Southwest Florida Workshops UPDATE Winter 2012-2013

Registration now open for CyclingSavvy Winter workshops

Please note: The next Tour of Ft Myers has been scheduled for Saturday March 9th at 12 noon (not 12:30) and the meeting location has been moved to Page Field Commons, in front of Panera Bread — 5037 Cleveland Ave, Fort Myers, FL 33907.

The winter weather in Southwest Florida is glorious and we’re gearing up for another great season of CyclingSavvy workshops.  CyclingSavvy continues to spread across the country as a powerful and effective program ~ empowering everyday cyclists to enjoy their neighborhood, city and country by bicycle. Come join us, and gain the tools you need to ride with confidence, ease and joy.

Think like a wise man, but communicate in the language of the people. William Butler Yeats

Registration is now open for CyclingSavvy Winter Workshops in Southwest Florida:

• January 9-12
• February 21 / March 2

Each workshop includes 3 Parts:

• Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session) – 5:30-8:30 pm on a Wednesday or Thursday evening. Harvey Software Conference Room (map).
• Train Your Bike (bike handling session) – 8:30–11:30 am on Saturday morning.  Exact location to be determined, based on demand.
• Tour of Southwest Florida (practical application of classroom material in real-life scenarios) – 12:30-4:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Exact location to be determined, based on demand. (Note: prior completion of Truth & Techniques and Train Your Bike is required to take this portion.)

Learn more about each component of the course.

Registration for all 3 Parts costs $75.  The 3 sessions may be taken individually for $30 each, but should be taken in succession of each other.

Winter workshops will be based in Lee County, but may be offered in Collier and Charlotte county locations, depending on demand. Please note: Sessions require a minimum of 6 participants. To provide the best experience for everyone, the on-bike portions are limited to 10 participants. Contact Dan Moser if you have any questions.

Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling  (classroom session), 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the conference room of Harvey Software, 7050 Winkler Road, #104, Fort Myers Florida 33919 (map).  Classroom sessions are being offered on:  Wednesday January 9, and Thursday February 21.

Train Your Bike (bike handling session), 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, on the Edison State College – Ft Myers campus, parking Lot #9, located on Summerlin Road and accessed by Edison Parkway (map).  Train Your Bike sessions are being offered: Saturdays: January 12 and March 2.

Tour of Southwest Florida will begin after lunch on Saturday, 12:30 am to 4:00 pm (completion of other two sessions is required to take this one). After the tour, we will return as a group to the parking lot used in the first half of the day.  Tours are being offered: Saturdays: January 12 and March 2.

Use this form to sign up

You can go anywhere by bike. We’ll show you how.

CyclingSavvy is a traffic cycling course developed in Florida, and steadily spreading nationwide. The course teaches the principles of Mindful Bicycling:

• empowerment to act as confident, equal road users;
• strategies for safe, stress-free integrated cycling;
• tools to read and problem-solve any traffic situation or road configuration.

The course is offered in three 3-hour components: a bike-handling session, a classroom session and an on-road tour. The classroom and bike-handling sessions may be taken individually, the road tour requires the other two as a prerequisite.

The object of the course is not to turn people into road warriors. Being a confident, competent cyclist has nothing to do with speed or bravado. You don’t need either of those things to have access to the entire transportation grid.

Even most confident cyclists prefer to use quiet routes when feasible. In many cases, it is only an intimidating intersection or short stretch of busy road which hinders a cyclist’s preferred route. This course is designed to show students simple strategies to eliminate such barriers, and ride with ease and confidence in places they might never have thought possible.

Here are details about our Winter Workshops:

Harvey Software has generously provided meeting space for our Lee County classroom sessions.  If you are registering an entire group for the classroom, please call us about alternative locations to better suit the members of your group.  Unless indicated otherwise, classroom sessions will take place at Harvey Software, 7050 Winkler Road, #104, Fort Myers Florida 33919.

Part 1: Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling

Learn the truth and techniques of traffic cycling. Through guided discussion with videos and animations, this classroom-based session familiarizes students with bicycle-specific laws, traffic dynamics and problem-solving strategies. Students discover that bicycle drivers are equal road users, with the right, ability and responsibility to control their space on public roadways.

Part 2: Train Your Bike

This session is conducted in a parking lot. It consists of a set of progressive drills designed to increase students’ control and comfort handling their bikes in various situations. Drills include:

1. Starting, stopping  & balance
2. Understanding gearing
3. Slow balance drill (Snail Race)
4. Acceleration drill (Drag Race)
5. Straight-line riding
6. Turning: Cone weave
7. Turning: Follow the leader
8. Turning: Rock dodge
9. Turning: High-speed cornering
10. Turning: Snap turn
11. Quick stop

In three short fun hours, you will learn to command your bike with precision and confidence.

Part 3: Tour of Southwest Florida

To participate in the Tour of Southwest Florida, students must have completed both “Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling” and “Train Your Bike” (the classroom and parking lot sessions). The Tour is about 10 miles long, and will proceed at a pace of 10-12 miles/hour.

Saturday, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. After “Train Your Bike,” participants will have lunch in the vicinity. The Tour of Southwest Florida will begin after lunch. At the end of the Tour, participants will bike as a group back to the parking lot.

This session is an experiential tour of Southwest Florida roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (including intersections, interchanges and merges) that a cyclist might find in his or her travels. Students travel as a group, stopping to survey and discuss each exercise location. After observing the feature, discussing the traffic dynamics and the best strategy for safe and easy passage, the students ride through individually and regroup at a nearby location.

This session is designed to give you the confidence and skills to handle any situation you might encounter while riding your bicycle in the metropolitan areas of Southwest Florida.

Registration available here.

Tags: Charlotte County, Collier County, Lee County, safe cycling class, Southwest Florida, traffic cycling