Pedalshaale 2 BBMP schools (Lakkasandra and Vijaynagar) pilot project reports 6th and 13th December

[Ali Poonawala]

BBS is happy to announce a new chapter in its life.. Teaching School children to cycle !

Date 6-12-2025

Location Lakkasandra

BBS Trainers Ali,Parag,Bhoomika,Shriya

Teachers 4 Students 10

Comments

 Kickoff session - Covered basics of checking bike parts, brakes, mounting, dismounting and bit of static balancing. Since there was only 1 medium cycle available, we could teach a bit of scooting to only two of the taller students.

13-12-2025

Lakkasandra 

Ali,Parag,Bhoomika,Shriya 

Teachers 3 Students 10 

"Started hands on session with the cycles at Lakkasandra. The session started with a practical review and student led demonstration of the safety basics taught in the last session. Then we split up the students into groups of 3, each accompanied by a BBS trainer and one school teacher. The students practiced mounting, dismounting, static balancing, and a few of them tried dynamic balancing, though there was not enough space to scoot freely. The students remained enthusiastic and energetic in their efforts. Star of the day was Pintu Kumar, the sole boy learner. Despite the cycle being tall for him, he mastered the jump start and was riding by the end of the session. Good progress also by Nandini , Shallu and Aleeya who managed to get balance right, but there was not enough space for them to ride unaided, as they had to keep turning. We ended with a debrief, and Shriya handing out candy to the students. They were all quite enthusiastic about the session, and have promised to come next saturday. Some of them even said they will try learning at home. 

Key Takeaways for improvements : 1  A key challenge was the cycle height, except for 2 tall students, everyone else found the cycles a bit too tall. We will need shorter cycles, or take students of higher grades eg 8-10 if only these cycles are available. 2 Space- Lakksandra campus is too cramped to scoot/pedal freely even after attaining basic balance, and the main road outside is not amenable to teaching there. Also students kept bumping into each other 3 Cycle maintenance- Some repairs needed, tyres were underinflated, we need a pump at each location."

"13-12-2025

11.30-12.30 and 12.30-1.30 pm" 

Vijaynagar  

BBS trainers : Ali, Ganesh (Begur), Naga Prakash, Junaid, Vinay, Ganesh (Banaswadi), Aravind, Surabhi" 

Teachers : 7  

Students 29 

In view of large numbers of students and nature of the teaching area, as had been decided earlier, students and teachers were split into two batches for one hour each. This batches were further divided into 4 group.

 Each group had 4 cycles, 4 students, 2 BBS volunteers and one school teacher. Each group occupied quarter of a track initially, but later there was merging due to space constraints. 

Cycle part identification was followed by safety checks before every ride. Helmets were not discussed at this point. mounting and dismounting as well as static and dynamic  balancing could be done by only taller students due to these being adult bikes. 

Although supposed to have been serviced bicycles, under inflation and moving saddles were noted so were kick stand problems.

 There was disturbing ongoing to and fro pedestrian, including very young children and vehicular traffic due to social event in the skating rink area, causing real accident hazard and interruptions. 

Some students successfully managed to achieve balance and even pedalling, however, those who did not get suitable sized bicycle, did not have a good experience and some were even afraid. However, it must be acknowledged that couple of them managed to device their own tricks to do half pedal start and jump off dismount.  

Some teachers and students in second batch  left early, without informing BBS volunteers. 

This is poor discipline and change of timing proposed by HM and ma'am Tejatha ( who also had to leave before the session was over, due to prior personal engagement) will sort this issue at least. 

On the whole, professional response and commitment from BBS volunteers, HM Mr.Sreenivas sir and some of the teachers.  There is need for review of role of school teacher participation as teaching cycling needs significant physical fitness and involvement  in trainers. "