Saturday 25 March 2017
Today was week two of our adult cycling course. We had five students. Two from last week were unavailable, but we were pleased to welcome Josey who had ridden with us once before and who we were pleased to welcome back. Last week Lindsey from the Borough Cycling Team did the Bikeability Level 1 assessment. This week it was time for a bike ride.
Norman Park was a buzz of activity today. It was clear that a whole bunch of first timers had joined the Park Run which was just winding up as we gathered. There were also a posse of children just setting off on some sort of dash down the eastern side of the park, and this in addition to the usual throng of dog walkers, boxers and footballers. And then of course there were little children on bikes taking their first tentative pedal strokes towards mastering that vital first real break from the parental apron strings – the freedom that comes with being the master of a bike.
After a short opening talk from Eve about the course management and then from John about the importance of bicycle checks we set off on a steady circuit of the park carefully avoiding all the aforementioned activities. Realising that even as we rode more and more people were making their way into the park we decided we would probably be better off heading onto the roads for our bike ride – which we did.
Eve carefully led us on the quieter roads to the Café Maz in Petts Wood where we had a coffee for ½ an hour and then led us back through some of her favourite paths and back alleys to re-emerge at a much quieter Norman Park.
Our riders did very well, group riding can be a bit challenging to begin with but our riders seemed to get the hang of it well quickly – well done. One or two will be concentrating on stopping their bikes with their brakes rather that their feet, but the road positioning was good and there was evidence of improving fitness even after just one session.
Next week we plan to do Tracey’s Parks Ride and in week four Lindsey will be delivering Bikeability Level 2.
