Cycle Training

It was the man from Wigan of whom I was thinking. He lives near me, which is a convenience and he is very good at giving advice about cycling. Now he has his training, I am sure he will be better yet.

I suspect that Multigooves would be a fine teacher as well.

I have not met mf that I can recall but, from what I hear about him, it does seem that the forum now has an abundance of trainers available as well as coaches such as RPM and JC.

I would recommend everyone having some training and some coaching.

Bollocks

I have to agree with cliveo

Evening all. Well, as mentioned above I did do the instructor training course last week. And excellent it was too. I can only reiterate what has been said before; everyone can gain something from cycle training. I've been couriering in London for 17 years so I don't lack any confidence or experience on the road but even so I have adjusted the way I ride as a result of doing the course. I think for experienced riders there are always little tweaks to be made, a different perspective to be seen and areas of under-confidence to be addressed. There is also positive feedback about what you do well.
For less experienced riders, or anyone who has perhaps lost their confidence, I think it would be invaluable.
Being taught last week alongside some people who weren't very experienced, especially in London traffic, made me see realise how much of what I know I take for granted and how useful it would be to have someone go through the basics and on to more advanced techniques at an early stage.
So if anyone is thinking about getting some training I would say do it. CTUK are excellent. And I am available to teach as well. A few people have contacted me already but anyone else who is interested please get in touch to discuss what it is you want to achieve and when and where would be convenient.

I have not met mf that I can recall but, from what I hear about him, it does seem that the forum now has an abundance of trainers available as well as coaches such as RPM and JC.

I would recommend everyone having some training and some coaching.

JC is also a bikeability trainer.
Although as coaches we are working with athletes (yes that's you clive) and coaching the aspects of cycling as a sport which is a very different thing. Our riders generally already know how to ride well on the road, as usually it makes up a large chunk of their experience and in the case of endurance trackies, training.

Watch the pros going off through the Manchester traffic over the weekend on training rides, some have never even been to this country before yet off they go, confident enough in their awareness and handling skills not to fear Britains killer drivers!

Personally, I think many riders who commute regularly would benefit from training, and in the case of new riders it's essential. My opinion is that repeat offenders (and let's face it, we all see horrendous riding every day) should be made to take compulsory training.They do it with speeding drivers, why not dangerous cyclists? I would also say that funding (from TFL and others) should be made available so that people can undertake these courses for free.

I think its about time we had a formal list of the cycle trainers that we have as members of LFGSS.

Also as they appreciate some of the differences between freewheeling bikes and fixed wheel they will probably be more appropriate for us lot to train with.

It is also good to support our members.

It is also good to support our members.

you could try using a rod rest, but most people just let them dangle

RPM you need all the help you can get, from your accounts at the pub you would need some type of micro scaffolding.

Nasty man

can somebody teach me how to jump red lights properly? i tried it once and got the fear.

try those la gear trainers, you jump and they light up, not that scary

Evening all. Well, as mentioned above I did do the instructor training course last week. And excellent it was too. I can only reiterate what has been said before; everyone can gain something from cycle training. I've been couriering in London for 17 years so I don't lack any confidence or experience on the road but even so I have adjusted the way I ride as a result of doing the course. I think for experienced riders there are always little tweaks to be made, a different perspective to be seen and areas of under-confidence to be addressed. There is also positive feedback about what you do well.
For less experienced riders, or anyone who has perhaps lost their confidence, I think it would be invaluable.
Being taught last week alongside some people who weren't very experienced, especially in London traffic, made me see realise how much of what I know I take for granted and how useful it would be to have someone go through the basics and on to more advanced techniques at an early stage.
So if anyone is thinking about getting some training I would say do it. CTUK are excellent. And I am available to teach as well. A few people have contacted me already but anyone else who is interested please get in touch to discuss what it is you want to achieve and when and where would be convenient.

I can vouch for that. I was on the course as well and learnt a fair ammount of what to look for in a rider and then how to teach them....

can somebody teach me how to jump red lights properly? i tried it once and got the fear.

Hang around outside The Foundry. You will see many techniques ranging from the sublime to the close your eyes and hope for the best. What particular style are you hoping for?

I can vouch for that. I was on the course as well and learnt a fair ammount of what to look for in a rider and then how to teach them....

Ah, hello mate. Good to see we have Britain's most urbane firefighter with us.

Hey Will......

my free cycle training thru camden council is in the works. just waiting for dates. w00t.

and it is absolutely fucking annoying when you're cycling out in the road and fucking nodders undertake.

and it is absolutely fucking annoying when you're cycling out in the road and fucking nodders undertake.

That will be addressed in your training. Good work for arranging it!

can somebody teach me how to jump red lights properly? i tried it once and got the fear.

The best way to train for RLJing and certainly the safest, is to do the training on a turbo or rollers or even an exercise bike. As you pedal along have a friend or flat mate suddenly hold up a card with a large red dot on it in front of you. As soon as you see the dot, close your eyes and pedal faster. In no time at all, you will have the hang of it.

Wary about posting this in fear of adding fuel to the fire (in Wills loins), but here goes.

On Thursday evening I went for cycle training with WiganWill.

I've been recommending training to a number of new cyclists as a means of building basic skills and confidence. I was advocating something which I'd never done, and really knew little about so I thought I'd take one. I think I'm a reasonably competent rider, but I'm also not so egocentric to think there wasn't much to learn from a long-term London courier. I'd guess Will would spend more time in the saddle on a working day than I would in a week.... and learn I did.

We started with some basic stuff, some stop/starts and little tests to see how well I held my line while looking behind me. We also looked at best technique for emergency stops. Talking this through at the time we identified a tendency to skid the rear out a bit and not really use the brake in dicey situations. In initiating the skid, I come out of the saddle. Tips from Will about keeping the weight as far back as possible and applying the brake had a discernible affect on stopping distance once I had a few shots at it (though I didn't look quite as rad, which was disappointing). This was all done away from traffic in a little carpark.

All went pretty smoothly and we moved on to some quiet intersections to talk about road positioning. This highlighted a tendency of mine to move to a position which would allow a vehicle to move past. For example when stopped at a T-junction to turn right, I'd be close to the centre white line. Will questioned me about this asking if there was enough space to pass on the left. The best I could answer was 'maybe'. Obviously this situation lends itself to vehicles trying to squeeze through the gap which is not ideal. There was a big emphasis here on assessing the conditions when approaching the intersection, checking behind well in advance so there were no surprises, and communicating with the other road users by head checks, eye contact, road position and hand signals if required. I'm sure you've all noticed that a head check will often create space around you.

We then went out for a ride to find some busy intersections. Before we approached, we spent a bit of time off the bike talking about where we wanted to be and what we were doing, and the appropriate place/time to filter. Obviously you need to assess the situation based on a number of factors, most of which I guess you tend to do without really thinking about them, i.e how long the cars have been waiting for lights, the space up the outside/between rows etc. On a couple of occasions when I would have filtered, we were better served by stopping behind the row of cars in order to retain the primary lane position. In retrospect, the delay this caused us was negligible and I felt in a much safer position in what was a pretty shitty intersection for bikes.

The key messages were to obtain/maintain the primary road position, be seen, and communicate with the other road users.

I made a couple of poor decisions on the day, sprinting for a gap in front of a cab to get around a bus, and turning right across traffic in poor conditions through a small gap. Im not sure the manoeuvers were inherently unsafe, but in light of what we'd been doing during the lesson they were clearly a bit shit and could have been better executed not just for me, but for the other road users.

Anyone who knows Will, either in person or through this forum will know that the bloke can communicate. His professionalism was exceptional and as soon as we started, it was all business. I'd have no hesitation recommending this. For me I think the most beneficial part was just chatting though the intersections and strategies for a couple of hours. It really brought the road safety mantra to the front of my mind. Almost immediately I found myself riding a bit differently, more assertively, positioning myself earlier and thinking a bit more. I still like to mash it, but I think I'll be choosing the right times to do it, and doing it from a better road position.

Good fun too! Thanks Will!

cheap date really.

Did you get a happy ending?

yes, his cycling skillz haz improved.

Thanks Balki, glad you feel you got something out of it. Balki is an experienced and capable rider, like many people on here, and it's as much about what such a rider is doing right as wrong. Each person has areas where they feel less confident or there might be different ways of looking at a situation. It's not like the Marines, it's not about breaking someone down and then building them up again. It can be about basic stuff; like not indicating without looking back first and hitting another cyclist in the face with your hand, as happened to me a couple of days ago. Helmet, high-vis and no idea. Mostly with experienced riders though it's about being assertive, aware and able to communicate. Generally I think forum members know a lot of this already.
Anyone who is interested in training for themselves or someone they know feel free to get in touch. If you are eligible for free training I will point you to that.

Balki

Stealing my thunder with a better review than mine

TWUNT!

Seriously, good work by both Will and Balki on this.

I hope that we can now split the cycle training evangelising between the two of us - shall we have a roster?

DJ, your review had a lot to do with my decision to do it.

I still cant do fucken wheelies though.

Absolute rip.

Excellent stuff, guys, keep those reports coming. Yes, very important to stress what a rider's already doing well, too.