Want to learn how to ride a bicycle or need to practice your skills and grow your confidence on the bike? Whether you’re 80 or 18, we’ll get you rolling! Our adult and teen bike riding classes and instructors certified by the League of American Bicyclists can teach you everything from learning how to balance to navigating traffic with ease, regardless of your cycling background.
Bike Durham offers adult and teen bike riding classes with different starting points designed to meet you where you’re at - whether you’ve never ridden, haven’t ridden since childhood, or need to freshen up your skills. Classes cost $65 (with sliding scale payment available) and last about 3 hours each, typically held on weekend mornings and afternoons at our office in downtown Durham.
REGISTER FOR A CLASS and start your bicycling journey today:
LEARN TO RIDE
Never ridden a bike? No problem! This class is focused on the basics of bicycling: Instructors will teach you balancing, starting, stopping, and steering a bicycle, using our “balance first” method - starting with no pedals and no reliance on training wheels.
READY TO RIDE
Do you know how to ride a bike, but rusty with your maneuvering and handling? Build your confidence in this class focused on advanced skills drills, such as steering, weaving around obstacles, sudden start and stop, and more, using defensive cycling principles.
RIDE DURHAM
Do you already know how to ride a bike, but aren’t confident enough to ride in the streets? This class is for you! Our instructors carefully plan a route to help you learn about navigating traffic, Durham’s bike infrastructure, and everything you need to ride confidently in the city.
What do we offer?
What do our students think?
Alumni of our Adult & Teen Bike Classes come from all walks of life! Hear from them about why they learned to ride and how our bike riding instruction has impacted them.
If you have not ridden a bike or cannot balance independently (without training wheels), you should enroll in Learn to Ride. This class is for those who need to learn how to ride, essentially, from scratch. If you know how to ride but haven't ridden in a while and need to regain confidence, freshen up, or work your bike handling skills, we recommend starting with Ready to Ride. If you are already comfortable riding a bike, but are intimidated by navigating traffic and riding in the street, we recommend Ride Durham.
All we require you to bring to class your bike and helmet! Please indicate if you are in need of a rental bike and/or helmet in your regsitration form.
Activewear works best. Wear layers for colder temperatures, and prioritize bright and visible colors, especially if you are taking a Ride Durham class.
All classes are based at our office in downtown Durham at ReCity Network (a nonprofit coworking space located at 112 Broadway St, Durham, NC 27701). We practice in a blocked off part of the parking lot with some flat and some slightly angled paved surfaces. Our final level, Ride Durham, also features a group ride with our instructors and class in Durham's streets. This route is carefully curated to safely expose students to a variety of urban cycling environments - the route is no more than a few miles and will begin and end at our office.
Learn to Ride is about 3 hours, whereas Ready to Ride and Ride Durham run about 4 hours. Breaks and snacks are included in the class.
Each class is led by two or more trained and qualified instructors. Classes are capped at 15 so that instructors can give each student individual attention throughout the class session.
The full cost a ticket is $65, which covers the cost Bike Durham's programming and instructors. We do not want price to be an obstacle for anyone who wants to learn to ride. When you register for a class, the payment section has more information about reduced tickets.
Students must provide a minimum of a 48 hours notice to cancel, reschedule, or transfer to another eligible student.
- A cancelation must be made within a 48 hour time frame to receive a refund.
- A request to reschedule to a different class date/time must be made within a 48 hour time frame.
Registration cancelations, reschedules, or transfer requests made less than 48 hours before the scheduled class time forfeit the class fee. No Shows or early departure from class forfeit the class fee. If a class is canceled by Bike Durham, participants will receive a full refund or have the option to reschedule to a future class. All cancelations, reschedules, transfer requests should be communicated via email to ensure proper documentation and processing.
Parents or guardians must be present at the beginning of class to sign a waiver on behalf of the minor, and are encouraged to stay throughout the class.