Walawaani On Wheels

This is a community program, funded by a grant from Fires to Flourish, managed by BBMTB which aims to make sure the kids in and around the Mogo community have the opportunity to ride on the new MTB trails surrounding their town, by providing them with equipment and coaching.

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What's in the program?

• there will be a fleet of bikes, helmets, knee and elbow guards that can be borrowed

• a Fixit Fund to pay for repairs to existing bikes already in the community 

• demonstrations to teach kids how to look after bikes

• donations of second hand bikes from the wider Batemans Bay-Moruya MTB community to be distributed to older kids

• construction of a MTB track inside the Mogo Primary School

• BBMTB instructors will provide up to three one hour sessions of coaching for riding skills

• advanced bike maintenance – on application, opportunity for work experience with participating bike shop, with possibility of TAFE training 

Who can be in the program?

To get going and refine how the program will work we are starting with Mogo Primary School or kids who live in Mogo ages 9-12. The new bikes and protective gear we are sourcing will be in the sizes needed by kids this age.

Kids aged 12-18 that live in Mogo can access the Fixit Fund if there is enough funding left for fixing existing bikes. We are also collecting "spare" bikes from the local MTB community for allocating to this older age group.  

If the program is working well we can extend it to Eurobodalla indigenous kids outside the Mogo area at some time in the future. 

Who are the delivery partners?

• BBMTB – provides program oversight and coordination, manage the grant, register participants, source protective equipment and drink bottles, and supply coaches for skills sessions

• Ride The Bay and Ride Mogo – permanent bike fleets - supply, maintain, store and manage loans of equipment

• All three local bike stores (Ride The Bay, Ride Mogo and Batemans Bay Cycles) – fix bikes, demonstrate bike maintenance, provide work experience for suitable candidates 

• Sendy protective equipment – knees and elbows.

• Next Level MTB – construction of MTB track inside MPS grounds

• Mogo community groups – validate registrations where required

• Mogo primary school kids – design a program poster/tee shirt 

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How will the program roll out?

Design – Mogo Primary School to design a poster/tee shirt. Every participant gets a tee shirt.   

Registration – Registration is essential for access to the Fix It Fund and to access loan equipment. MPS kids aged 9-12 are automatically registered for the program.  For Mogo kids aged 9-12 that are not at the MPS, and Mogo kids aged 12-18 please register by emailing BBMTB at ridebatemansbaymtb@gmail.com and will send you a registration form. 

Fixing existing bikes (The Fix It Fund) – once registered with the program kids can take their existing bikes in to participating bike shops for repairs and be shown how to do it for themselves. 

New bikes – 

Fleet A - Ride The Bay to donate around 15 hard tail bikes and house and maintain them at MPS (note that this could be a temporary arrangement – some or all equipment would shift if Ride The Bay establishe a presence in Mogo).  

Fleet B - Ride Mogo to supply 8-9 new bikes and store, maintain and manage borrowing by MPS students after school hours and weekends, and for kids in the program that don’t go to MPS. 

Protective equipment – 30 new helmets, and sets of Sendy knee and elbow guards, safety glasses, gloves (all stored at the school bike depot or the Ride Mogo shop) and a BBMTB drink bottle. 

Skills clinics – once equipment is established (new for loan and privately owned is fixed up) BBMTB will conduct skills sessions for kids in the program. Timing likely later in September or October.  

Bike maintenance workshops - once equipment is established (new for loan and privately owned is fixed up) local bike shops will conduct sessions on how to do basic maintenance on the bikes. Timing likely later in September or October.

AusCycling insurance – for the riding skills part of the program all riders need to be covered by AusCycling membership of some kind so that the BBMTB public liability insurance is valid for the project.  This can done with the 4 week free trial membership with AusCycling.  Evidence of this will be essential for participation in coaching elements of the project.