Garth and Matilda – sharing adventures together
Garth and his daughter Matilda simply love to ride together. Matilda took to riding as a hobby at the early age of four after Garth introduced cycling to his daughter using balanced bikes. This young rider has become extremely passionate about her hobby and has helped this father-daughter duo bond over their love of riding. Neighbourly Ride proudly welcomes its new faces and is delighted to share their riding story.
Matilda – the active kid
Matilda is now eight years old and riding her bike like a pro. She's an active kid and knows everything there is to know about riding. Cycling is not the only sport that keeps her occupied, Matilda is a part of a large swimming club and does three and a half hours of swimming every week. Now that’s one fit kid.
Exploring nature with Dad
Usually, Garth and Matilda like to explore new trails together and pedal their bikes along the explored paths. Sometimes, they visit eastern beaches and enjoy salty waves with winds carrying taste of seaweeds. As for Matilda, she loves the smell of the ocean and enjoys some quiet time watching the water and the ducks.
Tandem Fun - now its Paterson's turn
Garth and his daughter started out on a tandem bike, and now it’s her brother Patterson, who takes her place on it. Six year old Patterson loves tagging along with his sister and dad while she rides on the front. Though Patterson does get to ride his own bike, he prefers the tandem over his own.
When asked why, Garth gleefully states that since Matilda loves to stay ahead on a trail, her brother prefers to ride along with her on the tandem as it allows him to keep up with her.
Cadel Evans Road Race
Both Garth and Matilda are diehard fans of Cadel Evans Road Race. They both pedal their ways to the barriers and watch riders come out of those barriers to race their way through this exciting event. The duo even won a bike once and got a chance to meet Cadel Evans.
Matilda cheekily blames her father for leaving his phone at home and missing their chance to meet the legendary rider and take a photo. They can’t stop smiling when they remember how they were standing right behind Evans when they were being called to collect their bike.
Matilda cheers for girls
When asked about her expectations from the memorable racing event, Matilda straightaway declares her support for girls and how she wishes that more girls take the lead. She says she would love to see girls doing better at the race than boys.
As a passionate rider, Matilda is disappointed that there aren’t many girls who like riding, and that she would love to see girls get their bikes and get out riding. Matilda thinks it’s a great hobby to have and that more and more girls should be encouraged to participate.
Nowadays, she picks up her neighbours Telly and Piper and all three of them share the common love for biking and often go racing along the northern shores of Geelong.
Spring & Autumn - Matilda’s Biking Seasons
Though seasons generally don’t bother Garth, Matilda prefers riding during spring and autumn as she finds winter to be too cold and summers to be too hot. Although she does ride during summers, she confesses to be more comfortable on her bike during the pleasant breezes of spring and crispy mornings of autumn.
Big Aspirations
Matilda hopes to be among one of the racers of Cadel Evans, and Garth offers his relentless support to the aspirations of his daughter. Both father and daughter hope that one day Matilda will win a trophy.
Going on Neighbourly Rides & sharing the fun
Our Neighbourly ride in Geelong north shore will be starting soon thanks to Garth and Matilda. The main drive for Garth to put his effort and energy into starting a local ride was to share his experience, fun and love for riding with his community.
For Garth, riding and exploring areas with his kids gives him the opportunity to spend some quality time with them, and he wishes for others to experience the same joy. As for Matilda, it’s more about encouraging young girls to go for riding and make them more active and fit like her, while Patterson is all about enjoying his share of fun in the tandem bike.