Education issues

Low levels of bicycling skill are endemic in the United States, except in some areas where bicycling is relatively common. Bicycling is almost unique among sports in that the typical participant has had no coaching, and is not even aware of the basic elements of good technique in the sport. This problem exists because there were very few adult bicyclists in the United States in the years after World War II. The tradition of bicycling was lost as bicycling became a children's activity. With no adults able to teach the children correctly, the average bicyclist never rose above a child's level of skill. Information about safe and efficient riding practices reached only the few bicyclists who were born into bicycling families, or joined bicycling organizations.

Though bicycling has become much more popular since the 1960's, the level of bicycling skill typically remains low. The St. Louis area appears to lag somewhat behind other areas of the U.S. where bicycling has been more popular. Sights like the one in the photo at the right above -- a man crossing a street at an odd angle, in violation of the rules of the road, helmetless, on a poorly fitted bicycle -- were more the rule than the exception during the August 1999 inspection tour.

On Goodfellow Boulevard, the young man in the photograph below was observed riding block after block, on the wrong side of the roadway, helmetless and carrying a bag of groceries slung over his handlebars where it compromised his ability to steer and could easily have become entangled in the spokes of his front wheel.

The girls in the photo below, like the young man in the one above, were using their bicycles for transportation. The girls, too, were helmetless. One of them was carrying a water bottle in her hand, and they were seemingly oblivious to the many hazards posed by obstacles such as the bushes at the left. The girls were riding "freestyle" acrobatic bicycles popular with children. Such bicycles can be adjusted for an efficient riding position, but these were not. The low saddle position makes efficient pedaling impossible and makes any trip of more than a mile into a struggle.

For a person who lacks a basic understanding of how to ride efficiently and safely, of proper bike fit, or of how to carry baggage, bicycling is an unnecessarily tiring, unpleasant and frightening activity.

On the other hand, I also saw bicyclists like those in the photos below in the St. Louis area.

These bicyclists have proper equipment and are riding according to the rules of the road. But they were a small minority of the bicyclists I saw during my visit.

A number of bicyclists of varying skill levels turned out for the Saturday morning ride and Effective Cycling demonstration. I was pleased to see that people in government, planning and advocacy organizations, for example Larry Welty and Dennis Scott in the Missouri Department of Transportation, Maurice Williams, previously at Trailnet, Inc. and Mary Grace Lewandowski at East-West Gateway are themselves proficient bicyclists and have a good understanding of bicycling. BicycleWORKS, an earn-a-bike program originally directed by Roy Bohn, has shown that St. Louis area youths, when presented with opportunity and incentive, do become proficient bicyclists. Martin Pion, of Conservion, is an active, certified League of American Bicyclists Effective Cycling Instructor.

The University City area, on part of the Saturday bicycle ride and adjoining St. Louis where the seminar took place, is unusual in the St. Louis area in that bicycling is very common. This is typical with student populations in urban areas. However, many bicyclists in this area were observed riding in violation of the rules of the road.

Recommendations:

• Make use of existing community resources. St. Louis already has citizens who are concerned with and active in promoting better bicycling skills. They can form the nucleus of a regional campaign.

• Make use of available published resources. Educational programs have been developed by the League of American Bicyclists, the Bicycle Federation of America and other organizations. Inexpensive published materials are available; there is no need to "reinvent the wheel."

• Train teachers. Bicycling skills are appropriate in-service training for physical education teachers in schools, colleges and universities. They need this training to serve as appropriate role models and to teach their students.

• Integrate pedestrian and bicycling education components into the physical education curriculum in the public schools and/or into community recreation programs. The American pattern of driver training of teenagers neglects the pedestrian and bicycle components of traffic education. This increases accident risks for children, and allows them to develop bad habits and disrespect for the traffic law. As Florida bicycle/pedestrian coordinator Dan Burden has pointed out, traffic education needs to be conducted in three components, each introduced at the age of first exposure to a particular class of risk: pedestrian, at ages 5 or 6; bicycling, at ages 9 or 10, and driving, at ages 15 or 16. The bicycling component is important in that it introduces children to the concept of rules of the road at an earlier age. In Europe, the rules of the road are taught at ages 9 or 10, and predictable, lawful traffic behavior is the norm rather than the exception for children and teenagers riding bicycles and mopeds.

• Involve institutions of higher education in a program to inform their students about bicycling. Ideally, an information package about bicycling would be presented to all incoming students, or at least to those who register a bicycle. Bicycling skills education classes could be provided either as a requirement for a student bicycle registration or as an option. Colleges and universities can exact sanctions for noncompliance including, ultimately, expulsion of students and the withholding of academic degrees. It is strongly in the interest of institutions of higher education to educate students about bicycling, since bicycle use conveys a great benefit to them in providing mobility for students without the space demands of motor vehicle parking. The tradeoff for this is paid in injuries and occasional fatalities due to bicycle accidents. The suggested measures could easily reduce the injury and fatality rate by half or more. College students become community leaders, and so their learning about bicycling leads to increased benefits in the future.

• Make use of the St. Louis Police Department bicycle patrol as an information resource. Police bicycle patrols command respect and have credibility in the community. Bicycle Patrol officers also have firsthand knowledge of bicycling and of local conditions. Representatives of the Bicycle Patrol should participate in the planning of any community bicycling education campaign.

• Foster a climate of respect and encouragement for lawful bicycling. One of the major impediments to bicycling education is that most citizens do not understand that there is a right way to ride a bicycle. Official support of bicycling encourages citizens to understand bicycling as an activity which benefits from cooperation and adherence to the traffic law.

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Contents © 1999, John S. Allen except images, as indicated.