Tim Bochnowski, founder of Mountain Velo LLC, will be offering a FREE Intro to Bike Fit class as part of our Monday Night Class Series on August 24th.  Answer the age old questions of, does my bike fit?  What can I do to make it fit better?  What bike is right for my body type?

A little about Tim:

This really isn't a formal class, but we get enough requests for this that we thought we would share the easiest and fastest way to teach someone (even yourself) how to ride a bike -- for kids AND adults.

1. Lower the seat so they can sit and put their feet flat on the ground.  If they teeter todder from side to side, or they are on their tippy toes -- this will not work and you need to find a smaller bike before going to the next step.
2. Take off the pedals using a 15mm open wrench, or bring the bike to the Community Bike Shop and we can show you how.
3. Just like a scooter, have them kick and coast around a flat parking lot.  When they get to the point where they can coast as far as they can kick, you are ready for the next step.
4. Put on the pedals, and let them ride away.

As opposed to the sink or swim down deadman's hill approach that most of us learned by.  This new method separates the Power from the Balance.  Few people can figure out both at first, so mastering Balance and then adding Power back in works magically.

In partnership with the Granite Peaks Lifelong Learning and frame builder Bogart McAvoy, you can build your own bicycle!

Want to learn more about bike repair?

The Lifelong Learning Continuing Ed program at the University of Utah offers two non-credit courses in bike maintenance and repair. Classes are held in the evenings at the Salt Lake Bicycle Collective. With instruction on basic skills such as fixing a flat to more involved projects as overhauling hubs, the hands-on classes gives students an opportunity to learn about bicycle repair while tuning up their own bike.

For a schedule of up coming classes and registration information, contact: Lifelong Learning - (801) 587-5433 or http://continue.utah.edu/lifelong/index.php

By teaching the necessary skills to ride with traffic and avoid accidents, the Collective hopes to increase safety for existing bicyclists and encourage more people to go by bicycle. This project involves hosting seminars to train instructors, hiring staff to organize, advertise, and teach the courses, and creating educational resources in print and website media.

Bike Ed is a collection of course curriculums developed by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), more info can be found at www.bikeleague.org. The LAB has developed courses that teach basic and advanced safety skills to children, their parents, adult recreational bicyclists, and commuters. LAB's proven curricula will allow us to offer consistent, accurate information that has been designed to meet the basic safety needs of all cyclists. Courses are currently free, thanks to a 2-year sponsorship by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT).

Want to feel safer and more comfortable riding in traffic, are you interested in learning critical bike maintenance techniques, or are you interested in becoming an League Cycling Instructor (LCI)?

Road I gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. The course also covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual. Recommended for adults and children above age fourteen, this fast-paced, nine-hour course prepares cyclists for a full understanding of vehicular cycling.  This course is also the pre-requisite to becoming an LCI.

Thinking of bike commuting to work or school?  Commuting is a 3-hour Road I follow-up nails topics such as route selection, bicycle choice, dealing with cargo and clothing, bike parking, lighting, reflection, and foul weather riding.

Kids I is a nationally recognized curriculum created by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) and taught by our League Certified Instructors (LCIs).

Kids I can be taught as a on-hour course specifically for parents or a three-hour course for parents and children.  Either way the concentration is on the parents, as they (you!) have the greatest impact in their child's safety.

Kids II is a nationally recognized curriculum created by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) and taught by our League Certified Instructors (LCIs).

This 7-hour class for 5th and 6th graders covers the same topics as Road I, including on-bike skills as well as choosing safe routes for riding.

While we can be flexible, Bike Ed Kids II is normally constructed as ten (10) lessons each lasting approximately 45 minutes.  Actual instruction time with the children is approximately 30 minutes per lesson.

Motorist Education is a 3-hour classroom session, this course can be easily added to a driver's education curriculum, such as diversion training for reckless drivers or a course designed local bus drivers. Directed towards motorists in general, topics covered include roadway positioning of cyclists, traffic and hand signals, principles of right-of-way and left and right turn problems. Materials include Share the Road literature for bicyclists and motorists as well as other fact sheets.