Heels on Wheels aims to give women the skills to ride safely on Britain's busy streets

The course that teaches female cyclists to 'own the road'

Don't hug the kerb, own the road. Never be afraid of being seen, or getting in somebody's way. And if a car or bus behind you has to wait, they can wait.

Those are some of the lessons biking instructor Noam Cohen imparts in sessions aimed at giving female cyclists the skills to stay safe on the road – and the confidence to get on their bikes in the first place.

She taught the two sessions in a new effort called Heels on Wheels, run by bike maker Pitango Bikes.

Cohen says that too many women are missing out on the pleasure, convenience and health benefits of cycling. She says she understands why many are wary of riding to work, particularly in urban environments such as London:

"I've been cycling for a few years now and I was really timid at the beginning. I was afraid to ride on the main roads. When you don't ride with confidence, it's very dangerous. Because you're afraid to 'own the road', which is one of the main things we teach. Then you're way more likely to get hurt or to be unseen. And I think for women, our tendency would be to stick to the side, to be unseen, to try to be as close to the side as we can and not to say 'I'm here'."

Cohen's partner Ilan Harari is one of Pitango's founders. He says the idea for Heels on Wheels came about as he was chatting with a group of women at the PR firm his company employs.

"I was talking to them, and asking them why they don't ride to work, and they all just said they're scared, they're scared of drivers, or roads or various things," he said. "They feel intimidated."

When the company conducted an informal survey of 100 London women, 67 said they did not own a bike because they were too frightened, and 72 said they would not know how to fix a bicycle. British Cycling is seeking to get 1 million more women on their bikes by 2020.

Cohen starts the 90-minute, £30 class with a discussion at Pitango's Archway warehouse, then leads participants on a ride through both busy roads and quieter side streets.

She says she learned her approach from Harari, who developed it in a year spent working as bike messenger on Tel Aviv's busy streets.

Cohen says:

"I don't think you need to be aggressive, I think you need to be seen. You need to be in the middle [of the road] and not be pushed by vehicles, not be stressed if a cab driver honks at you, which has happened to me in the middle of the night riding. Or if a driver starts shouting at you because he wants to pass fast, you need to wait until you are safe to let him pass."

"When you don't have experience, you tend to be very timid," she adds.

Just two women came to the first Heels on Wheels class in early September, but Harari says he hopes the programme will grow.

Shir Moaz, 25, says she decided to sign up "basically because I was scared to ride on the roads here" in London.

Now, she feels more confident, and is considering cycling to her job as an office manager, a one-hour ride.

"Every time I go on my bike now, I'm like, 'Ah, remember what she said'," Moaz said. "I expect more that things will happen, so I know how to react better."

Will Heels on Wheels help convince more women to hop on their bikes?

"I hope so," says Cohen. "It's such a fun way of commuting."