A new Tool for Bike Safety Education in Anchorage

The Alaska Injury Prevention Center (AIPC) was recently awarded a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant to implement the Bikeology curriculum at ASD schools. The grant includes funding for the purchase of a trailer and 35 OSATA bikes (OSATA = One Size Adjusts To All), and all the safety and maintenance equipment needed to run a school-based bike safety education program. Bike Anchorage is pleased to be a partner in bringing this exciting program to Anchorage

The program is modeled after a successful SRTS program in Eugene, OR. The director of the Eugene, Oregon program, Shane MacRhodes, taught a two-day course on bike safety education at the Anchorage School District Summer Academy in late May. Assisting Shane were Beth Shuerman and Sylvia Craig of AIPC and Steve Cleary with Bike Anchorage. The class was a great introduction for Health and PE teachers on how to structure a class that can teach important bike safety lessons taking into account the time, space and other constraints teachers face.

Bike Anchorage will be showing off a couple of the OSATA Bikes at the Renewable Energy fair on July 25^th at Fairview Elementary School. The bikes easily adjust to accommodate riders from 4’6” – 6’4” and are made in the USA by Bike Friday. Their other folding bikes and cargo bikes showcase what a bike can do. When Shane MacRhodes flew up to teach a class in Anchorage in the fall, he arrived with a Bike Friday folding bike which has a case that doubled as a trailer. Shane set the bike up, stored clothes in materials in the trailer and biked right from the airport.

In mid-August, as teachers are heading back to school Bike Anchorage will help AIPC showcase the trailer and bikes to the Health and PE teachers who will be using them. They will get to see all the gear at one of their in-service days and learn how their school can check out the equipment and have some fun learning bike safety.

DHSS to Offer Fall Bike Safety Training

The Bike ‘n’ Walk Safely Program, part of the AK Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is sponsoring a two and a half day Cycling Safety educational and training program in Anchorage, August 13^th through the 15^th, 2015.

Travel, hotel and per diem will be paid for the attendees who live outside a 50 mile radius of Anchorage, as well as bike rentals for those arriving via air.

The program will be facilitated by cycling safety instructors who are certified League of American Cyclist instructors, including Shane MacRhodes, a top-notch instructor from Oregon.  Attendees will be instructed on how to properly fit a bike helmet, learn traffic- urban- trail riding skills, how to ride in groups, bike safety teaching skills, lesson plans/drills information and be advised of state laws. This is not your usual sit-down, take notes kind of training; instead it is a mixture of seminar presentations and actual bike riding to learn, and be able to teach, riding skills.

This training will assist the attendee in developing a local community event.   Examples of events are: Bike Rodeo, Bike to School Event and Cycling Exercise groups.

Each attendee will be provided a “toolkit” of items that can be used for their community event.  Items may include; reflective zipper pulls, coloring-comic books, posters, paper punches, decorative scissors and additional bike safety items.  In addition to the toolkit technical assistance will be available, as well as helmets upon request.