Iowa City Bike Academy aims to beef up bike education

IOWA CITY - After flipping over the closed sign at World of Bikes, Andrea Cohen cracks a beer and waits for her students to arrive.

A white Trek bicycle sits by a work bench, with a fresh tube, hand pump, tire levers and a CO2 cartridge. Cohen works days at the bike shop, which lets her use the space after-hours for free clinics covering bike maintenance basics such as this evening in early November.

'Tonight, we are going to go over fixing a flat tire,” Cohen tells her class of women who are nearly all 60 years old or older.

The clinics are part of a broader new program called the Iowa City Bike Academy, which aims to educate people and get them more comfortable on bikes as more people turn to cycling for exercise or commuting. The free program includes clinics, group rides covering biking skills, and information located under the 'events” tab at worldofbikes.com.

Iowa City Bike Academy also provides updates on its Facebook page.

The goal is to expand to the next level by offering corporate clinics for local employers looking to provide a resource for their employees, Cohen said.

World of Bikes has offered clinics for some time. Cohen has led women-specific clinics through the bike shop and the Iowa City Bike Library for several years, and she teaches bike touring classes through the University of Iowa.

Cohen spotted an opportunity to do something more, and that's how the Iowa City Bike Academy got started.

New trails and bike amenities are being rolled out in the area, and more people are getting into biking, Cohen said.

Iowa City leaders have set a goal to earn a gold designation as a bike friendly city from the League of American Bicyclists, a national bike advocacy group that works with cities around the country to improve amenities.

'There are constant pushes to improve the bicycle friendliness of our town and to show that Iowa City does care about bicycling,” Cohen said.

This night, Nov. 9, Cohen was offering a women-specific clinic, and she found a captive audience.

'We are new when it comes to biking,” said Judi Earley, 72, of Iowa City, adding she and her friends had gone on their longest ride ever the week before - 19 miles on the Cedar River Trail. 'I figured we needed to learn how to change a flat.”

Cohen explains how each bike is a little different, but they all generally function the same. Read the side of the tire to confirm what size tube it takes and how much air pressure, she said.

She discussed matching the hole in the spent tube with the tire to avoid repeating the flat; the difference between Presta and Schrader valve stems; and how to hold the wheel to get the tire back in place.

'Make sure you check the air pressure before each ride,” she advises the students, who soon take a turn practicing the technique.

The students appear to be learning something and having a little fun in the low-key setting.

Future clinics may cover biking in the winter and an introduction to fat tire bikes, Cohen said.