CTUK News - July 2009

Goodbye ‘cul-de-sac kid’, hello confident cyclist

Last year Cycling England conducted a survey of 9-11 years to coincide with Bike to School week. It showed that while many children wanted their parents to allow them to cycle to school, a fair percentage of parents (38%) thought it was too dangerous to let them do so.

There is now a phenomenon of ‘cul-de-sac kids’, children that are restricted to cycling in their own road and neighbouring streets. It’s refreshing therefore to meet parents that believe that cycling is an important skill and one that needs to be taught in a safe way yet in a realistic environment (i.e. not swerving around pieces of plastic in a quiet park all day).

Ealing resident Louise Chippendale booked cycle lessons for her son Ben with us.

Ben, already on Bikeability Level 2, responded well in difficult traffic situations, and under the watchful eye of instructor Shakera Jinnah, was more than a match for the Uxbridge Road during rush hour.

‘Ben was really on the ball, changing lanes and filtering or waiting at traffic lights,’ said Shakera. ‘He was mature and confident, a great trainee. I was especially impressed when he changed into the right lane for a right turn on Uxbridge road, made eye contact, thanked the driver who let him in and confidently cycled off.’

Ben's mum Louise is now more confident about his cycling, "With summer holidays here, I'm delighted he has the ability to cycle to cricket and tennis. I feel more confident about Ben being on a bike and I know I wouldn't have had that confidence without the training."

After successfully completing Bikeability Level 3, what did Ben think?
"I didn't feel confident on road till I had the training. Now I can go basically wherever I want" (Mum was quick to add, with her approval!)

Ealing subsidises cycle lessons for anybody that works, lives or studies in the Borough.

Ben completes Level 3 Bikeability training with flying colours

Cycling the length of Britain (CTUK Instructors notch up a LEJOG and a JOGLE!)

Two CTUK instructors, Jane Stables and Philip Lingard, had the same idea this summer, to cycle the length of Britain, but they approached it from different directions.

Philip, starting from John O’Groats, the northern point of Scotland and arriving at Land’s End, was on the saddle for 10 days and clocked up 1071 miles:

‘I did the route in the opposite direction to normal because I liked the idea of riding south towards Cornwall and clotted cream. A typical day was 10 hours in the saddle covering 100-110 miles. The most I cycled in a day was 127 miles in 12 hours. I wasn't going fast - but then my bike with camping stuff did weigh 36kg! It was hard work on hills, especially in Cornwall where 25% gradients are not uncommon. But with enough low gears, I never had to walk.

The whole ride was a joy. The annoying bit was finding places to stay, campsites rarely being where you want them, especially in Scotland. If there was a low point it was after meeting Jane in the Cairngorms at about 8pm with 20 miles still to ride to the next campsite, looking up at a road that seemed to go up vertically into the sky. High points were getting to the top of this road to be surrounded by a 360 degree panorama of the Cairngorms in the evening light, with the only man-made thing being the road itself; the other was swimming in Loch Naver one hot afternoon to cool off.
If you like riding bikes, ten days doing nothing but riding in beautiful countryside is close to heaven.’
Philip

Philip on the Forth Road Bridge

Jane did a LE-JOG (Land’s End - John O’Groats) in 17 days and covered 1,155 miles:

Jane planning the route

‘I crawled out of Cornwall, it was absolutely beautiful but really hard cycling; I’ve never been at the bottom of so many hills looking up! There was always a wonderful variety of wild flowers by the roadside: little pink and yellow flowers in Cornwall, honeysuckle in Devon, different types of greens as I went further North, and gorse and bracken (and best of all forests) in Scotland. The landscape and scenery rolled past, stunning and ever changing. Voices and regional accents also changed daily, but there was only one noticeable regional variation to the litter! (A prize for the correct answer…)
I put a dot on my notebook for every ‘exceptional, perfect day’. From one dot every three or four days at the beginning, my notebook was filled with daily dots towards the end of my journey.
Britain is a beautiful, safe place, where strangers treat you well. Although be warned: Saying that you’ve cycled over a thousand miles seems to give people, (men and women) the right to squeeze your thighs!’
Jane

Jane and Philip’s paths crossed for a well deserved cake in the Cairngorms

Two points to raise with Lord Adonis

On Friday 26th June, CTUK gave civil servants from the Department of Transport a Bikeability Taster Session. Directly afterwards the mandarins were meeting with Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and asked CTUK is we could suggest any issues to put forward. Never ones to we miss an opportunity, we suggested:

1. More cycle training for adults
2. Rolling out a 20mph speed limit in central London to minimise the speed differential between cycles and other traffic.

CTUK Summer School – cycling modules for instructors

Don’t be too cool for school!

We are holding a week of ‘Summer School’ professional development courses for instructors. Brush up on skills or learn new ones with us in August.

Module: Mentor Training Day

Bikeabilty scheme guidelines highlight the importance of mentoring. This course considers induction, support and appraisal aspects.
Monday 17 August 09
Ref: CTUK MT20
Location: CTUK Training Room, London SE16
Time: 10-16.00pm

Module: Snaking (NS or Level 3 cyclists)

Part theory, part practical covering Snaking, the established method for moving groups of trainees.
Date: Tuesday 18 August 09
Ref: Snaking 2
Location: CTUK Training Room, London SE16
Time: 13.30-15.30pm

Module: Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Course includes an overview of the different types of SEN instructors may experience; understanding pre and post course assessment activities, and the development and sharing of good teaching practices
Date: Wednesday 19 August 09
Ref: SEN4
Location: CTUK Training Room, London SE16
Time: 13.30-16.30pm

Module: Ride Leader/Marshal Training (NS or Level 3 cyclists)

Training for cyclists who wish to move large groups of cyclists
Date: Thursday 20 August 09
Ref: Level3 1
Location: CTUK Training Room, London SE16
Time: 13.30-16.00pm

Call us to find out more!