Regents Park

Riding standards are generally poor in communities in which there is little inherited understanding of cycling embedded in the culture, e.g. where parents are unable to teach their children good riding behaviour from a young age. That is to say, such standards are not just poor in London, but throughout the UK and the rest of the world.

Hence cycle training—deliberately set up to be positive and empowering rather than, like the driving test, setting people up to fail (until they eventually pass). (NB driving tests in other countries are structured differently.) Where people are able to understand basic principles such as those taught by cycle training, but which would ideally be taught by parents, without any need for cycle training, there poor riding practice shouldn't occur, or at least only rarely.

Unfortunately, we've seen a setback in London in these respects in the last decade or so, notwithstanding the good work of cycle trainers. Most people don't care about cycling (or driving/taking the train/whatever), they only want to get from A to B and will do anything towards that end, including bad riding, and switching modes whenever it suits them, which makes it even harder to establish cycling as the default non-walking mode of transport.

I suppose in Regent's Park the main thing people want to accomplish is to go round in circles, but their objective is likewise limited and leads to bad riding.

Not criticising you personally, as it's used all over the shop on here, but I've always disliked the expression 'nodder'. So what if you're quicker than someone who's slower and hasn't learned much about cycling yet? They won't become more interested in cycling if met with that kind of attitude.