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“John has made significant progress from being abjectly nervous to confident and proficient,” Mr Liston said.<\/p>\n
“He attended every session, and we stretched his abilities to deal with more complicated and fluent tasks.<\/p>\n
“We even changed bikes from his single speed pedal back-braked machine to a geared multi-speed freewheel handbrake bike.<\/p>\n
“It is these simple things that most children take for granted that are far more confronting and challenging for kids like John, Elijah and Alex.”<\/p>\n
Younger brother Elijah made vast improvements throughout the program.<\/p>\n
After intense work on starting power and bike balance, the youngster – who is seven – followed a similar set of drills to his brother, and together they were able to ride various training circuits of cones, focusing on steering balance, stopping and bike handling.<\/p>\n
“It’s fantastic to see the development and sense of achievement in the children when they just get things to click and it all just works,” Mr Liston said.<\/p>\n
Eight-year-old Alex attended every session over the coaching course.He learned that powering into the first push was paramount to being able to find a smooth and rhythmic pedalling action.<\/p>\n
“Alex is a great boy and he takes in so much of his environment and things that are going on around him that focusing on just single elements of riding a bike is a major task in itself,” Mr Liston said.<\/p>\n
“We know Alex has developed leg power, muscle memory and is aware of out of balance.<\/p>\n
“Like a key in a lock tumbler, we need to crack all the elements together so that it all just flows, and Alex gets to be independent and proficient.”<\/p>\n
Mr Liston praised the support of Caitlin Johnston, from Sports Central, and BSCC treasurer Hugo Tolliday, who coordinated the registrations, and were on course for the early 4pm-5pm sessions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A PROGRAM designed to help get more Ballarat children and teens with autism and spectrum disorders riding their bikes and to build their self-confidence has again been hailed by organisers as a success. Run annually by the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club (BSCC), the fifth instalment of the Power2Pedal coaching program saw three children \u2013 from […]<\/p>\n