The club runs this course together with the adult education centres in Bonn, Bornheim-Alfter and Rhein-Sieg every month, sometimes with more, sometimes with fewer participants. Most recently, the interest was so great that two additional dates had to be scheduled for last Saturday. Police Chief Superintendent Matthias Hahn, who accompanied the training sessions, welcomed this. "I would like to see people generally get more familiar with their bicycles in order to reach their destination safely at all times - and to get to know the differences between bicycles and pedelecs."

Because "a bicycle is a bicycle" does not apply in this case, says Hahn. The accident statistics confirm this (see info box). First of all, a pedelec is much heavier than a conventional bicycle, sometimes twice as heavy. This is felt in the event of a fall and in the distance required for braking. And then you also reach higher speeds due to the electric auxiliary drive. This increases the braking distance of e-bikes even more. Furthermore, when turning, other centrifugal forces prevail.

For this reason, Paul Kreutz from the ADFC cycling school first practised braking with the participants during the weekend training sessions: downhill, you should use the stutter brake, i.e. press the brake briefly again and again, and ideally always have one or two fingers on the handbrake. These are measures that participants Dieter Ströhmann and Julia Olry had not thought about before they came to the course in the skate park of the Rheinauenpark in Beuel. The hand signal for stopping, the raised hand, was also new to them.

Ströhmann is 73 years old and has always enjoyed cycling, he says. "I didn't want to change at all." But he lives in Gummersdorf - his daughter, who lives in Hangelar, gave him the driving training as a gift. It's hilly in Hangelar, so he decided on a pedelec "to have a larger radius". In addition, there is the ecological aspect: "I don't need the car so often. For him, the switch was worth it, as it was for Ohly.

At 37, she was the youngest in the first Saturday group. "We have two small children, and we use the bike trailer to carry them around. But with her old Dutch bike, it's a feat of strength, and she also cycles 15 kilometres to her job, so she got an electric bike. She has already had a bad experience with it. "I once rode too briskly around a corner that was difficult to see, and a car came out." She had to brake sharply, it went well, but after that, she said, she signed up for the course.

First, Kreutz gave the group an introduction with start-up and braking training at the Südbrücke, then they went through Oberkassel and up the ascent to the sports field there. " They now know how to gauge their vehicle and themselves. I have the impression that some overestimate themselves," says Kreutz. Beginners are often overchallenged. He does not think much of children's pedelecs. Parents would deprive their children of developmental steps for muscles and motor skills. "Pedelecs are good for older people," says Kreutz. They can expand their range of horizons.

But older people in particular are quickly overtaxed with dangerous situations after a long period of not riding a bike, explains accident surgeon Welle. " Here we are often told that the coordination of braking, stopping the pedal assistance and evasive manoeuvres cannot be summoned quickly enough." For them in particular, but actually for everyone, a riding course is recommended, preferably at the beginning of each summer season. He would not advocate an age limit for pedelec riding. "We see very different abilities in old age, we see very fit, coordination-skilled 90-year-olds and less coordination-skilled 60-year-olds." In his eyes, a rigid limit does not make sense.

Original text: Stefan Knopp

Translation: Jean Lennox