FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Trailblazers held a "Confident Commuting" workshop on Oct. 6 in Fayetteville as a way to try to encourage residents to ride bikes more often as opposed to driving a car.
"The goal of this class is to give people the skills and knowledge they need to go try using their bike as a mode of transportation."
While Northwest Arkansas is already a bike-heavy area, Gabriela Ruiz, the Trailblazers Program Manager says she believes it can grow further.
"I think in some ways we see this region as being very bike heavy, but at the same time, not everyone is choosing to use a bike as a mode of transportation, and so this class helps to introduce that idea. Maybe you choose the car less often and choose a bike more often," said Ruiz.
David Criswell, the Senior Director of Active Transportation for Trailblazers talked about why commuting by bike can be so beneficial.
"Traveling by bike is a great way to improve health, mental health, and get to know the people in your community, but also, a lot of people don't have a vehicle, reliable transportation, or maybe there's a health reason or a vision impairment that allows them to ride a bike but not to have a driver's license," Criswell said.
Criswell also walked us through some of what they taught Sunday in the class.
"What do you need in order to get around by bike? What kind of gear do you look for? What styles of bikes are there, and what makes it easier in terms of carrying stuff that you might need to take to work or to school?" Said Criswell.
Some of the participants in the class explained why they decided to come learn.
"I've been commuting for a couple of years now, but I seem to learn more about what I don't know as I commute. So I thought I'd like to hear from some people here about various ways to commute and safety things." Said Rick Tuel, a commuter in Northwest Arkansas.
"My wife participated in a Trailblazers program called Adult First Ride, and it was three sessions. She got to learn how to ride a bike, obviously, and she also got a helmet, and on Friday, she picked up her bicycle." Added Angel Acar, another commuter.
Most importantly Ruiz says she wants everyone to be safe on the road.
"We always want to make sure that cyclists are as safe as they possibly can be. Some of those things include visibility and navigating roads in the safest way possible." Ruiz said.
For more information on the benefits of using a bike as a form of transportation click here to find ways to learn how to be safe while commuting.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and include detail which story you're referring to.