For a long time, when people asked me what the biggest problems about bicycling were in Los Angeles, I said there were not enough bike lanes, paths and other bicycle related infrastructure.  While I still feel this is an important barrier, I now feel the biggest barrier preventing people from bicycling is their own perceptions of bicycling. 

I hear this most often with statements such as “I’d get killed riding”, "Cycling isn't safe" and "You must be really brave to bike on the streets of Los Angeles".  I categorize all of these as fear of riding. 

While bicycling can occassionaly be scary for even seasoned bicyclists, the majority of us who ride on a regular basis do so without injury and instead enjoy enormous benefits. One of the root cause of people’s fear who do not bicylce is that they lack awareness of safe and enjoyable routes for bicycling (which is something that most existing bicyclists have acquired through trial and error). 

The streets people drive on in LA are not necessarily the same streets a first time rider will feel comfortable riding.

Because the majority of people who are afraid to ride a bicycle will not decide to ride a bicycle on their own, each BikeSage initiates the first trip with someone they already know and plans a ride that is short, fun, easy and safe.  These rides intentionally occur on quiet side streets with less automobile traffic to show that there are safe places to ride where they would actually feel comfortable riding at.

BikeSage hopes to inspire people to overcome their fears and discover the many joys of bicycling. The more people start bicycling, the more comfortable they become riding on streets with more automobile traffic, even if they still wind up choosing quieter streets to ride on.