Cycling UK Forum

Yes there seems to be a lot of jobs worthies in the Trade. I took the Course to legitimise a Training Programme in a newly formed club. Should have gone on my Trike that would have blown their minds.

9494arnold wrote:Yes there seems to be a lot of jobs worthies in the Trade. I took the Course to legitimise a Training Programme in a newly formed club. Should have gone on my Trike that would have blown their minds.

I suspect only a jobsworth would follow some of the absurd "common sense" rules that councils impose on school-based training. Really, anyone who agrees with some of the evidence-free measures council managers insist upon should be disqualified from delivering training because they seem to use it to try to spread their prejudices to children but of course, rebellion is alive and well and the looks of the streets are that it doesn't work, with the direct opposite of those measures being embraced wholeheartedly as soon as they're old enough to make their own decisions, as a rite of passage, a sign of adulthood that you don't wear/do the stuff that's for little kids

My heart sang yesterday seeing a college kid pedalling (cautiously!) along the road, both hands in pockets because it has turned colder mid-morning and he'd got no gloves, only taking his hands out to brake. I bet council officers would be spitting feathers

Current state of play on my patch is I'm okay to teach instructors, but not children. By allowing myself to be seen* riding a bike without a crash helmet I will surely poison vulnerable minds.

I'm hopeful that since Dundee is adopting a generally Clue-led approach to encouraging cycling the local forum (actively encouraged by the council) will be able to persuade them that the Risk Assessment they took from Perth & Kinross (hi viz required in the playground, {FFE - family-friendly edit }) is mince and they should get a New! Improved! one based on best practice 2017, rather than assumed best practice 1997.

It's worth emphasising that the idiocy comes from local authorities, rather than those behind National Standards training. Check out the peer models on The Association of Bikeability Schemes website for evidence of this, but sadly the case that since the mid seventies the Buck Stops at LAs. So do complain to them!

Pete.

* though since I'm not in hi-viz I'm invisible, so maybe it would be okay...

Tbf, some training organisations/itos do impose their own rules on top of the simple bikeability guidelines. I have worked for places that insist on h*lm*ts, h*v*z, etc as well as strange rules on snaking, linking outcomes, etc.

In several years of Bikeability training cannot recall having any child with clipless pedals,although the occasional lightweight cycle.
A quick check on their riding skills, & obviously the likelihood is they will already have good skills.
Certainly wouldn't stop them participating with these pedals.
Always adopt the approach that we are there to encourage youngsters to ride,not find reasons why they shouldn't participate

Ironically, in the light of my earlier response, had three boys all riding with cleats on a course last week.
Contrasted markedly with two other youngsters who had barely learnt to ride!
Major problem was trying to dissuade the experienced boys from doing "bunny hops " over the speed bumps!