You are reading a single comment by @LongAndWinding and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@LongAndWinding
I had cycle training a few weeks ago with Catherine from cycletraining.co.uk (organised via Ealing Council), it was absolutely brilliant. I'd been commuting a few days a week during the fortnight beforehand and am fairly confident on the road but somewhat inexperienced.
We started off with a bike check and some drills on a tennis court: indicating and turning, emergency stopping, swerving, looking backwards, etc. Then went out on the road and rode half of my commute - from Gunnersbury Park through Acton to the Uxbridge Rd, over Shepards Bush and half way up to Notting Hill. We stopped in lots of places to discuss junctions and how to approach and cross them, all the time she was calling advice and instruction while we were on the move, and also checking that I was ok. On the way back we stopped and walked halfway round Shephards Bush roundabout to watch the flow of traffic and work out a strategy of safely crossing to put you in the right lane for Shephards Bush Green to get back up to the Uxbridge Rd. We finished off with a sprint down Little Ealing Lane, which has I think 7 road narrowings - as fast as we could, cars unable to overtake. Very exhilarating. She'd also spent a good 30mins more than the 2hr lesson with me which was much appreciated.
What have I taken away from it -
The 'Long View' - taking time to look over your shoulder and get a good look at what is coming up behind. I have been working on this, and getting more confident with knowing that I can keep the bike in a straight line and not veer one way or another while checking backwards.
'Taking the lane' - riding much more central in a bus lane, and moving towards the centre of the lane where road narrowings occur so that cars cannot dangerously overtake. I've felt that taking this position has made me more confident on the road. Also, keeping a straight line rather than ducking towards the kerb in between parked cars where there is a smaller gap - especially if there is a side junction which is likely to have a car poking its nose out.
Working out complex junctions - by using SheBu roundabout as an example, this was a really useful 15 minutes where I understood how to deal with multiple lane junctions.
Overall, the experience was absolutely brilliant, completely tailored to what I wanted to do, and more. If anyone knows Catherine please pass on my thanks.
I'm due to have cycle training with David Showell this week, hoping to focus on dealing with the roads at the other end of my commute - Hyde Park and central London, will update afterwards!