[BikeLongmont] Ride Mentor Program

[Richard Masoner]

Nenad has posted information about a Bike Commuter Mentor program on
the Bicycle Longmont website. This is intended to help those who would
like to ride their bikes to work (or any other destination) but don't
quite know a safe way to get there. If you would like to help out,
please reply to the list or to me personally, along with what
geographical areas you are willing to help out with.

Mentoring  involves finding a route, perhaps explaining safe riding in
traffic techniques, and even riding with the mentee a time or two if
possible.

Be flexible regarding route planning. I can ride down Ken Pratt Blvd
at 25 mph during rush hour and negotiate left turns across two lanes
of faster traffic, but most bicyclists who are getting started are not
willing or able to do this. Even 9th Avenue, Lashley, and Collyer can
be a bit much for many people. Longs Peak Ave is probably one of the
better east-west routes across town. Gay Street is a pretty good
north-south route; Alpine is probably the best north-south choice east
of Main. I've ridden throughout most of Longmont so if any prospective
mentor needs help suggesting routes, I'm glad to help.

If you ride with a mentee, be happy to go very slowly and don't rush
your mentee. My wife toodles along at single-digit speeds on her
6-mile commute.

Liability in case of an accident may be an issue so I'm looking into that.

Let me know if you can help out, or let me know if you know anybody
who'd like help. Info at http://www.bicyclelongmont.org/

Richard Masoner