The Smart Cycling group is offering another FREE bike seminar through the League of American Bicyclists. These classes go fast and you must pre-register. The classes will be Tuesday, September 14th from 6-8 p.m., and two Saturdays, September 18 and 25 from 9a.m. to 12 p.m. The location will be held at the Bicycle Chef at 3184 N Street in Midtown. The workshop is described as a fast-paced course which develops self-confident cyclists that ride predictably on the street. The riders will learn about lane positioning, learn skills to avoid crashes and how to blend smoothly into the flow of traffic. The course includes a student manual which you can download prior to the course. The feedback fr

Do you remember the feeling of riding a bike for the very first time? I do. I can recall the feeling of freedom, of gliding through the air under my own power, of the wind rushing past my hair and face. That was a magical feeling that can only happen once – the first time I learned to do something. But more than that, it is one my best childhood discoveries and memories. My entire body was uplifted and carried magically through space and time, and I felt that the whole world was mine and mine alone, until I crashed because I didn't know how to stop the bike. Do you remember the first hard crash on your bike, leaving your knees bloody and your palms numbed and bruised from hitting the pav

In 2006, my dad was doored while riding his bike on 15th Street. He broke his shoulder pretty bad, and ended up with all sorts of plates and screws holding him together. Life gave us lemons!!! We made lemonade though, and Practical Cycle was funded in part by the settlement from that accident. So I took great pleasure in hand-squeezing 35 locally grown, organic lemons to make lemonade for our Grand Opening celebration, the first annual Ride for Earth. Then I loaded a cooler on the back of our old Worksman tricycle and hauled it about ten miles to Practical Cycle. I believe that sometimes life's most difficult challenges can help us grow the most. Whenever I feel like things couldn't poss

The Tour de Sacramento kicked off today and will continue for three weeks of activities and ride-alongs around the Sacramento area. The event coincides with the Tour de France. The three-week event in Europe is a world-famous race, but tour organizer Dawn Dais says that the Tour de Sacramento has a different feel to it. "We don't really want to encourage a competition. Its going to be super laid back and fun." Dais has written a book called "The Noncyclist's Guide to the Century and Other Road Races," that details her training for a bicycle race and breaks down the process to encourage people of all backgrounds to participate in cycling. Today, a bike safety check and a Safe Cycling Cli