Teaching adults how to cycle

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends !

PedalShaale event was the highlight of this morning.

To attend this, Ganesh had to cancel Begur session and Cubbon session was preponed.

The pandal was already set up with KBDA ( Karnataka Bicycle Dealers Association) team present in full strength  there as I reached our primary teaching area.  

Trainers: 8+3 = 11

Parag, Suma, Junaid, Naga prakash, Ali, Naresh, Ganesh(KBDA) Chiddu ( Opendro, Ganesh, Krishna)

Newbies: 8

Deepa, Arunava, Sappana, Pooja, Radha,Vidya, Nitya, Navatha

Seniors: 14

Debarpita, Kamalini, Anupama, Amala, Monica, Akshara, Sejal, Shailashree, Swagata, Siddaraju, Meenakshi, Shreya, Smriti, Susanya

Hello : PedalShaale atendees, trainers, GoGreen Initiative members headed by Prabhakar "Go Green" Rao,  CifoS team of Sathya , Chandrashekar ji, 

After cycles were retrieved from their resting space, we all were embroiled into trying to rotate the cycles amongst seniors and newbies.. all clamouring to maximise their saddle time.

I started with Orunova, Suma an eager trainee, took over during scooting stage.

Susanya Akshara and Sejal all still struggling with balancing, Sejal's problem being the reach. She is a fighter though and slowly getting there.

Parag's report :

"

Newbies

Deepa- A radiologist from St Johns, Deepa quickly grasped static balancing and did some scooting, and a bit of half  pedaling towards the end.

Sappna - The second Doctor newbie today, She managed to do scooting quickly, and has moved on to pedaling.

Seniors

Amala- Continued from last sundays session and managed to pedal up and down comfortably, and started zig zags. She also helped Deepa and Debarpita with scooting.

Debarpita - Managed to crack scooting today, and got going with pedaling.

"

Thanks Parag👍💐

Naga's report :

19Mar: 

Students: Meena, Shreya

Trainer: Naga

*Meena:* This is her 2nd class. She was able to pedal but need to concentrate on braking. Other point to improve on body posture. While pedaling uphill she is leaning towards front putting pressure on shoulders.

*Shreya:* A 6th grade student came for her 2nd class. Initially she looked nervous but in next few minutes she picked up. She was pedaling well downhill but uphill she has to  practice a lot. But it's a good progress. Keep up Shreya.

" 

Thanks Naga..👍💐

Naresh's report :

"

Hi Ali Sir..

I was able to assist three atudents.

Radha:She is a Amature. Learnt Basics. Done three rounds of scooting.confident on down hill. Was able to lift either of the legs for few sec..Next session half pedaling.

Vidya:First timer.Basics done. Scooting four rounds done.Able to pull off smoothly...

Pooja:was handed over to me by Junaid sir.Done two rounds of scooting. Struggling with up hill balancing.Half pedaling practice pending.

"

Thanks Naresh.. 💐🙏

Suma's report:

"

Susanya.. was a bit scared initially because of her childhood fear of falling off the  cycle.. but could manage to scoot well n a very eager learner too

Arunava .. his first time ever.. seems like a quick learner … could manage to scoot well n maintain his body balance at the end of the season

"

Thanks Suma🙏💐

Junaid :

"

Sappna was the star of the day, she got it right the first time and off she went on her own with awesome confidence.. impressive ! keep it up !

next was Pooja from Karjat gang she was also very confident for a first timer, she was also balancing well by the end of the session, she would need to practice, 

"

Thanks Junaid👍💐

Rohit turned up late and couldn't be supevised and walk ins too will have to come next weekend...

PedalShaale:

Is a dream ...hope it comes true !

Upscaling of what we have been doing at BBS; teaching adults who have missed out on cycling during childhood, free of charge.

Beautifuly named, This initiative stitched together by Sathya Shankaran of CifoS (Citizens for Sustainability).  to use cycle stores as nodes and their mechanics as nodal trainer to provide teaching to students and other trainees, free of charge to students.

DULT ( Department of Urban Land Transport, Karnataka Govt) with Ms Manjula  spearheading, providing finance and direction and KBDA,  a nascent body headed by Mr. Nilesh Shah giving logistics, duly reimbursed by DULT.

BBS has trained twenty of trainers from various stores and provided illustrated manual as soft copy for PedalShaale, completely free of charge, as our contribution to this programme and like all loving parents, are, excited as well as anxious, about future of this baby !

May this unique programme help our dream...of spreading Cycling to all able people of Karnataka and then perhaps further beyond.

Keep Pedalling

Ali Poonawala 

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends !

We had both sesions today..

As is customary, Begur to start with :

Naga Prakash reports:

"

26Mar: Reporting from Begur 

Students: Nilanjan, Bhagya, Koushik

Trainer: Naga

*Nilanjan:* First to reach the venue and was waiting for close to 10 mins. I have collected the training bicycle from Ganesh's apartment reached by 8:40. This is his 2nd class. He was not comfortable on scooting so asked to practice more. He has huge lurching issue. So fully focus on body balancing only. Don't you worry Nilanjan, just keep practicing!!

*Bhagya:* An IT professional who just had an hour training in her childhood aims to learn and goal is cycle to work. Appreciate that Bhagya. Call it muscle memory or something she picked so quickly and able to pedal easily. Check the video. good progress, keep it up!!

*Koushik:* A 5th standard student accompanied by his father. While i was teaching the other 2 and Koushik was waiting, and when his turn came he was hesitant due to the traffic on the road. Had to convince a lot to try first. Finally he took courage to start, but after few he said he can't. Couldn't insist much but suggested to join us at Cubbon park. Hope to see him at Cubbon next week.

"

Thanks Naga!💐🙏

Cubbon Park session:

The summer is here but some clouds too, to give some respite. Reached early and saw the teaching area was a mess..from yesterday's Habba pandal poles, tiles strewn and deserted stalls except one, a darshini type, next to Jaivic mall with people milling around like flies. 

Rajasthani gang have taken over from the Katraj people in getting the cycles from the stadium. Sneha was an eager beaver, and helped too.

Trainers : 8+1 

Parag, Junaid, Chiddu, Aneerudd, Ali, Krishna, Hitesh, Sachin (Ruchita)

Newbies: 10

Sneha, Hetal, Reshma, Shabin, Tanushea, Torsha, Varsha,  Nagalakshmi, Swapana, Yamuna

Seniors : 13

Amla, Anuradha, Akshara, Debarpita, Lianna,  Manjusha, Pooja, Sappna, Swati, Shailashree, Rohit, Vidya, Yashasvi

Hello:

Chandrashekar ji, Prabhakar 'GoGreen' Rao with friend (?name.. apologies😩), Manju George, Shamala, Sathya, Needhi, Nileshbhai,  Deep with Shadow 

Sneha was my first student, she was scooting but good balance is yet to be attained. Ruchita spent some time guiding her and she attempted pedalling with another colleague.

Pooja was next, learnt half pedaling but needs to keep her body still while complete peddaling for better directional control.

Anupama is struggling with uphill starts because of placing left foot again on ground, instead of on pedal. Significant lurch makes job more difficult ! 

Shailashree got a newer rental bike which although not too high, she could  not ride comfortably and had a tumble with foot getting caught up and took a while to recover from dizziness, aggravated by being in sun. She is mentally very strong and refused help to reach the road for an auto. 

Nagalakshmi was walk in, brought by Neha and Babloo, our ex students. Neha is now going to 12th and Babloo 9th.. how time flies!

Lianna's second session but finding tough to balance during scooting, using feet as brake and not using hands to bring  the bike to the 'middle' well yet.

Parag's report:

Newbies

Reshma- International swimmer, and marathoner, Reshma has not cycled before. She did the static balancing very quickly, then got started with the scooting bike and practiced getting the balance right. There is a bit of a shoulder wobble which we worked on, before starting with pedaling towards the end of the session. Within a couple of rounds she was able to pedal up as well as down. Next step is to get rid of the shoulder wobble and ride straight.

Seniors

All the seniors got rental bikes, though some of them had a bit of a struggle with the bike height. 

Amala - Practiced zig zagging, turns and started on hand signalling. She also helped Reshma by lending her the rental bike, and showing her scooting with one leg on the pedal.

Manjusha - Practiced riding straight up and down, followed by zig zagging and turns.

Swati - Practiced riding straight up and down.

Debarpita- Managed to crack the balance today and rode confidently up and down, next up it turning.

At the end, I rode Manjushas rental bike which was too tall for her, she took Shailashree's, and Amala, Debarpita and Rohit also managed to ride confidently together all the way to the rental station to drop off the bikes.

"

Thanks Parag 💐👍 

Junaid's report:

"

Hetal was the first to start, she did well within the first couple of rounds and was doing great !

Sappna was trying to turn and circle without stopping, and would need more practice. 

The Star of the day was Varsha ! who was a total fresher and she got it right the first time, impressive performance indeed !!! 🌟🌟 🌟  🌟  🌟

Tanushea  walked in and wanted to try it ! and she got it right the first time around ! 🌟🌟🌟

Shabin Belliappa a first timer was doing just great initially, and seem to have lost confidence , she is able to balance, but would need to practice big time in the coming weeks,

Torsha needs to get her balancing right, will happen in a couple of weeks time, if she is regular !

"

Thanks Junaid 🙏💐

Chiddu's report :

"

Varsha -- she managed to balance okay but the session was cut short when her young daughter didn't like it when mom was away for too long.

 

Sheezan** (I keep getting the name wrong) did very well in balancing but she couldn't keep the cycle straight while pedalling, unfortunatley lack of space and cycle constraints meant we had to call it off today. She can balance and pedal for a while, i think it is just the question of her gaining some leg strength.

Akshara (related to Varsha?)`` small girl, she can ride but keeps looking down and doesn't have confidence, she'll be fine, she's a really young girl (10 or 11 years old ?

"

Thanks Chiddu !🙏💐

**Shabin.

``Varsha and Akshara are both from Katraj gang !

Krishna's report:

"

Krishna reporting,

A great day at the arena. Vidya was my student. She had done a bit of scooting in last week's session. Was unsure if she had learned anything much.  Her performance directly with pedals was the test that she had perfected balancing at the level of good student. She was able to  pedal up and down the slope almost perfectly. A little more energy will take away a small lurch which she has at the end of gradient. I have told her the knack of throw the body weight forward to gain better balance than lurch to balance. She understood and doing better. May be 3 classes to be road worthy. 

Unusually, we had almost the complete band of volunteers. Great day.

Star studded day, reshma millet, memory prodigy°°, international yoga guru with Guinness record^^ and his mother.

A few others I engaged was for short stints. Did not mention.

"

Thanks Krishna 👍💐

°° Swapana

^^ Shreyas

Anirudd's report :

"

Anupama:

A lady is trying to relearn how to ride a bicycle after many years. She struggled today due to nervousness, leading to her leaning on her right leg. I encouraged her, and she began starting and stopping on her left leg with full brakes. She found the brakes challenging to use as they were hard to fully engage. Climbing uphill was difficult for her, but downhill was easy due to gravity. I advised her to push hard with her left leg and use her right leg's strength to pedal forward. Despite feeling nervous, she persevered with my encouragement. She was afraid of her teacher, Mr. Ali, but I reminded her that teachers can be strict while teaching new things. I realized she was becoming overly nervous and fearful. Overall, with some push and encouragement, she is making progress.

Manjusha:

A determined young lady struggled with a rental bike due to her short height, making it hard for her to reach the ground and causing nervousness. After taking deep breaths, I lent her my bike to overcome her fear and encouraged her to ride all types of bicycles despite the challenges. I supported her in learning how to stand on the bike while still and suggested she rent a low frame bike to make learning easier. Despite getting tired and dizzy quickly, she is ready to attend the next training session and learn to ride confidently

"

Thanks Anirudd 🙏💐

Sachin' s come back, after about 3 years, unlike his batting namesake, was complete surprise !

Sachin's report

"

Hello Dr Ali...

I don't remember the lady's name¶ Please help in this regard 😅.

Report:

I just got her to do scooting practice for 4 rounds. Towards the end she understood the basics of scooting.. However would need practice in the upcoming sessions. She also needs to build a sense of direction where the bicycle is moving.

"

Thanks Sachin !🙏💐

¶ Yamuna was Sachin's student today.

After keeping the bikes and Parag having returned Shailashree's rental bike we wound up.

The session, at times satisfying, but also some uncomfortable moments too..  chatotic one in some sense, but then..

we haven't been promised linear progression in life anyway !!

Till next weekend 

Keep Pedalling !

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends !

Summer is amidst us in its dazzling glory !

Both sessions took place..

Begur first : 

Naga Prakash reports:

"

02Apr: Reporting from Begur 

Students: Nilanjan, Bhagya, Reena

Trainer: Naga

*Nilanjan:* 3rd session. Made a good progress today. Able to scoot, but still lurching is there. Keep it up.

*Bhagya:* Due to some work she had to leave early and was able yo spend just 10mins. She can pedal without support but has to focus on brakes.

*Reena:* Grade 3 kid who resumed after 2 weeks of gap. She is able pedal (scooting was not an option as the height of the cycle doesn't support). But need lots of focus on speed control and a bit of balance. Good progress Reena. Join us next week.

" 

Thanks Naga !🙏👍💐

Cubbon Park session:

A horde of people with similar Tees crossing at UB City jn into the Cubbon was first indicator of "Ahimsa run" where most people were in a walking event... got me a bit anxious but fortunately it did not affect our primary teaching area  proceedings !

Marwadi gang, including their newbie Jalak, helped out and Naina was the eager beaver 🦫 this time ! 

Trainers:

Junaid, Aneerudd, Parag, Ali

Newbies: 9

Naina, Jalak, Shashwati, Vinu, Keertana, Poovamma, Meghana, Anagha, Vishnu

Seniors: 13

Deepa, Reshma, Shriya, Smriti,  Swagata, Debarpita, Siddaraju, Liana, Dr Kamalini, Anuradha, Shabin, Torsha, 

Pooja

Hellos :

Chandrashekar ji. ( With home made toffees for Junaid and me ! 💐 )

I started with Jalak, she was scooting with help from her dad..still some way to go before gets her balance 

Shabin has to get sequential pedalling rhythm apart from pronounced starting lurch which unbalanced her in upslope.

After that, my contribution was random shouts of 'STOP!', at saddled students passing bye, to see if they were doing so safely and giving an earful if they erred. Also, teaching half pedal to some of them . And not to forget...cajole the herd for group pic ! 😉

Parag's report :

"

All Seniors today

Deepa- Moved to pedaling today, but has a tendency to move the shoulders, needs a bit more practice to stay straight.

Reshma - After a round of scooting, Continued with pedaling, still has a bit of a lurch, but is able to pedal up and down.

Shriya- First of the twins, she Cracked pedaling, and turning today. She fluently rode Swagata's rental bike also.

Smita- The second twin, can balance and pedal, bur tends to keep her foot down instead of continuing pedaling, should be ready with some practice.

Swagata- Practiced turns, circles, figure8's and started with hand signaling today.

Debarpita- Is confidently riding up and down now, next will be circles and signaling.

Siddaraju- Practiced signaling,and even rode outside the park for a bit today.

Sandeep- Met us while we were riding out, he is riding confidently in the park, and is ready for a spin outside the park, maybe we will do a ride next sunday for the seniors who are road ready.

"

Thanks Parag 💐👍

Suma's report :

"

Today’s session at cubbon

1. Liana -  Dressed in tight clothes n slippers which was restricting her movement. Still needs to learn balancing n scooting.. 

2. Anagha .. a little one… her size cycle was not available but seemed focus n could pedal well with little help .. 

3. Dr. Kamalini n Anuradha .. have requested me to help them learn cycling in Malleshwaram which can be done during the coming week . 

That’s all from my end. All of u have a great day ahead 😇

"

Thanks Suma ! 🙏💐

Junaid's report:

"

Naina Vijay Bhat was the first off the block, and did started off shakily but got going as if she was doing this all the time ! the star of the day with Vishnu, who was very scared at first and started off very confidently with his mom watching, impressive for a first timer !

Nexxt was Smriti, one of the twins, she has been trying to get her balance right for a couple of weeks now, and today she finally cracked it and was riding like a charm ! she would need to practice more to get her confidence right ! 

Torsha was making some headway with her balancing and she would be able to get it in the next session !

Shashwati was the other and was practicing the turning and will have to come next week to practice more,   Last were the look alikes poovamma and  Meghana, Poova and Meghu for short, who were gliding/scooting for some time and they would need to come next week to start balancing.

"

Thanks Junaid 💐🙏

We wrapped up after parking the cycles and a bit of "gup shup" in Jaivic shop's shade, discussing buying bicycle for newbies and having Cubbon circular ride for this Sunday, in which trainers chaperone newbies on the road around the Cubbon. Details soon.. 

till then

Keep Pedalling 

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends

Both sessions took place,

Begur session to start with

Ganesh's report:

"

Begur, 9-Apr-2023

Trainer 1, Learner 2

Nilanjan started with scooting and was not confident pedaling with both legs. Found that while lifting his left leg off ground, he was also shifting his body weight a lot to his left, throwing him off balance. Once we understood the issue, he was quick to correct it as well as working on a bad lurch that followed. He worked on his back posture very well to minimize the lurch to a great level towards the end of the session and was enjoying his straight line rides around the track.  

Regular Rinaaz is quite fine with balanced straigh line rides now. However, all the while she was not starting on her own. Today, we worked on her understanding the importance of initial effort to get going while balancing to get the left leg off ground. A sort of reverse step, we went back to scooting for her to understand it even though she is fine with balancing. More  on this in future sessions for her to independently start riding soon. Meanwhile, watching Deepshika and parents trying hard to get her learn, Rinaaz's dad walked up to them and introduced us and had them onboarded 😇, that's the way it works 👍🏼

"

Thanks Ganesh !🙏💐

Cubbon Park session:

I was excited !

This was the revival day for Cubbon Circular !🤞

Weather was warm and there wasn't going to be much of a cloud cover, so took extra cold water for some students who may want.

Junaid had already brought out couple of bikes so with our Marwadi friends got others too. 

Trainers: 5

Junaid, Anirudd, Parag, Ali. Mihir (Decathlon)

Newbies: 7

 Prisha, Suparna, Karthika, Vaishali, Riti, Kriti, Roja

Seniors: 13

Naina, Hetal, Smriti, Shriya, Nitya, Kritika, Swagata, Shashwati, Nagalakshmi, Kalavathi, Debarpita, Manjusha, Torsha

Hello

Chandrashekar ji ( Birthday boy!)

Karthika was my first student, already using a two wheeler, came from Mihir and has already got the basics of balancing, Pedalling was good, but stopping on left needs to get better.  Will take a session or two to cycle on the roads.

In between, we had Chandrashekarji come and announce it was his birthday, gave out his trademark home chocolates, and then had a click with us.

Suparna, initially with Junaid, was more comfortable balancing pedalling uphill , rather than scooting downhill !

Roja was introduced by our ex student, came late, towards end of session and again, is in early stage of scooting. 

Nagalakshmi, her second session, was more confident scooting, but had to leave early.

 

Parag's report:

"

Seniors / Cubbon Circular

Shriya- Is now confidently riding, including on the taller bike that Swagata got. She is also able to do turning and circles, though needs a bit more practice on turning.

Smriti - She is riding straight perfectly now, and is doing some turning, but needs a bit more practice there.

Nitya- The twins mother, learnt to scoot today, and started on pedaling. I am sure by next sunday, all 3 of them will be riding together.

Manjusha- Learnt to start/ ride standing on the pedals to manage riding larger rental bikes. She came on the Cubbon circular, but had to stop midway as she was tired, and we turned back towards KSLTA, I am sure she will be able to do the full ride the next time.

Swagata- Tried the stand and pedal technique, but needs a bit more practice to get it right. She also struggled a bit on the upslope of the Cubbon circular, but managed to complete the ride.

Shashwati- Did circles and figure 8's and started on hand signaling today. She bravely rode and finished the Cubbon circular, despite a small tumble just before we started.

"

Thanks Parag !💐👍

Anirudd's report

"

Keertana Ramesh:

Today was Keerthana’s second cycling class and she showed progress by pushing with her left leg only. I instructed her to keep her right foot on the pedal and push with her left leg, which helped her make quite a bit of progress. However, she still gets nervous and afraid and tends to look down. I encouraged her to look ahead and try not to put her right foot down. I also suggested that she wear fitted pants to prevent her dress from getting stuck in the pedals. Overall, she is making progress little by little and I am looking forward to seeing her progress in the next class.

Manjusha:

Manjusha made good progress, but gets tired quickly. Taking breaks and going slow is important. Encouraging her and being by her side helps her learn. She has the enthusiasm and determination to learn and go long distances, but needs to learn to stay relaxed. With the right support, she can succeed. She is hardworking and dedicated. Excited to see her progress in upcoming classes.

Vaishali:

Vaishali had her first training session today and showed great enthusiasm and eagerness to learn how to cycle. With support, she progressed quickly and has already started learning how to balance without both her legs touching the ground. Her progress has been impressive, and any trainer would be happy with her progress. I am looking forward to seeing how she progresses in the upcoming classes.

"

Thanks Anirudd!🙏💐🪔

Mihir, who was introduced to us by Anirudd, works for Decathlon.. his report :

"

Karthika

She already knew to drive the scooty, as she wanted to learn to pedal, he scooting and balancing was cleared in few times, and she had a great progress, she learnt pedalling only confident needs to be built, she would join us next week again.

Prisha

A little girl of grade 1, parents were tired of teaching het from long time to pedal but she couldnt, later with a lot of patience, hustle she learnt sit on bike and balance the bike on her own, as there parents were happy with progress, would join us for more 3-4 weeks probably.

"

Thanks Mihir 🙏💐

Junaid's report

"

Torsha was the first to start and was trying to balance independently and would require more practice to get it !

Riti was next and did a great Job in spite of a fall, she was by the end of the session confident and enthused by her performance her mother (Kriti) also wanted to jump in and did her first solo ride and promised to practice more in the coming week .

Suparna was the last, she would need to practice more to get her balance right !

"

Thanks Junaid👍💐

Cubbon Circular:

This was conceptualized by Vimal Kumar, to familiarise those who have learnt basic cycling to Bangalore traffic.  It is anti clockwise ride around the Cubbon Park, avoiding getting into (more challenging) right turns.

Trainers : Parag, Junaid, Anirudd, Ali (Akshat)

Students: Manjusha, Debarpita, Swagata, Shaswita and Sandeep.

Debarpita and Akshat missing Anirudd's lead, got back into Cubbon at Victoria statue signal, to return via century club exit.

Sandeep and Shaswita with Anirudd and Ali  followed by Junaid with Swagata, managed to reach safely  Hudson circle gate and decided to finish there since rental bikes were to be returned.

Parag and Manjusha came via High court entrance dropping teaching bike at KSLTA. We celebrated with peanuts and water, before calling it a day.

Lessons to be learnt were : 

1.need to get proficient in half pedaling.

2. Learn hand Signalling. 

3. Claim space by stretching hand in order not to get 'boxed in' by traffic behind, when you need to clear Obstruction like parked car.

Congratulations to all bravehearts! 💖💖

Till next weekend..

Keep Pedalling 

Ali Poonawala 

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends !

We had both the sessions..

Begur :

Ganesh's report:

"

Begur: 16-Apr-2023

Learner 4, Trainer 1

Rinaaz and dad were already waiting when I arrived, rearing to go, and so we did. She is getting better at understanding instructions and riding straight lines independently. Her area of focus that we have been working is to start on her own. She still needs a bit of a hold to get moving. I am confident that we will cross the barrier in the next session.

Abhilasha and Suchana reached almost at same time and being their first day, they had a bit of basic theory about the bicycle and how we will get started to learn.

Meanwhile, Nilanjan rolled in his new Rockrider and was trying to practice turns. As I say, our Begur stretch is not safe enough for circles even though the road is quite wide. However, I did show and explain as what needs to been done for circles in a safer space. He practiced his straight lines more. Asked him to try more balanced, slow speed and stop-stops. Good improvement shown in the areas.

Since we had to time share the only bike and trainer, I decided to extend the session by another hour to be fair with the waiting students.

Towards the end of the session, we identified that Abhilasha's one sided lurch is to be solved before she could make any progress. The height of the bike at its least seat position is not still enough for Suchana. Mainly, with the damaged seat which is making it hard for her to get on and off the saddle. Will look to change the seat before next session. 

The Sun was merciless and drained everyone by the end which made us think of moving the session start to 7:30 am from next Sunday. Begur learners, please watch for the registration time of mine for next week and plan accordingly.

PS: 

Ha, I just noticed that the camera has just focused on me and blurred background including the others 🤦🏻‍♂️

"

Thanks Ganesh !👌🙏💐 

We also discussed preponing next weekend, may be to 7 am. Problem is... rental cycles are available only after 8.30 AM !😩

Cubbon Park :

I was held up due to an emergency and Junaid, Parag and Naga responded to request to reach early and get the session going.. most gracious !!🙏💐

Trainers:5+1

Junaid, Parag, Naga Prakash, Ali, Anirudd + Tushar ( welcome to the gang !)

Newbies : 9

Ankita, Mahima, Priyanka, Nirupama, Khushi,  Sahana, Aishwarya, , Bunu Rishika 

Seniors : 14

Jalak, Riti, Kriti, Shreya, Smriti, Leishha, Lekisha, Prisha, Shashwati, Hetal, Naina, Tushar, Deepa, Susanya, 

Hello:

Chandrashekar ji, 

Arushi. ( Trainer in making !🤞)

Ayush + friend (  Two Trainers in making too ?.!!.🤞🤞)

From the Marwadi gang, the young lad, I forget his name, immediately grabbed the foldie and had a quick round, while Jalak was being tutored by her dad and seemed to balance well.

My first student was Ankita, seemed to do well initially with scooting , but then started lurching big time.  progressed to pedaling with Parag, uphill too. Noticed She was preferring to pedal with left but gently dissuaded her, for safety sake 

While I was teaching Ankita, Mahima was listening to the balancing and scooting "gyan" and put it all into practice immediately under Anirudd's  supervision 

Naina and Hetal, both seniors, came with rental bikes and got revision lesson in safe braking, stopping and restarts surprisingly, both were introduced to half Pedalling for the first time. Hetal found height a bit daunting but soldiered on. Naina needs to unlearn the habit of keeping both feet down and start left leaning.

Riti is becoming good at pedalling and needs to be taught handle bar control. Her mom Kriti is yet to get balance and probably is unsure if she should !

Showed half pedalling to Shashwati, Aishwarya and Debarpita, as effective way to negotiate at signals and in a crowded area. Will need to practice over the time if want to become commuters.

Parag's report:

"

Newbies

Ankita- Managed to get comfortable with scooting,and also pedaling, but has a bit of a lurch while going uphill that needs to be corrected.

Seniors

We had Two-Twinsomes today the S Twins and the L Twins.

Shriya- Taller of the 2 "S-twins", Shriya managed to do wide circles and short circles.

Smriti - The other twin, Managed to turn comfortably,doing wide circles in both directions, started doing short circles, needs a bot of practice to master that.

Lekisha- Taller of the 2 "L-twins" who came after a long break today, practiced scooting.

Leisha- The other L twin, did some scooting and a bit of pedaling.

Deepa - Cracked pedaling downhill today, though has a lurch which still needs some work to correct. Starting uphill is the next thing to master for her.

Shashwati- Practiced one handed rising as prep for learning to signal, got comfortable with signaling while riding straight, will need to do some practice to do it while turning. She came with her Mom and Grandmom today, hopefully we will see them as students too soon.

Hetal- Practiced half pedaling and circles today.

Tushar- He is riding confidently now, and helped out with teaching other newbies, we look forward to more of our students becoming instructors.

"

Thanks Parag!💐🙏

Naga Prakash's report:

”

16Apr: 

Students: Priyanka, Sahana, Susanya

Trainer: Naga

*Priyanka:* A clinical research student. She was able to scoot comfortably with proper balance and body posture. 

*Sahana:* A grade 11 student, had but stuggle in getting balance and scoot. However she continued practicing ignoring the results. Keep up Suhana, you will do better.

*Susanya:*  She was able to scoot but need improvement going in straight line and while uphill. Keep practicing

"

Thanks Naga 💐🙏

Junaid's report :

"

Sahana was the first and was getting to balancing with a little diffulty and was working hard, she will have to practice next week too

Aaishwariya was next she was doing well intially and had confidence issues, she willhopefully get over it the next week !

Leishha and Lekisha  come back after a long break good to see then and they will be coming the next week to practice !

Bunu was the last to come and she started with confidence.

"

Thanks Junaid.💐🙏

Anirudd's report:

"

Prisha Gupta:

A determined little champ is making good progress in learning how to cycle. Despite being small and finding it difficult to reach the brakes, she is quickly learning how to sit on the saddle and push with her feet.

Mahima:

On her first class, this lady showed eagerness to learn how to cycle and go wherever she can on a daily basis. Despite it being her first day, she is making good progress and was able to scoot a little quickly.

Buno:

A determined young jogger and teacher who wants to learn how to cycle and other sports like skating. She quickly grasped the basics of cycling and how to use the brakes. She is making progress with balancing while pushing with her left leg only, and with her enthusiasm and determination, she can definitely make good progress. Advised her to wear lighter clothing for the next session due to the summer weather.

Khushi Agarwal:

Young woman's first cycling lesson went well. She showed enthusiasm and made good progress by grasping the basics of cycling like getting on a cycle and how brakes work. She was able to scoot with one leg and has the potential to make more progress. Advised her to wear lighter clothing due to the heat.

Tushar:

A young man is learning cycling and today he started to learn hand signals. He is progressing well and can learn quickly. He also knows how to stop, balance and pedal. He began teaching others and his first student was Khushi Agarwal. Regular intervals were checked to ensure smooth progress. He is also enjoyable to hang out with.

Rishika: 

I taught rishika only for a minute or two, just gave her tips & her parents were there to help her all the way !

"

Thanks Anirudd👍💐

During the second photograph time,  managed to get hold of Ayush and friend, who were cycling past and are trying to get them to be volunteers 😃

With relentless heat exhausting one and all, we have decided to prepone sessions next weekend, to 7.30 AM. Cubbon Circular ride will be at 9.30 AM 🤞

Till then, 

keep Pedalling 

Ali Poonawala 

[Ali Poonawala]

Oops !!

The group photos are from previous session!!

Apologies, 😞😔

including the correct group photos from 16 04 2023 !!

  20230416_101943.jpg

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[Parag Patankar]

We had both Begur and Cubbon sessions yesterday. The 7:30 early start made things better, rain on friday also cooled things down, though it was quite humid. We will continue the 7.30 am start for the next few weeks.

Begur: 23-Apr-23
Trainer -2-  Ganesh, Mihir

Learner -2- Suchana, Abhilasha

Early summer time 7:30 am start and Suchana was already waiting to get going. As we started rolling, Mihir who is joining as a trainer at Begur made a surprise entry. Surprise, more because he rode from somewhere in between the bushes onto the road totally following Google's directions 😇
Mihir started teaching Abhilasha who joined us at around 8 am. Her bad lurch is acting as a big blocker to picking up balance. Still in works with some improvement. She has been scooting with one leg on pedal to help shed the fear and lurch by being on her own. We will have more improvement in the following weeks.
Meanwhile, the newly replaced seat was a great relief for Suchana dealing with the height difference. She showed steady focus and improvement through the session. Locked elbow and slower reaction time was making her go terribly zig-zag. Discussed and worked on it. Towards the end of the session she was able to ride a shorter distance without any support. Small wins build great confidence
(Given the unintentional selfish selfie of last week by me, I had a timely reminder from Abhilasha during our picture time to make sure it was not in portrait mode, until then I didn't even know it had such a mode in selfie🙄.. Everyday learning)

Cubbon Park

Hellos

Mr & Mrs Chandrashekhar-- we thanked her for the delicious homemade chocolates Mr Chandrashekhar gets for us regularly.

Nidhi( CFAM/CiFOS) - Who also generously handed out Breakfast coupons (from the Dutch consulate ride) for Konark to the learners.

Deep- Dropped in, post the Dutch consulate ride

Trainers-4+3: Shamala, Naga,Junaid, Aniruddh, Skanda (Aniruddh's friend), Tushar & Sandeep- Our learners who are now helping train others

Newbies-6

Antara- Started with balancing and then a bit of scooting with both legs and also with one leg on the pedal. 

Ashvini- Had cycled before, and quickly re-learnt and managed to pedal up and down and do some turns. next will be circles and signaling and safety.

Alex- Had cycled as a child, and managed to quickly move from scooting to pedaling, next up is turning.

Deepika- Knew how to ride a motorcycle, and managed to crack balancing quickly and moved to pedaling in quick time,next will be turning and signaling.

Suman: First day with no prior experience, Suman tried hard to get to scooting. She was able to do just for 2 seconds. But she kept trying which is good.

Sushmitha: A grade 5 student, didn't continue for long as the cycles were too big, her parents will get her cycle from home next week.

Seniors -11

Aishwarya- She was able to balance for short distances and would need to practice more to get stability

Ankita- She Managed to pedal straight up and down and reduce the lurch, though she had a few close misses near the parked car, the park dog and other learners.

Hetal- Got  a rental bike, and Practiced half pedaling and hand signaling.

Khushi- Managed to master scooting today, should be ready to pedal by next week.

Priyanka - continued with scooting , and with her brother's support she could start pedal as well.

Rishika - Managed to perfect scooting, and moved to pedaling today.

Swagata- Practiced ridding off the saddle (still needs more practice) and a bit of hand signaling.

Sahana- Almost there with scooting , should be ready to pedal next sunday.

At the end, Tushar Shetty, Tushar Anand and Sandeep went out to do the circular ride by themselves, they are all road ready now.

Everyone missed Dr Ali, who is down with Covid- Get well soon Doc !

[Ali Poonawala]

Hi friends

Both sessions took place,

Begur to start with :

Ganesh's report

"

Begur, 30-Apr-2023

Trainer 2, Learner - 3

Suchana and trainer Mihir were already waiting to go while I was delayed by 10 minutes fixing the saddle. We started with Suchana who still had zig zag issue that we thought to be of her locked elbows and handle bar far to reach comfortably, not allowing her to have good grip and control. Leaning forward and staying focused to fix the problem seem to work. By end of the session, Suchana was doing straight lines balanced by herself. Next to work on is for her to start and stop independently.

Midway through the session Kaushik with dad Balakrishnan who had originally registered for cubbon park joined. Kaushik is used to riding his little bike always with balancing wheels. He found it totally new to get in and try a bike without the support. We got him a bit comfortable with the bike, a lot more to do.

Mihir was helping Abhilahsa today and we were able to see some good improvement with her. 

Read In his own words !

"

Thanks Ganesh ,💐🙏

Mihir's report

"

Abhilasha

It was her 3rd class and we could see that it was her continuous improvement, as in previous class there was a lot body moment which is aggressively reduced and got better, handling and peddling is good but her body has moment as she pedals which we are trying to improve.

"

Thanks Mihir 💐🙏

Coming to Cubbon Park session..

Vijay Karnataka (courtesy Punyavati) carried a news item about our training on Friday and I was inundated with enquiries from both newbies and previously cycled.. 

So call for reinforcement was sent in the evening and was well responded to... volunteers matched the number of cycles at our disposal 1:1 🙏

Trainers : 7

Parag, Vijay, Anirudd, Ali, Junaid, Shamala, Krishna.

Newbies : 18

Analisa, Avanitha, Fatima, Monika, Geetha, Kaustubh, Kedarnath, Kumari Devi, Neetha, Nivetha, Riddhi, Shalini, Shashwath, Shrisma, Shivakumar, Surabhi and Niroj, Vandana, 

Seniors: 14

Antara, Ankita, Alex, Ashwini, , Bunu, Deepa, , Keerthana, Leishha, Neeta, Sandeep, Naina, Rishita, , Sahana,  Shaswati, 

Hello:

Chandrashekar ji.

Monika (with her dad Srinivasan) was a newbie and a natural...scooted beautifully first downslope and was pedalling like a pro in first upslope. By the end, could negotiate amongst crowd. Star of the day !

Keerthana's third session was getting nowhere and bored with scooting so tried a bit of pedalling upslope and she did way better than expected. Will continue mixing steps to keep her interest.

Geetha got hang of turning, by understanding slope and gravity and interplay of braking and pedalling. Ashwini also was showing good control during circles and should go to figure of 8 and signalling next time.

Bunu still has not yet grasped handle bar juggling as the only means to balance, lurches big time.

Parag's report:

"

Newbies

Geetha- Has cycled before and was able to pedal up and down, but needs help with turning.

Kustubh - He has never cycled before, and Practiced scooting

Neetha- She has never cycled before, and Practiced scooting

Nivetha - She had cycled earlier, and was able to quickly get back to scooting and pedaling downhill, but was struggling a bit with uphill.

Shalini - Kasuthub's sister, quickly got a hang of scooting and moved on to pedaling, seems she has cycled earlier.

Shashwat- He has never cycled before, and Practiced scooting today, and got comfortable with it by the end of the session

Seniors

Antara- Enroute to Mysore, she was enthusiastic enough to stop by and practice scooting a bit more today, including even making a futile trek to the rental place, but they had run out of bikes by then.

Ankita- Practiced riding straight, a bit of turning , and half pedaling. Still has a bit of a lurch, but is getting better.

Ashwini- Practiced turning and circles, and moved on to tight circles and figure 8's. She teamed up, with Sahana scooting down and Ashwini pedaling up.

Alex- Continued with pedaling practice, and also doubled up with Neeta, she scooted down, and Alex brought it back uphill.

Bunu- Bravely got a rental bike that was too big for her, and walked it all the way to the training area. Ankita gladly took that bike, and Bunu continued with the scooting bike before trying pedaling on Ali's foldie. She is able to pedal a bit, but still has a lurch that needs to be corrected, which Ankita was trying to nudge her to do.

Deepa- Managed to get a rental bike, but was not able to ride it to the training area. She came after a break, and had to go back to scooting to get the muscle memory back, and then managed to pedal down, but still struggling a bit with pedaling upslope.

Leisha- Coming back after a break (and without Twin sister Lekisha), she get back to scooting. Hopefully she will be back to pedaling next week, she had learnt it before the exam break.

Rishita- Cracked pedaling up and down completely today, very good progress ! Her mom also rode a few rounds after Rishita was done.

Sandeep- Practiced one handed riding, and also helped with other learners.

Sahana- Did some scooting, and finally moved on to pedaling downhill today. Uphill is a bit if a challenge, but she is working on it.

Shashwati- Got a rental bike, rode it all the way and practiced riding one handed as a prep for hand signaling. She has a trip planned to Germany later in the year, and is working hard to become a proficient rider by then.

"

Thanks Parag👍💐

Shamala's report :

"

We had a rush today so most of us were handling more than one student. I started with kaustubh who is a shy kid and his mom says he suddenly shot up and we realised he hasn't even learnt how to cycle! So today was his first class, taught him scooting and we found it a bit difficult to find the right size bike for his height. He went off and got lost a bit trying to find himself a rental bike. 

In the meanwhile i started to teach an older lady (i forget her name), she is determined to learn and has tried to ride a scooty that ended with a bit of a mishap so she carries that fear while balancing, but her determination to learn to cycle takes over and she pretty much gets comfortable scooting downhill...she has the potential to crack the balance in a few weeks. 

Last was Analisa, again first time on a bike, she is quite good at grasping instructions and pretty much cracked the pedaling in her very first class, she has trouble getting started and going straight (tendency to either lean right or swerve the bicycle right) but great progress for the first class..

"

Thanks Shamala 🙏💐

Junaid's report

"

Analisa - was the first to start and will have to come next week to practice balancing.

Shrisma - Started off today and would need to come next week to get the balancing,

Avanitha - She is just getting started to learn balancing, and would need to work again next week.

Fatema - The first timer and coincidentally was thinking of taking up cycling when she saw the " We teach Cycling " sign and that was the eureka moment for her, she started off scooting and would need to come next week for more scooting practice.

 Riddhi - Wanted to learn how to ride a moped and was finding it difficult and she just took off on the very first attempt and it was impressive !

Surabhi was the one who wanted to learn but her Mom  Niroj beat her to it and by the end the session was confidently pedaling with the help of husband Nirav

"

Thanks Junaid 💐🙏

Anirudd's report:

"

Kedar:

Today was the first day for a tall and energetic guy who is eager to learn how to cycle. He showed great progress on his first day, quickly grasping the techniques and basic skills. He has a natural confidence that will surely help him progress rapidly. On a side note, standing beside him, I couldn't help but notice his impressive height. It was quite amusing! 😂

Shashwath:

Today was the first day for a highly energetic individual who is eager to learn how to ride a bicycle quickly. They showed impressive progress, already starting to balance by keeping both legs off the ground. However, it would be beneficial for them to take a step back and focus on calming down and slowing down their learning process. They tended to lean and apply too much pressure to the sides, but with the right guidance, I am confident they can overcome these challenges and continue to improve.

Vandana:

A highly energetic and enthusiastic lady is eager to learn how to ride a bicycle. She quickly grasps the techniques and knowledge required for riding. Taking a slow and steady approach, she is making good progress, now able to push herself forward with both legs. In the upcoming week, we plan to introduce the concept of balancing with one leg. Her determination and willingness to learn will surely contribute to her continued success in mastering the art of cycling.

Avanitha:

Meet another energetic and enthusiastic lady who is proving to be a quick learner. She has quickly understood the basics of how a bicycle works, showcasing her ability to grasp new concepts efficiently. With her determination and the right support and encouragement, there is no doubt that she will be able to learn how to ride a bicycle in no time. Her progress so far is promising, and I look forward to witnessing her continued growth and success on this exciting journey of learning to ride.

Kumari Devi:

Kumari is a remarkable learner when it comes to understanding the mechanics of a bicycle. Even on her first day, she has displayed impressive progress and has quickly grasped the necessary skills. With the right support and guidance, there is no doubt that Kumari will be able to learn how to ride a bicycle in a short period of time. Her ability to pick up new concepts swiftly is a testament to her determination and willingness to learn. I am excited to see how she continues to develop her cycling skills in the future.

Buno:

Our young pharmacist-turned-teacher is making great progress in her cycling journey. While she can ride with both her legs on the pedals, she tends to sit in a crossed or leaning position. We are working on reminding her to sit straight and develop proper posture. She also has some fear when pedaling with both legs, but with practice and encouragement, she can overcome it. With Buno's guidance, I am confident she will soon ride confidently with a straight posture.

It is truly admirable that all of them have the enthusiasm and confidence to learn. This positive attitude is what makes every learner special. In order to ensure their well-being during the sessions, it is advised that everyone brings a water bottle with them, especially as the weather is getting hotter day by day. Staying hydrated is important for a comfortable and productive learning experience.

"

Thanks Anirudd 🙏💐

Krishna's report

"

Krishna reports,

It was refreshing to have been back on the bbs tracks after some domestic schedules  which had put me off for 4 weeks.

We had handful of learners. Wished we had more cycles. Due to my 4 week absence, I could play a supportive trainer role than  independant. My encouragement to many to gain boldness to help  a few promotions in scooting and qualify to  peddling stage.  Prospects more getting on to roads on cycle is promising.  Good Earth.

"

Thanks Krishna 💐👍

Special thanks to Vijay, who not only got his mom Kumari Devi to learn to cycle, but helped us by teaching many students himself ! I hope we will have his help now onwards on mutual basis ..

Apologies if some students did not get enough saddle time, but we will make up next !

Keep Pedalling

Ali Poonawala 

[Ali Poonawala]

Forgot to post the article thanks to Punyavathi @vijay karnataka last friday... which led to the record braking newbies...18 at Cubbon Park !

 

Bless you all for love and support !

Ali Poonawala 

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