Meet the instructor – Jon Oliverio

How old were you when you started cycling?

I was six years old, and it was a family friend’s dad that taught me how to ride a bike. So he put me on an old 1970s Chopper that had seen better days. He took me up to the top of the hill and, on the Raleigh Chopper, you’ve got the long handle on the back of the seat, and he held on to that and sat me on the bike, pushed me and let go and I just went down the hill! 

That was the first time on a bike, and then of course after that there was no fear. So I’d quite happily jump on a bike and try it and ride it. They ended up giving us the Chopper, and my Dad painted it yellow and I ended up riding that around for a few years. 

What motivated you to become an instructor?

I’d heard about Bikeability, but in my mind it was still like the old cycling proficiency, which I did  at school, I think back in 1987 or something like that. It was not long after I’d started Cycle Torbay, which is the CIC that that I run, that I heard about Bikeability through Torbay Council. They told me all about it, and all the stuff that they were doing in schools.  

I thought, you know what, that would be a really good way to teach kids how to ride; using the framework of Bikeability and all the outcomes and working with children to achieve [them]. Because they get a certificate at the end, I thought it was absolutely fantastic as a way to get children to ride safely and really effectively.  

What’s your favourite part of the job?

The favourite part of the job is when somebody achieves something. When they feel that they get it, and they start smiling and they’re cycling, and they’ve learned a skill and they’re really happy.  

Especially when you see a child able to ride, and they’re riding around and they’re really enjoying themselves, and they’ve got that sense of freedom. To me, that’s just the best part of the job. 

What is your favourite cycling memory or experience?

I did a bit of work a couple of years ago that was about 11 miles away and I’ve never really cycled that far to work before. If anything, I used the car. But I was cycling and it was a sense of freedom, and a sense of achievement. Through the journey across Torbay, just to take in the scenery, the coastal views, that was absolutely amazing. That sense that I could ride that distance to work. I mean it was a 22 mile round trip. For me, that was just a real sense of achievement and not having to be dependent on a car. 

Rather than being stuck in a car, being in a tunnel of traffic where you’re just focused on the car in front or the road in front, and you just want to get there as quickly as possible. When you actually leave that behind and you take a bike, there’s this whole sense of freedom. It’s like flying! 

 And I would say to people if you plan your journey and you look ahead and you actually pick the routes that you’re comfortable with, and routes that are free of traffic and use [cycling] infrastructure, I think there is that real sense of freedom and it’s so enjoyable. It’s amazing. 

I often talk about a friend of mine, he’s now 92, and when he was younger, he used to cycle everywhere. He’d go from here in Paignton and cycle to Swindon and go to the Railway Museum there. His doctor often says to him, you know, I think the reason why you’re living so long is all that cycling you did as a younger man! 

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I play the piano. I play all kinds of music, jazz, ragtime, some classical pieces. I used to play in hotels and I played in bars.  

I do up old vintage bikes in my spare time. I do up a lot of old Raleigh Roadsters from the 40s to 50s and the 60s, and really up until the 80s. I like the old Sturmey Archer 3 speed [gear hub]. I’ll buy them, and I’ll say I’ll just do this one up and use it for a bit and sell it, and then I’ll fall in love with them. I’ve got a garage that’s rammed full of vintage bikes! I think it’s about 30 at the moment. I’m at that point now where I’m looking for places to stash them! 

Where is your favourite place in the world?  

I’ve been to a few places and all I keep thinking of is Harrogate in North Yorkshire, it’s amazing. There’s a pub in Harrogate, it’s got real gas lighting in there. The first time I went in there was about 10 years ago, and there’s a piano in there. I said to the barman can I play the piano? And he said, oh, can you play? I said yeah, kind of a bit.  

Anyway, I started playing the piano and it turned out that there was a local theatre production company in there. And of course, we just start singing loads of songs, ABBA, lots of Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff like Cats, that sort of thing. It turned out there was a journalist from the Daily Telegraph in there. He was doing a tour of Britain’s unusual pubs. He did this whole write up at and included this pianist from Devon, it’s quite funny. That was probably one of the best nights of my life! 

You can read the article here, Pint to pint: Hales’ Bar, Harrogate (telegraph.co.uk) (£) 

Do you have any top tips for people who want to start cycling or cycle more?

One of the things I would say is find a bike that you’re comfortable with and that’s set up right. Because so often people struggle because the bike isn’t set up properly, or the saddle’s not high enough, or it’s too low.  

One other tip is if you pump your tyres up, make sure your tyres are at the right pressure – if your tyres are at the correct pressure, when you cycle it makes life a lot easier. 

I do a lot of Dr Bike pop-up sessions [pop-up workshops for free minor bike repairs], and you see valves and they’re at an angle because you can tell children are riding around on flat tyres or they’re underinflated.  

Who’s your cycling hero?

Reg Harris. He was the 1948 Olympic silver medalist for the UK. He was a big cyclist at the time, and used to race hub geared bikes. We don’t really get that now. 

He ended up promoting Raleigh’s racing range in the 1940’s to 1950s. There was Reg Harris, with his pipe promoting cycling. And that’s what they did at the time. 

If you weren’t a cycle instructor, what would your dream job be?

My background is in youth work. I used to work for Devon County Council  as a youth worker and also ran a youth work charity for 15 years. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably go back to youth work and supporting young people. 

What’s great about Bikeability is the whole thing is about being rider led and you’re empowering riders to make that choice. And with youth work, it’s about empowering young people to make their own life choices and learn skills so that they’re more independent. The whole Bikeability philosophy and approach just marries up with that perfectly. That’s another reason I love Bikeability.  

Are there any projects or things you’re doing that you’d like to tell us about?   

At Cycle Torbay we do lots of Dr Bike [sessions] and social rides. In Torbay, the cycling infrastructure isn’t very good, and being in Devon there’s lots of hills, so people tend not to ride so much, it puts them off. They think “well, I’m not going to buy a bike”. What we’re looking at doing is getting a fleet of bicycles that we’re going to get from the local tip and recycle them and set up a bike library so people can borrow a bike. We’re planning on doing this in partnership with Torbay Council. 

We’ve got a bike hub in the centre of Paignton, so people will be able to  come down and borrow a bike. We’ve also got a Bike Bus, and we’re going to use that to pop up in different places around Torbay so that people can access bikes. A little bit like the library van. 

People can borrow a bike for a day, a week or a month, or however long just to get people cycling, and help them to become active. We’ll be able to tell them about the cycling opportunities, with Bikeability and some of the adult confidence sessions that we run. 

Find out more about the work Jon and Cycle Torbay do on their website here.