Level 1 cycle training is basic control skills - playground based.
Level 2 cycle training is on-road training - residential roads and
minor junctions.
Level 3 cycle training is road awareness - busier roads, roundabouts
and traffic light junctions (I include night time cycling in the
course I have devised).
I ran my first Level 3 cycle training session today. The focus was
roundabouts.
I selected two mini roundabouts and one slightly larger roundabout,
for left turns, going ahead and right turns. For those who know SE
London the roundabouts locations can be found by going to
www.multimap.com and putting in these grid references:
Left Turn - TQ39327625
Straight On - TQ40487662
Right Turn - TQ40137647
I had 8 trainees (ages 10/11) and a co-instructor, giving a 1:4
instructor:trainee ratio. The lesson was between 3 and 5pm so the
light faded while we were out. The weather was light to moderate rain
showers. The trainees all wore Hi-Vis tabards and had front and rear
lights - some front lights, I felt, did not provide sufficient
visibility - cheap amber ones provided by TfL.
At the left turn drill the trainees cycled in a small triangle, each
leg about 100m. Similarly, at the right drill they cycled in a small
triangle - perhaps 75m, 50m, 75m. At the going ahead drill the
trainees went up and down the road, doing U-turns at about 100m from
the roundabout.
The first drill was fine. Traffic was piled up at the roundabout and
the trainees waited in the primary riding position to turn left.
At the second drill site traffic flowed freely, and began to feel that
the trainees never really understood priority at roundabouts,
explained as: anyone already on the roundabout has priority, and you
must give way to traffic from the right - but watch out for traffic on
the left not giving you right of way when they should.
At the third drill site I started to have some serious concerns. The
trainees were signalling either too early or too late. They paid to
little attention to traffic from the right - resulting in one heart
stopping moment for me, although it could hardly be called a near miss
as white van man was never closer than about 15 feet to the trainee
when he stopped on the roundabout!
Was it the fading light and poor weather conditions that made the
drills progressively less successful? Was it the increasing technical
difficulty of the manoeuvre? Was it my complete lack of experience
instructing at Level 3? Were the drill sites chosen inappropriate?
On the latter point, I cannot think of three better drill sites for a
first experience of tackling roundabouts unescorted on a bicycle.
Any pointers from other National Standard instructors, or experienced
cyclists would be helpful. I'm repeating the lesson with another
group tomorrow - 1.15 - 3.20pm - so at least it will all be in
daylight.