Meet the instructor – Katrin Rejahl

How old were you when you started cycling?

I think I was about 5 years old. I am from Germany where most children start riding a bike at a very young age. My parents keep telling me that at first I wasn’t able to use the breaks, and couldn’t stop. So I kept riding in a circle until someone held me to stop.

What motivated you to become an instructor?

I needed a change in my life and it was such a lovely coincidence how I heard about Bikeability first. I was on a group walk where I met an instructor who’s also working in Hertfordshire. We started chatting and I told her that I wanted to do something different for work. I like being with people and also being physically active. With that becoming a cycling instructor sounded to be ideal. 

I also wanted to work with people again in a job with a bit more flexibility with regards to timings, and the lady I had met said, “being a cycling instructor sounds like the perfect job for you”. I hadn’t even heard about Bikeability before because I moved to the UK when both my sons had already started secondary school, so Bikeability was nothing I had been dealing with. 

I contacted Hertfordshire County Council, and had a really lovely phone call with Lucy Hunter about Bikeability, what I had done before in my professional and my private life, and what I enjoy doing. I remember her saying that I sounded like an ideal candidate for the cycling instructor role. 

A few days later I joined a team of instructors for a couple of days of observation in a school near me to get an idea about the job, and I loved it straight away. I did my cycling instructor training the following week. And here I am. Going into the schools and loving it. I had never done anything like this before, but I am enjoying it so much. I love going to work every day. 

What’s your favourite part of the job?

My favourite part is probably working with the children and building rapport with them. The first day is always a bit chaotic when we are on the school grounds. The riders don’t know us, we don’t know them. They are trying to push the boundaries, they’re in their peer group, and we all have to get familiar with each other. 

But when we then go out on the roads and they know us a bit better, they learn to trust us. They know that we are encouraging, and that we want them to have the best experience.  And with that, you see them thriving. When they realise that they can control the traffic by applying certain skills that they have learned over the course of the week, their confidence starts to grow, and this is so lovely to see. It is very rewarding for me too. 

Every team of instructors and every school is different. Every week has new dynamics and you get new experiences with every single course we run. We’re such different characters. We’ve got different backgrounds. We’ve got very different teaching styles and I just love that we can learn so much from each other. You adapt, you pick up a few things, a few phrases, a different way of explaining a task. Occasionally you might see something that you wouldn’t teach in that way yourself, but that is also important. I think it’s the interaction with people along the way that I really love. 

Over time I have been teaching a lot of Level 3 Bikeability too, and I enjoy teaching that course a lot. I sometimes even teach riders on a Level 3 course who I saw in the Level 2 course the previous year. 

Do you have any favourite cycling memories or experiences?

I have a lovely memory about my eldest son Philipp who is 27 now. When he was 15 months old I bought a really nice bike with a double bike stand, and a bike seat that you attached to the back of your bike where the little ones are sort of sitting on top of your pannier rack. 

I still remember Philipp’s little proud face when I first put him into his bike seat. And from there we were able to cycle as a family. We went on bike tours and he was just sitting there and enjoying it. It’s not just one particular situation, but a memory of that time of my life. I really love revisiting those days. I can picture the seat. I can picture his little face, the little helmet, and it was just lovely.  

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m a very creative person, and a master pâtissiere by trade. In Germany we have the distinction between bakers and pâtissiers, and I did my apprenticeship first and then my master class after a few years of work. I later ran a business where I specialised in special occasion cakes. I designed the cakes which was wonderful as it’s such a creative process. I still love baking these days even though I have been working in different areas since I moved to the UK. 

I am very creative in all areas of my daily life. I love to crochet and to knit.  I like drawing and sketching. More recently I got into sketching portraits which is a lot of fun. I love being with people, meeting my friends, having them round for dinners, going for long walks. I am lucky enough to live in Hertfordshire where we’ve got such lovely countryside, and I also love strolling around London, exploring the city. Going to the theatre and visiting museums is something I do regularly too. 

Where’s your favourite place in the world?

I love being in Italy. I love the culture, I love the language. Their culture around food is so wonderful. And the weather obviously.  

Last summer I visited a friend in Sweden just outside of Stockholm and it’s actually my happy place. It’s just so beautiful there. I took loads of pictures of the gorgeous wooden houses and I like the landscape. It’s so peaceful there.  

Do you have any top tips for people who maybe want to start cycling or cycle more if they haven’t done it for a while ?

If you’re too scared to do it on your own, grab a biking buddy. Someone you trust to ride together with.  You could even book yourself a session with an instructor. I sometimes work with people who can ride a bike but they haven’t got the confidence when being out in traffic. I accompany them, teach them some skills in terms of positioning and priorities on the road.  

And most importantly, just carry on riding. With that confidence will grow. Since I started working as an instructor, I have gained a lot more confidence in traffic myself. 

Do you have a cycling hero?

I’ve been following the Tour de France for years on and off and I am fascinated by cyclists who do such long distance rides. In a big competition like the Tour de France they’re doing it over weeks, day after day after day. That I find amazing. Especially when it gets to the mountain stages.  

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

I think it would combine creativity and working with people. I have always created art, and doing that together with other people sounds fascinating to me. 

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

I have a connection to my local hospice, and have recently started volunteering in their in-patient unit. I feel that I can bring a ray of sunshine into someone’s moment even when the person is at a difficult stage of their life. I also support patients’ relatives when I am there. It sometimes is tough when I hear people’s stories, but at the same time it is rewarding knowing that I have made a moment “better” for them.