It rained pretty heavily that morning as we rushed to Costa. Thank goodness, we got to there on time. We have no clue as to how this gentleman that we were meeting looked like and vice versa. We felt a bit anxious but the fact that he agreed to meet us, somehow signalled that he’s accommodative and nice too 🙂
We got our coffee and purposely looked for a cosy corner, facing the main entrance. Nick Canham walked in shortly, wearing a reflective jacket branded, “Cycle Training Wales”. We knew immediately that he was the gentleman we were waiting for. Yeah!
Nick is one of the people who started start Cycle Training Wales (CTW), a social enterprise (a.k.a non-profit organisation) that provides training on cycle related services. We’d say it’s a simple business proposition but definitely serves the needs of the society. As Nick says, “CTW sees cycling as not necessarily about health. Cycling is also about teaching children on a life skill, to take responsibility to improve their independence and creation of positive environment.” Different, huh? And very inspiring, ain’t it?
According to Nick, training is central to improving cycling ability, either from the point of view of using the road suitably or enabling people to get the most from cycling. CTW realises that there is a skill gap, either in cycling safely and defensively or maintaining bikes. CTW’s attempt to fill up the gap has actually worked, quite rightly.
CTW offers mainly two types of trainings: 1) Bike ability courses, where one learns assertive or defensive cycling that highlights awareness of safe cycling, especially taking positions on the road; and 2) Bicycle maintenance courses, where CTW teaches participants on how to take care of bicycles and what one can do in the event of a breakdown.
CTW has other interesting courses that they offer, such as, the mountain biking and instructor training. Do look out for CTW’s courses at their home page: http://www.cycletrainingwales.org.uk/. (Faz/Perpie)
Easy Cycling 