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Wendy

Amy

Andrew

Karen & Roj

Jodi

Steve

Milly

Trevor |
Our
aim is to work in partnership as part of a team, metaphorically speaking at
least - supporting and
helping each other by sharing our own experiences as we all
have very different but complimentary skills. Even if we are not actively working
together as most of us did for the Cornish
Bikeability
Launch
in August
2007,
at
the end of the day we all want the same thing, that being of
course to get cycle training back out into the public domain
again. It's all
part of a bigger picture ...
For
example Laura
and Amy have
worked with clients who have special needs so have practical
experience in that respect which is invaluable, there are
four such schools in Cornwall
who are looking to bring us
in to work with their students., need I
say any more?
I’m
Wendy and mum of two teenagers who are about to be
let loose on the real world – they are the reason I started
teaching the old fashioned Cycling Proficiency as it was in
those days, as they themselves missed out due to
a lack of instructors., that was back in the (very) late
90’s and again in 2001. At that point in time National
Standards, now called ‘Bikeability’ was only on the drawing
board but not yet in place. I've just learned that
although I am already Bikeability accredited, the powers
that be are trying to figure out how to consolidate it and
have again advised me that I am to be part of that pilot as
well - who am I to argue with that! Just over a year ago
I was approached about becoming an Instructor Trainer.
This means being qualified to train up Assistant
Instructors and work with provisionally accredited
Nat. Standard Instructors towards their post course
assessment confirming their accreditation. As soon as the CTSB have ratified the course, it's exactly what I plan on
doing although it has also been suggested I be part of that
pilot as well, although that clashed with both college and
the E2E.
Amy
and Laura aka
www.lily-peds.co.uk are
two
young ladies from Exeter who operate a cycle rickshaw for
which Ames, as Head Peddler had got her licence to carry
passengers until the new ruling came in so for a while
offered a green
alternative to transportation, proms, school runs, birthday
rides etc … you name it, they've peddled it and
have also
branched out to offer those who want to do the pedaling
themselves as a sustainable option - as
fellow Bikeability Instructors
they also offer up
to date training for
all ages and all
abilities in Cycle Training
..
so although their website has been pared back dramatically,
the girls are still very much involved in cycle training and
they're good so if you live in the Exeter area, do get in
touch with them ......
One of the
two
Steves I first met in my home town. Now whenever I go back to see my
parents, we tend to meet up at the local coffee
shop there and have a brainstorming session. He's no fool and has a wealth of
experience to be drawn upon. Steve is one half of the partnership
behind
www.urban-glow.com
(which includes the vest that he's wearing in the photo),
which I have to say I both like and use quite a lot, so do
teenagers and my older clients alike, as pix in
the gallery tend to confirm! In fact he's got a new
colour way of an existing product coming out in the not too distant future
and if it's ready in time, Milly and I are hoping to be
wearing them when we do our E2E in a few months down the
line!
Emma and I first worked
together the summer of 2006 in Bodmin - she was there to
back me up and was a Swimming Coach cum Lifeguard at the
time but enjoyed herself so much realising that there was so
much more to cycling and how it can be a lot of fun, that
she decided to do the next available course duly qualifying
... Her webby when she has set it up will be
www.kernickcycletraining.co.uk
and like Steve and myself, will travel out of her
immediate area. Emma and I were the instructors that Andrew
approached when he was looking to get a little more teaching
practise in before doing his final assessment to gain his
full accreditation, so we've all worked together more than
once now. More recently though, she had a skiing
accident but is finally back in the saddle and following up
a lead in the Liskeard area where she is working as a
teaching assistant before heading to Uni next year to do her
Teacher Training.
Andrew professionally,
is a Maths Teacher as well as having qualified as an NSI
himself .. a novel way to have extra maths tuition perhaps??
He and his wife (another Wendy) have a caravan down in
Portscatho and we work together if I'm running a course when
he comes down just as I go to Dartington to help him when he
takes his class out on a field trip if I am available.
Andrew's webby when it is set up, (it's currently under
construction) will be
www.alwaysbecycling.org.uk
which will be a cycling web blog.
Ditto Martin but for
different reasons., he's
a National Standards
Instructor, British Cycling Coach, Tutor and Assessor as
well as being an X-Bike (Spinning) Instructor - is there no end to his
talent one asks!? His webby is
www.southdevoncycletraining.co.uk
and he and Andrew are
planning on joining forces as they both have the same
aspirations, wanting to achieve the same outcome in terms of
cycle training, living just miles from each other in Torbay
- so if one of them isn't available,
hopefully the other one will be!
Through Roj you
can avail yourself of their camp site (Elm Farm),
alternatively the farmhouse bed and breakfast facility which
Karen runs and they have bikes available for hire as well.
Roj is also a fully qualified SMBLA Mountain Bike Leader which is
recognised by the British Cycling Federation as well
as having recently trained as an NSI. He is more
than happy to take you out on the Coast to Coast
trail, whether just as a ride leader or for a taster
session or to hone up your skills, all of which is
available through their webby. Additionally if
you want to do a basic maintenance course again Roj can help
you out there too!! Their website which will
take you to both Elm Farm and their cycling website is
via
www.thebikebarn.org
Steve Rowsell came down from
Herts a year ago and was very much part of the launch of
Bikeability in Cornwall in August 2007. He trained with
Herts and is also in the throes of becoming an ITP
(Instructor Training Provider) under their auspices ...
something which takes time but having been involved with
Bikeability from the beginning and by that I mean during
the gearing up period between Sept. '06 and March '07 it
is something he is not a stranger to. Steve's website
is
www.cornwallmtb.co.uk
- he also worked
with the Forestry Commission in Cardingham Woods ...... Steve is the first CTC Off Road
Instructor in the county under the new training scheme
and sometimes worked with Roj and Dave in that dept. but
also with me from the on road angle, covering for me
when I was at college now the grant has come into county.
He also took up the slack last summer when the Festival
of Cycling needed instructors but only contacted me at
the 11th hour, by which time I was already headed out to
the States so Steve stepped into the breach for me.
Penny
Allen
is the latest independent instructor to join our ranks
within Cornwall ~ well, just across the Tamar in
Plymouth to be more accurate ….. she isn’t just a former
primary school teacher but specialises in sport and
fitness coaching!! When we met for the first time she
told me that
it was when like myself, she was
looking for cycle training for her youngest, she
couldn't find anyone to train her which when she realised
there was a need for it in Plymouth. She has been
working with the Callington Sports Partnership
delivering cycle training to primary schools, and is
hoping to develop more training in Plymouth schools in
the future. Penny is a keen road cyclist, and if at all
possible always try and cycle to wherever she is
delivering training. Check out Penny's website at
www.penactive.com
Jodi Vickery has several cycling
strings to her bow, she is an off road (British Cycling)
competitor and British Cycling coach as well as being a
British Cycling competitor and Masters champion. She also
has a cycling business with her partner offering a wide
range of cycling services including Fit 2 Ride spinning
classes, personal fitness and 1:1 training as well as
constructing bespoke mountain bikes to order. Jodie is also
heavily involved with the "Don't Push IT" cycling club in
Bude which also has a British Cycling 'Go-Ride' affiliated
club. Jodi's main website is
http://www.dirtyjobikes.co.uk.
She was one of the first to train on a government bursary,
subsidising the cost of training/qualifying as an NSI.
Euan was a journalist
with BBC Radio Cornwall until recently when he hung up his
microphone and started working with Dave Readman, amongst other things encouraging people to
get back onto their bikes which is something he does best. Being a seasoned cyclist himself he is
in his element. He did LeJoG [whereas we are doing the
JoGLE] just over a year ago and then our
fundraising ride to Trevose Head in October '06 too but this time with his partner and
several others. His current project now .. golooksee
at
www.pedalbacktheyears.info
and he is one person that I do refer any novices to,
that I have worked with to the point that it is a question
of practice before going onto the next level if they wish to
ride on road.
Milli has his webby at
www.newcogs4old.org.uk – he recycles bikes and aims to
construct whatever is needed, wherever feasible, to make
cycling available to anyone who wants to give it a go and
is my End to End cycling partner - he
also has a collection of Crazy Bikes that he bought down for
the launch and the wonderful thing about them
.... 99.9% of them have 3 if not 4 wheels, hence are stable
which in turn means ANYONE can have a go!! He
has also qualified as an instructor and his webby for that
is
www.millypeds.co.uk
- currently he is qualified to teach on road but
hopes to qualify as an off road instructor come the summer
as well!
Jackie qualified as a
National standards instructor in 2007 and works mainly
in the North Cornwall area. She has 3 boys who all cycle
to school and love the independence that this gives
them. She has been working closely with schools in her
area to develop 'School Travel Plans' and 'Cycle to
School' initiatives. Her website is
www.cycletrainingcornwall.co.uk
Although these are all are
instructors etc. from the SW it isn't limited just to this
area - we are all part of a bigger team and I also work with
other instructors like
Steve Rowsell
who operates between Cornwall and Herts,
John Brady, who was
originally from Callington,
Heather Pearce, Anne Banks,
Liz Mincer,
Liz Bowgett,
Tom Crispin,
Richard Cooper,
Ian Davey,
Ruth Ashford,
Francesca Flaxton, and
Jill Henderson
amongst others., (Jill
being the other independent instructor involved in the
Bikeability accreditation pilot as against various
organisations and councils), bouncing ideas off each other and sharing
information between ourselves, supporting each other across the miles.
Trevor is someone I've not seen since the summer of 1971
our having both grown up
in Dorchester. He's our secret weapon and a father himself
- we wouldn't have
achieved as much as we have in such a short space of time,
even less have our website up and running which again he
masterminded
... and if I do something daft in IT terms, it'll almost
certainly be Trevor who finds the solution and bails me out
!! Thanks heavens for the cyberspace era ... I'd be in
serious trouble without it, that's for sure as it keeps the
communication channels open!

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Laura

Steve

Emma

Martin
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Penny

Euan

Jackie

Joanne
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