I teach people how to ride bikes. See Reston Bike Ed for details. Possibly as a sign that more people are wanting to bike, I’ve had a noticeable increase in requests for Learn to Ride classes this spring. Most weekends I hold 2 or 3 lessons. It usually takes a couple of lessons to learn to balance without pedals and control the bike, and then with the pedals, to ride. Even after learning to ride there is a steep learning curve for really knowing how to ride in traffic and on trails. Skills such as signaling, scanning behind to look for traffic, and just getting more comfortable on the bike all take time and practice. Even many adults don’t really know the best way to position themselves in traffic.
Reston now has several miles of bike lanes to add to the many neighborhood streets and bike paths that are all good places to ride. I’m hoping that more people in the community will start riding for short trips.