Tahuna Normal Intermediate School Mountain Biking with Mountain Biking Otago

Funding Stories

School students in South Dunedin have been improving their cycling skills thanks to funding from the Otago Community Trust.

Funding to the South Dunedin Cycling Project has meant students have been able to move from gaining basic skills, such as getting on a bike, signalling and braking, through led rides on the road to participation in sports cycling. They have been able to extend the skills that create balance and good bike handling.

The South Dunedin Cycling project is also working with Mountain Biking Otago to deliver introductory mountain biking training to students who have successfully completed grade two of the Cycle Skills Training Programme.

As part of Tahuna Normal Intermediate School’s Year 8 camps, students received mountain biking training earlier this year. This training, funded by the Otago Community Trust, was delivered by former junior world champion mountain biker Scarlett Hagen.

“BikeSchool,” Scarlett’s brand of mountain biking training, has been developed for school-aged students and focuses on developing core skills such as bike handling, control and safety.

Scarlett said it was great to work with the Tahuna students. “By the end of the session, the kids were able to ride confidently over technical mountain bike terrain and had heaps of fun.”