A cold Saturday morning. Barbara and I met at 8:30 at Miller Regional Park. Barbara explaining how to use the brakes:

With the pedals removed, working on balance and gliding:

A caravan of motorcycles, classic cars, and low riders delivering donations for a toy drive.

After class was over, Barbara and I rode the Alley Cats route (for next Sunday) one more time.

Kathy and I taught a Learn 2 Ride class on Saturday morning at Miller Park. Theresa last rode a bike in 2011 but lost confidence after a crash. This is always a good sign for success: she knew how to ride before, we only needed to rekindle her muscle memory. Yup, within an hour, she was pedaling. Good job, Kathy and Theresa. At the end of class, she told her husband, “We’re going to buy a bicycle this weekend.”

Aries came to a previous class and almost became an independent bike rider. Today, he was quickly pedaling but needed practice. Soon, he was ready to ride the very safe roads in Miller Park, then short rides on the Sacramento River Bike Trail and finally around the block on streets. Excellent progress.

Kathy and I weren’t sure who would show up today. Sharmaine and De’Veona came back .. with a new bike. After practicing for a while, I rode with De’Veona up and down Miller Park, about 2.5 miles altogether. Great progress.

Kathy working with Aries.

Saturday morning at Miller Park. This time we completely closed off this section of the parking area to keep cars OUT of our space (and thankfully, no one contacted parking enforcement). We also brought a broom – chalking our lines was much easier.

In the last 15 minutes, this student’s second foot found the pedal and off she went. Although wobbly, she did not fall.

Kathy worked with our Level 2 student who already knew how to ride. She already does marathons, but wants to start doing triathlons which means better bicycling skills. Another necessary skill: be able to change your own flat tire quickly – today she got her first lesson. Kathy was the perfect person to coach her.

A very proud mom:

at Miller Park on Saturday morning. Every class is different and so much fun.

So cool, a train from Old Sac chugged by, passengers waving.

This week, ~13-year old twins came to our class. Shh, don’t tell anyone, but our classes are never full and participants frequently get a 2-hour private lesson for $25. Kathy and Barbara go through the basics:

As it turned out, they both knew how to ride. I talked to their mom who told me they wanted to learn the skills needed to ride their bikes to school. We adjusted the plan and taught hand signals, lane positioning, left turn and the box turn.

Today’s class was all kids. The boy on the right learned to ride within minutes.

Two participants came back for a second lesson and were pedaling fairly quickly. A little practice at home over the past week and they were set.

This Cub Scout troop was working on their Bicycling Badge. First step, learn to ride. One of them already knew how to ride but came to class to help the others.

Saturday morning at REI.

Class #1. I have been working on starting a learn to ride a bike program for SABA for the past two months or so. A couple of stumbling blocks had to be dealt with, like .. location. Thank you REI on Expo Parkway for hosting us this morning. Today’s League Cycling Instructors, BarbaraL and Kathy:

Introductions:

Helmet fitting:

Some tips on bike fit:

Within about an hour and a half, we had bike riding success!

My SABA job title is now Program Manager – Learn 2 Ride. Preview: by next week, I will be Program Manager – Bike Education, with four projects to manage. A new chapter begins .. don’t worry, I am still very part-time employed.