Surf Coast students get ready for great ride

STUDENTS from Surf Coast Secondary College are kicking the tyres and getting ready for a great big bicycle ride that starts on Saturday.

The 32-strong team from the college is taking part in the Great Victorian Bike Ride (GVBR), which starts at Wilsons Promontory and finishes nine days and 540 kilometres later in Trafalgar in Gippsland.

Some of the team, which features students from Year 7 to Year 10, took a break from their training rides to thank their sponsors – which include Times News Group, McCartney Real Estate, Ghanda, Rip Curl, Go Ride a Wave, Quiksilver, Rocket Tubes, Bike Matters and Coles Coaches – at the college on Tuesday.

Surf Coast Secondary College teachers Anthony Goss and Megan Wyatt will be accompanying the students, and said the group had been getting stronger each week.

“They’re getting really good at knowing the rules – that’s a big thing with kids on bikes, getting them on the road and learning how to ride with traffic,” Mr Goss said

“It’s amazing how quickly they’ve picked it up.”

Preparation has included last week’s 80-kilometre ride from Torquay to Queenscliff and back (only about 29km shorter than the longest day on the GVBR), and Ms Wyatt said the training was also improving the students’ communication skills.

“For me, that’s one of the biggest things… I just love seeing all the kids work together, and they don’t necessarily all know each other.

“To see those kids building relationships – the Year 7 kids get to know the Year 10s, and everything else in the middle – they’re more confident.

“They’re not all bike riders, which I think is a big thing, but they all do share the same sense