National Cycle Training Standards - RSOs remain unconvinced

Despite an enthusiastic presentation by Ken Spence and Philip Darnton, RSOs at the LARSOA AGM remained unconvinced with regard to the development of national standards for cycle training.

Ken Spence is specialist area manager road safety and cycling training for the English Regions' Cycling Development Team, and Philip Downton is acting chairman of the National Cycling Strategy Board.

Mr Spence spoke of the need to get more ‘bums on saddles’ by reducing danger and increasing cyclist training. He identified the key battleground as the last two years of primary school – when, he suggests, around 50 per cent of children want to cycle to school. "If you don’t get children cycling you won’t get them later on as adults," he argued.

"Training works" he stated on a number of occasions, adding that trained cyclists cycle more frequently and have fewer accidents. He then went on to outline plans for the national training standard and guidelines to reflect best practice.

Philip Darnton stressed the need to ‘start small’ in a bid to introduce a cultural change. "The current generation of children may not instinctively think of riding a bike, and that’s worrying," he said.

He went on to outline the Schools and Skills programme, a pilot scheme involving 40 schools in four regions, with a school cycling co-ordinator in each region. Schools and Skills will have a high profile launch, backed by Government ministers, in September and Mr Darnton is confident of attracting sponsorship from the commercial sector. His vision is to then expand the scheme in the future.

But delegates at the AGM demanded proof, calling for research to underpin Ken Spence’s ‘training works’ claim.

A number of delegates reinforced the point that good practice guidelines and national standards have implications for hard-pressed budgets. Once there is a national standard or published best practice, including recommended instructor/pupil ratios for training, these will have to be adhered to – especially in view of the ‘compensation culture’ that prevails in modern society.

Messers Spence and Downton were warmly thanked for their presentation – but can have left in no doubt that LARSOA members need hard data to be convinced that ‘training works’.