Monday. By 7:30, all the bikes are ready for the day’s blacktop drills.
Last day of bike drills, tomorrow is the first street ride.
Tuesday. Charlie is here to lead a group. Mike came to repair a few bikes.
My yellow group did a great job on their first ride.
Wednesday. Second street ride. Thank you Milan for riding sweep. Thank you Barbara for joining us with very short notice.
Although I’m trying to cut back on my teaching schedule, sometimes I can’t say no. I agreed to be the co-lead at Natomas Park Elementary for two weeks. Monday: Deanna is an excellent instructor and always calm no matter what comes up. And I discovered I’m a bit rusty in presenting a good lesson.
One small watermelon with a big smile on its face wore a helmet and one melon refused to wear a bike helmet. Both went for a bike ride and both fell. The melon with no helmet cracked its head open and the kids all went “ooooohhh.”
Tuesday. Bike parts and helmet fitting. Barbara was added to the team.
Wednesday: first day of bike drills.
One class had almost half who didn’t know how to ride. I worked with them to the side of the bike drill lanes.
It was about 95 degrees today and there was after-school coaching. Hot and tired by 3:00 end.
Thursday. A classroom day to learn about moving through intersections and right-of-way rules.
This was my last day this week because of a special event on Friday.
CalBike – California Bicycle Coalition – invited everyone to a conversation with the president of the League of the American Bicyclists, which is the organization that certifies League Cycling Instructors. Held at
The last day of the program. Barbara and Kathy outlining today’s activities:
Triple Rings of Fire:
Mike came by to service a few bikes.
Jibe’s fleet of bicycles. At the end of the day, we stack all the bikes, run a cable through all of them, and finish with a strong u-lock.
Great day with good friends and co-workers.
This was the first street-ride day at Northlake. There were quite a few kids who weren’t ready to go on a street ride. Deanna and I stayed with them and worked on basic skills. Wes and Buddy along with the 5th grade teacher took another group out for a short street ride.
Today I helped out at Northlake Elementary for helmet fitting day.
Lorge teaching bike parts:
Deanna introducing the next video:
Barbara teaching bike parts to the second class.
Kicking off the holiday season, Jibe organized a gathering at
Volunteers, Bike Doc mechanics, League Cycling Instructors were invited.
Lots of long-time bicycling friends and a few new ones. Such good little visits. I’ve been a League Cycling Instructor for 12 years – a very fun side job.
Saturday morning, I led a 10-mile ride for about 30 people which started at the Jibe office.
Mayor Kevin McCarty and staff rode with us. Mellissa Meng, Executive Director of Jibe, planned the stops and shared information about infrastructure along Jackrabbit Trail.
What a joy to have FOUR bicycle police officers on our ride. They helped at intersections, sprinted up the line to deliver messages, like “slow down Arlete” or a big gap was forming.
The ride ended at Taqueria Rincón Alteño, Jibe bought everyone lunch.
Our final class for the spring season. Lots of happy dedicated new bike riders in this class. It was great working with Kathy, Lennore, and Christy.
Here the group is practicing riding in a group in a straight line, making a turn, and maintaining a ghost space:
Almost everyone felt comfortable enough to leave campus and go for a ride. Kathy led, Christy in the middle, Lennore was sweep.
I stayed on campus with one person who didn’t feel ready for a group ride, picked up cones, and put away bikes that weren’t being used.
This was supposed to be a Level 2 class with a short ride off campus, but our cyclists were not quite ready. Christy and Lennore demonstrated the ABCQuick Check:
Ready to go:
