Helping kids learn to ride bikes

Bikes in Schools helps get kids on bikes. As each new school track opens, it’s always a huge thrill to see kids learn to ride, and gain fitness, confidence and a sense of adventure.

"My legs are my petrol,” said one very young Hastings lad on his first ride.

“We haven’t yet found a child who didn’t want to ride,” says Paul McArdle who established and runs the programme.

Teachers also say riding kids are happier, healthier and better students.

Bikes in Schools already benefits over 75,000 children across 250+ schools that have access to bikes and bike tracks within their schools grounds. This example is in Porirua https://bikeon.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Porirua-Bikes-in-Schools-Story-with-pics-Dec-2020.pdf. As funding allows it keeps growing fast. https://bikeon.org.nz/about-us/

At the Ākina Foundation, we’ve proved the wider health, family and community benefits of kids riding more in a Social Return on Investment analysis.

To help raise money for Paul and the kids, we seven riders on Team Ākina will compete in the 2023 Tour of New Zealand cycle race, April 10-14. For details about our five days of racing, please click here for the Tour of NZ website: https://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/ and read our blog from the previous Tour in 2021 https://nz2050.nz/tour-of-nz-2021/

This is our seventh Tour of NZ for Bikes in Schools! Please support us!

Katie Gormley, Donna and Corrie Smit, Geoff Scott, Nick Clements, Russell Wagstaff and Rod Oram.