Freewheeling in full swing

The Freewheeling Adult cycle training project was awarded to BikeRight! by Manchester City Council in June and is now in full swing despite recent bad weather.

Over a 12 month period Freewheeling aims to provide up to 500 cycle training places for people who live, or work, in Manchester and provides cycle training for a range of abilities, including:

  • “Learn to Ride” for people who never learnt/cannot ride a bicycle.
  • Level 1 courses are for beginners and those who are not very confident about cycling and are delivered in a safe traffic free environment.
  • Level 2 courses are for those who have cycled for a while and want to develop new skills or for those who are returning to cycling after some time. This training is delivered on quiet roads with some traffic.
  • Level 3 is for cyclists who want to hone their skills and develop specific techniques for tackling busy urban areas with a view to commuting by bicycle. Level 3 is delivered on busy urban roads with complex junctions on a one to one basis.

As of Jan 2011 there have been over 400 bookings - a fantastic uptake that has gone beyond everyones expectations.

So far the majority of the adult cycle training sessions booked have been for Level 1 and Level 2 skills.  Nearly 19% of the adult cycle training places booked have been for ‘Learn to Ride’ sessions.  This indicates that there are significant numbers of adults who never learned to cycle at school. A total of 46 Level 3 training sessions have been booked – 22 sessions have been delivered, a further 6 are booked and 18 are awaiting a training session date to be allocated.

Just over 50% of the participants who have received adult cycle training reported that they currently travel to work by car. Another 21% travel to work by bus/coach (16.8%), train (1.9%) and tram (1.9%).

Good news too for those who have missed out by not working or living in Manchester, as funding had been secured to deliver more courses in Trafford, and if interest remains high BikeRight! anticipate these to be completed in record time too.

Notes to editors

BikeRight! was established in 2000 and is the leading cycle training organisation in the North West training over 12,000 individuals annually in schools, businesses and health projects. BikeRight! is committed to making cycling viable, safer and better for all. Services include Bikeability training for schools, instructor training, national standards cycle training, mountain biking skills, corporate team building courses, cycling consultancy and event management.

Awarded Business of the Year and Growth Business of the Year – awarded in January 2009 at the North West women in Business Awards.

For further information contact Andy Tucker on 0161 230 7007. andy@bikeright.co.uk