Bike Buddy

Just zis Guy said:

Today I are been mainly being a Bike Buddy. Dan at work
decided to try cycling home form the office, on a borrowed
18-speed el-cheapo mountain bike (think steel wheels). I
did some basic adjustments (and wished I had an oil can),
put some wind in the tyres and off we set.

Despite being offered the excellent services of Messrs.
First Great Western at every station, he persisted and
rode the whole distance, just short of 25 miles, wich I
think is a fantastic achievement for someone who hasn't
even ridden a bike for 15 years.

Maybe a coincidence, but I was doing the same today.

It is extremely satisfying to see someone achieve a goal in
cycling first hand, and hats off to Dan for having a go and
to Guy for encouraging him.

Today I 'bike-buddied' a chap from a care home to his work
place 5 miles away. What is remarkable is that when I first
met him three weeks ago he couldn't ride a bike and lacked
any confidence to ride in traffic. He was shaking at the
prospect. The challenge was to train a complete non-rider to
cycle to work.

After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-
park, followed by some quiet residential roads, he was
introduced to roundabouts and HGVs just a week ago. Today I
led him a route into the centre of Southampton which
included some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I let
him lead the return. The smile on his face when he told his
friends what he had done was tremendous.

He is to do the ride himself later this week - I
believe he will.

Acting as a bike buddy (although I hate the term) is one of
the best ways to get people out on two wheels.

if you read this Richard - you were brilliant. Well done.

John

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:51:27 +0100, JohnB <[email hidden]> wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-
park, followed by some quiet residential roads, he was
introduced to roundabouts and HGVs just a week ago. Today I
led him a route into the centre of Southampton which
included some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I let
him lead the return. The smile on his face when he told his
friends what he had done was tremendous.

Superb!

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Just zis Guy said:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 20:51:27 +0100, JohnB
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

After an hour of basic skills on a community centre car-
park, followed by some quiet residential roads, he was
introduced to roundabouts and HGVs just a week ago. Today
I led him a route into the centre of Southampton which
included some typical busy multi-laned junctions, and I
let him lead the return. The smile on his face when he
told his friends what he had done was tremendous.

Superb!

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle
after posting. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

I managed to get my flatmate who has not ridden a bike for
10 years and whose previous longest distance was about 8
miles to Whalley Bridge and back from Manchester city
centre. This included two or three [censored] size hills so the
guy done good. He was on my mtb with slicks which climbs
like a beast which helped somewhat, and he often resorted to
using the easiest gear and just spinning up at about 2mph.
At the end of the day he managed around 35miles which is a
pretty good effort. He didnt stop complaining about his
saddle sores though! 🙂

"David Waters" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I managed to get my flatmate who has not ridden a bike for
10 years and whose previous longest distance was about 8
miles to Whalley Bridge and back from Manchester city
centre. This included two or three [censored] size hills so
the guy done good. He was on my mtb with slicks which
climbs like a beast which helped somewhat, and he often
resorted to using the easiest gear and just spinning up at
about 2mph. At the end of the day he managed around
35miles which is a pretty good effort. He didnt stop
complaining about his saddle sores though! 🙂

Next step, take him on a track taster session!

cheers, clive