National Standards
Instructor Award
Section 6:
Moving Trainees
National
Standards Instructor
Award
Section 6: Moving Trainees
© Copyright CTC 2014.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any
means without permission from the publishers.
To ensure the maintenance of high standards of the National Standards Instructor Award,
CTC reserves the right to alter any course specification or detail without prior notice.
NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTRUCTOR AWARD
National Standards Instructor Award:
Section 6: Moving Trainees
Contents
Title
Page
Introduction
4
Moving Trainees
7
Snaking
7
Shepherding
12
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Introduction
Welcome to your National Standards Instructor Resource. This resource is designed to aid
your role as an excellent CTC NSI now and in the future. You should find that you need to
refer to it regularly even when instructing often, as its content is entirely applicable to your
circumstances.
This resource is made up of several individual sections, of which this is section 6:
Section
Section 1:
Content area
Your course workbook and resource that you used during your NSI
training course. Where your course ran in or after 2015, an electronic
copy of the copy that you completed is available by request from
[email protected]
Section 2:
CTC products and services and how these improve and enable the
environment for all cyclists.
Section 3:
The National Standards Instructor syllabus
Section 4:
National Standards Instructor outcomes
Section 5:
National Standards Level 2 course delivery guidance
Section 6:
Guidance for National Standards Instructors in Moving Trainees
Section 7:
Exemplars and Templates
All sections are available separately as downloads from your National Standards Instructor
page.
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CTC
CTC, the national cycling charity administers and provides the National Mountain Bike Leader
Award Scheme as a National Governing Organisation. Its purposes in doing this are to enable
best practice in activity provision and accessibility to help engage millions of people in
mountain biking and cycling.
At CTC:
1. We
2. We
3. We
4. We
protect cyclists
inspire people to cycle
promote cycling
operate a highly effective organisation
CTC provide a wide range of services to assist Mountain Bike Leaders both in their role as
leaders and as individuals. More information about CTC is available in the CTC Training section
and at www.ctc.org.uk.
How CTC Training helps you.
CTC has over 40 courses and qualifications all designed to improve access to, enjoyment of
and engagement in bikes and cycling. With courses developed and managed from a central
office, support officers, course venues and Trainers are widely distributed all over the UK,
meaning that you can be certain of:
 The highest level of quality, learner support, course delivery and verification
 UK wide approval of courses and qualifications
 Effective and measureable economic benefits from your investment in training
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NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTRUCTOR AWARD
Road Courses: Leading, managing and assisting health rides, adult cycle
training, commuter support and Bikeability. You and your colleagues as well
as CTC tutors can deliver these courses.
Mountain Bike Leader Awards: The largest range of off-road courses for your
staff to lead rides and sessions, instructing and developing participants’ skills,
confidence and learning.
Go-mtb Awards: Participant reward scheme across 5 levels, each with 4
sections. Positive, engaging, supporting. Delivered by you directly to your
participants.
Mountain Bike Skill Instructor Awards: High quality skills development for
novice and expert, young people and adult. Ideally suited to more proficient
mountain bike Leaders.
Inclusive and accessible cycling and training: Provision of specialist support
training, equipment and resources from experts in the field. CTC provide the
service or develop your staff to deliver this service.
Maintenance training and qualifications: Cycle maintenance courses for
novice to expert, including cycle fleet maintenance training and verification,
legal and management protocols.
Safe Working Practice: Using bikes in the outdoor workplace; trail building
and checking, and effective community engagement in controlled trail
building enabling you to fulfil and extend your land management duties.
Tutor qualifications: Enabling you and your colleagues to deliver selected CTC
qualifications from the Maintenance, Road and Mountain Bike Leader
portfolios.
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Moving Trainees:
Moving trainees around is a skill that is taught on the National Standards Instructor course
and CTC On Road Ride Leader courses. It is a National Standards outcome as defined by the
Department for Transport.
In practise there are three principal methods:
1. On foot
2. Snaking, with two leaders
3. Shepherding, with one leader
CTC recommends moving participants around by bike as we are teaching people to ride their
bikes, not walk them.
Snaking
Snaking is the generally preferred method across Bikeability instructors. It is managed with
two leaders and a group of up to 12 participants. Note that these numbers come from the
National Standards Level 2 ratios therefore they are nationally recognised as best practice.
This ratio is purely for practical reasons not safety ones. As a leader you will need to make
the judgement yourself as to maximum numbers and incorporate that into your risk
assessment.
Leader position
The leaders are positioned one at the front and one at the back. The
back one manages the entire snake; the front leader does not do
anything without the back leader’s say.
Front leader
The front leader’s responsibility is primarily to guide, but also to keep a
watch out on what the back leader is doing. Communication is
fundamental to the safety of the snake.
Back leader
The back leader manages everything. To start the group off, the back
leader must line everyone up and set them off once they are satisfied
that they, and specifically the front marker, are ready. Once the snake
is moving the back leader should ride in a position that shelters the
rest of the group, i.e. slightly out towards the middle of the road.
Some instructors ride to the rear of the snake. Often it works better to be one or two up
from the back. This allows you to be close enough to the back to control the cyclists but also
in communication with effectively three cyclists, the one behind, the one alongside and the
one just in front. You are also closer to the front leader which facilitates communication.
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Participant position
The riders in the snake need to be spaced evenly. Probably a bike length between each one
and directly in line with the cyclist in front. It is useful to place the slowest, least confident at
the front. This has two benefits, first of all it slows the snake down to the pace of the
slowest and also the least confident rider is close to the front leader who can keep an eye
out for him / her. The cyclists within the snake have just one responsibility, keep their
distance from the rider in front. This means that they must have both hands on the bars
covering the brakes.
Rear leader responsibilities
The rear leader manages the snake. Generally h/she should be riding up and down the
outside of the snake keeping gaps tight, talking to them, encouraging the participants to
cover their brakes and watch out for the rider in front, maybe slowing the front down.
At each hazard the back leader should cycle rapidly to the front to be alongside the front
leader. Clearly the front leader must wait for the back leader to arrive before traversing the
hazard. Examples of hazards are:

Junctions

Roundabouts

Traffic lights
The front leader should not make decisions at hazards without the rear leader’s agreement.
The only instance that a front leader may wish to continue is at a left turn in. There is no
need to stop here as the snake has priority.
Front leader responsibilities
The front leader does have responsibilities, but always in subordination to the back leader.
They should know where they are going and communicate that to the back leader by raising
their hand: straight up to indicate a hazard and then left or right depending on which
direction they need to go.
The front leader will see the hazards first and pass that message back. Sometimes doubling
the snake up will make it easier to pass through the hazard. The front leader makes that
decision. To double up raise two fingers, to single out raise one finger. Please note that
these signals are easy to misinterpret, you may wish to choose more obvious signals.
Hazards
A hazard is anything that might slow you down or cause you to stop. The rear leader must
come to the front to stop the snake and manage it through the hazard. The rear leader will
have been notified in advance of the hazard as the front leader will have raised his / her
hand. How the rear leader gets to the front depends upon the type of hazard. At the junction
the front marker has stopped with the snake behind him/ her; the rear leader comes up to
the junction and moves out onto the road to protect the trainees crossing.
a. Left in to a minor road. Rear leader does not need to do anything as the snake has
priority
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b. T junction left out. The rear leader comes up along the right of the snake to stop traffic
from the right
c. T junction right out. The rear leader comes up the left of the snake (inside) to stop
traffic from the left; effectively the rear marker should stop in the middle of the road.
d. Traffic lights. The rear instructor comes up on the right hand side of the snake to control
the crossing.
e. Roundabout. Treat as a left turn as traffic comes from the right.
Blocking traffic
Please note that we do not have any right to block traffic. The leader is waiting for a gap in
the traffic and requesting it to slow down and or stop. The leader must make the judgement
when to move into the road and when to beckon the snake on. Clearly if a driver endangers
the snake then the leader must endeavour to stop that driver.
Effectively what the rear leader does is to move into the road to place themselves between
the snake and the oncoming traffic. When the snake is turning left, left out, the oncoming
traffic is coming from the right. When the snake is turning right the biggest danger is from
the left. Once the rear leader is satisfied that the snake is safe to proceed they should
instruct it to do so. If any driver has been held up it is very important to thank them.
Specific hazards
a. Roundabouts. Traffic on the roundabout has right of way, this means that traffic
approaching you from the right has priority. The rear leader therefore must look for a
gap then place themselves to the right of the snake between the participants and the
oncoming traffic. You may wish to cross the roundabout doubled up. See point 10.
There are the other roads entering the roundabout to look out for. However, they do not
have priority and should see the huge snake of cyclists. Here the responsibility of the
front leader is to be wary of these entrances. They may wish to halt at the junction
blocking traffic whilst keeping the snake moving, effectively leaderless.
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Note the rear leader can move to the left of the snake covering traffic entering the
roundabout. Traffic here does not have right of way, but might be inclined to try and
jump ahead of the snake.
It is a decision that the rear leader will need to make depending on their knowledge and
experience.
Note that this is advanced snaking and the leaders may wish to avoid roundabouts.
b. Traffic lights. The problem with traffic lights is that they change colour unexpectedly.
Once your light is on green you largely have priority, remember do not rely on this, and
always look before you cross. The rear leader comes to the front and decides when the
snake moves on. If the traffic light turns red mid-crossing, which it probably will do, the
rear leader must stop the participants. The front leader must be prepared for this and
should come to a convenient stop to wait for the rear of the snake to catch up.
Note with both of these hazards it might be appropriate to have doubled up to enable the
snake to cross them in half the time.
Doubling up
Doubling up is a method used when shortening the overall length of the snake if the
instructor thinks this might be appropriate. Suggested doubling up places might be:
 At traffic lights

At roundabouts

Busy junctions

Level 3 roads
The lead instructor should make that decision before the hazard and communicate that to
the rest of the group. One way of communication is by holding up two fingers to double up
and one finger to single out. This, especially with gloved hand, might be difficult for the
trainees to see so any method of communicating this that works is fine.
The snake will then practise the manoeuvre, generally the person behind comes alongside
the person in front. But it does not matter. The key is that this should be practised
beforehand so everyone knows what to do.
Communication
Communication is of vital importance to the successful management of the snake. The two
leaders need to be in continuous communication and use a method that works for both of
them. So a quick check before hitting the road is fundamental to the leader’s understanding.
Generally accepted signs by the front leader are:
1. Raise your hand on the approach to a hazard. This signals the back leader to start
coming to the front. It might be used for any hazard where the front leader feels
s/he needs support
2. Raise hand then lower to the right (or left) to signal change of direction
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3. Two fingers raised to double up and or 1 finger raised to single out.
Use any method that you both agree on. The key to good snake management is successful
communication.
Level 3
Snaking can be used for Level 3 traffic conditions. It does work successfully once the leaders
are sufficiently experienced; and indeed competent Level 3 riders themselves. It might be
appropriate to use a shorter snake to avoid annoying the drivers around the snake. Also it
might be good practise to ride more as a compact block, doubled up, and keep gaps tighter.
Thus the snake may resemble in size a large car.
General comments
Snaking is not rocket science; CTC provides a CPD course on it but practise it with your
fellow leader. Practise it till you are confident that you can get it right. Work out a system of
communication with each other that you both understand.
Above all though, practise it with your participants before going onto the road. Make sure
that the people within the snake understand what is going on and their responsibilities. Set
some ground rules, for example:
 Follow the line of the cyclist in front

Keep about a bike length (half a bike length) from the bike in front

Keep both hands on your brakes

Concentrate on your line not the traffic around
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Shepherding
The other method of managing groups through traffic is called Shepherding. This differs in
that it uses one leader only and a smaller group. CTC recommends that leaders keep to the
Bikeability recommended ratios: 1 to 6. It is also recommended that less busy roads are
used.
It is essentially the same as snaking but without the front leader. This means that the back
leader, as per snaking, is in charge.
1. The group
The group is set out slightly differently as you would place a more confident rider at
the front. This rider needs to be carefully briefed as s/he will have to act as the front
leader in snaking.
2. The front marker
The front marker’s responsibilities are stopping at any hazard until the leader comes
up to manage the group across. The front marker must then have the responsibility
to wait, after the hazard, till the entire group is across.
3. The leader
The leader is not a back marker but the leader. His /her role is to cycle dynamically
on the outside of the group. This is different to snaking in as much as that in a snake
the back marker is effectively the back marker but in the snake, the leader is much
further up the group, s/he may even be at the front of the group a lot. However, they
definitely ride not in line with the group but along the outside of it.
Pitfalls
The pitfalls of the ways of moving trainees around by bike are as follows:
1. You can cause disruption to other traffic. In some areas this has resulted in
complaints to the school or training provider. Endeavour to minimise disruption by
using quieter roads and doubling up where possible. Make sure you thank any driver
who gives way or demonstrates patience.
2. There is a perceived danger. Managed properly the snake or shepherded group is
safe. However, badly managed it can be dangerous. Make sure you do not cross any
road or junction without being certain you know where the tail of the group is and
that the area is appropriately controlled.
Advantages and disadvantages
1. There is a clear advantage in a wider use of junctions and training area. This is a
clear difference between what we are providing now and what the Cycling Proficiency
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has provided in the past. CP instructors often only used the closest junction to the
school. This is not realistic and does not allow the children to ride around their local
area.
2. This method of moving trainees around allows the children to ride around their local
area.
3. Another advantage is that you are actually cycling. Children really want to ride their
bikes and this encourages them to take up the training as they are actually cycling,
not simply being methodically trained to deal with one junction.
4. Although children are not actually training in the snake, they are still learning about
road positioning and riding distance from car doors. The instructor can refer back to
the cycling when they instruct.
Summary
Moving trainees from area to area by bike, whether it be snaking or shepherding is an
excellent method to increase realism in training. It must be done correctly, however, and it is
important that instructors practise as much as they can.
Remember:
1. Snaking is moving a group of up to 12 trainees using two instructors; one back and
one front.
2. Shepherding is moving a group of up to 6 trainees with only one instructor. This
instructor rides on the outside of the group looking after both front and rear.
In both methods, the instructor must be at the junction controlling traffic before the group
is moved forwards.
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CTC Training
CTC the national cycling charity
Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX
Tel:
Email:
01483 238301
[email protected]
www.ctc.org.uk/training