Bike riding is a key life skill, and to help our students develop their confidence and get more enjoyment out of cycling, Ride Nation stopped by the Junior School to run a series of skills workshops. This was an extra special visit for one of the Ride Nation coaches, former TIGS student James Seal (Class of 2018) who is completing his Sports Management degree in the USA. James is interning with Ride Nation as part of his studies, and was excited to be back at TIGS remarking that the campus had grown and changed a lot since his time here. 

The Year 5 class was responsible for a touching, heartfelt moment at the start of their session when they spontaneously burst into a chorus of Happy Birthday after finding out it was one of the coaches birthdays that day. 

After being fitted with helmets, the students jumped on one of the bikes supplied by Ride Nation and set off around a small obstacle course, weaving through cones practicing their turns and developing balance, then racing back to launch off a small ramp and add some excitement to the run. The ramp was an obvious highlight for the more experienced riders with friendly competition quickly developing to see who could jump highest, the unofficial ‘king of the ramp’ though was Mr Deck, Head of Sport, who took to the course with our Year 5 Students and got some serious air time. 

There were still smiles all round from the less experienced riders who had the coaches on hand to guide them around the course. 

Year 5 students Jesse Woods, Sebastian Lahore-Lahitte, Dalton Fitzpatrick, Malik El Jamal and James Rutty all gave glowing reviews of the workshop afterwards, with the consensus that “it was a lot of fun, and a great experience”

To find out how you can get cycling around Wollongong try Visit Wollongong for some helpful resources.