CyclingSavvy...highly recommended!

[Jolt]

If you haven't heard of CyclingSavvy, it's a course on safe cycling in traffic and includes a classroom session, a session of bike handling drills including emergency maneuvers, and a "tour" of the city that involves riding through some of the most intimidating/difficult road features one would potentially need to use to get somewhere. I took the class in Portland (Maine) this weekend, the classroom session was Friday evening and the other two sessions were yesterday. It was excellent...even though I have done a fair amount of in-town riding I still picked up a few useful tips. Practicing the emergency maneuvers like the quick turn and rock dodge was especially helpful. It was also good going around the city and discussing some of the trickier areas and the best way to handle them. All together, I think we put in about 18 miles of riding total yesterday between the bike handling practice and the tour of Portland...normally that really isn't much but with all the stop and go and having to accelerate from traffic lights etc. it kind of wore me out--it takes a lot more energy to ride like that than to be on a country road where you just keep going! If any of you have this class available in your area, I would definitely recommend taking it.

[rebeccaC]

Sounds like a good confidence builder for those who worry about city/high traffic riding. Helping people be aware of traffic dynamics and giving them quick riding decision skills is always a good plus!