Cycling Savvy
Cycling Savvy Course
The Cycling Savvy bicycle safety course is hosted by the Ohio River Trail Council. The workshop is designed to help you explore proven methods for safely and confidently navigating anywhere in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan area by bicycle. You will learn strategies for safe, stress-free integrated cycling and come away with the tools to read and problem-solve any new traffic situation or road configuration. You will cycle away excited, empowered, and ready to enjoy cycling anywhere!
The comprehensive 9.5-hour urban biking and safety skills course includes three parts:
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Truth and Techniques of Traffic Cycling
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Train your bike
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Bike Tour
Truth and Techniques of Traffic Cycling (3 hours)
Through guided discussion with video and animation, this classroom session familiarizes students with bicycle-specific laws, traffic dynamics and problem-solving strategies. Students learn about the basic rules of movement, crash causes and avoidance, and the right and ability to control their space. Additionally, students discover that bicycle drivers are equal road users and learn strategies to feel more confident “Sharing the Road”.
Train your bike (3 hours)
This session is conducted in a safe parking lot. It consists of a set of progressive drills designed to increase students’ control and comfort handling their bikes in various situations. Drills include:
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Start/Stop, Power Pedal & Balance Stop
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Snail Race, Slow-speed Balance
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Drag race, Gears & Acceleration
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Ride Straight, One-handed
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Shoulder Check
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Object-avoidance Handling, Weave, Snap
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Turning: Slow-speed Tight Turns, High-speed cornering, Emergency Snap-turn
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Emergency Braking
The majority of bicycle crashes occur with fixed objects, pavement hazards, pedestrians, animals or other cyclists. Nevertheless, these crashes can be avoided with better bike-handling skills. In three short hours, you will learn to command your bike with precision and confidence.
Bike Tour (3.5 hours)
This session is an experiential tour of our community’s roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (intersections, interchanges, merges, etc.) a cyclist might find in his/her travels. The students travel as a group, stopping to survey and discuss each exercise location. After observing the feature, discussing the traffic dynamics and the best strategy for safe and easy passage, the students ride through individually and regroup at a nearby location. Bike-handling exceptions can be made for trike drivers. This session is designed to give you the confidence and skills to handle any situation you might encounter.
Course Objective
The object of the course is to teach cyclists how to be safe on city roads, thereby giving riders access to the entire transportation grid. In many cases, it is only an intimidating intersection or short stretch of busy road, which hinders a cyclist preferential route. This course is designed to show students strategies to eliminate obstacles and ride with ease and confidence in places they might never have thought possible.
BICYLING IN TRAFFIC IS A DANCE YOU MUST LEAD
The epiphany which transforms us into confident cyclists is grasping the simple (albeit counter-intuitive) fact that we have control of our environment. That control comes from predictability, communication and (believe it or not) self-image.
Savvy Cyclist - Bill Edmonds
Through CyclingSavvy, an experienced commuter learned a new approach that made his cycling easier and his interaction with motorists more positive.
Course schedule
The full course is offered on the weekend of May 18, 2018. The safety training begins with the "Truths and Techniques of Traffic Cycling" classroom session on Friday evening May 18 at 6:00 p.m. On Saturday, May 19, 2018, the "Train Your Bike" skills session begins at 9:00 a.m. The urban "Bike Tour" is scheduled on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. The course location is Edgeworth Elementary School, 200 Meadow Lane, Sewickley, PA 15143. GPS: 40.549129, -80.190930 (Map)
Part 1: The truth and techniques of traffic cycling (3 hours): familiarizes students with bicycle-specific laws, traffic dynamics and problem-solving strategies. A guided discussion with video and animation. Conducted in a classroom. Available a la carte.
Part 2: Train your bike! (3 hours): a set of progressive drills designed to increase students’ control and comfort handling their bikes in various situations. Conducted in a parking lot. Available a la carte.
Part 3: Tour of the City (3.5 hours): an experiential tour of your city’s roads. The students travel as a group, stopping to survey and discuss each exercise location. Students ride through location individually and regroup at a nearby location. Prerequisites: Parts 1 and 2.
* Students must be 18 years or older, 14-17 years old with a guardian.
Part 1 (*): Friday, May 18, 2018 from 6:00-9:00 pm at Edgeworth Elementary School, 200 Meadow Lane, Sewickley, PA 15143.
Parts 2 (*): Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 9:00 am - 12:00 noon in Edgeworth Elementary Parking Lot.
Part 3 (**): Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 1:00 – 4:30 pm. Tour of the Beaver Road corridor along the proposed Ohio River Trail Route.
(*) Offered a la carte.
(**) Offered only as a package with Parts 1 and 2.
Course Registration
Online Registration Form click here.
Go to the Cycling Savvy website at http://cyclingsavvy.org/
Click on “Find A Class Near You”
Select “Western Pennsylvania”
Select sessions you wish to attend and click “Add to Cart”
Select “Checkout” and make payment (keep your receipt)
Questions/concerns: Call John Orndorff at 412-313-1363.
COURSE SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
For Scholarship Application Form click here.
Additional Information
What is Cycling Savvy?
Cycling Savvy & ORTC Flyer
Press Release