Teaching adults how to cycle : Cubbon Park session 30 07 2023

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends...

Cubbon report...delayed !

Great weather..

Great friends 

Great students !

Nowadays..whatever time I reach Cubbon...someone has beaten me to it ! Junaid, Greenpeace trainees and early birds like Arpita, Sharath and Shankar were already there to take out the bicycles and I just carried the banners !!

Trainers:

Junaid, Ali, Parag, Sadiq

Newbies: 8

Radhika, Kritika, Avirup + Aurko twins Mom Arunima, Princy, Pushpa, Sony,

Seniors: 15

Arpita, Avanita, Harshitha, Keerthi Sagar, Manjushaa, Priyanka, Ranjitha, Rohini, Shashwati, Shaswath, (Shankar), Sharath, Shweta, Urmila, Vandana, 

Trainees 8

Greenpeace 6 Manjula, Shobha, Aruna, Deepika, Poonamdevi, Renu

KBDA 2

Gayathri, Muralidharan.

Hello :

CifoS : Nidhi

Sankalp family.

I was more occupied with the assessment of the trainees and probably the students got a short shrift due to that..

Shankar was feeling giddy so rested and then sad news of his uncle passing away came in, cutting short his session for the day.

Avirup was  partly taught resting position and a bit of half Pedalling too, although reaching the brakes was an issue and Mom Is going to try out Sadashivnagar, being nearer home, with own cycle.

Pushpa was another newbie, who made good progress, till had a small fall on an unsupervised ( Hubby Kumaran helping)  downhill run. 

 

Suggestion to keep asessment of trainees on a non-sunday came from Junaid,  but without students, it would not be a true assessment of practical skills.

Nidhi became the mock student for some trainees and I think enjoyed the part herself !

Parag's report :

"

Newbies

Sony - She is a software engineer, and was quick to pick up static balancing. But with scooting struggled a bit to stay balanced, with a tendency to lean to one side. She paired up with Manjushaa and both of them practiced scooting down, and up, and a bit of half pedaling going up.

Manjushaa - Her second class, but last time she did not get much time to practice, and continued with learning to scoot today.

Radhika- Lawyer turned copywriter, she started with scooting today. She needs some practice and letting the cycle roll a bit faster to scoot properly.

Kritika - Radhikas colleague and Engagement manager at an Ad firm, she had cycled earlier, and was able to get to the basics of pedaling quickly. Will need some practice on the safety , signaling etc to be ready to ride on the road.

Arunima - Started with scooting today

Seniors

Urmila- Cracked riding one handed, and started on signaling. With another week of practice, should be ready for Cubbbon circular. She also helped Soni and Manjusha with scooting for a bit.

Priyanka- Confidently riding and signaling now, she is ready for the circular. Both she and Urmila have promised to become BBS teachers.

Vandana- Came with her own bike, with daughter Devina. Is able to pedal downhill, uphill was a bit of a challenge, but with some saddle height tweaking she managed to do the full uphill in after a few rounds of stopping half way. Both of them have promised t come for the Circular with their friend Neeta.

Shashwati- Came after a break, and did zig zgs, and turning and started with signaling. She is planning a trip to Austria and wants to cycle there, and has promised to practice for the next 2 weeks before she goes.

Shweta- Cracked balancing today, and managed to ride down well, struggled a bit with riding uphill, but she stuck to it and will master it by next week.

Shashwath- Mastered riding straight up and down, and started with zig zags.

Harshita- Continued with zig zags and turning.

"

Thanks Parag 🙏💐

Junaid's report :

"

🌟 Swetha - Promptly on time and eager to learn! Started with scooting and attempted to balance. More practice in the coming weeks will lead to mastery! #CyclingEnthusiast #BalanceChallenge #KeepPracticing

🌟 Arunima - A first-timer getting the hang of cycling. With a couple more sessions, she'll be riding like a pro! #NewCyclist #LearningToRide #CyclingJourney

🌟 Avirup & Aurko Twins with Mom Arunima - Although the bikes were a bit big, they had a great start. Coming back next week with smaller bikes to conquer the pedals! #CyclingFamily #FutureCyclists #FamilyFun

🌟 Radhika - Overcoming bike rental hurdles, Radhika confidently started cycling. Next week, she'll begin scooting to enhance her skills further! #ConfidentRider #ScootingAhead #OvercomingChallenges

🌟 Kritika - Back after a break, Kritika pedaled gracefully. Welcome back to the cycling journey! #CyclingAfterBreak #GracefulRiding #KeepPedaling

Let's celebrate the progress and determination of our amazing participants. Looking forward to more exciting sessions next week!

"

Thanks Junaid 🙏👍

We continued the trainee asessments while students did their riding. Decided to have a confirmation video to see their unsupervised training skills before giving the 'Pass'  verdict.

This session did not give me the feeling I am doing justice to everyone... who have taken time from their schedule to come over.🥺😔 ' got swamped' seems a good description!

Salute students... for their perseverance despite our shortfalls...Hope is, they become roadworthy and may be, some of them become trainers wherever they live... !

Till next weekend 

Keep Pedalling 

Ali Poonawala