Our council offers free training but the trainer we spoke to didn't seem geared up for more advanced training - it was more like an hour on using gears, next hour on two road junctions etc
I guess what I want is the cycling equivalent of advanced driving lessons. Is this actually available?
Perhaps the trainer was just not very good at explaining how a session might work. Bikeability is an odd thing in that the syllabus is the same for 10 yr olds as it is for adults - Level 1, Level 2, Level 3. But clearly a skilled trainer would not go through it in the same way. Although all training would start off road, checking your basic bike handling. This is not always, for experienced riders, the formality you might think it would be. But it can also take just 10 or 15 minutes.
With very experienced. and confident, riders I have had the on road bit last 45 minutes, because they really do not have many improvements to make or bad habits to break, or 2 hours because they may be confident but they are not actually competent. Or there are specific situations, such as large junctions or busy roundabouts, that they wish to concentrate on and really crack.
Every session is, and should be, different. Part of the instructors skill is to figure out, very quickly, how to pace the lesson and where the trainees real anxieties or concerns lie.
If the instructor you spoke to sounded like he/she would not be up to it, try again until you do find one.
Perhaps the trainer was just not very good at explaining how a session might work. Bikeability is an odd thing in that the syllabus is the same for 10 yr olds as it is for adults - Level 1, Level 2, Level 3. But clearly a skilled trainer would not go through it in the same way. Although all training would start off road, checking your basic bike handling. This is not always, for experienced riders, the formality you might think it would be. But it can also take just 10 or 15 minutes.
With very experienced. and confident, riders I have had the on road bit last 45 minutes, because they really do not have many improvements to make or bad habits to break, or 2 hours because they may be confident but they are not actually competent. Or there are specific situations, such as large junctions or busy roundabouts, that they wish to concentrate on and really crack.
Every session is, and should be, different. Part of the instructors skill is to figure out, very quickly, how to pace the lesson and where the trainees real anxieties or concerns lie.
If the instructor you spoke to sounded like he/she would not be up to it, try again until you do find one.