The curriculum is designed to take ~11 hours. It can take longer if you enjoy asking questions, or getting more riding practice.

We take students who have trouble balancing, and get them riding for fun and errands. Experienced cyclist benefit from the laws+safety classroom discussion. Our students understand safe bicycling more than most cyclists out there. Education will transform the way you bike, drive, and walk.

Our curriculum is divided into 4 main modules:

1.) Safety theory and laws. All-skill-level classroom discussion. Whow should take this: Any cyclist wanting to understand safety, and anyone teaching bike safety. Employers, if you have employees who teach bike safety, they should take this module first.
This is the most important module. Experienced cyclists get the most from this. Every concept will be new to you unless you’ve memorized the Drivers Manual, studied traffic theory, read crash report studies, and read legal text and attorney analysis. No amount of on-road experience equates to learning these. This is life-saving, life-changing information.
– Top causes of crashes, and how to avoid them
– Pros/cons of traffic lanes, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Lane position is the biggest factor you control to determine the hazards you’ll encounter, and the quality of your ride.
– How transportation forms of different speeds coexist. Fast traffic yields to slower traffic. How drivers yield to cyclists. How cyclists yield to pedestrians.
– Oregon laws regarding cyclists
– Defensive bicycling. Riding predictably, visibly, and as far away from hazards as possible
– How to conduct a pass (3 types: “change lanes to pass”, “pass wide and slow”, and “pass animals wide and slow because frightened animals make unpredictable decisions)
– Tips to avoid getting honked at (which is illegal), and ways to deal with it. Understanding when driver behavior may become hostile.
– Hazards of railroad tracks (plus seams/grates)
– Hazards from turning semi trucks
– Group riding mistakes. Avoiding conflicts over different preferences for lane position, rules to follow, and response to drivers.
This module is ideally taught over 3 sessions, 90 minutes each, with ~90 minutes of homework prior to each session. Homework consists of reading the Drivers manual, reading/watching other information about traffic theory, reading laws and lawyer interpretation, and reading traffic studies. I recommend taking notes. There’s a multiple-choice quiz at the end. This module could be condensed into 2 sessions or expanded into 4 sessions, with the homework correspondingly increased/decreased prior to each session.

2) Beginner parking lot drills. Takes 1-3 hours, depending on your skill level
– Mounting a bicycle, balance, smooth starting, braking, shifting, turning, looking over your shoulder (3 techniques), moving quickly through large intersections (simulation)
– Advanced cyclists will benefit from high-level techniques sprinkled throughout

3.) Beginner classroom discussion. Takes ~2 hours, depending on questions.
– How to chose a bicycle that fits you
– Basic parts of a bicycle
– How to determine if a bicycle is safe to ride
– Clothing and equipment that can be helpful
– Techniques for locking a bicycle
– How to wear a helmet properly

4.) Intermediate-to-Advanced riding around town together. Takes 2-3 hours.
– Learn various traffic infrastructures
– Learn to identify hazards, and how to navigate them
– Gain confidence
– How to get groceries, haul kids, and commute to work
– How to find a route in Portland
– If you need it, we’ll take you on a busier road and practice “taking the lane”.
– Taking your bike on transit

---

We often:

• Teach requested portions. Maybe you have a few questions, or only want to learn some of the topics.
• Adapt the curriculum to businesses. We do this in various formats and time frames. Some businesses want a 1 or 2 hour summary to their employees.
• Adapt the curriculum to schools or other groups. We do this in various formats and time frames.

---

Class details

How do I sign up for classes?
Classes are held as-requested. To schedule classes downtown, email your availability and phone number to vivek@portlandbicycleschool.com. Vivek will call you briefly to make plans.

Some people want the entire class crammed into one weekend. Some want 1 hour sessions everyday after work. Some wish to learn only certain topics. Some schedule an hour to ask their questions. With everyone’s varying needs, we first discuss your goals, learn your schedule, then determine a schedule of class times together.

It’s also possible to join a currently scheduled class.

Instructor Vivek: I have a day job, so I teach evenings and weekends as-requested. I typically teach in 2-3 hour chunks, but I teach however long the student requests. We’ll find mutually available times in the evenings/weekends.

How much are classes?
$60/hour for 1-on-1 instruction. $30/student/hour if there are multiple students. I discount on a sliding scale, as-needed, if there’s a financial hardship.

Instructor Vivek prefers cash, and also takes Paypal, Venmo, and checks.

Where are classes?
Instructor Vivek: Downtown near car-free streets on the West side of the Tillikum bridge. Exact location varies per class, depending on which rooms/buildings are available.

What ages do we teach?
Instructor Vivek: I focus on adults 16+.

What are pre-requisites? What do I need to know and bring?
For All-skill-level classroom discussion: safety theory and laws, there’s ~90 minutes of homework to read in advance of each discussion. Please keep up with the reading, as class time assumes you know the homework. Bring what you need to take notes, because there’s a multiple choice quiz at the end to ensure you’ve learned the concepts. It can help to bring a laptop/tablet/phone for when we read laws or use online resources, but it’s not mandatory. It can help to bring your bicycle and helmet, in case we refer to them.

For parking lot drills and riding around town, you must bring a bike and helmet, be able to sit atop your bike, and balance a little bit. If you don’t own a bike, bikeshare rentals (through the Lyft app) are available around town, and we can find class locations near one. Bring any other basic items for a ride (bike lock, whatever water you’ll need, etc).

For Beginner classroom discussion, we’ll discuss parts of a bicycle and how to wear a helmet properly, so it helps if you bring your bicycle and helmet, but it’s not mandatory.

What’s the cancellation policy?
We commit an entire evening (or day) if we have a class. We understand that life happens, and hope you appreciate the commitment we’ve made to be there. We’ll likely discontinue a relationship after a no-call, no show. For cancelations within 24 hours, we charge the full price for 1-on-1 instructions, and half the price if other students show up.

I already know how to bike. Will I learn anything?
Yes! You’ll learn the most in All-skill-level classroom discussion: safety theory and laws. Anyone who gives bicycle safety advice to the public should take this classs first. Advanced concepts are sprinkled throught the entire curriculum, even topics titled “Beginner”. Experienced cyclists are surprised how much they learn. Education will completely change the way you bike, walk, and drive.

Instructor Vivek says: I was a car-free cyclist for 6 years when I took my first class, and it transformed my biking. My near-misses with drivers drastically decreased. I took this exact class multiple times, with different instructors, and learn something every time. Education is lifelong, especially in technical sciences like traffic skills.

Why should I learn at Portland Bicycle School?
Many folks teach “bike safety” and have no clue what they’re saying. They’ve never taken a class, never read the Drivers Manual (to understand traffic theory), never read a law, and never read a crash study. The quality of their advice reflects that. They simply pass along myths. They should not be giving life and death traffic advice. It’s like giving legal or medical advice, without having any training.

Our instructors are grounded in the data, theory, and laws. For every statement we make, we know the abundance of reasons behind it. If we claim a statistic, we’ve read the studies behind it. If we claim a law, we’ve read it, and are teaching it the same way as our traffic attorneys have documented that we teach it.

Bottom line: we know our stuff