John Ciccarelli learned to balance and pedal in his western Pennsylvania backyard at age 7.  He still remembers that red Schwinn and those first rides on his backyard lawn and the basketball court down the street.  During his grade school years he delivered newspapers on a big blue behemoth of a bike with balloon tires and a huge front basket.  As a teen his keys to independence in suburbia were a yellow 10-speed "Ernie Clements" Falcon road bike and the street cycling knowledge he accumulated through observation and experience. 

In the 1980s and '90s John biked to work during his first (software) career in Silicon Valley.  In 1995 his growing interest in bicycle transportation and his service on local Bicycle Advisory Committees led to a career change when he was recruited as the first full-time Bicycle Program Coordinator of Stanford University, where an estimated 12,000 bikes are in motion between classes.  In 1997 John earned his national certification as a League Cycling Instructor (LCI #453) through the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) Smart Cycling program.

In 1999 John launched Bicycle Solutions as a transportation planning, design, safety and education consultancy.  While teaching street cycling classes for the City of Palo Alto in 2001, two attendees shared that they could not do the on-bike module because they had never learned how to balance and pedal.   He asked other instructors for their Learn-To-Ride methods, successfully taught both persons, and began offering private lessons in his spare time.  Beginning in 2014 he began expanding his coaching service by inviting other Bay Area instructors he had taught with at adult group Learn To Ride classes organized by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Bike East Bay.

"Even after 22+ years and well over 5,000 clients of all ages and abilities, I still enjoy every Learn To Ride lesson like it was the first.  There's no better feeling than watching someone's first ride, shaking their hand, and saying 'Welcome To Bicycling!' "

When not teaching cycling or biking around San Francisco with his wife, John enjoys reading, fitness, hiking, DIY home improvement ("recreational carpentry") on their old San Francisco Victorian house, and camper van trips with two bikes to enjoy the byways and paths of California and other states.