Cycling on Durango’s narrow and busy roads can be daunting. Likewise, driving alongside cyclists, some of whom don’t obey the rules of the road, can be aggravating.
To help these two different breeds of commuters get along, promote bicycle safety and encourage more cycling, the city of Durango is hosting two educational smart cycling classes next month.
Courtney Child, multimodal specialist for Durango Transit, earned her League Cycling Instructor certification from the League of American Bicyclists in October to meet residents’ demands for more education about how to bike safely in traffic.
Child and Jennaye Derge of Bike Durango will teach the classes, according to the city’s website.
Cyclists often opt for riding on the sidewalk instead of on the road through roundabouts, run stop signs and can be unpredictable to motorists, Child said. Motorists can be impatient with bike riders.
The classes, which have never been offered by the city, are designed to give cyclists confidence on the road and promote more cycling to reduce the amount of vehicle commuting, she said.
Child is the only League Cycling Instructor in the Four Corners, she said. There is limited space available in the two classes. Up to 20 participants can attend the first class, Bike Commuting 101, in a classroom setting that is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. April 4.
The second class, Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers, has room for only 10 participants. It will provide hands-on-handlebars training in the Transit Center parking lot from noon to 2 p.m. April 13. Participants must bring helmets to be admitted, she said.
She said Bike Commuting 101 will focus on the principles of traffic law, lane positioning and changing lanes, in addition to bike facilities – bike lanes, sharrows (a portmanteau of “share” and “arrow”) – in which cyclists can ride in the middle of the lane instead of on the side, and other infrastructure features.
As an example of safe riding, Child said she tends to ride her bicycle in the middle of the northbound and southbound lanes on Main Avenue in downtown Durango because the speed limit is so low. She rides about the same speed motorists should traveling, she said, and she wants to avoid getting clipped in “door zones” where cars are parallel parked and people are getting in and out of their vehicles.
“It’s all pretty basic, but that’s the point. I want to get everyone on the same page on the laws and what all these (things) mean,” she said.
In the Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers class, Child will instruct participants to hone their bike-handling skills and practice avoidance maneuvers such as quick turns – a way to mitigate collision with a vehicle.
A quick turn is performed when, for instance, a car pulls out in front of a cyclist in an intersection and the cyclist turns with the car to hit it at a parallel angle as opposed to trying to weave around it and hitting it head-on, she said.
“These are drills to practice your muscle memory so you know how to react,” she said. “It’ll mitigate the collision with the car.”
She said the classes are designed for novice cyclists, but anyone who is interested is welcome to sign up. But they are intended for adults, and only people ages 16 and up will be accepted at this time.
If residents express an interest in having classes for younger people or more classes in general, she said she is happy to accommodate it.
Ideally, classes would be held in the spring and fall when people are more likely to ride their bikes around town, she said.
“There hasn’t been an opportunity to educate cyclists how to legally share the road,” she said. “Me being an LCI and the city really supporting this mission to educate bicyclists is going to have a direct impact on our roads, (making them) safer for all modes of transportation.”
Residents can sign up for classes at durangoco.gov/359/Education-Outreach.
cburney@durangoherald.com
