A student once asked Susan McLucas what she wanted to do when she was a kid.
“I said I wanted to be a lion tamer,” recalled McLucas, now 77. “And he said, ‘It’s not too late. Follow your dream.’ I said, “Oh, thank you. But my dream has changed – and I’m doing it.”
That dream is teaching people how to ride a bike.
As head of Somerville’s Bicycle Riding School, she and eight fellow instructors teach students ages 5 to 82, some even coming from out of state. The school was founded 40 years ago, with origins from when she worked as a bicycle mechanic at the Broadway Bicycle School in Mid-Cambridge in the 1980s. That business specializes in maintenance, repairs and builds, but because of the name got occasional calls asking for riding lessons. McLucas took on that need, putting up a 4-by-6 card at the shop to advertise lessons that drew about 12 students a year.
Eventually she was approached by adult education centers, and began teaching there. The school, now based out of a home near Davis Square, says it has taught around 7,000 people, with only a “handful” unable to ride away a success.
McLucas has perfected her own teaching method. She begins by removing the pedals from bikes to encourage learners to focus on balance. Once a student can repeatedly go 60 feet without their feet touching the ground, she reattaches the pedals and student and teacher begin to work on steering and distance.
Students wear knee and elbow pads; for older adults, she has wrist braces. School bikes come in all sizes and are fitted with handlebars and pedals padded for comfort. She encourages nervous kids with a bike basket carrying a stuffed E.T. toy or rubber ducks on the handlebars. “You don’t need criticism, you need encouragement,” McLucas said.
Her step-by-step approach is laid out in a 2020 video posted by the school on Youtube. It has more than 103,000 views and comments filled with appreciation for McLucas’ approach. People from Los Angeles to Australia share stories of how the video helped them learn to ride.
The school’s website is similarly full of testimonials of success from students and families.
“My children have always struggled with anxiety, especially when it comes to trying new things. We had tried teaching bike riding on our own many times at different ages, but it always ended in frustration or tears – until we found Susan and her school,” one parent wrote. “From the very first lesson, Susan was calm, encouraging and truly understood how to work with a nervous beginner. Her step-by-step approach, gentle coaching and positive reinforcement made all the difference.”
The cost of lessons are on a sliding scale based on what students are able to pay, with group lessons between $10 and $50 and private lessons between $30 and $100 – an additional encouragement to ride that goes beyond the personal. “I’m an environmentalist,” McLucas said. “I want the world to survive.”
McLucas has cut down her teaching hours, but she has no immediate plans to retire. She loves teaching, she said, and wants to keep living her dream.
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