Road Training

spasypaddy

My mum wants me to teach my 11 year old brother how to ride on the road, I'm 21. I took him out yesterday to see what kind of pace he does and my bike rolls faster than he does pedalling as fast as he can...

[edit] i forgot to post the actual questions!
Whats the best way to go about teaching him how to ride on the road?

Mike Healey

spasypaddy wrote:

My mum wants me to teach my 11 year old brother how to ride on the road, I'm 21. I took him out yesterday to see what kind of pace he does and my bike rolls faster than he does pedalling as fast as he can...

[edit] i forgot to post the actual questions!
Whats the best way to go about teaching him how to ride on the road?

Do the Bikeability course - or find a club/organisation which has a member(s) who've done it.

highway star

Have lots of patience and take him out on some quiet roads. Make hime cycle in front of you and call out instructions/ tips / abuse, whatever come to mind. he will soon start to anticipate your "move away from the parked cars" or "move to the middle of the lane". Try not to get wound up it is easy to make mistakes when you start up.

I took my 8, nearly 9 year old out last night for a 9 mile ride on the roads. He is gettting much better and the ride was almost stress free.

Only big fault he has is cycling too close to parked cars. There is a difficult balance between protecting them and geting them to ride assertively. He show a nice touch last night by raising his hand to a car that had given way to him. I thought he looked very aware and in control, showed all that he was incharge of the road.

Some will say 9 or 8 is too young to be on the road, and it is true you must choose your route carefully. If it means crossing busy sections on foot so be it. Plan ahead and try to relax

Teuchter

I did the same a few months ago with my partner's 8 and 9 year olds. We have a disused area of road nearby. It was built for an industrial estate that never seems to have happened and it's blocked off with bollards so no cars can get to it. It's great as it's about 100 yards long with a junction on either side.

Alternatives would be supermarket (or similar) carparks when they're closed. They tend to have lanes nicely marked out you can use as roads and junctions.

Being a former motorcycle CBT instructor I figured I could teach them better than some schoolteacher doing cycling proficiency (as I remember it from... a while ago! Is this still what happens in schools?).

As well as junctions, riding on the correct side and general positioning, I left my bike sticking out from the pavement to simulate a parked car and had them doing the shoulder checks and moving out to give it plenty of space. I really drilled into them the importance of rear observation before changing position on the road or moving off.

Compared to the other kids on the street of similar ages, they are now a load safer. I think the oldest is due to do his cycling proficiency (bikeability?) at school next year.

highway star

Mrs Hs took HS junior out yesterday on the bikes and managed to end up in casualty. Junior braked, Mrs HS was not looking, came off the bike and hurt her arm. nothing broken but 2 days before our holiday she can only use one arm.

She now says that she won't take him out on the bike again for some time. I think some off road training on an industial estate is what he needs.

pigman

our local school does biketraining courses to all Y7's (11 yr old/first year at secondary school) to those who want it. This forms part of their travel plan and is funded through this. Most schools will now have achived or be working towards this and should have a travel plan coordinator. Our school got about £12k to implement their plan. The cycling element got bike racks, training and some doctor bike repair sessions. Our local council does free bike training for all beginners who want it in order to commute to work. There are a few companies who specialise in this type of work. for details contact your council, CTC, BC, any local cycle campaigning groups. Getting people out of cars and onto bikes is very topical with councils now and there is money available - don't give up, even if the relevant person might be some behind-the-scenes penpusher who seems elusive.

andrewc3142

The road along the front of our house is quiet and leads to the canal path, from where we can go lots of places without worrying about traffic. It gives both the kids (7 and 5) a chance to ride risk-free on the road, and learning the basics of road position, parked cars, etc etc. In my view much safer than on the pavement, with the risk of a car pulling out of a driveway.

I've taken the 7 year old on the main roads quite a few times. I ride next to and slightly behind him, so I can see what he's doing and take care of traffic (I commute into London so I tend to ride fairly assertively :oops: ) He keeps up fine, 12-15mph on the flat.

We also go out a lot on the tandem, which gives him road experience as well. This month, with Beavers on summer break, up to London for Critical Mass. The first time he'll have ridden in London.

Obviously, I insist he wears a helmet (although he does point out the inconsistency of my position on this ...), and in the dark a HiViz waistcoat (again, a case of do as I say, not do as I do ....).

In general, provided the adult is someone who is sensible and a regular and experienced cyclist, once a kid can keep up a reasonable pace (and at 5 they are starting to ride too quickly for pavements), in my view it's far better (and safer) to get them learning from an early age all about road safety.

In September, the oldest starts Juniors, so they have lessons (in the playground).

Tom Butcher

The Bikeability course is good if you get a good instructor - and most are - though I tend to think that any good experienced cyclist with an interest in how to ride safely that takes part in discussions like this could do just as good a job teaching one on one. In other words if you can't get him on a bikeability course don't worry that he's missing out.