So i started cycling about 9 as a need to get to school,as time progressed i got bought a better bike till work started and i was able to buy my first bike, from just riding and getting chatty with other cyclists,buying tools and clothing and various bits over the years then started to travel further and explore and havent stopped since.

The thing is nowadays due to all the alledged perverts, road rage/drunk/murderous drivers out there parents dont let their kids out un supervised,parents want let the kids join a cycling club as they feel unsafe due to the reasons above, and the parents cant want afford to buy a bike for themselves to accompany their kids.

So a huge tranch of younger cyclists are not there, how can we get the youngsters out on bikes and make their parents feel theyre safe.

I work with a cycling youth academy (granted, not in UK) and although numbers are not what they were, there is no apparent parental concern of

alledged perverts, road rage/drunk/murderous drivers

Our guys are aged from 12-18 in three teams (Infant, Cadet and Junior) and we’re running 5 or 6 riders per team rather than 8 or 9 as before. If they continue on to U23/Elite level they’re still affiliated to us although they’re on trade teams, and I’ve seen those teams have 12 riders in the same race…

So not all doom and gloom, at least here in the Basque Country, and FWIU, cycling in the UK is on the up – people have told me (dunno if true) a lot of youth races are hugely oversubscribed depending on area.