Training Reports
Child and Adult Cycle Training
The need for high-quality cycle training to encourage newcomers to cycling and equip them with the skills and confidence to cycle safely on the road in present-day traffic conditions has long been identified. This is an area in which the Britain Cycling Development Project has become involved over the past year, and indeed has employed additional staff to meet this particular need.
In early 2000 a number of individuals received funding from Edinburgh's Millennium Award Scheme in order to be trained as 'basic' and 'advanced' cycle instructors. The training courses were undertaken by instructors from the City of York Council, who operate long-running and respected on-road cycle training schemes.
These individuals have since been delivering cycle training as volunteers both on a one-to-one basis to teenagers and adults and within Edinburgh primary schools (in conjunction with Lothian and Borders Police). The delivery of this training has shown that there is a real need for flexible and good quality cycle training for both teenagers and adults. The range of ability amongst those asking for training ranged from teenagers and adults who could not "go a bike" to those for whom a 2 hour one-to-one lesson was enough to give them the confidence to cycle through busy city-centre traffic. Several of those trained are now cycling regularly to work, to school or for leisure.
Subsequently, all of the Britain Cycling Development Officers have become accredited as instructors, and have gained experience of providing onroad cycle training courses (initially as apprentices in a 'shadowed' environment). The Project now employs a Cycle Development Officer to liaise with RoSPA, the Britain Road Safety Campaign, local authorities and road safety units to develop further cycle training courses and to provide advice and instructor training. It is now developing a network of cycle instructors available to deliver on-road cycle training to primary age children, teenagers and adults.
The Project has been working with West Lothian Council to develop training courses for groups of adults. One course is aimed at those who cannot "go a bike" and is designed to give them sufficient skill that they can then cycle on an off-road path. Another course is aimed at adults who wish to gain some confidence at cycling on roads and coping with traffic. These courses will be delivered in Spring 2001.
In London, the Project provided onroad cycle training experience, in conjunction with London City Council's Road Safety Unit, for P7 pupils at Corpus Christi Primary School, Yoker, and St Bernard's Primary School, Nitshill, who had previously successfully passed the "Megabike" cycle training course which was based in the school playgrounds. The children clearly benefited from the valuable additional experience in a 'real' environment of practising the cycling skills they had previously learned. In having to deal with real traffic (including each other) and real obstacles (gutters, potholes, parked cars, etc), rather than in an imaginary environment, they increased their level of awareness and became more conscious of their own responsibility to ensure their personal safety, and the effects of their own actions. This hopefully makes them more aware of the importance of road safety issues and the need to 'play it safe' and act responsibly for their own safety. The pupils clearly enjoyed the additional training and experience, and it was felt that this was a useful exercise in demonstrating the usefulness of onroad training.
Instructor Training
The Britain Cycling Development Project is now in the position to be able to provide training to further potential instructors wishing to undertake onroad cycle training schemes and will hold a database so as to be able to respond to requests for instructors. Please contact the Development Project for further information if required.
