00:00 A group of Liverpool children have officially launched the city's first purpose-built
00:07 learn to ride facility.
00:09 This has made my day, made my week, made my month.
00:14 This is just brilliant.
00:16 Kids enjoying themselves in a safe space and learning the skills they need as they get
00:21 older to go out on the roads on their bikes.
00:23 The underused concrete amphitheatre has been dramatically transformed.
00:28 The ÂŁ330,000 mini roads scheme has seen the creation of a new cycle track situated in
00:34 Everton Park which has been designed to imitate a realistic road layout with junctions and
00:40 crossings.
00:41 We need to get them into the habit really, really early.
00:44 Just listen to all the bells in the background.
00:46 It's just brilliant.
00:47 And we get them into the habits early on and you get them physical early on so the parents
00:50 can just come and sit here, they can just sit on the edge and watch their kids burn
00:54 calories enjoying themselves in a safe space.
00:57 Funded by both Liverpool City Council and British Cycling, the half a kilometre long
01:02 facility aims to attract and encourage thousands of youngsters to get cycling.
01:07 It's really safe, contained.
01:09 We've got the material here that helps if there's any accidents and fall over with that
01:15 which I think happens when you first start out with things like cycling so that's great
01:19 as well.
01:20 Hopefully this is a prototype.
01:21 One of these should be in every single park.
01:24 It's just absolutely brilliant.
01:27 I just completely love it.
01:29 I'm in awe of this space.
01:31 I'll be pushing for these in every park in the region.
01:33 The council's joined forces with the not-for-profit community organisation Peloton Liverpool which
01:39 already operates a BMX track in Everton Park to host and deliver a programme of cycle sessions
01:44 at the facility over the next five years.
01:47 Got lots and lots of kids having a really good time here today at the mini roads but
01:51 it isn't just for kids.
01:52 We are saying from 18 months upwards you can hop on a balance bike and get riding but particularly
01:58 for the launch of the mini roads we've got a special series called On Your Bike which
02:02 is for women cyclists.
02:03 So you may not know but only around a third of people that ride bikes in the UK today
02:08 are women.
02:09 That's almost exactly the same figure as it was 100 years ago and we need more people
02:13 to cycle more and so we particularly need more women to cycle more.
02:17 So over the summer we've got bike maintenance courses if you can get your rusty bike out
02:23 of your shed.
02:25 We've got confidence sessions a bit like what we're doing here with the kids you know.
02:28 Get into a group of people, everyone's in the same boat.
02:32 We've also got some joy rides for more experienced riders where we're going to get to know our
02:35 city a bit more so you can feel a bit more confident on the roads.
02:38 And we've got some mum and baby sessions in Sefton Park as well.
02:43 You know cycling is fun, it is about friends, it is freedom and we want everyone in Merseyside
02:50 to experience that here at the mini roads.
02:52 As part of the agreement, Peloton Liverpool will be provided with a container, workshop
02:57 tools, balance bikes and associated accessories to host the cycling sessions.
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