A team of cyclists from Cowes Primary School has won the 2019 Gippsland Regional Final of the Bike Ed Challenge for the third year in a row.
To qualify for the Regional Final, Cowes Primary School won the Bass Coast Bike Ed Challenge, held in September.
In the Final, held recently at the Traffic School in Morwell and run by Latrobe City Council, Cowes competed against six other Gippsland primary school teams.
During the final challenge, cyclists are required to ride through a series of obstacles, testing their balance and control. Each cyclist had to demonstrate their skills in slow riding, scanning, riding straight, a slalom course, tight turns, and correctly turning right at a roundabout and at traffic lights.
Event organiser, Michael Morgan, said, "Bike Ed in schools is not always given a high priority, as there are other competing demands. However, helping kids learn about using the roads and pathways safely is hugely important. The spin-offs are the health and social benefits of enabling kids cycle safely to and from school."
Cowes Primary School's Bike Ed program is led by teacher, Diddy Cuthbertson and coached by Ron Hateley and Ray Kenneally from the Phillip Island Bicycle User Group (BUG), with assistance from other BUG members and parents from the school.
Bike Ed programs will continue in Bass Coast schools during Term 4.
Bike Ed Coordinator Don Turner was presented with an award from the RoadSafe Gippsland Community Road Safety Council recently. Don has been a valued member of RoadSafe for many years. He has provided exceptional support to several road safety programs and his commitment to bicycle safety throughout Gippsland has been incredible. His dedication has helped thousands of students to gain valuable bicycle and road safety knowledge.
