Cycle Training & Bike Buddy Scheme

back to cycle training & buddy scheme

Bal Khela is one of the first 'new cyclists' Wheelers adopted in their Bike Buddy scheme. This is her self-penned story of learning to ride a bike!

Diary of a non-cyclist who turned

The growing congestion, pollution, cost and time of using public transport both in Spitalfields and outside the fringe areas of the City often found me dreaming of cycling as an alternative.

After all, cycling is environmentally sound, keeps you fit and could even save time. But the very idea seemed impossible to me as a non-cyclist. This beginner with little or no balance knew it was a pipe dream without help.

Indeed, the very idea of sitting on a bike caused me distress, as I feared keeling over with the weight crushing my tiny body and spokes scratching my little legs.

I am an intelligent woman of 33 unable to cycle but reluctant to ask for help to sort out this common problem. The government provides little funding despite the stretched public transport system and calls for people to leave their cars at home. Without help, my cycling ambition even as a staunch environmentalist was an uphill struggle.

This self-pity and negativity continued until my lovely boyfriend, a regular cyclist, heard me talk about my unfulfilled cycling desire. He decided to take it upon himself to teach me, at least how to balance and then move on to cycling without fearing the pedal of death at every turn.

But first I needed a suitable bike - my boyfriend decided that bike ownership was pivotal as it would help to create a pride in my newly desired mode of transport.

Initially, shop assistants and my conniving boyfriend told me that my new little red bike required a high seat posting, much to my dismay. This was more like the kiss of death rather than the blooming of spring flowers. It meant I could only touch the floor with the tips of my big toes - creating a new found fear of heights.

There was no point telling me that this was the correct position adopted by all cyclists and would help me ride long distances without damaging my knees. What about the rest of my body?

But I took the bike out accompanied by my long suffering boyfriend who occasionally would let go to hear my yelps and screams. This may have been the correct position but my little scared and contorted face certainly knew otherwise! It would all go horribly wrong upon realising I was cycling and that my boyfriend was no longer holding the bike.

In the end I told my boyfriend that low seating would help me get accustomed to using the bike without feeling out of control. I promised I would learn to ride if the seat was lowered to the extent that the back of my heels could touch the ground.

This foolish promise literally forced me to cycle with my now distant boyfriend from the shop to Spitalfields on a path with pedestrians encouraging me to continue!

This major turning point in my life allowed me to realise that I needed time and support to learn how to ride a bicycle. Over time, I was slowly eased out of the irrational fears developed because of not learning how to ride a bike at an early age.

I can now turn corners, cycle uphill and downhill without fearing the worst whether in public spaces, footpaths and parks with a new awareness and freedom. But roads suddenly presented themselves as another matter.

My boyfriend's long-suffering experience as a teacher came to an abrupt end because his actions on the road as a cyclist were automatic. This made it hard for him to teach me how to relate to cars as a cyclist or road user because for him it was second nature. Teaching the non-road user without the relevant skills was irresponsible because the stakes were much higher than just falling off a bike.

The non-aware cyclist can cause fatal accidents for oneself or other road users. And I found roads and cars so unfriendly as an environmentalist let alone as a cyclist subjected to fast and aggressive motorists who made me swerve wildly into people, other cars or anything else in the vicinity.

But then a riverside ride led to accidentally bump into a City Hall all-abilities bike event introducing me to the Tower Hamlets Wheelers and their Bike Buddy scheme. Bike Buddies are people who are not qualified to train cyclists but will accompany non-road users on journeys, for confidence and support.

I explained that although I could now cycle I was not quite ready to use roads or feel comfortable with all my cycling techniques. Extortionate rates of cycle training lessons were actively discouraging less well-off new cyclists like myself.

Teaching people how to ride was a scheme offered by Lambeth Council but no such scheme had been adopted by Tower Hamlets Council even though an acute traffic problem exists.

But the Wheelers' Bike Buddy scheme offers free lessons at the London School of Cycling. Once the necessary skills have been learned to go on the road, you will be paired up with a Bike Buddy who gives advice on quiet local routes, and can help you fix punctures. A low-cost recycled bike and easy groups rides in the local vicinity are other elements of the 'package'.

The good work of Wheelers and my boyfriend means I will ride a bike and commit myself to using environmentally friendly mode of transport. But Mayor Ken Livingstone needs to encourage a united approach by all London councils, and more government funding is required.

Watch out for the next article when I use roads with my new bike buddy...

back to cycle training & buddy scheme