Have you passed your Cycling Proficiency?

[summerdays]

In another thread "cyclists are their own worst enemy", there was a quote from a member of the public saying that cyclists should have passed their Cycling proficiency in this post

I suspect that a large majority have, I know I did .... In the playground with the cones and the police officer back in 1979. Now the bloke making that statement might think that was a long time ago, but it suspect it was more recently than he took his driving test and I assume he thinks that's still valid. So have you passed either you cycling proficiency or Bikeability for those with less wrinkles

By the way I still have that triangular badge!

 

[Drago]

Passed mine in 1978 on my sister bike cos the bloke wouldn't let me use my Chopper.

 

[andyfraser]

I passed cycling proficiency 33 years ago. I don't really remember much about it although I can still picture the playground we did it in.

 

[cosmicbike]

Passed mine in the mid 1980's, cones in the school playground etc.
My kids will both do Bikeability in Year 6.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I failed, I ran into the back of a car on the way home from the second lesson. The best lesson I ever learned, always keep an eye on where you are going...

Bike frame bent so never went back.

Unreal.

 

[Sara_H]

I didn't do cycling proficiency as a child, but then I didn't really cycle as a child - cycling was mostly done in the park or such like.

I didn't start riding regularly until after I'd passed my driving test and had been driving for a few years.

A couple of years ago I had to do Bikeability to level 2 as part of a package to get a new bike cheap through a local authority schem (Bike Boost). TBH I was shocked how basic it was. In no waydoes it prepare one for cycling on our complex road system.

 

[Spinney]

About 40 years ago, mind...

I've also got a motorbike licence - pretty good at making a car driver into a much more defensive rider, and some of it reads across to bicycles.

 

[Mo1959]

Must be well over 40 years ago, but I vaguely remember steering round traffic cones in the playground. Didn't stop me coming round a corner on the wrong side of the road and hitting the headmasters car not long after though!

 

[Panter]

No. Didn't even own a bike until my late 30's!

 

[lee1980sim]

Never did it, for some reason they stopped doing it in my area when I was younger, haven't bothered since then it's not like you actually need a licence to ride or that I'll be getting any insurance discounts like advanced driving courses offer

 

[ColinJ]

Half a century ago! ()

It was the condition that my parents made before agreeing to buy me a bike. They didn't want their 9 year old son riding solo on city streets without having had some basic training on the Highway Code etc. The fact that cautious parents then felt ok about it shows how much quieter the roads were then.

I found a photo of our street taken in the early 1970s and it shows about 10-20% of the traffic and parked vehicles compared to now.

 

[DRHysted]

As above it had stopped when I got to middle school. So my training was from my mother (who cycled everywhere with us cycling).
My eldest sister passed hers (44 now), and my mother was so critical of her "correct" cycling I'm not sure I'd have been allowed to do cycling proficiency.

 

[lee1980sim]

I found a photo of our street taken in the early 1970s and it shows about 10-20% of the traffic and parked vehicles compared to now.

My old streets are like that, they used to be clear now you either zigzag / slalom along or set off and hope you get to the end rather than meeting someone in the middle

 

[summerdays]

So far I'm suprised at the % that haven't done it! I guess you assume what you have done is the norm! My kids have all done Bikeability level 2, and one did the Level 3 at secondary school.

 

[matiz]

I never did it I reckoned if you stuck rigidley to the rules you would soon get flattened I joined the self preservation society instead and rode defensively