CyclingAge

Bad Blogger Back!

2012-02-04T14:53:00.002Z

Just noticed how little I Blog. Sorry.

It's been a busy old time. Most importantly of all, CyclingAge has grown and now become a Community Interest Company with half a dozen cycling instructors.

Despite it being deepest Winter, we are already out in schools working with students and we have a full diary all the way through to Easter.

The value of getting rid of 15,000 cars

2011-05-03T14:31:00.001+01:00

Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service bus

2011-01-24T16:36:00.001Z

Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service bus
Originally uploaded by Tom Burnham

Found this image completely by accident! "How cool is this bus!?" Is not a phrase I'd ever expected to say!

Night ride

2011-01-16T17:04:00.001Z

Had a good night ride in Kings Wood, a large Forestry Commission woodland on the North Downs.
It was mild and muddy.
We tested some new lights. Easy and stable fixing to the bikes, bright White LED - a claimed 1200 Lumins - three settings (although the flashing mode is likely to induce fits!) and good battery life. They were a bit of a gamble being cheap eBay imports... But they were excellent.
It wasn't a huge ride but a great way to spend a Friday evening and an added bonus were the deer running across our tracks.
Washed the bike off today.
Before...

After

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New bridge work

2011-01-07T14:56:00.001Z

Work has begun in ernest on the new cycling and walking bridge over the M20 at Ashford.

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Wye Resolution Ride

2011-01-03T15:16:00.001Z

Everyone gathering at the Julie Rose Stadium.

Nice turn out for our Resolution Ride today from Ashford to Wye. Weather was bright and clear, if a bit chilly.
We followed Route 18. It's a shame about the Willesborough Road. It seems to act not just as a physical barrier but a mental one too. So this route to Wye is cut off from the main population of cyclists in Ashford. People are worried about the section along the road as it is a fast, narrow and twisty road. The cycle paths are pretty poor too although that's mainly due to the objections of the land owners. If the Conningbrook Watersports Park gets going, there could be a nice route through there avoiding the Willesborough Road section completely. It would be great to connect it up with the rest of the cycle network in Ashford too.
Anyway, today's ride was very nice.

Coffee break in Wye.

New Year's Resolution - Learn to ride

2010-12-30T10:37:00.003Z

It’s like riding a bike!

That’s what we say about something we’ll never forget. And it’s quite true. Once we have learnt to ride a bike our brains will remember. It’s down to our molecular layer interneurons…apparently!

It is great when you get an opportunity to re-introduce someone to cycling. Even after a break of more than fifty years, it only takes a few minutes to get riding again.

But some people never learn to ride a bike. As a cycling instructor, one of the greatest joys is to help people to learn to ride a bicycle for the very first time.

As we get older we build up fear barriers, so the challenge is to persuade new cyclists to break down those barriers. Consequently teaching someone to ride a bike later in life is a gentle, careful activity where we progress in baby steps. It’s about boosting confidence – also known as “Gok Wan-ing” – and convincing the brain, those molecular layer interneurons, that it is perfectly safe to balance on two wheels.

So if someone you know is planning to make a New Year’s resolution to learn to ride a bike, then encourage them. Support them. Help them. It’s never too late and it just might be life changing. And you only have to learn once, because you never forget how to ride a bike!

First Frost

2010-11-15T12:28:00.001Z

First frost of the winter. Just zero at 8am this morning. Car impressively iced up. Beautiful bright and sunny day. Great day to be out cycling.

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Just What the Doctor ordered

2010-11-05T17:25:00.005Z

The days are shorter and the temperature cooler and may be there’s a bit more rain about than there was in August (just). But don’t be tempted to moth ball your bike until Spring as it could be the one thing that keeps you well this Winter.

Scientists at Appalachian State University have discovered that regular exercise, such as cycling, can help prevent you from catching a cold. And if you do catch one, if you regularly exercise then the symptoms are unlikely to be so severe.

Therefore, Dr Bike’s prescription this winter is:

Look after your bike and your bike will look after you, wash it regularly, ensure the tyres are nice and hard, brakes are nice and sharp and there’s a little lubrication on your chain and gears
Wrap up warm in cold weather with a cap under your helmet and a good winter collar around your neck
Wear waterproof jackets and trousers
Pull on a good pair of waterproof gloves and shoes

And get out there and ride! It will not only be fun but healthy too!

Dr bike at the library

2010-10-27T15:45:00.001+01:00

Had a good afternoon running a roll-in surgery at this fab 60s library. Not lots of bikes but lots of issues and some good questions.

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A week in Aldington

2010-10-14T18:24:00.001+01:00

We've spent the week in Aldington, a strip of a village about 5 miles south of Ashford. Very friendly, great views and always windy!
As well as the school, it's got a butcher, baker, post office store and a pub.
It's also got a rich history. Erasmus was the rector for a year, there was a busy smuggling gang, the village is about a mile from the church so I suspect the village moved away from the church during the plague and it's been home to Noel Coward, Ford Maddox Ford, Joseph Conrad and now Julian Clary and Paul O'Grady (not together!).
The grasshopper in the picture below was on the bike in the school bike shed. It rode on the bike until we stopped by some grass when it hopped off.

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Obsession

2010-10-05T16:10:00.001+01:00

Is my obsession out of control!?

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Lunchtime ride

2010-09-22T20:46:00.001+01:00

Bikes ready for a lunchtime ride for staff at Pluckley Primary School.

Pedal Power!

2010-08-08T16:30:00.002+01:00

Oil, Money, Society and Happiness

2010-05-29T13:30:00.005+01:00

OK. I'm generally a happy chap. Cycling makes you happy. It makes you feel good and keeps you nice and healthy.

That's a very good reason to cycle. Another good reason is environmental. Cycling really is a good way at reducing your carbon footprint. However, that reason seems completely eclipsed when something like the Mexican Gulf oil spill happens. There's more oil coming out of that broken pipe everyday than I will ever consume in a whole lifetime.

A recent piece in the right wing newspaper the Daily Telegraph was headlined "Don't Blame BP".

Hmm!

It's general thrust was that we as a society, especially in the US, demand so much oil that BP were just serving society and this accident was inevitable because we are so demanding.

It is actually a good point. But BP were responsible for this particular tragedy and so they really are to blame.

In the same vein, we as a society were responsible for the economic crisis. During the Thatcher years we were transformed into a greed ridden consumer society.

We want more.

We are never satisfied.

This greed requires money. Banks were our sources of a never ending flow of cash to feed our consumerism. And like our oil companies who have to get oil from more difficult places and even from sand, banks had to develop more and more experimental techniques to keep that flow of money going. So it was inevitable that there would be a financial disaster. We are to blame. We have built a consumer society with advertisers fueling our addiction, manufacturers constantly creating new versions of things we already have but somehow the new one is the one we must have and banks supplying the money so we can get it. Perhaps a free market driven society isn't so good for us after all? We need to develop a new economic model for society that isn't based on consumerism.

With what money our nations still have, can we get our best brains working on this? If we can, we will get to a point where we won't demand so much oil, we won't demand so many things, we won't consume all our natural resources.

If we can develop this model quickly we may even reduce the impact of global warming.

In the meantime, I'm going to get back on my bike to cheer myself up.

Tonbridge Cycle Fun Day

2010-04-20T01:38:00.009+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a great day in Tonbridge organising loads of cycling activities for families.

We had BuildaBike, a game that started with a stripped down bike and as people added parts on they were entered into a draw to win the finished bike. The winner was ever so chuffed as he really needed a new bike.

We had some skill games including a slalom, limbo and balance board (how much fun can you have with a plank of wood and a brick? Loads!).

We had some guys down from the London fixed gear and single speed scene teaching riders how to play bike polo.

We did roller racing, which got really competitive.

We even did a Commuter Challenge on a couple of GoCycles kindly leant to us for the day.

Everyone had fun and we hope that by having fun they will ride their bikes more.

Our thanks go to Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council for organising, supporting and funding a great day.

There are more photos on Flickr and a video on YouTube.

Cycling in Dublin

2010-04-17T10:19:00.005+01:00

When I visited Dublin a couple of years ago the traffic was horrendous. It was like London before the M25. Everything was going through the streets of Dublin. And it was crawling through. The noise and the fumes and the dirt was awful.

The City is now trying to create a cycling culture. Which is fantastic and the situation is ripe for it. Cyclists have got to be able to get around the City quicker than motorists!

They have invested in a cycle hire scheme. They've introduced a Cycle To Work finance incentive package. They let cyclists ride through the pedestrianised shopping areas (unlike some cities such as Canterbury). The Council has given up it's ground floor car park to provide 140 CCTV monitored public cycle parking spaces. And the council is investing in creating a cycling infrastructure. Again this is being done in a canny way. By using their existing canal towpath network they will get more bang for their bucks! Smart.

What is obvious and why this is more likely to work is that there appears to be firm council support for cycling and instead of approaching it in a bits and pieces sort of way there's been a conscious effort to create and follow an holistic strategy to change people's behaviour and make cycling an attractive alternative.

Here's a link to an RTE programme all about the emerging cycling culture in Dublin:

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1070805

Our Roads Are Safe!

2010-03-24T22:35:00.005Z

The Guardian Bike Blog today had the sub heading "Many roads may be accident free but they are safe only for car drivers, not for more vulnerable users such as children, pedestrians and cyclists."

His view as "a cyclist who wants to feel safe on the road" is just propagating the myth that our roads are dangerous. Some of them are. I wouldn't recommend one of the local trunk roads. It's fast and narrow and bumpy and bendy. But every morning and every evening a very mature cyclist cycles steadily and deliberately all the way from Ashford to Faversham and back. I'm sure he hasn't got a death wish. He just does it because he can and clearly he feels safe. And as of this morning he was still alive and well. We have millions of miles worth of roads that are perfectly safe for cyclists. If you stop thinking about traditional motorised vehicle routes and have a good look at your maps and at your neighbourhood you will discover plenty of safe roads to enable you to get around on a bike. And no cyclist has the right to criticise another road user unless they have taken the trouble to actually learn how to ride safely on the road in the first place. Every other road user (even most pedestrians!) has been trained to use their vehicle safely on the road. Cyclists are not blameless as many pro-cycling "safety" campaigns such as the recent CTC SMIDSY campaign would have us believe. Very few cyclists position themselves well in the road and at junctions. Even fewer bother to be aware of what's going on around them. And even fewer can communicate effectively on the road. We don't need another bunch of consultants draining even more funds from real cycling advocacy work by producing a rubbish piece of research telling us what we already know. What we need is planners to follow the latest street design guidance from the Department for Transport and we need people claiming to be "the voice of the cyclist" to "grow some".

A new bridge and it's NOT for cars!

2010-01-16T16:18:00.005Z

This weekend and next weekend a rare - and consequently exciting - event is taking place. A new bridge is being installed. But it's not for motorised vehicles. It isn't even connecting a road. It is a bridge connecting a bridleway by Kingston in Kent that was cut in two when the Canterbury bypass was built some twenty odd years ago. So it's a bridge for walkers and riders of horses and bikes.

It's quite a pretty bride too.

To install the bridge the Highways Agency will be shutting the A2 from 8pm on Saturday evening until 6am on Sunday morning this weekend and next.

There's more detailed information here - http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/24211.aspx

If it's not going to be officially opened, I think we should all get together and do a grand ribbon cutting event ourselves! Do you think the Queen will come?

New Track Bike In The Snow

2010-01-07T16:14:00.005Z

My new track bike arrived in the post last night. The box was open and the bike built within minutes, not that I was excited at all!

It's cheap and simple, as these things should be - steel frame, 700c wheels, brakes, chain, freewheel and fixed gear.

This morning we awoke to snow. Lots of snow. Was I really going to take my new bike out in the snow? Absolutely! It was brilliant slicing the skinny wheels through 4 inches of virgin snow. Eventually got it out on to clear, if a but slushy, roads and it rides really smoothly and it's nippy. Great new year treat!

A lesson kneeded

2009-10-21T15:35:00.003+01:00

Well this bad blogger now has a bad knee. Right leg very painful yesterday and my physio tells me I've damaged a meniscus (?) in my right knee.

How have I done this damage?

By not looking after my pedal clips. They're too tight and I haven't oiled them recently, so their a bit stiff to get in and out of and so the extra twisting motion has damaged my knee.

Fortunately I'm on the mend already with hot and cold presses and daily ultrasound treatments.

So, when I regularly service my bike I'm now going to include the clips!

Bad Blogger's back and in a bad mood

2009-10-05T21:17:00.002+01:00

Probably like many of you, I subscribe to a forum. This one is specifically for cycling instructors.

I subscribe in the hope that forum contributors will share their experiences and nuggets of wisdom and best practice.

I am clearly way too naive.

The forum seems to be populated by extremists, bigots and self-satisfied prigs barking at the moon.

If these contributors are truly representative of the cycling instructor community I am gravely concerned for the future of cycling.

Bad Blogger

2009-09-04T23:12:00.005+01:00

I'm sorry.

It's very poor form to start a blog, do some entries and then stop. I'm a Bad Blogger and I am sorry. In my defence, it has been a very busy summer, with a Summer School for Kids in Willesborough, some community days in Stanhope, private lessons and three Age Concern Summer CTC Cycling Clubs exclusively for the over 50s. Autumn looks set to be as busy with bookings all the way through to November.

The Age Concern CTC Summer Cycling Clubs project has been very special. We did all the recruitment work which included talking to the press, radio interview, emails, listings and posters. We had a great response and we got people coming along with very different levels of cycling from the very experienced through to complete beginners. Most people though were returning to cycling, some of whom had not been on a bicycle since childhood. It has been so rewarding to work with these cyclists, getting them back on their bikes and riding with confidence. Here's a video of the club in Maidstone.

There's lots happening over the next few weeks and I will endeavour to be a Good Blogger!

Telegraph promotes cycling

2009-06-14T11:12:00.005+01:00

As Bike Week gets underway here in the UK, The Daily Telegraph, one of the most popular broadsheet newspapers, is promoting cycling.

Whilst I'm not aligned with the paper's political views, at least they are doing something positive to help get more people cycling. They kicked off their campaign yesterday with a wonderfully positive article about cycling including this paean to cycling from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”

Dave Smith's Road Positioning Advice

2009-06-06T19:07:00.006+01:00

Had a great day cycling from Canterbury to Reculver and back providing mobile Dr Bike and First Aid support to the ride in aid of the Christchurch University St Gregory Development Project. I noticed that on the few occasions when we were on the road, most of the cyclists positioned themselves firmly against the far left side of the lane right up against the curb. Years of cycling proficiency has resulted in many experienced cyclists thinking this is a safe position.

When we got back to Canterbury I popped into Waterstones to buy a book and have tea and cake. Whilst sipping my tea I noticed a book on the display shelves by Dave Smith called Cycling for Fitness. Flicking through it I found a section on safe road cycling which kicked off with a quote from the Highway Code along the lines of "always cycle as far left as possible". I've checked my new copy of the Code and thankfully it does not give the same advice.

Dave Smith's book was originally published in 2001, which was a while ago, but Cyclecraft was first published by TSO in 1997.

Dave Smith then goes on to advise cyclists to position themselves on the left of Giveway lines at T Junctions to turn left and on the right of Giveway lines to turn right. Now in my book, that's downright dangerous and if this book is popular a new edition should be published correcting this dreadful advice.

Just to clarify this, when you are approaching a T junction on a minor road, you should take control of the lane, that means moving to the centre of your lane, then when you get to the Giveway lines you should be in the middle of the Giveway lines whether you are turning left or right. To do this safely and effectively you should be looking all around you throughout the manoeuvre and signalling if there is a driver there to tell. If it is a wide lane or junction then you should move slightly to the left or right of the middle of the Giveway lines depending on which direction you intend to go.

Given Dave Smith's credentials as an Olympic sports coach I'm sure the rest of the book is spot on.

Mark Beaumont

2009-05-23T23:29:00.001+01:00

Why isn't Mark Beaumont a household name?

This man achieved the most incredible feat. He cycled around the world, that's 18,296 miles, in 194 days 17 hours. Truly remarkable.

Well, this week his book, "The Man Who Cycled The World" was launched at Waterstones in London.

Go buy the book.

If you can't make it to your local book shop here's a link to Amazon

Murderous Maidstone

2009-05-16T09:21:00.010+01:00

Maidstone has some great examples of down right dangerous cycling facilities. As well as that old chestnut the Advanced Stop Box with the undertaking cycle lane, there was a narrow strip and a roundabout lane.

Let me explain.

The Advance Stop Box is fine if the cyclist is at the front of the queue of traffic at the lights already. However, if cyclists have to use the short cycle lane feed, this encourages them to move to the curb and creep down the inside of the waiting traffic. This means that cyclists:

Will be undertaking traffic
Are in a dangerous position if the lights change whilst in the cycle lane feed
Are in danger of being doored by exiting passengers
Can frustrate other road users

The Strip

This cycle lane that has been installed on Sandling Road in Maidstone, as pictured here, shoves cyclists right into the gutter with the detritus, the metal drain covers and the deteriorating road surface. If cyclists follow this lane, they increase their risk of injury due to broken and slippery drain covers, wet and slippery painted lines, potholes, glass and metal fragments as well as pedestrians inadvertently walking into their path.

Cyclists should always cycle at least one step away from the curb. This cycle lane is ridiculously narrow. The recommended width of a cycle lane is 2.5m. This one is barely the width of my handlebars (68cm). In fact, taking one step away from the curb you end up right on the dashed line that denotes the outside edge of the cycle lane.

Roundabout Threat

Which brings us to the last and most murderous cycle lane recently seen in Maidstone.

This cycle facility has been created at a roundabout on the intersection of Sandling Road and Stacey Street. It not only encourages cyclists to the curbside when they should be taking control by moving to the middle of the lane, it also disregards all the normal roundabout rules as set out in the Highway Code and puts cyclists in serious danger.

This cycle lane, as you can see in the picture, shoves the cyclist right against the entry and exit points of the roundabout where they will be most vulnerable to being hit by other vehicles. It reduces cyclists visibility and makes them less visible. This is aggravated by the beautification of the roundabout with high bushes.

So what can be done?

Well here's a list to start with:

Remove all the rubbish cycling facilities - you know where they are, complain!
Ensure that future cycling facilities work with the National Standards for Cycle Training
No highways planner should be allowed to create anything for cyclists without reading this paper first
Get more people cycle trained
Get all road users to understand that cyclists should and have a right to vehicular cycling, integrating with traffic rather than keeping away from it

Danger! Road Ahead!

2009-05-13T16:22:00.006+01:00

I was talking to a very experienced cyclist the other day who said "the roads are dangerous". This struck me as quite alarming. Roads are busy. Some drivers do behave badly. However, good cycling dramatically reduces most dangers. There are a number of things cyclists should be doing:

Cycling a sensible distance away from the curb (as previously posted)
Taking control of the lane at critical points such as approaching junctions and road narrowings
Being aware of everything around you, especially looking behind and getting the attention of the following driver
Planning early and telling other road users what you're about to do
Cycling at a sensible speed - not too fast and not too slow
Ensuring your bicycle is in good nick

This isn't rocket science but few cyclists I see out and about are doing these things. Because bikes are affordable and easy to use, we just get on them and ride. Then we whinge about other road users and complain that roads aren't safe and this leads to pressure to create cycling facilities many of which are really dangerous for cyclists. (more on that later!)

The new initiative from CTC, Safety In Numbers is a great idea. The order of the actions seems to be wrong:

Encourage safer driving
Improve the road environment and make it more welcoming for cyclists
Fund schemes that promote cycling positively and improve confidence

Let's concentrate on improving cyclists' skills first not last! The infrastructure's already in place to do this. There are qualified instructors throughout the UK. We have the National Standards and Bikeability. At the same time, let's crackdown on rubbish cycling! (this includes the boy racers who insist on cycling everywhere at break neck speed whatever the situation)

The roads are not dangerous if we know how to cycle on them properly. So, get more people on their bikes by giving them the training that will make them more confident and safer.

Two Tings

2009-04-29T01:23:00.007+01:00

It's two years since British Waterways launched their safety campaign on their towpaths called Two Tings.

Just recently we've been doing lots of cycle training in Ashford which is a Sustrans Bike It location. To encourage more cycling quite a few miles of cycle paths have been created. Many of these paths are shared spaces with pedestrians. We recommend that our trainees follow the same sort of code as the Two Tings:

Ring with Two Tings

Use a bell, giving Two Tings when approaching pedestrians. Ringing with Two Tings is not an order to pedestrians to get out of your way.
Be aware that some pedestrians may have visual or hearing impairments and might not hear your Two Tings.

Pass people slowly. Give people space

Slow down when approaching pedestrians and only pass when it is safe to do so. Extra care should be taken when passing children, less able people and animals.
Be patient and courteous to pedestrians. Saying “thank you” to pedestrians who move to let you pass will make them more likely to move next time.

Ride at a sensible speed

The path is never suitable for cycling fast as there are many other users.

Unfortunately, our work has a small sphere of influence. So we still get grumpy glares from pedestrians who don't appreciate that it's a shared space and we see cyclists who are not courteous.

How do we sort this out?

How do we create harmony in these shared spaces?

Well my suggestion is that we take the Two Tings campaign and expand it from the towpaths to the entire cycling network:

Issue thousands of bells with Two Tings handlebar stickers.
Place Two Tings stickers on posts on paths.
Two Tings banners on school railings.
Two Tings six sheet posters on bus stops.
Adverts in buses.
Local media launches in every town and city with cycle paths

Get the message out there to both pedestrians and cyclists. Then we'll see less pavement rage and less of the us and them culture that divides us in these shared spaces.

Come on Paul and the Department for Transport, CTC, Sustrans and all those local authorities and Highways Agencies - Make It Happen!

Cycling Tip - Road Position

2009-04-19T21:24:00.000+01:00

As well as ranting, this blog is about sharing some of CyclingAge's knowledge.

I know that people are often put off cycling when they hear of tragic accidents. The two deaths in London last week are very sad. Eight people die on our roads everyday - thankfully very few cyclists are killed or injured in road accidents. However, bicycles are the smallest and lightest vehicles on our roads so we must do everything we can to stay safe.

One of the most important ways of staying safe is to cycle in the right road position. When there is other traffic on the road, cyclists should be cycling a good step (as in footstep) away from the curb. This is known as the secondary position. This means we are not cycling over drain covers or in the debris that collects at the side of the road. It also means we can react to hazards from the pavement too. But most importantly of all, it means we can be seen by other road users and we have a better field of vision. Cycling a step away from the curb also makes other faster road users give us more space as they overtake us.

On quieter roads and at times when it would be unsafe for vehicles to overtake us, such as on narrow roads or at road narrowings at things like traffic islands, cyclists should cycle in the middle of the lane. This is the primary position.

Bonkers Boris Explained

2009-04-15T22:19:00.000+01:00

I've re-read my "Bonkers Boris" Twitter from earlier and it probably needs explaining as the 140 characters I've used seem pretty odd when strung together.

Boris has apparently written to the Department for Transport to suggest that they run a pilot in London that allows cyclists to turn left at red lights as long as they are careful not to knock over any pedestrians.

Most cyclists have supported the campaign to persuade cyclists to stop running red lights because it's dangerous. Obviously the few who do ignore red lights give cyclists a poor reputation as careless road users. Now I know "the few" appears to be vast numbers in major cities like London, but the ones you see are still only a small percentage of cyclists. So, why does Boris feel the need to blur the lines?

Secondly, one of the most dangerous things a cyclist can do is undertake vehicles, especially lorries. The Met has been running a campaign in London to educate both lorry drivers and cyclists. It's bad enough that highway planners created advanced stop boxes for cyclists at lights to creep along to. Now Boris is encouraging cyclists to undertake queues of waiting vehicles so that they can creep round a corner.

What cyclists really need on all streets everywhere is less cars and less lorries, lower and enforced speed limits, and a sensible consistent approach to cycling infrastructure.

Get on with it Boris and stop mucking about!

Is there something about the name Boris? I remember another one who heroically rescued Gorbachev's Perestroika only to sink into alcoholic buffoonery.

Minister Cycle Training

2009-04-08T17:44:00.000+01:00

Had a good cycle training session with Paul Clark and a couple of members from his team.

Paul is the MP for Gillingham as well as the Minister for Sustainable Transport and a very nice chap.

Spencer (www.cyclecircle.co.uk) and I started the training at The Strand in Gillingham. The weather was a bit windy but bright and sunny. The venue was ideal, on National Cycle Route 1, with loos, a cafe and tennis courts we could hire and use for the Level 1 activities. After some initial nerves everyone progressed well. After a tea break we went out onto the quieter roads in the area to practice the Level 2 disciplines. Again the location was ideal with different sites available to practice the different drills and so many drivers demonstrating their poor road skills. All the trainees including Paul demonstrated the necessary outcomes to reach Level 2. We finished with a press photocall.

As ever the Level 2 Route included examples of cycle facilities. We enjoyed showing Paul the 15 foot long cycle lane and the sign post containing the signs for National Cycle Route 1 and the instruction "Cyclists Dismount"!

Photos from the session are on Flickr

Bikeability £10m

2009-04-05T11:35:00.000+01:00

The sun is out. The sky is blue. And the government has just announced a grant of £10m to help pay for 200,000 children's Bikeability cycle training.
In Kent it's not clear how this money will be allocated. Hopefully we will hear soon.
Paul Clark the minister who annonced the grant said "I will be doing my own Bikeability training next week and, like the children I've met today, I look forward to hopefully receiving my Bikeability badge." Well, Spencer and I will be training the minister next week and he will get his appropriate Bikeability Level badge according to the outcomes he can demonstrate.