{NB: Online survey has now closed}
A question I get asked reasonably often is whether there is any cycle training for adults around Christchurch. Sadly, at the moment, the answer is “no, not really”. We have our wonderful Cycle Safe training programme in schools but, for a cycling-friendly city, it is surprising that there hasn’t been a concerted push historically to also provide the same resources for adults who haven’t had the luxury of school training (or who wish to brush up on their skills).
This is in contrast to our big-city colleagues elsewhere. For example, in Wellington there are a range of courses for adults offered by Pedal Ready on behalf of the regional council there. Meanwhile, further north, Auckland Transport also provide a range of Cycling Skills courses, particularly over the summer months.
Not all of it is formal cycle training either, where you get out on your bike. Some people just want to brush up a bit on their understanding of road rules, learn how to maintain their bike, or get some good tips on commuting safely and efficiently. Elsewhere that type of forum has sometimes even been held with a friendly bunch of people over a quiet drink (my kind of training!). Again, there’s a bit of a lack of opportunities locally for that type of information exchange (although we have been trying to help here on Cycling in Chch with advice around legal issues, bike maintenance, and bike commuting).
In chatting to a couple of City Council staff, it appears that some behind-the-scenes discussions have been taking place to try to get some adult cycle training underway in Christchurch. For them however, the big unknown is whether there really is a viable market for offering regular opportunities to brush up on your biking skills (especially if there is a user-pays element to it as well). Potentially a safer option to start with is by simply targeting in-house training for larger organisations that have a number of people all keen to learn.
With that in mind, I have offered to undertake a bit of market research on the matter. So if you (or someone you know) lives/works in the Greater Christchurch area and might be interested in taking advantage of some cycle training here, please complete this survey {now closed}. We’ll keep it open for a few weeks and report the results back here later.
Note: if your workplace is also interested in corporate cycle training in Chch, please contact the Transport Education Team at CCC directly, so that your interest can be added to the survey data.
Are you interested in some adult cycle training/advice in Christchurch? Take the survey!