How to Teach your Child to Ride

By Smokey Dymny from the Quadra Bike School

It’s often funny to see how parents repeat the same mistakes when teaching a
child to ride a bike. Here’s what happens: a mom or dad bent far over holding the
saddle of the child’s bike to help them balance while trying to pedal forward.
If the parents give up on this tactic, they then bolt on a set of training wheels and sit back while their little one wobbles left and right between the training wheels and everyone wonders why they can’t find the sweet spot of balance in the
middle.

Neither of these techniques works very well, although I think the training wheels
method is the worst of the two.

Look at history and you find the way out of this dilemma.
Before bikes there were swiftwalkers.

Dudes rode on a two-wheeled contraption while their feet ran along the ground.
No one had invented the pedals and chain and freewheel yet.

When the speed got high enough, they lifted their legs a bit and coasted.

Well now these little bikes have made a comeback in a children’s version. Two wheels, a wooden frame and a handlebar.

Here’s the beauty of the swiftwalker: the child learns how to balance and coast
along WITHOUT having to master pedaling at the same time. Trying to pedal
while still not having learned how to balance is a big challenge. As you push
down on each pedal in turn you have to counterbalance slightly to make up for
the downward push first on one side and then the other.

But if we duplicate the swiftwalker and the kid learns the balance first.
Learning to pedal next is much easier.

My problem here is that I see the bicycle industry has responded by making
themselves a niche market for these bikes without pedals. They are made like a
bike in all other respects except there’s no hole down below for the crank. Your
problem as a parent is that as soon as your junior cyclist masters the balancing
act, you get stuck buying a bike with pedals next because the original unit had no
bottom bracket or freewheel you could connect up with a chain.

Solution? Don’t buy one of these bikes without pedals.

Get your child the right size of small bike and remove the cranks and chain at
home, till they get the balancing part figured out. Then reassemble everything
and they’ll have a normal bike for part two of the lessons.

Voila!

---

Or you could get them a tricycle and do it more gradually... but maybe not an antique tricycle like the one below.

Cycle Paths and Time

And the other is a psychopath. :)

195 Years of the Bicycle

The bicycle was invented in 1817 and later patented in 1818 by Karl von Drais. Known as the Draisine it had two wheels and no pedals, chain or gears... It was instead propelled by your feet pushing off the ground (a bit like a skateboard).

Of course in 195 years the bicycle has gone through numerous changes... from wooden frames, to steel frames, to aluminum, to alloys, to carbon-fibre bicycles that are currently used by racers.

And then there was the steering and the drive train.

Henry Lawson invented a rear-chain-drive bicycle in 1879 with a huge front wheel and a small rear wheel but it failed to be a seller. It wasn't until John Kemp Starley created his "safety bicycle" aka "The Rover" in 1885 that sales took off and it became widely copied. The Rover featured a steerable front wheel, two wheels of the same and a chain drive to the rear wheel.

In 1888 John Dunlop reinvented and popularized the pneumatic bicycle tire, which is still used today.

Braking systems have varied wildly, but typically most bikes now come with two sets of brakes (front and back). I recall a few years ago fixing a bicycle which had 3 (front, back and coaster/pedal brakes).

What doesn't seem to have changed with time is the inability of some motorists to share the road with cyclists, especially in metropolitan cities where cycling is a common practice for getting to and from work.

You would think that after 195 years of the bicycle people would get used to cyclists, but apparently impatient motorists stuck in traffic will complain about anything.

NOTE: We would have a lot less complainers if city councils put bicycle lanes on ALL the major streets instead of just lip service.

Do It Yourself Bicycle Generator

According to pedalpowergenerator.com it can be pretty expensive to make your own bicycle generator. Take a look at the list of components you would need to buy below.

1 $149 - 600 Watt Duracell Battery Powerpack
2 $199 - 300 Watt DC Generator
3 $79 - Adjustable V-belt
4 $159 - 12V Charge Controller
5 $129 - Aluminum Adapter Plate
6 $79 - Bike Trainer Exercise Stand
7 $89 - Blocking Diode
8 $49 - Terminal Blocks + Wiring Kit for charge controller

TOTAL $932

+ $223 - OPTIONAL - WattsVIEW Power Monitor for windows (TOTAL $1155)

Price does not include taxes. May cost you extra to buy specific tools and replacement parts.

HOWEVER once you have your bicycle generator, what can you do with it? Well the average person can produce 40 watts per second on a bicycle. Enough to light an energy efficient 40 watt lightbulb.

A small laptop uses 45 watts per second.
The average fridge uses 110 watts per second.
A desktop computer uses between 150 to 340 watts per second depending on the size of the monitor.
A 50" LCD television uses between 210 to 320 watts per second.
A tiny air conditioner in the window uses 500 watts per second.
An electric oven set at 350 F uses 2000 watts per second.

Even a measly clock radio uses 4 watts per second.

So lets pretend you get on your bicycle generator and cycle for 1 hour, averaging 40 watts per second. That is enough to power your clock radio for 10 hours.

NOTE: For $599 you could get yourself a Blue Planet 100 Watt Monocrystalline Solar Panel, which would produce a lot more electricity between sunrise and sundown. Or you could get a Blue Planet 600 Watt Wind Generator for $799 and generate electricity 24/7. You will also need to buy batteries and a battery control system, but basically it works out to more bang for your buck than a bicycle generator.

So I am sorry for debunking any hopes and dreams you had of running your home on bicycle power. Its just not feasible. An hour on a bicycle producing 40 watts per second is only enough to power a coffee maker (900 watts per second) for 160 seconds. You could cycle 10 hours per day and would still not be producing enough power for the electricity needs of a normal household.

While typing this on my desktop computer, with the AC on full blast, a 60 watt lightbulb, a freezer and a fridge running I conservatively estimate I was using about 980 watts per second. If I turned the AC, computer, the lightbulb all off I would still be using maybe 220 watts per second just to keep my food cold. And this doesn't include any electricity I use if I use water from the tap.

It really makes you realize just how dependent we are on solar, wind, hydro and nuclear energy now that Canada is phasing out coal energy.

NOTE: Canada has no geothermal power plants, even though geothermal produces as much electricity as a coal plant and is significantly cheaper than nuclear power.

Toronto Bike Corrals Approved

Toronto City Council has approved parking by-law changes to make three bike corrals a seasonally permanent feature between April 1 and November 30 each year.

A bike corral is essentially a parking lot for bicycles and takes up a location usually used for parking cars on the street. They are placed in areas with high bicycle traffic and bicycle parking congestion wherein the demand for more bicycle parking has become severe.

The Augusta Street bike corral was re-installed in its pilot location on May 1st this year, just north of Nassau Street. This on-street bike corral provides space to park 24 bicycles where only three cars were able to park previously.

Another bike corral will also be re-installed in the parking lay-by at 205 Spadina Avenue.

A third corral is planned for 86 Nassau, just east of Bellevue. This Nassau bike parking corral will replace two car parking spaces with 16 bike parking spaces.

Bike Corrals are increasingly popular in cities across North America, including Vancouver, New York. Washington D.C, Portland Oregon and Long Beach. It is seen as a seasonal solution to the problem of limited sidewalk capacity for parked bicycles.

In related news...

A new bicycle station is coming to the Victoria Park Subway Station. The opening event is this Thursday, 10 AM on May 31st, 2012.

The secure, indoor bicycle parking facility has 52 secure bicycle parking spaces available on two-tier racks. It is the second bike station in Canada – the first is located at Toronto's Union Station. More bicycle stations are also planned for Pape station and Finch West station.

To use the Victoria Park parking facility register at the Union Station Bicycle Station, Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 12 noon, or by appointment at East York Civic Centre. There is a one-time lifetime registration fee of $26.91, which gives you a permanent membership to all Toronto Bicycle Stations plus monthly fees. The one-day fee to pay and park is $2.15. All prices include the HST.

Bike Shops in Scarborough

If you live in Scarborough it can be trickier to find a skilled bicycle mechanic. There are places (lowly auto mechanics) which offer repairs, but while they may have some of the tools and know how to change a tire, they're not really suited to fine tuning derailleurs or bicycle brakes or any of your more complex repair needs.

The following is a list of Bike Shops in Scarborough which does have mechanics who are able to fix your bicycle properly. Sadly the list is short. Many people in Scarborough prefer to drive.

D'Ornellas Bike Shop Ltd
1894 Lawrence Avenue East, Scarborough, ON M1R 2Y5, Canada
416-752-3838
dornellas.com

Cycle World Superstore
4545 Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough, ON M1S 1V3, Canada
416-291-8858
cycleworldsuperstore.com

See? Very short list. Therefore I am including this 1 from Thornhill too.

Big John's Bike Shop
10 Harlech Crt, Thornhill, ON L3T 6L5, Canada
905-707-7766

In theory you could also trade in your broken bicycle at Play It Again Sports and trade it for store credit towards a fixed bicycle.

Play It Again Sports
5863 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M2M 3T9, Canada
416-222-5713
playitagainsportsnorthyork.com

Bicycle Mechanic Schools in Ontario

QUESTION
I'm writing to solicit your opinion of Mechanic School/Course options in Southern Ontario. I understand the Winterborne course in Guelph is very comprehensive, but do you suggest anything available in Toronto proper? The TDSB offers one but I'm not sure of it's quality.

Any advice and opinions are greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Jean-Pierre

ANSWER

Yes, the Toronto District School Board does offer some basic training, but that is exactly what it is: Basic.

[Right: Smokey Dymny teaching a student in the BAM program in 2009.]

The BAM program at the Learning Enrichment Foundation in Toronto is offering classes again (but their teacher is different now and I don't know if the new teacher is any good). Call 416-760-2551 for BAM's starting dates and fees.

The old teacher of the BAM program is Smokey Dymny and he now teaches at the Quadra Bicycle Mechanic School in British Columbia. He is arguably one of the best teachers in North America and the folks at LEF were morons to let him go. Email smokeydymny@rogers.com to learn more about his program.

Upcoming Quadra Bike School start dates are:
September 17th to October 26th, 2012
November 5 to December 14th, 2012

Winterbourne in Guelph is your best bet if you are looking to stay inside Ontario. Their programs are good and almost as good as the Quadra Bike School program or the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

If you want to stay inside Toronto then I recommend you seek out the new teacher of the BAM program at LEF and poke him with questions.

OR alternatively you could try getting your foot in through the door via a bike shop and see if they're willing to train you. ie. The Gears Bike Shop is always hiring mechanics and you might consider contacting kevin@gearsbikeshop.com to see if they would be willing to take untrained newbs as apprentices.

NOTE: Unless you are planning to open your own bike shop expect to get paid peanuts. Bicycle mechanics don't really get paid much.