Christchurch City Council has announced it is funding more classes for adults to polish their bike riding skills as residents feel the pinch of inflated fuel prices.
Paul Odlin has been running the classes for adults for the last five years. The council has allocated a further $15,000 to the classes to encourage more adults onto bikes.
“We start with the basics like how to check and fit a helmet, how to use the brakes and gears correctly then move onto more advanced skills like riding in traffic with confidence and safely navigating complex intersections,” said Mr Odlin.
“It’s a cool thing to see people get more confident on a bike, it’s a great way to get around so the more people we can get on bikes, the better.”
Class participant, Rachel, said she is feeling confident on two wheels after recently attending the bike course.
“I moved to Christchurch from Wellington six weeks ago and noticed straight away how bike friendly the city is, so I wanted to gain more confidence on my bike so I could cycle to work,” she said.
“We started at the Hagley netball courts learning the basics then we graduated to the road and cycled in groups around the city a bit.”
She says the course was fantastic and she now feels a lot safer, cycling and interacting with traffic.
“We learnt how to navigate hook turns, cycleways and how to navigate traffic, it was great.”
“Taking the course boosted my confidence massively, I’m really loving cycling around, I’m so glad I did the course.”
Workshops are delivered in a series of three with each session building on the skills learnt from the previous.
Sessions are open to anyone aged 16 years old and over. You do need to be able to pedal unassisted to take part in these courses and bring your own bike.
For more information and to book a class, read more here: Adult bike skills : Christchurch City Council.
