Cycling Class in Glendale

On April 30^th this year three cyclists from the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition held a two hour cycling safety skills class. Called Cycling 123, the class went over several essential elements to cycling safely (learn more). The students, ranging in ages from 5-12 learned the ABC Quick Check, starting and stopping, scanning and signaling and hazard avoidance. In the last half hour of the class they also had opportunities to use all of the techniques together and make complicated maneuvers such as riding in a figure eight. Parents had the additional opportunity to watch their children participate in a snail race where the last cyclist across the finish line is the winner.

In all there were five students, three boys and two girls, and each came to the class with their own background and equipment. The idea behind the class is to use these differences as a point of departure for learning and to provide students with an opportunity to learn from one another. For instance, the moment a student recognizes the different ways that their classmates start, stop, scan or signal is when they begin to understand how it is connected to the over all experience. The same can be said for other cycling elements such as the variety of bicycle types or even reasons for cycling.

The class is a good way to introduce parents and children to the importance of cycling safety and the curriculum is designed so that even the slowest learners are able to master the techniques and understand the concepts. During the course of the class students developed a new appreciation for how to ride between the first and last runs of each course element. They quickly learned that their original conception of bicycling needed to be changed since cycling as an activity requires critical thinking as well as hand eye coordination. Though all of the students understood what the various parts of the bike did, all of them were surprised to learn how different bikes can be from one another. For instance, while every student understood the basic idea behind stopping their bike the process through which they learned how to stand, break and step off of the bike differed from one to the other.

This class is special in comparison to other classes which have been taught in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area in that decision makers and city administrators had a role in making the class a reality. In mid-2010, one of the instructors, acting in his capacity as a coordinator to the City of Glendale for the LA County Bicycle Coalition, originally conceived of the class as a way to do better outreach to local schools, parents and children. He dedicated many extra hours of work and months of planning that went into it.

To begin with there were several layers of city administration and local community awareness that needed to be addressed even before a curriculum was considered. He worked closely with city leaders and in turn administrators with the school districts and parks and recreation. In time the class was listed in the Recreation Guide, a catalog containing a plethora of other classes that are similar in nature. He then approached the other instructors to help with the class because they had organized in Santa Monica and South Bay cities such as Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. The three organizers then made certain that the class was accessible and kept to a minimum amount of time.

While promoting social change should necessarily include community leaders such as elected officials and administrators it is also necessary to approach other relevant social groups as well. This meant that specific community leaders who had a direct relationship to the classes specific demographic needed to be informed about the classes as well. The organizers settled on the local parent teacher association which enthusiastically contributed by distributing flyers to individuals and supporting the promotion of the class.

Since attendance for this class was remarkable in comparison to other classes that had been organized in the past in LA County it was a stunning success. However, it should be noted that the class had capacity for at least five more students. In the event that another class is organized in either Glendale or elsewhere there is evidence to support that a broader conception of relevant social groups should be part of the process of organization. This may mean outreach to additional parent teacher associations, church groups, environmental groups and even some of the groups which are advertising in the Recreation Guide.