Volvo, the Swedish motor brand known to make safety a priority in its cars, has invested in the safety of South African mountain bikers by becoming the new title sponsor of TREAD Skills Clinics, South Africa’s only national mountain bike skills improvement company.
Mountain biking is one of the most popular recreational activities in South Africa, attracting men and women of all ages to over 70 trail centres and more than 500 organised races per year. Good year-round weather and an active outdoor lifestyle culture, have helped boost mountain biking’s popularity in the country over the past decade.
But while delivering hours of outdoor fun, mountain biking remains a high-risk activity, with crashes usually always resulting in injuries, often significant enough to keep mountain bikers off their bikes – and off work – while they recover.
TREAD Skills Clinics, which were established in 2010, offer professional, progressional guidance to mountain bikers, helping them to understand the physics of mountain biking, the mechanics of their bikes and the best way to prevent crashing. The clinics are geared for both newcomers (Confidence Clinics) and experienced riders (Speed Clinics).
TREAD Skills Clinics are currently held regularly in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Occasional clinics are added in smaller centres such as Port Elizabeth, Stellenbosch, Nelspruit and Pietermaritzburg.
“Our greatest priority, when teaching skills to mountain bikers, is safety. This aligns well with Volvo’s driver/passenger safety culture that’s become synonymous with what is one of the world’s premium motor brands. We love the synergy in that and we’re excited about this partnership,” said Sean Badenhorst, Chief Skills Instructor and founder of the TREAD brand.
“With Volvo’s support, we will be restructuring and enhancing our existing clinics as well as adding new clinics, which will include a greater focus on high schools, corporates and women. Our priority is to ensure TREAD Skills Clinics, driven by Volvo, are safe, accessible, affordable and successful in delivering higher levels of confidence and enjoyment among South African mountain bikers,” added Badenhorst.
Photo: Dino Lloyd
“Volvo is the most human-centric car brand and safety is our middle-name. Our love for people, the outdoors and an active lifestyle, as well as our “obsession” with the safety of people, made the TREAD Skills Clinics a cool and easy connection point. This is a great platform for us to reach our target market (active people), and help offer them value in learning skills that would allow them to have more fun, and more importantly make them safer riders,” said Michelle Naude, Volvo Marketing and Corporate Communications Director.
“We are Swedish to the core, which means we love nature, and we look for ways to enable our driver’s lifestyle through our own version of luxury and innovation. We are always on the lookout for opportunities to demonstrate this and our products and the Tread Skills Clinics also offer us this opportunity,” added Naude.
TREAD Skills Clinics are held at a number of carefully selected established mountain bike trail centres, which have been designed specifically for mountain biking and which offer the appropriate environment and trail obstacles for each TREAD Skills Clinic.
For more information or to book a TREAD Skills Clinic, visit www.treadskills.co.za
Source: Inside Line
