THE TEACHER

JESSI NIXON, 23, CYCLING COACH

IT'S NOT HARD TO SEE why young children take to Jessi Nixon.

She may be young and fresh-faced, but her calm, laid-back demeanour combined with a firm, no-nonsense delivery has made her one of Cape Town's most sought-after coaches for anyone wanting to learn to ride from kids to adults. Although she works mostly with young children, she's coached many older students who have also come to her eager to learn an essential life skill.

Nixon does most of her coaching from The Bike Park on Constantia Uitsig - a family-run business, established eight years ago, that includes a bike shop and adjacent bike park, full of berms, jumps and table tops.

How did you get into teaching kids to ride?

Jessi Nixon: I started when I left school. I was looking for odd jobs while I was studying for a BCom in Business Management. It just kind of happened that because The Bike Park attracted lots of kids, I got to teach.

I also used to watch other coaches; and I kept on thinking to myself how I would do it so differently. Someone once told me that riding a bike is a life skill. I never really thought of it like that, but it is: it's like learning to swim.

So-what's the biggest takeout, when it comes to what you've learnt?

JN: Patience! It's surprising how fast kids learn how to ride, but it's critical not to rush them. I remember watching a coach trying to get a kid to ride a bike before a birthday party that weekend. It just wasn't going to happen, because they were putting on too much pressure.

The key is to take off that pressure that kids get - from parents, in particular.

I'm guessing parents are often the biggest challenge?