Hundreds of Hornsby Shire teenagers received their own free bike and an incentive to get active when the Happiness Cycle program came to Thornleigh last week.
A one-day bicycle skills workshop was held on Friday 14 November at the Thornleigh Brickpit Sports Stadium, with teenagers aged 15-17 chosen to participate.
The program, which is being supported by Hornsby Shire Council, is an initiative from The Coca-Cola Company and charity Bicycle Network.
It aims to inspire young people to increase their physical activity and adopt healthy habits.
With a total of 288 teenagers in attendance, the Hornsby Shire event had the second highest participation of the 26 Happiness Cycle days around the nation.
Participants were gifted with a partially assembled bike that they got to put together themselves, followed by a cycling training clinic, briefing on road safety and group riding exercise.
“It’s been really fun, the bike wasn’t too hard to build and all the helpers were really nice,” local Year 10 student Kylie Mageropoulos said.
“I don’t really do exercise but now I kind of feel obliged, I have no excuse now, I don’t have to go out of my way to exercise.”
