the essential
Particularly active on the issue of soft mobility in Pamiers, the CyclosPattes association announced on Wednesday January 8, the creation of a bicycle school, the first in the department. On the program, workshops, courses and bike rides.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, learning to cycle has experienced such marked growth in France that the associations of the network of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB) have launched into the creation of bicycle schools through the Hexagon. If, in January 2023, 200 of the 477 associations in the network had one, none was then recorded in Ariège.
This has now been done since Wednesday January 8. The Appamean association CyclosPattes announced on its social networks the creation of the first bicycle school in Ariège. “A bicycle school constitutes a service whose objective is to enable beneficiaries to acquire the necessary basics to travel regularly by bicycle. It involves transmitting technical skills (balance, trajectory) and also interpersonal skills (cohabitation with other users, safety rules).”
Thus, cycle schools offer varied sessions, ranging from initial learning to getting back in the saddle, for people who already know how to pedal, but who have, for example, suffered a trauma or an accident preventing them from resuming the use of the bike. bicycle with complete peace of mind.
Popularize cycling culture
Initiated only a few months ago, in the fall, by Caroline Delattre, member of the association and cycling instructor, holder of a State Certificate, the project quickly met with a favorable response within the association. “Since its creation, CyclosPattes has been mobilizing around gentle modes of circulation, we are talking about developments, everything that can be done in the area,” explains Caroline. “The bike-school project is a global education project through cycling, which is aimed at several targets, whether adults or children.”
The Appamean association plans three main activities, starting with a bicycle school in the strict sense, with learning sessions, by level and age. But also “heritage and nature” bike outings. These will be on road-type routes and accessible to all types of bikes. “There are many things to do and visit by bike in the territory of the Community of Communes and elsewhere, such as the bird domain for example. In Pamiers, there is the Ariège Cycles store which offers bike rental and with whom we are in partnership”, confides the instructor.
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Cyclo'Pattes
Self-repair workshops
Finally, the association also wishes to offer self-repair workshops. Already existing in the Foulon district on Wednesday afternoons on an even week, the idea here is to extend them to as many people as possible.
“We will be accompanied by partners and hope that this structure will lead to more soft mobility in our rural territories, the development of Vélotaff as well as school eco-mobility.”
In 2023, the bicycle schools have reached more than 18,000 students thanks to their actions carried out on Knowing How to Ride a Bike. In addition, bicycle schools have the possibility of intervening with companies wishing to develop the issue of soft mobility among their employees, as has been the case in recent months with the Communauté de Communes des Portes d'Ariège Pyrénées.
