American Bicycling Education Association Archives

Tag Archive for: American Bicycling Education Association

Love At First Bike

August 16, 2017/6 Comments/by Carol Wilson

It had been a long hot ride. Reaching the parking lot where we started, I heaved a sigh of relief. I made it! Sweat dripped into my eyes and rolled off my nose as I gratefully slid off the saddle. I began walking toward my car, leaning on my bike for support, when a friendly and somewhat concerned face appeared in front of me.

“Do you like tabbouleh? I brought some tabbouleh salad in a cooler.” He paused, adding: “I made it.”

The young man standing before me looked like he had just finished a short stint around the block. Surely he was not on the same ride I had just completed! I was finding this fellow to be quite unlike anyone I had ever met.

Normally he biked to club ride starts, but this ride was further out of town so he had driven. “Yes, that would be nice,” I replied. I walked with him to his black Toyota pickup truck.

The tabbouleh was cold and delicious, and the nourishment began to revive me. To be honest, I pushed myself hard on this ride because I wanted to impress him. Bicycling was obviously effortless for him, as natural as flying for a bird. As I munched on tabbouleh, I wondered if I’d ever achieve his level of mastery and fitness.

Part of me was surprised to be so interested in this guy. After breaking up with a long-time boyfriend, I’d decided I’d had enough of men. I turned to exercise to work out my frustrations. I wanted to try the rides offered by our local bike club.

I had a beater bike from my college years, but didn’t want to bring it to these rides. I decided to treat myself to my first good quality bike. So I headed to a local bike shop, where they fixed me up with a neon yellow Trek road bike.

I started showing up for the club’s Wednesday night social rides. They were rather informal affairs. I’m not sure they even had an official ride leader. Everyone always looked expectantly to this guy to lead the ride. He accepted his role nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Before each ride he’d go around the parking lot to help people pump up flat tires, adjust seats, generally check for loose things and make sure everyone had a bike that was ready to ride.

He never drove to these social rides. He always arrived by bike. After the ride, he made sure everyone returned safely and had their bikes properly loaded onto their cars. Then he left as he came, by bike. Always by himself. I wondered where he came from and where he went.

I was quite sure he was younger than me, way younger. That, along with my determination to avoid men, held me back. At the time he had long flowing black hair, the kind you see on heartthrobs adorning the covers of paperback romance books. He was thin, like he hadn’t quite grown into his frame. He was part of the bicycling group and yet he wasn’t. He stood apart, independent, never associating with anyone too closely. I found myself more and more intrigued.

And so I was surprised when the group stopped one day at a restaurant and he pulled a chair up to the table where I was seated.

That’s when it hit me that perhaps Mighk Wilson was interested in talking to me because he was interested in talking to me, not just because I was the “new rider.”

The rest, as they say, is history. I never did achieve Mighk’s level of bicycling proficiency. But fortunately we enjoy biking together on a tandem. A sure way to not get dropped!

Over the years we’ve participated in many kinds of bicycling – off-road, tandem, road riding, touring, bicycling for transportation – and we’ve acquired many wonderful bicycling friends along the way. Next year will be our 25th wedding anniversary.

By the way, today is Mighk’s birthday. He’s actually seven months older than me. :-)

I’ve watched Mighk grow into a nationally recognized transportation planning and bicycling professional. I’m especially proud of the work he’s doing as executive director for the American Bicycling Education Association.

Like so many others, I feel confident that following Mighk is the right thing to do. I’m just grateful he picked me to be his lifetime riding companion.

Little did I know what I was getting into when I bought that yellow Trek!

Photo of Mighk & Carol Wilson on their tandem bicycle, celebrating the grand opening of the Cross Seminole Trail with the Florida Freewheelers.

Celebrating the grand opening of the Cross Seminole Trail in Central Florida (1999)

Photo of Carol & Mighk Wilson on mountain bikes at the Suwanee Bicycle Festival in North Florida.

Enjoying the trails at Suwanee Bicycle Festival in North Florida (1998)

Photo of Carol and Mighk Wilson and their bicycles on a bald rock in DuPont State Forest in North Carolina.

On a bald rock in DuPont State Forest (North Carolina, 1997)

Photo of Carol & Mighk Wilson from 1993, shortly after they met, standing on a beach in Casey Key, FL.

The new couple in Casey Key, FL (1993)

Photo of Mighk & Carol Wilson on their tandem bicycle in the Colorado Rockies.

Mighk & Carol riding over Colorado’s Boreas Pass in 2015

CyclingSavvy & ABEA Conspicuous (& Relevant) in The Wall Street Journal

July 1, 2017/2 Comments/by Mighk Wilson

“Yessss! Nailed it!”

Passing strangers at the Minneapolis airport last Monday were probably a bit amused at my enthusiasm. I’d just gotten off the phone with a Wall Street Journal reporter. We talked about cyclist conspicuity. (Some of us get excited about such things.)

Here’s her story, published today in The Wall Street Journal Online. American Bicycling Education Association and its CyclingSavvy program were both mentioned. While the article primarily explored research into a number of clothing and lighting options, the reporter also mentioned the concept of lane positioning, which we teach in CyclingSavvy. I explained to her that being relevant is often as important as being conspicuous. (Stay tuned! This is the topic for my next blog post, which will run July 12.) CyclingSavvy Instructor John Allen was also interviewed for the article.

I suppose it’s all well and good if some people want to wear neon clothing and use some of the gadgets the story covered — and in some circumstances some of them certainly will help. But do we really have to dress like a science project every time we ride our bikes? With CyclingSavvy strategies you’ll find that you can usually just ride in normal clothing in the daytime, and use regular headlights and taillights at night.

In other news…

Congratulations to CyclingSavvy Instructor Bill DeSantis (Professional Engineer for VHB, based in Providence, RI) for being named new chairman for the Bicycle Technical Committee (BTC) of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD). This committee explores, reviews and recommends new or modified traffic signs, pavement markings and traffic signals relevant to cycling on our public roads and paths. Approved devices are included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is what the federal government and most states adopt as the official standards for traffic controls. Five CyclingSavvy Instructors now serve on the BTC: Bill DeSantis, DeWayne Carver, John Allen, John Schubert and myself.

Bill DeSantis discovers another CSI program that doesn’t involve bicycling.

By now you may be getting the idea that the CSIs who represent ABEA know a thing or two about bicycling. They are recognized as authorities on bicycling safety and education. As a result, they are leading the conversations on bicycling safety and transportation design at a national level.

Update 7/2/2017:

We realize that the Journal piece is behind a paywall, and not wishing to run afoul of fair use laws, we won’t copy the entire story. But a few highlights and quotes:

Research into fluorescent leggings and ankle lights found both are better recognized as being associated with cyclists than fluorescent shirts or jackets or regular headlights. (But I think a motorist approaching from behind is going to see the large area of your torso from a greater distance, assuming a similar color. Depending on which direction you need to be seen from, it may be more important to be seen from a greater distance, or recognized from a shorter distance.) Ankle lights truly do sound like a good addition to your regular tail-light and headlight set-up.

While I wasn’t quoted extensively for the article, I was fortunate to literally “get in the last word.”

“Mighk Wilson, executive director of the Orlando, Fla.-based nonprofit American Bicycling Education Association, says certain strategies can make a rider more visible. One tip in the association’s classes on cycling skills is riding in the center of a lane rather than on the edge, so drivers don’t try to squeeze past or turn in front of you.

“Most important, really, is your positioning on the road, which then enhances your use of those lights and makes you more relevant,” Mr. Wilson says.”

Introducing The Savvy Cyclist

May 1, 2017/5 Comments/by Mighk Wilson

by Mighk Wilson

Savvy (SAV-ee): adjective — 1. experienced, knowledgeable, and well-informed; shrewd

Solid, practical advice about bicycling.

That’s what you want, right?

Of course you do, and that’s why we’re here. American Bicycling Education Association (ABEA) is the organization behind the CyclingSavvy course, and we’re all about making bicycling accessible, enjoyable and as safe as possible for you. Today, on the first day of National Bicycle Month, we’re kicking off our new blog.

Our contributors have literally hundreds of years of combined cycling experience, not only as cyclists using our roads and trails, but also professionally analyzing equipment and safety data. We’ve seen a lot of great ideas — and lots of pretty bad ones, too — over the past few decades, so we can help you sort through all the breathless claims about the latest “innovations.”

This blog will keep its focus on making cycling work for you now, and not concern itself with some future cycling utopia. We’ll share with you everything from the most basic skills and equipment for the new rider, to advanced strategies for negotiating any sort of road condition.

What we won’t be covering are “performance”-related topics, such as how to ride competitively or cover long distances. There are plenty of other good resources out there for those.

If…

You want to haul groceries on your bike through that daunting interchange? We’ve got the strategies you need.
You want to know if that latest bike gizmo featured on Kickstarter is worth investing in? We’ll have informed opinions for you.
You want some inspiration to show you what we’re recommending is really possible? We’ll have stories and interviews from people just like you who’ve learned how to make cycling a regular and rewarding part of their lives.

Being a successful bicyclist doesn’t have to be about being a super athlete (but if that’s what you want — we’re fine with that!), it’s just about understanding the strategies, skills and equipment that make it safe, practical and fun.

Join us every other week for an article or interview. You can sign up for our email list (at the bottom) so you won’t miss a post, and we’ll send you a great little free introduction to the principles of Savvy Cycling, “Ten Tips for Successful Bicycling.”

Next time, go by bike.