Bike Education
Why Bicycle Education?
Biking is great fun. Cycling also helps to address ills like traffic congestion, air pollution, and childhood inactivity while providing numerous health, economic, and social benefits. Would you like to ride more but feel you lack the skills and confidence to share the road with motor vehicle traffic? We believe that simply knowing how to ride a bike is not the same as knowing how to operate a bike safely, confidently, and legally. Our classes will teach you how to safely "drive" your bicycle on roads, bike lanes, and shared use multi-purpose trails and will improve your bike riding and handling skills.
Soon you will be bicycling everywhere!
Bike Walk Connecticut is your source for bicycle skills training and education. We provide a variety of classes taught by League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors (LCIs). Regardless of skill or experience level, we have a class for you.
Interested in a class? Let us know.
Biking is great fun. Cycling also helps to address ills like traffic congestion, air pollution, and childhood inactivity while providing numerous health, economic, and social benefits. Would you like to ride more but feel you lack the skills and confidence to share the road with motor vehicle traffic? We believe that simply knowing how to ride a bike is not the same as knowing how to operate a bike safely, confidently, and legally. Our classes will teach you how to safely "drive" your bicycle on roads, bike lanes, and shared use multi-purpose trails and will improve your bike riding and handling skills.
Soon you will be bicycling everywhere!
Bike Walk Connecticut is your source for bicycle skills training and education. We provide a variety of classes taught by League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors (LCIs). Regardless of skill or experience level, we have a class for you.
Interested in a class? Let us know.
Bike Education Course Descriptions
Traffic Skills 101
This 8-10 hour class is the national League of American Bicyclists' standard bicycle education class. It is best suited to cyclists older than age 14 that have recent riding experience. Participants at all skill levels will find this class useful, but we ask that you have some minimum qualifications, including: the ability to bike at least 6-8 miles; the ability to bike up an easy incline; and familiarity with gears. Traffic Skills 101 is a fast paced class that covers bike handling skills; crash avoidance techniques; proper lane and intersection positioning in moderate to heavy traffic; and CT law governing bicycles on roadways. The class also covers basics on how to dress for your cycling activity, what equipment you might need, nutrition, hydration for the longer ride, and basic bicycle maintenance. The course begins in the classroom, and moves outdoors to a "practice space" and then on to the road for a bike ride.
Contact us if you would like us to bring a class to your community.
Contact us if you would like us to bring a class to your community.
Bicycle Education: A Workshop for K-12 Physical Education Teachers
This 8-hour class provides participants with highly regarded curriculum that they can take back to their schools and classrooms. This class begins in the classroom, and moves outdoors to a “practice space” and then on to the road for a bike ride. The class is held at Berlin High School where participants learn about the bike education program already underway at this location. Contact us for more information.
Intro to Bikes
This 5 hour class is designed for those who are new to biking and are looking for guidance on how to become a more competent, confident, skilled cyclist. We will teach you how to use your bicycles gears more effectively, and teach you the basics of riding in light to moderate motor vehicle traffic. We will cover bike selection, and fit, make sure your helmet is in good condition and fitted properly. The topics of biking to work and school, and route selection will also be covered. This class begins in the classroom, and moves outdoors to a “practice space” and then on to the road for a bike ride. We can answer any questions you have on how to ride your bike safely and confidently in CT. We want you to leave class eager to ride your bike everywhere. The class can be customized for children, adults, women, and seniors. Contact us with your interest.
Youth Classes
We offer a variety of classes for children that can be provided during the school day, in a day camp setting or after school program. The class is targeted to children in fourth grade. This class is designed for children ages10 to 14. The class is 4 to 6 hours, and can be taught in a single session or over 2 to 4 sessions. It can be offered as part of summer day camp or vacation camp programming. It is similar to Intro to bikes, but especially crafted for the way children and young adults learn. This class begins in the classroom, and moves outdoors to a “practice space,” and with parental permission, dependant on location, and participants abilities we might go for a bike ride on a trail or quite street. Contact us to learn more.
Bicycle Safety and Design Workshop for Town Engineers and Planners
CRCOG has developed a 4-hour workshop on bicycle safety and infrastructure. With in class and on bike instruction, this class helps planners and engineers to look at roadway infrastructure from the point of view of a bicyclist. Go to http://www.crcog.org/transportation/bicycle/bp_edu.html for more information.
Classes for Your Group
We can design a class to meet the needs of your group - be it a Bike Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, environmental group, church youth groups, book club! If you can gather a group that is interested in learning bicycle skills and bicycle safety, we can provide a class! Contact us to discuss a location and price.
League Cycling Instructor Seminar
The Seminar is held over a weekend, starting on a Friday at 5:00 and ending on Sunday at 5:00 with approximately 24 hours of training. Bike Walk Connecticut is dedicated to training more cycling education instructors in the state. Becoming a League Cycling Instructor (LCI) certified to teach Bicycle Education is a great way to help cyclists in your community. Certified instructors can teach Bicycle Education classes to children as well as adults and can teach in our Bike Walk Connecticut program. Help bring the joy of safe cycling to others. If you are an experienced cyclist and would like to teach others, please consider taking the next step towards certification. Traffic Skills 101 is a prerequisite for a certification seminar. Bike Walk Connecticut will sponsor at least one LCI Seminar in the state annually. Contact us to let us know of your interest.
