A spanner turns, a BMX chain clicks into place, and a line of kids roll past wearing helmets \u2014 they aren’t just riding, they’re learning how to keep the wheels on their bikes turning.<\/p>\n
A shared love of cycling and desire to learn lies at the heart of Bikes Mwerre, an Alice Springs program that recently celebrated its fourth year.<\/p>\n
Darnell McDonald, 17, first attended the program as a kid and now the passionate mountain-biker teaches younger riders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Darnel McDonald is a passionate mountain biker who works with Bikes Mwerre. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n
“I’m just helping kids fix their bikes,” Darnell says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“And it’s like [my guidance helps] them have fun and all that joy.”<\/p>\n
With a bike mechanic certificate under his belt, Darnell is showing outback children how to handle their own repairs \u2014 the small fixes needed to keep a bike on the road, plus the confidence that comes with knowing what to do.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Peter, 7, is one of the kids in the Bikes Mwerre program. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n
“Teaching them how to fix their own bikes \u2026 so in the future, they can do it themselves,” he says.<\/p>\n
Darnell has specialist knowledge because his world is full of BMX trails and tricks \u2014 he films his rides with a GoPro and posts about mountain biking online.<\/p>\n
He suggests trying out new rides and exploring different trails to build up your cycling confidence.<\/p>\n
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So when the younger kids ask how to do something \u2014 such as a wheelie \u2014 Darnell\u00a0takes pride in showing them what’s possible.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes when I’m riding \u2026 or doing tricks \u2026 I just do it, and they get so happy,” he says.<\/p>\n
Bikes Mwerre founder and local Arrernte man Tyrone Lankin, known as “Dowry”, created the safe space to make sure local kids had somewhere positive to spend time after school.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tyrone Langton founded the Alice Springs youth bike program. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n
His program gives bikes to the many kids who show up without one, and he says the social hobby can serve as a crime prevention tool.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That way they can have their own bike, rather than getting in trouble from people all the time,” he says.<\/p>\n
Dowry says the idea for Bikes Mwerre came from his own lived experience and built on his fond childhood memories of a similar program, Deadly Treadlies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He remembers once as a young boy, riding on a bike that was a treasured gift from his grandmother which a stranger later accused him of stealing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bikes Mwerre helps foster social connection among children with a shared love of BMX. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n
Dowry\u00a0wanted to create a safe space free of the discrimination he’d experienced growing up.<\/p>\n
That’s why Bikes Mwerre is about much more than mechanics, it’s about kids seeing themselves \u2014 and each other \u2014 differently as they learn and ride alongside one another.<\/p>\n
“I just felt like that kids nowadays just never really have their own bikes,” Dowry says.<\/p>\n
“We’ll give you a bike. Just come to the programme and just have fun.”<\/p>\n
For Cassie Boyle, from the Larapinta Child and Family Centre, seeing Darnell take on the mentoring role fills her with pride.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cassie Boyle is an Aboriginal community inclusion coordinator at the Larapinta Child and Family Centre. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n
“To see him working and finding a career path within it \u2026 it’s been a real big success feeling for all of us,” she says.<\/p>\n
For Dowry, the same simple goal informs every session; build safety, skill and belonging.<\/p>\n
“[We can] improve the community and just engage with young people,” he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Let them know that \u2026 we’re here, like we can help them with whatever they need.”<\/p>\n
The program has been teaching children in Alice Springs for four years. (ABC News: Chris Marrkarany Fitzpatrick)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A spanner turns, a BMX chain clicks into place, and a line of kids roll past wearing helmets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[196994,24261,196992,196991,64,63,197001,3178,196997,196996,784,197002,196993,70991,197004,18572,1098,197003,12587,85,196999,196998,27077,197000,196995,24024],"class_list":{"0":"post-361590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-aboriginal-business","9":"tag-alice-springs","10":"tag-arrernte-business","11":"tag-arrernte-people","12":"tag-au","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-bike-education","15":"tag-bike-mechanic","16":"tag-bikes-mwerre","17":"tag-community-program","18":"tag-cycling","19":"tag-fixing-bikes","20":"tag-indigenous-business","21":"tag-local-business","22":"tag-mountain-bike-education","23":"tag-mountain-biking","24":"tag-nt","25":"tag-riding-bikes","26":"tag-small-business","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-teaching-children","29":"tag-youth-bike-program","30":"tag-youth-crime","31":"tag-youth-education","32":"tag-youth-program","33":"tag-youtuber"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}