Kane Meadows, 10, says he’s about ready to graduate to busier roads on his bicycle.
With that in mind, he and his grandfather attended the recent monthly Street Smarts Safe Cycling class at Outdoor Chattanooga to pick up a few tips.
The class, he said, showed riders how to be safer and how not to get hurt.
Ruthie Thompson, events and marketing coordinator for the organization, said the seminar teaches tips and techniques to make cyclists more confident.
Although the class is offered for adults and children ages 10 and up, it has had mostly adults, she said. The age of 10 was selected, she said, because children of that age generally have enough of an attention span for the 90-minute class.
Most important among the tips, according to Thompson, is the need for cyclists to behave more like drivers of vehicles. In other words, that bit you learned about hugging the side of the road? Forget it.
The technique of what’s called taking the lane, according to Thompson, is called vehicular cycling and is practiced all over the world.
THE BASICSAmong the things cyclists learn in a Street Smarts Safe Cycling class, which is offered once a month at Outdoor Chattanooga, 200 River St., in Coolidge Park:* Proper helmet fit.* Bike safety checks.* Hand signals.* Sidewalk safety.* How traffic behaves.* Intersection etiquette.The next class will be Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. There is no charge to attend. For information, call 643-6888 or visit http://www.outdoorchattanooga.com/2096.htm.
“It’s very, very counterintuitive,” she said. Instead of staying to the extreme right of a lane, where they could encounter hazards such as storm drains and brush piles, riders should move out in a lane to take possession of it. When you’re in that possession, she said, stay in the middle or right third of the lane where you’re more visible to traffic.
In the middle of the lane, said Thompson, emphasizing the organization is not advocating putting all 10-year-olds on busy roads, “you’re more predictable and you’re behaving more like a vehicle.”
Kane, who presently rides on the streets of his Hixson neighborhood or in Coolidge Park, said he learned the proper procedures to use at an intersection, how to use hand signals and the importance of staying at least three feet from a car door when passing one.
Most of his friends aren’t aware of such rules – “probably not all of them” – but should be, he said.
Whether children are riding on little-traveled neighborhood streets or busy thoroughfares, though, they’re getting good exercise, according to Outdoor Chattanooga recreation specialist Minya James.
Cycling, she said, builds hand-eye coordination as well as confidence and body awareness, she said. It helps increase leg and back strength.
“The good thing about it in activating kids is that it’s fun,” James said. “They’re just not as excited about walking or hiking.”