Julie Turner has taught more than 15,000 people to ride in 28 years. She won Bikeability's national lifetime award and retires in March 2027, aged 68.

A road safety instructor from Driffield has won the national lifetime achievement award for cycle training.

Julie Turner, 67, has taught more than 15,000 children and adults in the East Riding to ride a bike safely. She has done it for 28 years: three as a volunteer, then 25 on East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s road safety team. She retires in March 2027, at 68.

The award is the Lifetime Achievement Award, which the Bikeability Trust also calls the David Dansky Award. Bikeability is the Department for Transport’s national cycle training programme for school children in England, and the modern version of the cycling proficiency test. (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, 2 September 2026)

The Trust named her at its Celebration of Bikeability on Friday 17 July 2026, alongside nine other winners in its other categories. The council announced the presentation on 2 September. (The Bikeability Trust, Celebration of Bikeability)

Julie Turner's cycle training career in numbers Six figures. Twenty-eight years teaching cycling in the East Riding, three of them as a volunteer. More than 15,000 children and adults taught to ride. Twenty-five years on East Riding of Yorkshire Council's road safety team. 24,901 miles covered on her led rides as of May 2026. Three women's rides a week plus a fortnightly track session. She retires in March 2027 at the age of 68. Twenty-eight years, and 15,000 people taught to ride Source: East Riding of Yorkshire Council, 2 September 2026. Mileage figure is as at May 2026. 28 years teaching cycling in the East Riding, three of them as a volunteer 15,000+ children and adults taught to ride a bike safely 25 years on the council's road safety team, going into schools 24,901 miles covered on her led rides, counted to May 2026 3 a week women's rides she leads, plus a fortnightly cycle track session Mar 2027 when she retires from the council, at the age of 68 Graphic by East Riding Today

What she actually does

Turner works on the council’s road safety team, which goes into schools across the district. The work is not only bikes. The team also teaches scooter riders and pedestrians.

Outside the school timetable she does more of it. In the holidays she volunteers at road safety events, including a project teaching local refugees to cycle. She is a British Cycling volunteer, an accredited marshal and a Walk Wheel Cycle Trust volunteer. She leads three women’s rides a week in the East Riding and a fortnightly session at a local cycle track, so that people can ride away from traffic.

The council counted the distance she has covered leading those rides. As at May 2026 it stood at 24,901 miles, which is roughly the circumference of the Earth.

She was also part of a 2023 immersive reality pilot with Brunel University and Active Travel England, supplying on-road research data for the study.

Turner said: “For the past 28 years, I’ve supported children and adults across East Yorkshire to cycle safely, confidently and independently through cycling proficiency, Bikeability and community rides.”

“What I’m proudest of is helping people who never thought cycling was ‘for them’. Watching confidence grow, friendships form and people discover what they’re capable of is incredibly rewarding.”

Councillor Paul West, the council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said she “has dedicated her life to cycling and has been responsible for teaching thousands of people, mainly primary school children, how to ride their bikes safely on our roads”.

The award was announced by the BBC journalist and handcyclist Ellis Palmer, who said Turner had “inspired and trained more than 15,000 riders, while mentoring instructors and championing inclusive cycling”.

How to get the training she delivers

This is the part the press release leaves out, and it is the useful part. Two different things run in the East Riding, and neither costs anything.

For school-age children: Bikeability. Council instructors deliver National Standard cycle training in primary schools and some secondary schools across the district. Levels 1 and 2 normally take two days. Schools book it, not parents, so ask your school office whether it runs Bikeability and when.

For anyone aged 16 and over: bespoke cycle training. The council offers free training to residents and workplaces, in small groups, with a limited number of funded places. Sessions run up to three hours and are typically delivered between May and November, at venues around the district. There are three:

  • Rusty riders, for new or returning riders who want to get their confidence back
  • Cycle confidence, for people who already ride and want a refresher on modern roads
  • Advanced or National Standard training, covering road position, riding alongside others, complex junctions and roads above 30mph, and route planning to work or school

Book through the council’s cycle training registration form or email sustainabletravel@eastriding.gov.uk. (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, cycling and walking to school schemes)

What it means for you

  • If you have a primary school child, Bikeability is free and delivered in school. Ask the school office whether it is booked for this year.
  • If you are 16 or over and have not ridden for years, the Rusty Riders session exists precisely for that, it is free, and places are limited. The season runs to November, so this is the point to ask rather than next spring.
  • If your workplace wants it, the same team delivers to employers. Email sustainabletravel@eastriding.gov.uk.
  • If the roads are the problem, not the skills, the council’s cycling and walking consultation is open until Sunday 20 September. It asks where new crossings, footways, cycleways, dropped kerbs and cycle parking should go, and it feeds three years of spending.
  • If it is the school gates, the council runs a School Streets scheme that closes a road outside a school at drop-off and pick-up. Email schoolstreets@eastriding.gov.uk.

Sources

More from the district: roadworks and travel and things to do in East Yorkshire.