| Sue Powell
Cornell Transportation Services
There are lots of reasons to get around without using
a car. It is easy to come up with a list of benefits to
personal health and the pocketbook, our community, and
the environment. Most of us could use more exercise, more
time outside in the fresh air, less time in the car.
For many of us, as children, bicycling was our best mode
of transportation. So, when we are wondering how to get
around without the car, bicycling is one of the first
things that comes to mind. For many of us, as adults,
it is just a passing thought. “It wouldn’t
really work” for lots of reasons. It’s true
that bicycling is not for everyone, but for some, it may
not be as impractical as it seems at first glance.
Any alternate transportation takes planning and forethought.
Transportation habits can be as hard to break as any other
habit. Aside from the challenge of changing habits, the
greatest hurdle many of us face in “traveling”
by bicycle is in the transition from biking as a child
to biking as an adult.
As a child, riding on the sidewalk or around the block
in a quiet neighborhood was enough. As adults, we are
prohibited from cycling on sidewalks, our destinations
are more ambitious and the routes are more challenging.
As adults, we have a much more detailed perception of
the hazards of traffic and a more realistic view of our
vulnerability in encounters with motor vehicles. Bicycling
as an adult is not the same as bicycling as a child.
The transition is not insurmountable and most of us already
have the information we need to do it safely. Often, adapting
to riding a bicycle in traffic requires not much more
than applying, in a new way, information and techniques
we already use every day.
Discover Biking at Tompkins County Public Library on
Saturday, May 10. The library is hosting an event for
adult members of the community who may be thinking of
getting on a bike again (or for the first time).
Lois Chaplin and I are instructors certified by the
League of American Bicyclists. At 12 noon sharp on May
10 in the Borg Warner Room, we will present a one hour
orientation session for potential adult cyclists: “Rediscover
the Joys of Bicycling”. This presentation is the
first step.
On Tuesday May 13 at 5 PM, Lois and I will follow up
with a three hour “Basic Skills for Bicycling in
Traffic” workshop for adults. This workshop will
include some time talking about how to bike safely and
confidently in traffic, and some time actually practicing
these skills on bikes. Participants must provide their
own bicycles, in good operating condition, and helmets
are required.
For information on additional bicycle learning opportunities,
go to Lois Chaplin’s web site at http://www.bike.cornell.edu/
This event is part of the “Community Conversation
on Transportation”, a twelve day exploration of
the future of transportation in Tompkins County.
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