Cockburn Community Trek/Bike Month

Jillian Woolmer
City of Cockburn
141

I was lucky enough to try out this wonderful electric assist orange cargo bike as we packed up after our successful Bike Month community event. Bike Month is an ideal time to try out different bikes and encourage more people to get on a bike and have a go. Thanks to Wellness on Wheels for trusting me with her bike. I have been on six different bikes during Bike Month now.

Staff and local residents were invited to join in the Cockburn Community Trek which is held in November each year. Over the past few years this event has been extended to walk, ride and roll around Bibra Lake as we all need to “share the path like we share the fresh air”.

We made a video at Bibra Lake with comedians Matt Storer and Famous Sharron to help encourage more people to slow down and share. Famous Sharron even joined us one year for the Community Trek and rode around the lake with us. https://youtu.be/ODWA14oM4u4

This year we include bicycles and Trishaws for Bike Month WA. This year we had 20 Urbi Bike Share Bikes, four Cycling Without Age Trishaws, 2 Cargo Bikes (thanks to BikeWise and Wellness on Wheels) and many personal bike riders attend the event and ride around the lake sharing the path with the Heart Foundation walking groups that attended.

Despite the 38 degree weather forecast, Mayor Logan Howlett, Directors and Senior Managers attended the event. Staff were encouraged to attend for as long as they were able. An informal format enabled them to pop in on the way to work. Some had a walk meeting around the lake, others rode there with on their rostered day off, with one bringing their child on the back of her bike. Over 100 people attended the event in total.

It was a perfect opportunity to showcase sharing the path with path users. Staff walking were able to see bike share bikes and Trishaws in action. Bike advice was given to many local residents and staff by BikeWise. Some lucky attendees also had their bike checked and tuned while they waited.

People who wished to ride were able to borrow the Urbi bike share bikes and test them out around Bibra Lake. Staff were able to trial the bikes with the view of introducing bike share to areas such as Cockburn Central in the future, where the Council has several offices, within a km or two of the train station and shopping centre.

Wellness on Wheels provided massages to the various bike riders that attended. The massages were also used to reward the volunteer trishaw pilots who were busy riding around the lake with passengers on board.

Thanks to Cycling Without Age Australia – WA, Urbi Bike Share, BikeWise and Wellness on Wheels for assisting with this event run by City of Cockburn.

This story is related to BikeDr Pit-Stop

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3 Comments

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James (Your Move)

Fantastic story Jillian - thanks for sharing. A great example of a really comprehensive event. The event itself earned you 40 points, bike maintenance another 50 points, 10 points for all the details, 5 for sharing your participation rate and a final 20 points for sharing that beauty of a video with Matt Storer and Famous Sharron - that is the most engaging way to promote AT harmony that I have seen to date!

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Jillian

Thanks James - It was a great event. Staff that attended were all talking about it and thanked me for organising the bike related components. They are starting to ask for bikes to be included now.

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Kylie (Your Move)

Sounds like another great event Jillian. (ps. love the spotty frock).

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