Teaching adults how to cycle

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends !

Huge apology for the delay in putting up last Sunday's report...

Blame it to the jet lag !

Two sessions...

Both busy..!

As usual, to start with Ganesh.. reporting Begur 

Quote 

"

Begur :

Nima, Nehanizar, Pradeep (with borrowed bike), new joiner Polomi, enhanced faithful Miss India (learning bike) with quick release height adjustment and new tube and Tyre in  attendance, we got rolling with the day sharp at 8 a.m. 

Newbie Polomi is getting used to the pedals, back posture, eyes on road and a dozen other instructions from the trainer for now. Nima was the brave one today who took the challenge of trying the trick to mount a bike standing on the pedal first. Something that'll help anyone overcome the challenge of bike height. While she was successful learning that and continued practicing, she had a nasty fall applying the front break soon after. Undeterred, she switched bike and continued. The fallen bike created a good opportunity for others to learn a bit about jammed brakes.

Nehanazir looked stronger today but needs more practice to shed her mild lurch. Priyadarshini, braved the added resistance of the jammed brake (released to some extent by then) and went on to practice with it. Her wobbly ride needs to get stronger and steady for turns and road readiness. We are still on a lookout for a safe zone to practice circles that Pradeep is ready for, soon to be followed by many others.

"

Unquote 

Thanks Ganesh!

Wish you luck for safer zone... Parag suggested educational institutions...their car parks are free on Sunday!

Cubbon Park report, 

 stats:

4 trainers: 

Parag, Ali, Shamala and Anil.

6 Newbies:

Kavita and Manan (mom-son duo), Jayanthi, Husna, Rama, Udaya,

8 Seniors:

Anupama, Soma, Shraddha, Swati, Archana, Suvarna, Avantika, Pramathi

Report from Parag :

Newbies

Kavita (visiting from Mumbai) came with son Mannan. Kavita had learnt as a child, and quickly mastered scooting, and then pedaling also. By the end of the session she was confidently going uphill/downhill and even turning. Mannan got into scooting, but the lurching still needs some work. Kavita is leaving for Mumbai, but she has promised she will continue cycling there, and also nudge Mannan to continue learning here.

Keerthi got balance quite well, but had trouble with lurching when she started to pedal. Got her to focus on riding straight, and by the end of the session she managed to do that well, but needs more practice and confidence.

Jayanthi was struggling with keeping shoulders and hips straight in scooting, she tried practicing scooting , tried a bit of pedaling, but went back to scooting to first correct the balancing problem.

Seniors

Soma ( husband Manish helping out) tried scooting and then pedaling for a bit, but had to leave early. Pedaling still not comfortable for Soma, and she finds the green cycles too tall fr her height. Have suggested she practices a bit at home, she has purchased a bike.

Avantika (2nd session) came with her own cycle, with dad Anil. Today was session 2 and she has progressed well into making turns, and even cycling over slightly bumpy terrain. Started learning signalling, she could be fully road ready in another session.

Anupama (old student) came with a rental bike, she is riding comfortably now, but still has some problem with managing speed in turning an estimating turning radius. Got her to practice turning, and also some hand signaling.

Shamala/Ali/Anils students who I helped a bit- they will have better details.

Pramathi has a lurching problem ,especially in pedaling dwnhill, though uphills is fine. Shamala was working with her mostly, I did a couple of rounds.

Worked with a few members of Katraj gang who were in various stages of learning, from scooting to almost there in pedaling. Shamala and Ali were working with them more than I was.

Rama had cycled earlier so balancing was fair...but needs to imbibe safe practices and should be fine with couple of sessions.

Shamala reporting :

"

I started out with Jayanthi who is a noob! But she got off to a good start - calm and composed. She was able to pick up speed downhill with her feet off the ground for the most part (Parag has better observations penned down), next session: she needs to get them up on the pedal and then that would be a good first lesson of bicycling done! She then moved on to Parag, as i took over Pramathi whose third session it was. Pramathi needs to be distracted so her natural body posture kicks in as against what she has picked up as a habit - to lurch! she is almost there, and with some unlearning and confidence she has a few more sessions before she is good to go.

"

Ali chimes in :

"

Husna a complete newbie, tried scooting but left early probably she had more pressing committments.

Udaya said she could balance but it did not bear out on the saddle..😞 and was in scooting stage when she called it a day. 

Suvarna has both lurch and pedal rhythm issues but is a great trier and eventually will get there.

Apart from above... main work was just yell 'STOP !' at any and every passing student and see the goof ups and try and set right !

Passing hello:

Manjula, an alumni, looking so smart in crisp saree, politely declined my enthusiastic call to have a spin ! I wonder why ?🙄😆

 Satya, Bicycling mayor, came in early to see the action, before a brainstorming  meeting of his brainchild:'3C' Cycling Commuter Certification, to encourage safe cycling by and for all. 

It is exciting time for cycling... so get moving !! Do not lose focus if minor issues crop up.. perseverance is the key to every door !!

Keep Pedalling till next !

Ali Poonawala 

"

[Gourav Sengupta]

Hi,

looks like there are still trees left in Bangalore :)

Special thanks for posting these amazing smiles.

On another note, did anyone miss me?

Regards,
Gourav

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[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Standing in, or should I say Foldie'ing in (more on that later) for Dr Ali who is traveling for the next few weeks, here is the report from Cubbon, and Begur where Gabbar(Sholay) would thunder - Cycle ek, aur learner 5, Bahut Naninsafi !

Begur: Trainer- Ganesh

Learners: Priyadarshini, Neha, Nima, Deepa,Polomi

Cloudy morning didn't discourage most of our regulars from showing up on time. Priyadarshini, Neha, Nima were already awaiting for the session start when I rode in. Deepa soon joined as Priyadarshini opened the day. Neha and Priyadarshini have an odd sudden off balance wobble while in good steady state. We are working on it with two theories to be the cause 1. Speed vs handle bar control 2. Background vehicle noise triggering a reaction. 

Deepa is steadily improving her balance and consistent with her balanced start. Nima needs to work on her strength, got some good squats instructions with demo from our runner Priyadarshini. 

Polomi joined mid way. With a time share of 1 bike / 5 learners in a session that had to end on time due to trainer's other plans, she had to settle down with just a short round working on shedding her fear of the left pedal. She's just starting with her small wins. 

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Shamala and her friend Sailesh, Arjun, Naga, Krishna, Parag

Newbies-Vishnu, Shruti, Sripriya, Seniors- Pramati, Preetam, Mannan Alumni-Vandana

Newbies

Vishnu is a Gr 7 student, Naga was with him all through, and they made remarkable progress. Starting with scooting, Vishnu managed to get balanced, and then even pedaling a short distance without any support.

Shruti was the star of the day. She has no prior cycling, 2 w or 4 w riding experience, having grown up in the hilly tea gardens of Assam.

She was able to scoot in a few rounds, and then picked up pedaling and was able to go up and down the slope confidently. By the end of the session, she and Pramati were learning to doing circles near the bandstand.And she worked hard the entire session, with just a couple of short breaks.

Haripriya is a Gr 4 student, the youngest learner today, and with Arjuns help tried scooting for a bit, but needs more practice. Her mom has promised to get her again next sunday.

Seniors

Pramati- Last week Pramati had a major lurch in going downhill, and some braking issues. Shamala managed to get her to shed her lurch, and she was riding straight today, both uphill and downhill.  Also tried to get her to progress to the next step of learning - to be able to take a wide u-turn. The good thing about her is that she keeps at it!! 

Preetam has learnt to balance and pedal, but has forgotten braking, had a minor fall but was back again, he is a resilient learner. His mother has promised to make him practice braking at home during the week.

Mannan Shah (2nd session) tried scooting, and then quickly moved on to pedaling and by the end was confidently riding up and down, and starting to learn to turn.

Alumni:

Vandana (Arjun's wife) came for a walk, and Arjun got her to try, but she gave up after a round and started playing badminton. On some inquiry, it seemed like a case of familiarity being the obstacle to learning/teaching, we have had many cases of spouses unable to make progress. I gave it  try, and she was happily riding in a short while, and even went out to the circle outside. She has promised to buy a bike soon and ride regularly.

Refresher session: Ria's mother who knew how to cycle but had not ridden in the last 20 years. She needed just a bit of encouragement and coaxing the first round from Shamala. Her next two rounds ended on a "Its exhilarating for me to ride after so long" note! 

We had a few adventures after the session ended. Sailesh had mistakenly locked his bike to Krishna's, and they had gone off for a walk. We called Shamala, but her phone started ringing right next to us, in her bag ;-) Luckily she was back soon. Riding back, the foldie had a puncture, so I had to drag it to Jayanagar 4th block cycle shop, which was closed, but the owner took the bike and promised to fix it, and hopefully the rattles and creaks that the poor bike has developed with all the TLC it gets from the learners every sunday. Helmets off to Dr Ali, I had a tough time riding it in the traffic today, not sure how he manages it. I took a BMTC bus which was nice and empty, and enjoyed the cool breeze, I dont know why people dont take BMTC more often ? Got home and realized , my cycle is still parked in Ali's clinic, so now I have to run back to get it !

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Here is the Bangalore Bicycling school Sunday sessions report from Cubbon Park, and Begur, we had full houses at both locations, and lovely weather.

Begur: Trainer- Ganesh

Learners: Pradeep, Deepa,Polomi

Session started on time at 8 with Deepa and Pradeep.

Deepa is comfortable enough to start, ride and stop on her own. However, she's infected with the lurching virus. More practice and focus needed to shed it. Pradeep's constant 2 hrs ride around the learning track every week reflects well on his steady ride and stops. Just a minor traces of lurch peeps out in his starts but that's negligible compared to where he was 2 weeks ago.

Polomi is still in warm up mode and shedding her fear of fall, pedal and something unknown that makes her jump off the bike (reminds me of Kushbu, a learner from a while ago who used vanish from the saddle in a blink)

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Naga, Krishna, Parag & friend Arvind

Newbies- Friends Jaya& Shobha, Sowmya, Mansi, Sisters Roja & Meena, Meghna,Astrid 

Seniors- Anupama, Vishnu,Preetam,Shrutidhara,Pramati, Prasham,Zeel 

Jaya & Shobha are both in their late 50’s and had ridden as children, but not since. They proved the “once learnt, never forgotten” aspect of cycling, and within a few rounds they were comfortable riding up and down, and even turning by the end of the secession. With Anupama's help, the spunky duo even got a rental bike and continued practicing on the bandstand circle, and have promised to turn up and teach others soon!

Meghna had cycled as a child, and made very good progress on her first day. She also set off to get a rental bike with Anupama, but we did not see her again, so maybe she just took off, happy riding to her!

Sowmya, who is a chartered accountant, was a bit hesitant as she tried unsuccessfully learning to ride as a child and still has that fear. She learnt to scoot today,with Naga and Arvind helping her out, but she is still struggling with balancing, with some practice she will pick up soon.

Mansi who is a video producer, and has never ridden before, learnt to scoot quickly, but was struggling with balancing and keeping the body straight while trying to pedal, her husband Sushant was patiently trying to help out with that, some more practice is needed.

Meena and Roja(sisters) had learnt earlier, and Roja quickly got the  hang of riding straight and turning, but Meena was struggling with balance, and spent some time learning to scoot, with Naga and Arvind helping her out. She needs to work more on controlling the brakes and turning around.

Astrid came with her daughter and grandkids almost at the end of the session, they will come to learn next weekend.

Vishnu, who is a gr 7 student, picked up from last Sunday's sesion, and Naga who was with him both sessions declared that Vishnu should be ready to hit the road by the next session.

Preetam is still not very comfortable in braking, but he is a trier!

Shrutidhara continued her progress and has mastered turning and riding over slightly bumpy terrain, next is hand signaling for her.

Lisha came after a few weeks break, but quickly got back into riding straight, and also learnt turning today.

Pramati is comfortable riding straight now, but still tends to be too fast on turns, needs some more practice on that.

Anupama came on her rental bike and continued with turning and hand signaling practice. She is now riding comfortably, she just needs to develop more road riding confidence. She is also our go-to person now to help other learners rent bikes.

Zeel came with husband Prasham,Baby Janatva(on his cycle) and Grandpa ! She is comfortably riding on the flat surface outside, but struggling on the slope and in turning.

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Here is the Bangalore Bicycling school sunday session report from Cubbon Park.

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Shamala, Naga, Krishna, Parag 

Newbies- Renuka, Sanchita

Seniors- Jaya& Shobha, Sowmya, Keerthi, Leesha, Vishnu & Aarav, Prasham & Zeel & Janatva

Today was a rare day with seniors(now including Baby Janatva!) outnumbering newbies by a big margin, and the learners kept coming at spaced intervals, so we had a good ratio of bikes/volunteers and learners most of the time, unlike last sunday where we had a bit of a backlog, with a record turnout of 18 students.

Highlight of the day was Baby Janatva with his brand new red bike, he was racing Mom Zeel on it gleefully. She is able to ride on the flat surfaces, but up-slopes are still a bit of a challenge, so is turning. But she is a fighter, and turns up and puts in her effort with a big smile.

Renuka and Sanchita were the newbies, who were learning to balance with Naga assisting them, they will need some more practice to master it.

Sowmya showed her CA discipline, and was the first one to arrive in the morning, helping us get the bikes from the parking lot, along with the Karjat gang. And she was the last student to leave, after parking the bike back, she is a really dedicated student. With some body alignment help from Shamala, she managed to crack balancing and then even got used to pedaling down, though up-slope is still a bit of a challenge.

Keerthi who is learning to cycle for her upcoming trip to Amsterdam made good progress today, starting a bit slowly on the balancing after a 2 week break, but then making up for it with a lot of enthusiasm, and getting pedaling right, both up and down.Next skill to pick up is turning.

Leesha continued smoothly from last weeks progress, and managed to learn turning completely today, and even started to do a bit of hand signaling.

Youngsters Vishnu and Aarav were Nagas students for the last 3 weeks, and they are now riding confidently. In another week we might see them riding on the road.

Friends Jaya& Shobha helpfully volunteered to get rental bikes, but it was crowded so they had to come back and wait for their turn to practice, both are now riding pretty confidently. They have promised they will be there at 8 am next sunday to be first in line at the rental, and  we hope to see them soon as BBS instructors.

[Parag Patankar]

Prabhakar,

You are  an inspiration for many of us, with the GGI ride every sunday morning, come rain or shine, and encouraging so many riders to get started.

Many other wonderful things happened after that, the BOTS (Rohan,Vasu) and IISc (Sree, Abhijit etc) gang introduced us to the Brevets and the joys of riding longer, which madmen like Opendro with his US Coast2Coast, and Anil Kadsur with his 700 days unbroken 100 km/day streak, took to dizzying distances!

There were the leisurely month end rides by Chiddu, Yogesh (we should resurrect that format), and the opposite of that the thrilling BBch races and events like Critical Mass rides and Cycle day.

It is truly blessed to be a rider in Bangalore. We are all just spokes in this wheel, keep riding.

Regards,

Parag

On Sun, Jul 3, 2022 at 9:52 PM GoGreen Rao <gogre...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Proud of you all Parag, Dr Sahab & team, keep up the good work on and keep motivating others to follow..

Regards..GoGreen Rao

Sent from Android device

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[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Here is the Bangalore Bicycling school sunday session report from Cubbon Park.

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Shamala,Naga,Sai, Krishna, Parag 

Newbies-Mohnish, Jibin

Seniors- Sowmya,Keerthi,Rohit, Roja & Meena, Prasham& Zeel & Janatva

Today started with a drizzle, but cleared up later, and learners were a bit slow in coming, and we had a good ratio of bikes/volunteers and learners most of the time. Shamala turned up to help despite having family visiting, and her niece Janhavi sportingly came along too. Krishna had to leave early, and he will miss the next two sessions. Jasbir Ji and Chandrashekhar ji turned up to say hello towards the end of the session, Chandrashekhar Ji inquired if he too could take up cycling, he used to be a state level Tennis player. We look forward to having him join the cycling gang.

I am getting jealous of Baby Janatva who came on a blue bike (he has 4), and I only have 2 ! Mom Zeel made more progress and now is able to ride on the upslopes as well,now it is just more saddle time and practice, and developing leg strength.

Mohnish is a newbie, a Gr 7 student, and the youngest learner today, and with Naga he managed to learn to scoot and then pedal.

Jibin was the other newbie, and works in banking tech. He had cycled as a child, so he was able to pick up fast, and managed to do scooting, balancing, peddling and even a bit of turning in today's session.

Rohit Datta was the second Flipkarter of the day, had gotten a rental bike, and was learning to balance with Sai and Naga assisting him.

Sowmya moved to pedaling up as well as down, but the upslope is still a bit of a challenge,Shamala helped her with that. Sowmya’s slippery shoes were causing some hindrance as well, finally she tried barefoot, and that worked.

Keerthi our original Flipkarter, is now pedaling smoothly, both up and down and has started to learn turning, next will be hand signaling.

Meena and Roja(sisters) continued from the previous session. Roja mastered turning today, and also zig-zagging, and is starting on hand signaling. Meena had some challenges with balance and pedaling, but with some expert guidance from Shamala, she was able to overcome that, and was starting on learning to turn.

Chaithra came at the end, she was walking in the park with her family, and decided to inquire, and has registered for next sunday.

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Here is the Bangalore Bicycling school Sunday session report from Cubbon Park. Rain and sun played hide and seek for most of the session, but never enough to disrupt the proceedings. And we had a nice geometric progression of  4 trainers, 8 cycles, and 16 learners !

Jasbir Ji and Chandrashekhar Ji came to say hello, they seem to know an amazing number of people in the park. Jasbir Ji said he is usually in Cubbon from 8.30 am till 1 PM, he even carries his breakfast to the park !

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Shamala, Naga, Vivek, Parag 

Newbies- Chaithra, Jyothi, Sanoop, Ranjith, Parth, Julie

Seniors- Mohnish, Jibin, Sowmya, Keerthi, Rohit, Roja & Meena, Prasham& Zeel & Janatva

Chaithra had dropped in late last week, and registered, today was her first session, and she managed to crack balance and pedaling quite easily, and is ready to do turns. She was one of the 2 State street folks today.

Star of the day was Jyothi (friend of Karjat gang) , who had never ridden before, but cracked balancing in 1st downhill stretch, pedaling in the 2nd, and turning in the third. The secret to her progress was that she is a Scooter driving trainer, and we requested her to come and teach cyclists as well.

Ranjith had learnt as a child, and with Viveks help, he was able to balance , pedal and turn by the end of the session.

Parth is another 7th grader, and with Naga’s coaching, managed to balance , and pedal too. Curiously enough, most of our recent kid learners have all been 7th graders, and all ended up as Naga’s proteges.

Julie came with a bunch of friends, and they were cajoling her to ride. On asking, she said she had learnt earlier (at BBS!) , and comfortably did one downhill and uphill round, and then in the next round , forgot to brake fully, put her foot down before the cycle had stopped, and took a small tumble, but she took it in her stride.Maybe we need to reinforce the safe braking lessons more.

Sanoop said it's his first intro to a bicycle. He needs some more time to get comfortable on the bike. His main issue is overthinking it but with some confidence he should be able to crack it in a couple of sessions. Shamala was working on getting his balance right so he is able to comfortably scoot the stretch of the downhill.

Mohnish brought his new bike, and in his second session today, managed to learn most of the drills with Naga, signaling is next.

Jibin and Rohit Datta had both gotten rental bikes, and are now riding comfortably,and doing turns to some extent, but next week they should be road ready.

Sowmya moved to pedaling well on downhill and flats, but uphill remains a bit of a challenge.

Keerthi is now pedaling and turning smoothly, and also riding confidently uphill, and started on hand signaling, she has 1 week to practice before she goes off to cycle in Amsterdam.

Zeel is riding comfortably now, just needs a bit more practice, Prasham also took a few rounds, and Janatva was cycling all the time.

Mannan Shah came over to say hello at the end. He was meeting friends today, and will come next sunday.

[Parag Patankar]

Hi Cyclists,

Here is the Bangalore Bicycling school Sunday session report from Begur (Thanks to Vivek for stepping in while Ganesh is away) and Cubbon Park, which was quieter as the runners were off at some event, and the weather was cloudy and cool. 

Begur: Trainer- Vivek, Learner- Priyadarshini. 

Priyadarshini was comfortable with balancing and turning, and warmed up with a few rounds and U turns in the DLF inner road with light traffic. Only stumble was at the apartment entrance gate when there were few vehicles. The spot for learning to do turns was not ideal, but she took it as a challenge and managed to do circles, but Figure 8 was a challenge and she had a few stumbles. With some practice she should be able to ride on the roads with traffic. Vivek suggested she buy a bicycle and practice on her own.

Cubbon Park- Trainers: Shamala, Naga, Parag 

Newbies- Madhurima, Anita, Clement, Dhruv 

Seniors- Sowmya, Leesha, Sanoop, Ranjith, Jibin, Manan

Madhurima is an educational designer, and has never cycled before. Shamala helped her to get to scooting, and a bit of pedaling.

Dhruv (8y) was the youngest learner today, and came with his bike that has the trainer wheel still on it. He knows how to ride, but lacks confidence in balance. We removed the trainer wheels, and within a few rounds he was riding confidently, and is looking forward to buying a bigger bike, he has outgrown this one.

Star of the day was Cleman, who had never ridden before, but cracked balancing in 1st downhill stretch itself,and pedaling in the 2nd, and by the end of the session was even doing a bit of turning.

Anita came towards the end and learnt to scoot, she needs some more practice to pedal confidently.

Seniors

Leesha mastered doing turns well today, and started on hand signaling. Sowmya is pedaling well on downhill and flats, but uphill remains a bit of a challenge, so she practiced on the Bal Bhavan stretch today.

Sanoop managed to get comfortable on the bike today and cracked pedaling with Shamala’s help, he needs to build some leg strength to tackle the uphill.

Jibin got a rental bike, and practiced doing turns, started on and bit of hand signaling.

Ranjith  learnt to turn by the end of the session, and will start hand signaling next.

Manan was a bit rusty after the long break, but he practiced hard and got comfortable doing the up,down and started doing turns.