Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018 - 9

Education Director Alison Dewey (second from left) and Executive Director Bill Nesper (second from right) and Smart Cycling coaches
at workshop in Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community Fort Collins, CO. (Image courtesy of Jamie Gaskill-Fox)

THE LEAGUE'S SMART
CYCLING PROGRAM
ALISON DEWEY

t is hard to believe that the League's
bike education program is celebrating its 43rd birthday this year. But
please no "over-the-hill" jokes! The program is fairly young in comparison to
the League's 138 years. There have been
some changes and much growth in the
program since the 1970s, yet most of the
principles of bicycling have remained
consistent.
The League's bike education program
now goes by the name Smart Cycling.
There are various levels of instruction
offered in the Smart Cycling program.
This article profiles each of those levels
WINTER 2018

of instruction and who is involved with
each: a Smart Cycling Student, a League
Cycling Instructor, and a League Cycling Coach.
Before diving into those profiles, it is
beneficial to give some background on
how our curriculum is organized. While
Smart Cycling is the name of the curriculum, we have identified each level
of instruction differently. The basic level
of classroom instruction is called Smart
Cycling - The Basics. This portion of
the curriculum includes how to choose
a bike to fit your needs, basic parts of a
bike, simple equipment for a bike, hel-

met fit, rules of road, bike handling, how
and why to shift your gears and other basic material.
The next level of classroom instruction is called Smart Cycling - Intermediate. This section deals with riding in a
group, riding your bike in the rain and/
or at night, and sharing paths and trails
with others.
The third level of classroom instruction is called Smart Cycling - Advanced,
which deals with long distance riding,
drafting and pacelines, climbing and descending hills, and riding on highways.
Smart Cycling also has an "On-Bike"
BICYCLE FRIENDLY AMERICA 9

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018