It is better to ask forgiveness than permission.

In addition to what everyone else has said, learn a cardinal rule: It is easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission! Ride, lock your bike to something (the principal's car comes to mind... no, not really), and when she goes off, have a signed consent letter from your mother. If that doesn't work, get after the school board. Involve the media! Shake up their little world!

23 miles is a long way (unless you meant 2.3 or something like that). Have you ridden that far before? Have you tested out the route?


This is no big distance for me, i have even gone to the school on weekends to see if i could. I can ride the 46 mile round trip everyday, and if i couldent i could always use the bus as a last resort.

I know a route to take quiet side streets and really avoid traffic. I will also hve a few blinkies and a head light.

My school is a public school, and its their policy to @#$% with everyone else.

also! i forgot to mention, for a 23 mile ride, you should learn how to change a flat too. what kind of bike do you have? if you have a department store bike, it might last for the first 3 or 4 round trips (or if you're lucky, it'll last you forever), so you'll need a good bike too cuz you dont want it breaking down on you. plus the books.. do you carry a lot of books? depending on the geometry of your bike and your carry load, if you keep it up, it might lead to back problems later on...[/QUOTE]


sorry for the double post but, I have a Diamond Back Centurion (a road bike), And i have fixed a flat, and carry tubes in my under seat bag.

I do half of my home work in home room, so that means i wont need my algebra text book, i never get science, and The rest is really just reading or something. Im not worried about not being able to get my home work done.

Im not really worried, i have gone much farther.



I just now heard from my brother, its only a 12.5 trip, one way. I guess I misunderstodd him. The point still stands, the administration is stupid.

I cant exactly lock my bike off school porperty, my school is in the middle of he ghetto, and I am scared my bike being messed with even when on school property.

To adress this issue before it comes up, Im not afraid of riding through the ghetto, I've done it before, and no one gave me any trouble the 100's of times i have. The Only problem with riding through the ghetto, is having every other guy ask you if they can have your bike.

Bassplayinbiker, I hope it works out for you. I rode my bike to high school and enjoyed it.

I agree with the above mentioned tactic of riding to school anyway, and parking your bike in a prominent place like on a railing right outside the principal's office. One thing I would add is, LOCK YOUR BIKE UP SECURELY! I have had two bikes (one pretty nice one) stolen in the past year, and it is really really discouraging. So make sure you lock up in a safe place.

(My question: what right does the school have to tell you how to get to school??? If you want to take the school bus, then sure they can make rules for it, but outside of that, how do they have any authority over what you do when not at school or a school-sponsored activity. Anyone can answer this?)

Bassplayinbiker,

You might want to ask your school's Phys Ed department if any of them are interested in supporting you on this issue. They are likely to encourage the administration to support your travel mode because of its health and fitness benefits for you, and they may view your cycling as a good example for others. If they don't know anything about cycling, tell them that cycling has a lower fatality risk (per hour of activity) than swimming and has injury rates lower than most school sports such as soccer and basketball. Lastly, point out that you are much less likely to hurt anyone by cycling than by arriving in an automobile.

Two more points of advice: (1) you may want to keep your tool kit as well as some spare tubes and old spare tires in your locker in case of vandalism, (2) you may want to keep some emergency cash for a taxi with you. Hide the money in an envelope or somewere that will discourage you from spending it, so you will always have it for a real emergency.

-Steve Goodridge
https://humantransport.org/bicycledriving/

Bassplayinbiker,

Check out the Kansas City Bicycle Federation, a coalition of bicycle advocates who can assist you in the challenge of enlightening the administration. And don't forget the school board, public media, we all answer to someone.

https://www.kcbikefed.org/

peace

So if high school senior drives to school and gets in an accident, the SCHOOL is liable??? I'm no lawyer, but that sounds like nonsense to me.

oh.. yea if its 12.5 miles, and you know how to fix a flat, and it seems like you know what you're doing and you're an experienced, so go for it. just park it kinda farther away.do you have a friends that lives within walking distance to the school? you could maybe just ride to your friends house, park your bike there, and you both could walk to school together. you cant get in trouble, even if they find out cuz you're going to your friends, not to school. plus then you get to spend more time with your friend and get to ride.

haha, also, maybe you should get a bunch of people together and ride to school. Critical Mass style!!

This is reminding me of Napoleon Dynamite. The bully goes to steal the kid's bike, and then Pedro's cousins roll up in the lowrider and shake their heads disapprovingly.

Also, they're wrong about being responsible. They're responsible for you on the bus, on school property, and maybe at the bus stop. In fact, the reason that they always gave me in school for not excusing me for being late if my battery died was that they aren't responsible if I don't ride the bus.

Definitely get a big honkin' lock and try to keep a low profile.

Remember folks, if this is 23 miles and school starts at 8am, he'll have to leave at 6am at the very latest. And it is dark for a lot of the year at 6am. It will also be rush hour. I also think he may have meant 2.3 miles as the city of Kansas City would have two dozen schools within shorter distance than that.

If it is 23 miles each way, I wouldn't allow my kid to do this.

Actually Wanderer if this is a 23 mile commute each way, the public will back the school district on discouraging him to ride & it will make KC bicycling interest look totally out of touch with realility. He would have to ride at least an hour in the dark and in rush hour traffic & two hours each way for and back. This is not a bicycle issue, it is a safety issue. If it is 2.3 miles, then I agree the kid should be able to ride his bike to the school. But if it is 23 miles each way, I'll back the school district on this one.

Remember kiddies, he corrected himself and said that it was a 23 mile round trip

Isn't there some sort of structure outside of the school proper where you could lock your bike. That way they can't bust your balls about arriving to school on your bike. As far as they know, you are walking in.

On another note, at least in my old school days, the city was responsible for providing transport to students that lived more than 2 miles from the school. Does KC not have something like this?

Man, I can't believe that a school would actually DISCOURAGE you from riding your bike. Heinous. If they would have tried that on me I would have told them some very foul things to do to themselves.

Well, now I ride my bike to school about once a week during the time of year when it's light enough for me to travel without headlights. There are no bike racks here at all and I've never seen any student on a bike. It's a 14 mile one way trip.

Fortunately, I work here so I have an office to keep my ride in I did ride to high school when I was a kid and locked my bike to a tree. As long as the route is safe, what's wrong with encouraging bike commuting? It's good exercise for a generation of kids who may not get enough!

Sheldon
OCR2

Well, as someone already said it is 23 miles ROUNDTRIP.

But the distance is irrelevant to the statement of the principal as reported by our student. No where does it appear that she addressed a specific route or distance, but rather a blanket condemnation on fuzzy legal liability issues. Whether is 2 blocks, 2 miles, or 20 miles the right to transport oneself to school should apply.

-peace

its a 12.5 trip one way.

but even if it is a big distance, They never asked me how far i would have to go. It isint a hard ride for me at all.

Its the prinicapal of the thing that gets me. I think im gonna challenge this.

no, dont think about it. just do it.

Can you at least name the school? I read on the web where the Kansas City school district even has a day to ENCOURAGE kids to walk and bike to school and educate them about the safety of such. Something isn't adding up here.

As a student I fought a school once and won but it was a hollow victory. They changed the rule but it became effective immediately after I graduated. If your principal says no, you can still bring it up to the school board. To do so you have to get on the school boards' agenda unless if they have a forum for open questions.

I started a petition and it took on a life of its own circulating through every school in the district and eventually was signed by 85% of the students and 40% of the teachers. Some of the teachers told me who to contact and how to present the petition.

From my understanding, schools are responsible for you while you are on school property but they have no jurisdiction outside even though some principles say they do. You could ride your bike to school and then lock it up outside the school's property. I agree with a earlier poster that said do it but keep a low profile.

Bad schools can make it rough on you. Here is an example

My mom is the principal at a school. There are folks who sue for anything. The problem isn't that the school would be legally liable, the problem is that people would sue if there was an accident. Look through the commute forums and see what you see -- that's what the principal is afraid of.

The principal might not be saying "no", the principal might be engaged in arse-covering. If your parents approve and you lock your bike up off-campus, you probably won't have a huge problem. Make sure your parents approve though, because if the principal feels cornered she will call you on it -- by calling mom & pop. If they back you she has to step back.

As for where to lock, maybe I'm insane or this is a local thing to TX and MS, but for some reason whenever I see a school there's a post office nearby, and lots of the PO's have bike-lock facilities. Try one of those.

Good luck!

/commutes to (college) campus 11 miles each way
//generally the best thing about the day

Dude, she tried to start an "anarchist club". Who says kids don't understand irony these days?

Insurance does not make something safer...contrary to popular belief.

bassplayinbiker-Welcome aboard. I am new to the forum as well. Also, I live in Kansas City, MO. like you. What part of town do you live in? I live on the WestSide, on the Missouri side.Do you know where that is? What part of town do you live?.
It would be interesting to know what school this is, a public school or private school. I am not an attorney, but if I were you, I would investigate it what your principal said was in fact the truth. I really doubt if they can control how you get to school until you are on school property.