Noddin Elementary School bike rodeo

Chronology:

1. Eva picks the neighborhood at Noddin Elementary School specifically because she thought her daughter could easily bike to the school. It borders Blossom Hill Road, but the houses near the school are in a fairly reasonably quiet residential area with bike laned streets, though they have the usual rush hour craziness.

2. Eva's daughter begins first grade and starts riding to school with her mother. Noddin's principal has a meeting with Eva and tells her biking to school is not permitted!

3. Eva tries to get the principal and the school district to reverse their policy to no avail.

4. Eva talks to her friend Dave, who posts about the bike ban in this Flickr photo.

5. Momentum Magazine publisher Amy Walker hears about it and calls me to ask about this bike ban.

6. I talk to City of San Jose Bike / Ped program coordinator John Brazil. John forwards this to the city's School Safety Program director Tara Jones.

7. Tara meets with the school over the summer. The school agrees to lift the ban after a bike safety program and bike rack installation.

8. The bike safety education at Noddin occurred on Thursday and Friday, and culminated with the bike rodeo last Saturday. Bike rack installation is still pending, but the school principle came away with a very positive impression of the education provided by the volunteers at the bike rodeo and the resources available from local cycling advocates. The parents were also all very positive about their kids biking to school.