Many people experience LA streets by bike the first time when they participate in CicLAvia. Sure, they may ride their cruisers from Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach, or they may hit some intense trails up in the mountains, but riding on LA city streets is a “risk” that many people avoid taking. However, in the safe setting of CicLAvia people feel confident and secure enough to explore the city by bike. As safe as CicLAvia is, we still stress safe riding behaviors at CicLAvia on our website, on social media and with signs along the route.
What happens then when we, inspired by our CicLAvia experience, want to bike LA on a normal – meaning streets crowded with cars – day? How can we get over the legitimate fear of sharing the streets with car traffic? Many may not know this - especially adults - but there are actually safety classes out there to help boost confidence in riding skills. Friends and partners of CicLAvia like Cicle.org and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition regularly hold bike safety classes, and now there’s a new resource joining the mix.
This weekend Metro kicks off the first of a series of FREE bike safety classes for people of all ages and skill levels. The classes are happening thanks to a grant they received earlier this year.
Metro is the main force behind the expansion of open streets events like CicLAvia throughout Los Angeles County. It only makes sense that if Metro is exposing new riders to the streets of LA during open streets events, that they take the next step to provide safety classes to support riders who want to take to the streets on a regular basis.
This, along with their recently announced bike share program, shows that Metro truly understands that everyone should have options for getting around LA County. Whether we want to use a bus or train, a car, bike, skateboard or our own two feet, Metro’s got us covered.
