Saturday cycling courses at Ashley Down Junior school

Over the next four weeks the Cycling City project is funding a joint initiative to get more families into cycling.

Each Saturday between February 27th and March 20th Bristol City Council employees and Sustrans Bike It employees will be at Ashley Down Infants and Junior school in Horfield to provide advice, assistance and training for families looking to get into cycling.

Advisers will be offering a variety of cycling activities and demonstrations so adults and children can learn how to cycle safely in the city.

These sessions go hand in hand with the free Bikeability training that the city council is providing for all children in Bristol schools.

The four week session of events kicks off this Saturday (27 February) with free bike checks, prizes and goodies, bike bring and buy sale, and the chance to try different bikes and equipment.

The following Saturday (6 March) will see advisers giving a 'learn to ride without stabilisers' session to help parents to teach their children how to balance and get confident at riding on two wheels.

The final two sessions will help parents develop the skills and confidence to cycle with their children. Skills will be taught according to the needs of the group and may include navigating objects, riding in a group or taking part in a led ride around local streets and along Bristol's traffic free cycle path between St Werburghs and Muller Road.

With the skills learnt through these sessions children should have the confidence and ability to take part in the 'graduation' event, which will be a large group family ride along a section of the Bristol-Bath cycle path on Saturday 8 May.