Safety Tips for Noobs

Is it ever a good idea to bother signalling when turning left off a road? I can't see it is - I mean who are you telling?

To me, its probably more dangerous to do so because youve got less control of the bike and may lose control and go under a car if you were to hit a pot hole or something.

Paul-Michel, that you are asking the question is an excellent indicator (no pun intended) why it's very good that you're doing training.

The answer is, of course, yes, it is a good idea. The point is that training will aim to teach you the bike handling skills to make this sort of manoeuvre without any problems. This is Stage 1 of the National Standard. Obviously, if the street is deserted, you don't need to indicate, but chances are that in London the street won't be deserted.

Likewise, general control skills are also a feature of training, so that if you were to hit a pothole after training you'd have a much better chance of staying upright than before.

Do as much cycle training as you need to bring you up to scratch. They'll tell you how far along you are--Level 1, 2, or 3. As an adult, you should certainly aspire to Level 3. I don't know what Lewisham's policy is but you might be able to get another two hours on them, or perhaps yet more if you work or study elsewhere. Ring CTUK to find out what's available (020-7231 6005). And it's always worth paying for cycle training yourself if you don't have a free option, as it will pay off its cost in, I reckon, about a week just from the increase in your enjoyment.