Maidenhead & Windsor

Young Maidenhead Royal Borough cyclists are gearing up for a wheelie good Easter with the borough’s second holiday cycle training course being run next week (Monday April 2 – Thursday April 5).

Next week’s course follows “hot on the wheels” of last summer’s innovative pilot course for young teenagers aged between 10 and 13 in which the young cyclists were put through their paces under the watchful eyes of Maidenhead road safety officers and community wardens, led by experienced cycle instructor Brian Houlton, a member of the borough’s licensing team.

The success of last summer’s scheme has meant demand has been high for next week’s follow-up – and on Monday ten young people will saddle up at Kidwells Park in Maidenhead for the intensive four days of theory and practice.

Philippa Baxter, Maidenhead Royal Borough road safety officer, said: “We were delighted with the success of last year’s first holiday course and hope to make these courses a regular feature of our cycle training programme.

“It is very important to be able to offer this training opportunity to youngsters who have missed out on cycle training at junior school so that they are confident and capable of cycling to secondary school independently.”

April also marks the start of Maidenhead borough’s annual cycle training scheme which regularly sees more than 500 pupils at borough schools learning the rules of the road under the guidance of volunteer instructors.

Young cyclists are taught basic road manoeuvres, road safety awareness and hazard perception, co-ordination and control by volunteer instructors trained by the borough’s road safety team.

Philippa added: “In the last couple of months we have trained nearly 60 new volunteer instructors, but we are always keen to hear from anyone else who is interested in helping to educate young cyclists in the art of safe cycling.”

For further information about becoming a volunteer instructor please contact Philippa Baxter on 01628 796577.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead