Meet Sir Dave Brailsford at Changing Places day in Derby - and win a Genesis Volant bike

British Cycling performance director and Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford is to take part in a Changing Places session in Derby later this month to get an insight of the view that drivers of large vehicles such as lorries and buses get from the cab.

Members of the public visiting the event on Wednesday 30 October at Pride Park, where Derby's new velodrome is being constructed, will also have the opportunity to win a Genesis Volant road bike worth £749.99 courtesy of Darley Abbey bike shop Lovevelo and Genesis Bikes.

The event, hosted by construction firm Bowmer & Kirkland, which is building the multisport complex that will house the velodrome, takes place on Wednesday 30 October.

It will also be attended by para-triathlete champion and Team GB wheelchair basketball player, Phil Hogg, and British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake, who told the Derby Telegraph:

"It is fantastic to have a velodrome being built in Derby and I'm looking forward to seeing the progress that is being made with the construction.

"One point that comes across very strongly when we speak to our membership on issues of road safety is that they want us to approach it from the perspective of mutual respect.

"They don't want us to be anti-car, and indeed nine out of ten British Cycling members drives a car, so it makes no sense to talk about them and us; motorists or cyclists.

"We're just people, sometimes people on bikes, other times people in cars, often both in the same day. We all bear a responsibility for the culture on the roads."

Exhibitors on the day will include bicycle firms Bespoke and Moore Large, as well as Cycle Derby, Le Tour Yorkshire and Sustrans, while Derby City Council’s Connected Scheme team will also be in attendance.

The event starts at 1030am and finishes at 3pm, although Drake, Hogg and Brailsford –born in Derbyshire and raised in North Wales, but now living in his native county – will be there from 1230pm onwards.

More information about the event can be found on its website.

Last week, City of London Police held a Changing Places session. One cyclist who has attended one such session is road.cc's Sarah Barth, who says:

The opportunity to sit in the cab of an HGV is one of the most significant things I've done to improve my safety on the streets of London.

The cab is filled with mirrors, so it is possible to see the sides of the lorries from most angles, but it's not always easy.

A cyclist is just about visible coming up on the left -- but the improvement once you add a high-viz jacket is astonishing. If you've any sense though, you'd ride up the right, or go nowhere near.

There clearly are blind spots, and these are different on different vehicles, so you come away with the impression that the safest place to be is well out of the way.

And the safety features only work if the driver is using them - one can only imagine the dangers posed by a tired or distracted driver.