelon doesn’t wear a helmet and cracks open when dropped – with much ooh-ing and ahh-ing. Pollyanna, is about to say, “No! Don’t pry open the watermelon.”

Week 2 at Witter Ranch. At 7:00 am each day, 40 bikes were rolled out. Gina and Deanna were there to help along with fifth-grader Gymmat – thank you!Pollyanna prepped classes for the day’s activities.Students wore colored jerseys to identify their group. Before leaving the classroom, they complete a personal safety check.Outside students completed an ABCQuick Check on their bikes before riding.Sometimes a water break at the nearby park is a good idea.On Friday, we organized a few “fun” activities, beginning with a Chaos Box. The goal, after entering a small defined area, is to create order as quickly as possible. In less than 5 minutes every class was able to begin riding in a circle. Always counterclockwise, by the way. Mr McClurg’s class was the fastest at 51 seconds. Just before the start, Neilani began coaching those around her about what to do. I asked her how she already knew the solution. “I figured it out in my head.”The last time I did the Bean Drop, I had to repeatedly sweep up small kidney beans to keep the game going. This time I swept up not a single bean! 1.Use large dry white lima beans. 2.Students must drop one bean at a time in each of 6 buckets and, if the bean doesn’t land in the bucket, the student must stop to pick it up and try again.And there was an improvement to Paper Boy. I wrapped the newspapers in clear packing tape.At the end of each one-hour class, Otter Pops! It was hot, I had one after every class.

This week, I worked at Witter Ranch School. Five classes of 5th graders. The daily arrival time was 7 am – oh my!As technology progresses, overhead projectors are disappearing. ELMOs (document cameras) are more common, but not at this school. So, to teach the Right of Way Rules, I went back to an “old school” solution – paper chart with movable vehicles. If the #1 rule is “First come, first served,” which car should leave the stop sign first? Second? Third?Outside, students prepare to do the ABCQuick Check. A=air in tires. B=brakes. C=chain, chain rings, cassette, cogs. Quick=quick release to adjust seat height.

Only two days this week. It was also Teacher Appreciation Week. The Regency Park PTA welcomed teachers on Monday morning withandI always take the Red group for the street rides. I tell them they’re so lucky to be in the “fun” group (even though they’d been evaluated at a lower skill level).And then there are those special moments when you spot something and it makes you smile. (Thank you, Gina, for grabbing my camera and taking this picture!)