possible courses

Dan Allison is working with two groups to schedule the next Traffic Skills 101 courses in Nevada:

1. Las Vegas, working with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, Ron Floth, for a course in early spring 2012.

2. Carson City, working with Carson City Public Works, Patrick Pittenger, for a course in late spring.

Neither group has sufficient funding to carry the course on it’s own, so both are seeking some additional funding, which I hope will come through. The courses will be posted here as soon as dates are known.

The idea of having another League Cycling Instructor (LCI) Seminar in Nevada is on hold until we have a larger base of people who have graduated from Traffic Skills 101, which is the prerequisite for the LCI.

Lane Positioning from Commute Orlando

Here is another great article and video from my favorite bike education website, Commute Orlando, entitled “Helping Motorists With Lane Positioning.” Taking the center position on a multi-lane road is the right place to be. I’ve been doing this more and more the last few months, and been very happy with the results. This article confirms my feelings.

Bike/Ped Conference, Oct 8

The Nevada Bicycle & Pedestrian Conference was held Friday, October 8, 2010 at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. There were keynotes by state Senator John Lee, U.S. Senator John Ensign, an avid bicyclist, and Joe Kurmaskie, The Metal Cowboy. Twelve concurrent sessions were offered on a variety of topics. More information and the agenda are at http://www.bicyclenevada.com/conf_10_home.htm. In the past, there was one statewide conference at Lake Tahoe, but with less travel money available, the Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board decided to have conferences north and south. The northern conference will be in May 2011.

“We’re Supposed to Ride How?” : Planning for Effective Bicycle Education” was presented by Bill Story, Dan Allison, and Jim Cullen. Bill is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the state of Nevada, Dan Allison is the Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Carson City and a League Cycling Instructor, and Jim Cullen is a bike educator from Las Vegas. Bill gave some background about bicycle law in Nevada and the particular challenges for and by bicyclists including wrong way riding and the lack of facilities in some areas. Dan presented on bike education for youth in the state, including existing programs in Carson City, Washoe County, and Clark County, highlighting Carson City School District’s BikeEd program for 3rd-5th grade students, and the Bike Camp offered last summer by Safe Kids Washoe County. Jim gave a summary of adult bike education, emphasizing the principles of bike ed and making the case for adult bike ed in southern Nevada.

In the process of preparing for and presenting, we all found out details about what is and is not being offered throughout the state. A lot of informal discussions about bike education took place, though unfortunately we never got together all the interested parties at one time and one place.

Jim Cullen will be creating a series of classes for adults, working with REI and other partners, and hopes to have them on a monthly basis. These will be classroom format, with parking lot and road skills added at a later date if interest is there. Dan will be working with others to present a full Traffic Skills 101 course in southern Nevada within the year. There is interest in having classes for youth, both during the school day and after-school, to complement the bike rodeos, but we are unsure yet how this will come about and who the partners will be.

The PowerPoint presentation used by Dan will be modified and made available here.

Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board, Oct 7

Dan Allison made a presentation on bike education to the Nevada Bicycle Advisory Board on October 7, 2010. The PowerPoint covered information about League of American Bicyclists SmartCycling courses such as Traffic Skills 101 and the League Cycling Instructor Seminar. The Office of Traffic Safety has co-sponsored two TS101 courses in Carson City, and Kiwanis and the Academy for Arts, Careers and Technology sponsored two TS101s, a LCI seminar, and a TS101 for youth.

There are various forms of youth education going on in the state. Carson City has a program for all 3rd-5th grade students, and some Clark County and Washoe County schools have during-school programs for elementary school and after-school programs, particularly for middle school students. Safe Kids Washoe County, with other partners, offered a Bike Club for upper elementary age students last summer. Kiwanis offers an extensive set of bike rodeos in the Sparks/Reno area, and there are a number of rodeos offered in southern Nevada both through the schools and other organizations and agencies.

A discussion following the presentation amplified some details on course and qualifications. Tim Rowe, NBAB member, is a League Cycling Instructor. A subcommittee will be formed with Dan to talk more about how NBAB might support bike education. Consideration will be given to having NBAB recognize the League curriculum as a standard for Nevada, and some minor funding might be available through the mini-grant program. The Office of Traffic Safety has already recognized the curriculum.

The PowerPoint used will be modified to remove some photos without photo-release, and posted here.

Planning Meeting minutes Sep 20

The minutes of our bike education planning meeting on Monday, September 20 are finally available (I’ve been busy). Please let me know of corrections, if you were there, or questions, if you were not.

Smart Cycling Nevada website

Dan has posted a set of web pages named Smart Cycling Nevada, at http://smartcyclingnevada.org/. At this time, the pages redirect to one of my other hosting domains, but eventually it will be in its own location. These pages are meant to be a resource for all of us, so please comment with suggestions and improvements. What would make the pages valuable to us. The CommuteOrlando website (in the left hand menu under Resources) is a model for what a BikeEd website can be. Any of you who are LCIs are welcome pass along a brief bio, photo, and contract information, which I’d add to the LCI page which so far has only me.

Planning Meeting September 20

The BikeEd planning meeting with be Monday, September 20 in Reno. It is likely to be at 5:00PM, though it may be later, and it will probably be at the AACT, Academy for Arts, Careers, and Technology, 380 Edison Way, Reno. This is the facility that was used for the League Cycling Instructor (LCI) Seminar in May, so part of our reason for meeting there is so that people who were not a part of that seminar can see the facility, as it is likely we’ll be using it for some future courses. By the end of the week, the time will be confirmed and there will be a draft agenda out.