Courses Coming Up...

Bikeability Level 3 Training

New funding from the Department of Transport and Devon County Council enables us to run FREE Level 3 course for children of senior school age.

We have course running in East Devon over the Summer Holidays

Email info@execel.co.uk for more details

Course content

The initial focus of this 6 hour course is to ensure that the Level 2 skills of the trainees are sufficient to enable them to tackle more demanding on-road situations.

Thereafter, the following key elements form the core of the cycling:

Observation

Detailed, all-round observation using the senses of hearing and sight. It is important that cyclists ride on “main beam” i.e. that when looking forward, they are looking a long way ahead, so that they can plan their actions in plenty of time.

Decision-making

Deciding which of the many observations are important to their safety (hazard perception), determination of ‘priority’ in various situations and the subsequent courses of action.

Road Positioning

Generally there are 2 main cycling positions:

• The ‘normal’ riding position is approximately 1 metre from the kerb. This keeps the cyclist away from the debris that often accumulates at the edge of the road and drain covers etc. It also puts the cyclist in a position where s/he is visible to motorists and where s/he is far enough from the kerb to promote a conscious thought in the mind of the motorist as they approach for an overtake. i.e. “Do I have sufficient room to safely pass this cyclist?”
• The other position is to take the centre of the lane and is used where a cyclist needs to “guard” his position for his or her safety by keeping traffic behind them rather than it squeezing by during overtaking e.g. on narrow roads which are often found on estates, where vehicles are parked on one or both sides of a road, where there is a constriction in the road made by an island, in slow moving traffic or in a stationary queue at traffic lights.

Depending on the road conditions, a cyclist may move from one position to another several times during a particular stretch of road.  Quality observations and decision-making, which comes from practice, experience and maturity, will determine the safest position to adopt.

However, it must be remembered that the default road position if the situation becomes problematic is to pull into the kerb and either slow down or stop.

The 3 elements above are brought into play in the following road situations.

• Main city routes involving hazards such as bus stops, pedestrian crossings, parked vehicles, central islands etc.
• Roundabouts – mini and standard (This involved deciding which lane to take depending upon the direction to be taken.)
• Multi-lane and single lane junctions with traffic lights.
• Considering when it is appropriate to use the filter lane leading to the ‘Advanced Stop Line’ for cyclists at traffic light controlled junctions.
• Using shared cycle routes: considering appropriate speed, observation, giving priority to pedestrians over the cyclist, even if the pedestrian is on the incorrect path!
• Rural roads have their own challenges and these are examined if appropriate.