On Wednesday, for the first time, the program came to Cootamundra, with the venue chosen the large playground at Cootamundra Public School.

The program, funded by the State government's Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), not only delivers expert bicycle and road rules coaching, but dishes out free bicycle mechanical checks and repairs, free helmets, free front and rear lights, free bells, free morning tea and lunch, and free slime.

Free slime, I hear you say, who would want that?

Slime, it appears, is a kind of foam that can be pumped into tyre tubes through the valve stem, so that if your tube gets punctured by a burr, thorn or anything else causing a gash up to a centimetre wide, it seals itself.

Very handy, removing one of the great frustrations of bike riding - and another valuable gift, with "sliming" costing $30-40 per bike.

Cootamundra will now be permanently added to the list of towns receiving RMS's generosity, with the three-hour bike school and repair session set to become a Christmas holiday fixture.

Hosting the event here is the Cootamundra Aboriginal Working Party, which operates a learn-to-drive program for Aboriginal people, also funded by RMS.

Chairperson of the working party, Colina Meadows, found out about the existence of the program when she was talking with one of her RMS contacts, and found ready agreement when she asked whether it would be possible to bring it here.

Ms Meadows, with secretary Amanda Levett, arranged the venue of Coota Public School, which is ideal because it has a large open playground area, vacant at this time of year.

The school also has "COLA" - the covered outdoor learning area, considered an asset if it turned out to be a hot sunny day, but which came in handy on Wednesday when light rain fell for a little while.

The working party also advertised the program, including through the Yarra Hub Facebook page.

The kids, aged 6-15, were obviously having a whale of a time, especially four of them who had never ridden a bike before, and one who came off training wheels.

"It's good to have them riding now and they're all very excited," Ms Meadows said. "It's great to teach kids new skills and it's a healthy, outside activity for them."

Instruction was by coaches Jenny and Damien Enderby, assisted by daughter Michaela, who operate a Newcastle-based business called "Bike and Fitness", specialising in cycle and orienteering coaching.