When I started back up with cycling, several years back, one of my goals was to become certified as a bike instructor – mostly to teach kids how to ride safely. With the support of a strong bike education community in my area, I was able to become an LCI – (League Cycling Instructor), certified by the League of American Cyclists.
With my certification, I am able to teach a broad range of classes that include Traffic Skills 101, Commuting, Bicycling Skills Youth 123 and Bicycling Skills 123. I’m also qualified to teach Group Riding Skills, but quite frankly, I only prefer to teach those with little or no cycling experience.
I’ve taught a few Traffic Skills 101 classes as well as a few Youth 123 (Bike Rodeos), which are both enjoyable and quite rewarding. However, I’ve discovered that my favorite class to teach is actually a hybrid of the adult Bicycling Skills 123, where we teach adults how to ride.
Learning to ride as an adult is actually more common than you would think. There are plenty of adults who never had an interest or opportunity to learn when they were younger. Fortunately, that didn’t stop them from wanting to learn as adults. Of course, different people pick it up faster than others, which makes instructing as challenging as it is fulfilling. I’m still new to teaching the class, and I’ve discovered that I’m continually learning better ways to teach with each new student.
The end result is always extremely gratifying to me – especially when I see the huge grin on each person’s face as they ride a bike for the first time.
If you are an adult or know one who cannot ride a bike and live in the north Texas area, please reach out to my group to fine out when the next available class will be. We’d be happy to teach you.
