Boulder Valley School District has a very progressive bike education program for 5th graders called Blast. I stopped by Heatherwood Elementary last year and spoke to Landon Hilliard, and Anne Samplonius (pro cyclist) about the program. I also watched the excitement of the kids in participating in this program. Last week Dan Adams with the Blast program told us what Blast is about

Blast program bikes

The BLAST program is based on the principle that vehicular cycling is an essential life skill and we are doing our children a disservice by failing to appropriately training them in it. Our goal is to have a comprehensive curriculum of bicycle ridership and safety that equips students to ride confidently and competently as a way to get around that becomes accepted as a standard part of the PE curriculum in the BVSD and is therefore offered to every student who passes through the system. To achieve that level of education requires approximately 11 classroom hours. We currently are teaching an abbreviated curriculum that focuses on introducing the basics of vehicular cycling and drilling a few essential confidence building skills that improve safety dramatically. Our program has been growing so we are now working with about 600 students at 6 different schools across the district. We have a few efficacy metrics like a quiz we give before and after to each student that shows uniform improvement. We would like to be able to look more long term to see how students are implementing techniques we've taught and if we are actually increasing the amount the students are riding. Our program is still a work in progress but so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents, PE teachers and the students alike request that we come back for more because they had so much fun and valued the program. This bodes well for us as we continue to hone our product, improve our operations and grow our scope.

From BikeDenver

June IS Boulder's Bike Month and Tuesday KGNU kicked off the Month with the leader of Bike Month, Sue Prant. Listen to the interview with Sue below

Let's not forget how lucky we have it here in this town and it happens by YOU taking action and DOING so remember to leave your car keys at home at least once a week this month and make a difference!

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Part III of a continuing series on going car-less, telling the stories of those who have successfully made the switch. Did you miss Part I and Part II

Click to Enlarge

This one comes from Joel Dice, Thanks Joel!!
The first step in traveling by bike is finding safe, pleasant routes to the places you and your family want to go, such as work, school, and the grocery store. Ideally, this should be an important consideration when choosing a place to live, but even if you're already past that point you can pick up a map (such as the one published the Denver Bicycle Touring Club) at a local bike shop and use it to plan your trips. The best route is not always the most direct one, so you may want experiment with a few alternatives.

As for the bike, I recommend a solid commuting or touring bike with mounts for full-coverage fenders and front and rear racks. Once you add racks, panniers, and a bungee cord for the rear rack, you've got a lot of carrying capacity for groceries, extra clothes, or whatever else you might want to carry. Fenders are essential if you want to show up at your destination clean. Finally, if you ever ride at night, invest in a high-quality headlight, taillight, and reflective vest and anklets. A bright headlight that lights the way is essential for confident night riding.