After two hours in the classroom and a one-hour guided tour on the streets highlighting safety, tips and tricks, Ken Schweigert is ready to hit the road.
"I will soon be a regular commuter,” he declared after completing the TART Trails' Bicycle Commuting class.
Held Saturday afternoon at Northwestern Michigan College and on the streets of Traverse City, the class drew six attendees. Rueben Chapman, a League of American Bicyclists certified instructor, led the class, drawing on his decades of training as well as his own experiences.
As for Schweigert, he is ready to tackle a 12-mile in and 16-mile home commute two or three times a week. He started commuting sporadically last year and took the class to boost his confidence to a level where he would ride into town regularly. Motivated mostly by gas prices and the chance to get more exercise, Schweigert feels more at ease riding on the road than before the class — with some hopes for improvements spoken like a commuting veteran.
"In my situation, because I live just out of town, if they had more shoulders it would be helpful,” he said. "I wish there were more roads with bike lanes in them, part of the last hour [of class] we rode down Front Street and State Street and they have dedicated lanes — if we had more of those it would help.”
The TART Trails organization has been offering the free, three-hour Bicycle Commuting classes since 2004 and another session is scheduled for June 14. A survey delving into barriers to bicycle commuting found that people lacked confidence so TART wanted to bridge that gap.
"The most common answer was that they were wary of riding on the roads, whether they were too busy or just unsafe,” said Missy Luyk, a trail programs specialist with the organization. "A lot of people just needed extra encouragement to get on the road.”
The class covered everything from hand signals, bike attire and gear to riding with traffic and how to select a route.
"It teaches you to be a more predictable cyclist with everyone around you and enables you to be a more effective and safe cyclist,” added Luyk, who guided the on-road portion of the class.
Schweigert was surprised to learn that bicyclists and motorists must follow the same traffic rules.
"I thought that driver and bikers lived by two different rules,” he said, quoting a motto from the class: "Same rights, same rules, same responsibilities.”
Chapman noted that the Bicycle Commuting course is geared to beginners like Schweigert who have minimal experience and worry about riding in traffic.
"Having them tell us that they now feel much better about traffic and that they're willing to use their bike, makes me feel like we got it across to them,” he said.
A certified League of American Bicyclists instructor since 1976, Chapman is one of more than 800 instructors nationwide. He has been commuting since he was five years old, counting his two-wheeled time as a youngster growing up in a small town. He moved to Empire from Ann Arbor in 1999, after racking up 38 years commuting there.
He joined TART Trails even before he moved north permanently, pleased by their mission and accomplishments, and has taught the course here for at least two years.
"It really has been fun, the people who have come have just been a very smart, lively group,” said Chapman. "Traverse City is a very good city for bicyclists to get their feet wet.”
The Traverse City Smart Commute Week is scheduled for June 4-8 and the next Bicycle Commuting class is scheduled for Thursday, June 14, from 4-7 p.m. For more information on either event or to pre-register for the class, contact TART Trails at 941-4300 or see their Web site at www.traversetrails.org.