Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session) 1-4PM on Saturday, May 18.

Train Your Bike (bike handling session) 5 – 8 PM on Saturday, May 18.

Tour of Midland session 1:00-4 PM Sunday, May 19. (completion of other two sessions is required to take this one).

The classroom, and bike handling sessions will be located at the Midland Evangelical Free Church at 7221 N. Jefferson Road in Midland.

Use this form to sign up for the class.

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

June 6 & June 8

Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session) 6 – 9 PM Thursday, June 6, at Cafe Ventana in the Central West End, $15

Train Your Bike (bike handling session) 8 – 11 AM on Saturday, June 8, on the parking lot of the Church of Latter Day Saints in the Central West End, $15

Tour of St. Louis will begin after lunch (1 – 4:30 PM) on Saturday, June 8 (Completion of other two sessions is required), $15

Use this form to sign up for the June workshop

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

Experience cycling empowerment to act as a a confident, equal road user. You will learn strategies for safe, stress-free integrated cycling and come away with the tools to read and problem-solve any new traffic situation or road configuration.

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.

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. A $30 value, this session is available as a stand-alone class for $15.

Part 3: Tour of St. Louis*

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

Saturday, June 8, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (After “Train Your Bike,” participants will bike as a group to lunch at St. Louis Bread Company, and begin the Tour of St. Louis after lunch. At the end of the Tour, participants will bike as a group back to the parking lot of the Church of Latter Day Saints)

This session is an experiential tour of St. Louis roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (including intersections, interchanges and merges) 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 metro St. Louis area.

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. Students who have taken the classroom and parking lot sessions may register for the Tour of St. Louis for $15.

Registration available here.

Register here  for CyclingSavvy May workshop

May 3

Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session), 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, May 3, in the conference room of Great Rivers Greenway, 6174A Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112 (map link)

May 4

Train Your Bike (bike handling session), 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, May 4 on the playground of Captain Elementary School, 6345 Northwood Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105 (map link)

Tour of St. Louis will begin after lunch Saturday, May 4 (completion of other two sessions is required to take this one)

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.

Details about the St. Louis CyclingSavvy May Workshop:

Bicycles are not needed at the classroom session on Friday evening, May 3. This session costs $15 and is open to all adults of driving age. The on-bike sessions on Saturday, May 4, will each be limited to 10 participants. Each of these sessions costs $15. As part of its efforts to promote the Gateway Bike Plan, Great Rivers Greenway is subsidizing participant fees for the on-bike sessions.

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.

This session costs $15 and is open to all adults of driving age. Registration is required.

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.

As part of its kickoff of the Gateway Bike Plan, Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. A $30 value, this session is available as a stand-alone class for $15. Register here!

Tour of St. Louis

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

Saturday, May 4, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.  After “Train Your Bike,” participants will have lunch across the street from the Captain School at Kaldi’s. The Tour of Mid-County will begin after lunch. At the end of the Tour, participants will bike as a group back to Kaldi’s and the Captain School playground.

This session is an experiential tour of St. Louis roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (including intersections, interchanges and merges) 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 St. Louis area–or anywhere!

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. Students who have taken the classroom and parking lot sessions may register for the Tour of St. Louis for $15.

Registration available here.

Learn the truth and techniques of traffic cycling

Discover that bicycling is very safe and with a few simple techniques you can make your own cycling virtually conflict free! Bicycles are not needed for this class. The classroom session is a pre-requisite for future on-bike CyclingSavvy classes, which are offered in the St. Louis, Ferguson, and Twin City areas. (See the on-bike session offered April 20.) “Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling” is free to all adults of driving age, but registration is requested.

Please click the registration link to sign up  –>  Registration Link

Discover the joy of human-powered travel.

Experience cycling empowerment to act as a confident, equal road user. You will learn strategies for safe, stress-free integrated cycling and come away with the tools to enable you to handle any traffic situation or road configuration.

The Ferguson Bicycle Shop is sponsoring Part 1 of CyclingSavvy at no charge for all adults. And as part of its efforts to promote bicycling in the St. Louis area, Great Rivers Greenway is providing scholarship funding for participants of Parts 2 and 3. Parts 2 and 3 will be limited to 10 participants.

Part 1: Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling

Tuesday, April 16, 6:30-9:30PM
Ferguson Brewing Company (upstairs)   Location/map
418 S. Florissant Road
Ferguson, MO 63135

Learn the truth and techniques of traffic cycling. Through guided discussion with video and animation, 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 and ability to control their space.

The Ferguson Bicycle Shop is subsidizing the cost of this class for all participants. A $30 value, this session is available as a stand-alone class at no cost.

Are you tired of having motorists squeeze past too closely while you are bicycling? This class will show you how to ride so that motorists give you 5-8 feet of clearance!

Part 2: Train Your Bike

Saturday, April 20, 8:30-11:30am
Parking lot behind 501 Plaza   Location/map
501 S. Florissant Rd.
Ferguson, MO 63135

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:

• Start/Stop, Power Pedal & Balance Stop
• Snail Race, Slow-speed Balance
• Drag-race, Gears & Acceleration
• Ride Straight, One-handed
• Shoulder Check
• Object-avoidance Handling, Weave, Snap
• Turning: Slow-speed Tight Turns, High-speed cornering, Emergency Snap-turn
• Emergency Braking

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. A $30 value, this session is available as a stand-alone class for $15.

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

Part 3: Tour of Ferguson*

Saturday, April 20, 1-4:30pm
Meet behind Ferguson Bicycle Shop  Location/map
429 S. Florissant Rd.
Ferguson, MO 63135

*Registrants must have completed the sessions “Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling” and “Train Your Bike” to participate in the Tour of Ferguson

This session is an experiential tour of Ferguson roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (intersections, interchanges, merges, etc.) a cyclist might find in his or her travels. The 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 the feature individually and regroup at a nearby location.

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. A $30 value, students who are participating in the classroom and parking lot sessions may register for the Tour of Ferguson for $15.

This session is designed to give you the confidence and skills to handle any situation you might encounter.

Use this link to register now!

Please note: If you can’t make all the sessions in Ferguson, sessions can be taken at other times and in other locations.  An earlier classroom session will be conducted on March 9 in the Central West End. Click here to find out more about it and to register. Please look at the Cycling Savvy calendar for other sessions offered in the Saint Louis area that might fit your schedule better.

Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session) 6-9PM on Friday, May 3.

Train Your Bike (bike handling session) 9 – 12 AM on Saturday, May 4.

Tour of Midland session 1:00-5 PM (We’ll break for lunch before this session) Saturday, May 4. (completion of other two sessions is required to take this one).

The classroom, bike handling, and tour sessions will be located at the Midland Evangelical Free Church at 7221 N. Jefferson Road in Midland.

Use this form to sign up for the September class.

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

Gerry Noll leading a discussion on bicycle safety

“The classes provide good information,” said GRG deputy director Todd Antoine. “We appreciate your efforts to help citizens ride safely and confidently.”

In ”Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling,“  learn strategies for safe, stress-free, integrated cycling. Come away with the tools to read or problem-solve any new traffic situation or road configuration. This session will change the way you think about bicycling.

Bicycles are not needed. However, there is ample parking for both bicycles and autos at Cafe Ventana.

“Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling” is free to all adults of driving age, but registration is requested. When you register, your full commitment is requested. If you find that you cannot attend, please let us know as soon as possible. Thanks!

Register here.

“The classes provide good information,” said GRG deputy director Todd Antoine. “We appreciate your efforts to help citizens ride safely and confidently.”

The session is free to all adults of driving age, but registration is requested.

May 2012 session at the Center on Vandeventer

Register here!

Mark Barnett, St. Louis

This was in my “In” box this morning:

“Cycling Savvy is a truly empowering experience,” wrote Mark Barnett, who participated in last weekend’s St. Louis CyclingSavvy workshop.

“The effective classroom session provides students with the right information and motivation to take on the ‘big roads.’ A classmate and I changed our habits that very evening on our ride back to our homes. And I started thinking and riding differently and more safely on my commute. The accompanying tour was just as great. There are roads I wouldn’t dream of driving because they can be a traffic nightmare, but I will ride them on my bike. I believe everyone who gets around on two wheels and their own power can benefit from the class. It will open your eyes and challenge your assumptions about bicycling.

“It’s time we truly share the road.”

On Rosedale

Vernon Avenue in University City

Skinker Boulevard

Brentwood Blvd. at Interstate 64

Registration now open  for CyclingSavvy October workshop

October 4

Truth & Techniques of Traffic Cycling (classroom session), 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in the conference room of Great Rivers Greenway, 6174A Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112

October 6

Train Your Bike (bike handling session), 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, on the playground of Captain Elementary School, 6345 Northwood Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105

Tour of Mid-County will begin after lunch Saturday, Oct. 6 (completion of other two sessions is required to take this one).

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 the St. Louis CyclingSavvy October Workshop:

The William A. Kerr Foundation is sponsoring Part 1 of CyclingSavvy at no charge for all adults. Parts 2 and 3 will each be limited to 10 participants. As part of its efforts to promote the new Gateway Bike Plan, Great Rivers Greenway is providing scholarship funding for these participants.

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.

Sponsored by the William A. Kerr Foundation, this session is free to all who are of driving age, but registration is required.

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.

As part of its kickoff of the Gateway Bike Plan, Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. A $30 value, this session is available as a stand-alone class for $15. Register here!

Part 3: Tour of Mid-County

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

Saturday, October 6, 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. After “Train Your Bike,” participants will have lunch across the street from the Captain School at Kaldi’s. The Tour of Mid-County will begin after lunch. At the end of the Tour, participants will bike as a group back to Kaldi’s and the Captain School playground.

This session is an experiential tour of St. Louis roads. The course includes some of the most intimidating road features (including intersections, interchanges and merges) 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 St. Louis area.

Great Rivers Greenway is matching the registration fee for all participants. Students who have taken the classroom and parking lot sessions may register for the Tour of Mid-County for $15.

Registration available here.

THANK YOU to our sponsors!

Clayton School District

Great Rivers Greenway

William A. Kerr Foundation