Hamilton City Council hosted a series of free school holiday biking courses this week to give children the skills they need to be safe while biking around our city.

The courses were split into two series: Learn to Ride and Off-road Skills. Qualified instructors went through the basics such as bike handling, when to signal, balancing techniques, bike maintenance and correct helmet fitting in a relaxed and educational environment.

Council’s School Travel Co-ordinators Cam Ward and Sean Christian facilitated the courses and were met by overwhelming praise from proud parents and happy children.

“We had a great turnout with parents noticing the confidence in their child’s biking ability grow from the start to the end of the session and children were finishing the day with huge smiles talking about how much fun they had.

“There were beginners doing full laps of the Hillcrest Velodrome track unassisted and our not-so-confident kids were riding the pump tack - everyone was learning something new,” says Ward.

One child commented, “I already knew how to ride my bike, but I’ve learnt heaps from today” and a parent mentioned her child “is now nagging me for a new bike, she even slept in her Bike Hamilton high-vis vest last night! Keep up the awesome mahi”.

Christian says, “we want our children to be able to meet up with their friends at their local park and have the confidence to try out Hamilton’s excellent mountain bike trials and these courses are key to teaching young children the fundamental skills necessary to ride their bikes safely”.

Due to the high participant rate and positive feedback, Council will look into repeating this programme next school holidays.

Keep an eye out at hamilton.govt.nz/playbike for all upcoming rides and courses.

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