If your children will bicycle to school this fall, now is a great time to review with them how to ride safely.

I got the lowdown from Bob Bruce, a retired shipbuilder known far and wide as “Bicycle Bob.” Bruce, 73, teaches bicycle safety and helps run after-school bike clubs through a program run by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine in partnership with the Maine Department of Transportation. Over the past decade, he’s taught about 10,000 children from Freeport to Augusta and beyond.

Bob Bruce, a retired shipbuilder, has taught bicycle safety to about 10,000 Maine elementary school children. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Bob Bruce, a retired shipbuilder, has taught bicycle safety to about 10,000 Maine elementary school children. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Bruce often begins his bicycle safety classes for elementary school students by asking if they want to get a driver’s license when they’re old enough. “Yes!” they assure him.

“Welcome to your first driver’s ed class,” Bruce says. He explains that a bicycle is a vehicle, and it must follow the same laws.

Bruce has honed his safety message to the essentials:

• Always wear a helmet. Adjust the straps so it fits snugly. You should be able to look up and see the front of the helmet. Arrange the straps so they surround your ears like a Y, with the buckles right below your earlobes. You should feel the straps tighten when you yawn.

• Wear bright clothes to be seen by motorists. Make sure they fit tightly so they don’t get caught in the spokes.

• Before riding, do a quick test of the bike to ensure that the tires have enough air, the brakes, chain and gears work properly and the quick release levers and bolts are tightened.

• Follow the rules of the road. Ride on the right side of the road, and obey all stop signs and stop lights. Use hand signals to communicate with cars when you plan to stop or turn.

Bruce tells students that Maine law requires children under 16 to wear a helmet, but everyone needs one. He shares with them the story of how his helmet broke when he crashed on his bicycle four years ago. He broke two ribs and a collarbone – but thanks to the helmet, he didn’t have a major head injury.

Bruce assures students that they don’t need special clothes for bicycling, but they do need to pay attention to what they’re wearing. He shows them how they can use rubber bands around their ankles to keep pants out of the spokes, or they can tuck their pants into their socks. He advises tucking shoelaces into shoes, and warns against pedaling with flip-flops.

Using an iPod or other electronic device on a bicycle is “totally unsafe,” Bruce says. Cyclists need to pay full attention to what’s going on around them, he explains.

Some Maine communities have identified safe routes for children to bicycle to school. In other cases, parents can help the children choose a route, Bruce says.

One tricky issue is whether children should bicycle on the sidewalk. That’s illegal in a small number of Maine communities. While parents may consider it safer, riding on the sidewalk presents special dangers.

Motorists backing out of driveways or crossing intersections often aren’t looking for cyclists on the sidewalk. Children need to wait for motorists to pass, or be sure they have stopped.

Then there is the potential for bicyclists to hit pedestrians on the sidewalk. Bruce stresses that pedestrians always have the right of way. Cyclists on the sidewalk should warn pedestrians they are coming. If there isn’t enough room to pass safely, they should get off their bikes and walk them.

“Bikes belong on the road,” says Bruce. “But you also need to build (your) skill level and confidence.” If children use the sidewalk, he encourages them to be consistent rather than swerving on and off the road.

What about parents who consider bicycling too risky for their kids?

Bruce points out that children also face risks by sitting at home playing video games; they can gain too much weight and develop carpal tunnel syndrome. “Kids need to have an active lifestyle,” he says.

He believes that children also benefit from the freedom that bicycling gives them to explore.

Bruce knows that many children will lose interest in bicycling when they start driving. But he hopes that they’ll rediscover it later in life, just as he did.

After being off a bicycle for decades, Bruce resumed riding at about age 50.

“It all came back, how much I loved it and how much joy I felt,” he says.

Bruce commuted by bicycle for several years from his home in Wiscasset to his job at Bath Iron Works. He found it a great way to stay in shape, relieve stress and prepare himself for the day.

“Above all things,” Bruce says, “riding a bike has to be fun.” If he can pass on that love of bicycling to children, he says, “I’ve been a success in life.”

Shoshanna Hoose is a freelance writer who bicycles in Greater Portland and beyond. Contact her at:

shoshanahoose@gmail.com.

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