Roller Races at Forest Road

Orchard and Parkwood in action

Ryan and Diana from Kingsmead test the new rollers.

The final event before the Xmas break took place last thursday at the Forest Road Youth Centre. Indoor roller racing is always a popular option in the winter in the cycling fraternity - it beats being out in the cols and wet anyway. sixty three riders from six schools attended to battle it out on the static bikes. Thanks to Young Hackney and CCH we have some new equipment which looks fantastic however the electronics part of it hadn't arrived in time from the states so we had to revert to old fashioned methods of using a stop watch and fitting bike computers to the rear wheels of the bikes. this way we could measure how far each rider could travel in 1 minute.

Leila and Angelica from Kingsmead in action.

The riders had already arrived when we found out that the computers only counted up the distance 100 metres at a time meaning riders distances were being rounded down to the nearest hundred. so we quickly rejigged the competition so that the total distances attained by each school would settle the league points. With 20 for 1st, 17 for 2nd, 15 for 3rd,  13th for 4th, 11 for 5th and 10 for 6th place. With all the schools being busy with xmas concerts and fairs we only had two teams in at a time competing but they still managed to make plenty noise cheering on their teammates.

Matilda from Orchard going hard

After all the scores were added up the results were as follows -

Gayhurst	total	8600m	1
Kingsmead	total	8200m	5
Jubilee	total	8400m	2
Sir Thomas Abney	total	8300m	3
Orchard	total	8200m	5
Parkwood	total	8000m	6

Another rider from Orchard priamry school giving it a go

As you can see the results were very close. Individually Mack Mooney - Y6 Jubilee and Ryan da Costa Y5 kingsmead both got over 900m, whilst in the girls Leila Abbot Y6 Kingsmead, Matilda de Guia Y6 Orchard, Nel Mulready Jones Y5 Jubilee and Kezia Cotterell Y5 Gayhurst all got over 800m. Well done to all who gave it a go. When the equipment is up and running properly we will be taking it round lots of schools in the borough as part of the Tour de Hackney fitness programme being rolled out by Young Hackney. Have a great holiday and we'll see you early n the new year back at the Lea Valley Velopark for the next race.

Kymani and Camillo from Kingsmead - look at the leg speed!

Hakeem and Iftikhar show real legspeed.

Circuit races at LVV in Olympic Park great success

The Young Hackney Primary Schools Cycling League had its first taste of using Olympic class venues last Thursday with the first Circuit race of this this season at Lea Valley Velopark in nearby Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. We had 81 riders competing from eight different schools in the Go-Ride event - it was fantastic to see so many young riders out there many of them visiting the facility for the first time.

The year 6 boys race about to start

The riders were giving the chance to ride around the circuit first in order to learn its layout and then whilst the different groups raced the other riders were able to train on the west side of the circuit on a different loop.

Southwold riders about to get some practise in.

First to race were the year 5 girls. 24 riders battled it out over 5 laps with Kezia Cotterell from Gayhurst taking an early lead and hanging on to it through out with Esther Ramsay and Leah Sobell-Davies finishing 2nd and 3rd for Jubilee.

A rider on the steep hill next to the Velodrome

The next race was the year 5 boys - 20 riders started this race and although it split up quite quickly there was close racing within the groups. The leaders Conrad Couzins - Millfields and Robbie de Monchaux-Irons - Gayhurst worked in tandem to distance the rest with Rueben Couzins - Millfields, Jeffrey Marriot - Southwold and Leon Musson-Brown - Kingsmead the only other riders finishing on the same lap as the first two.

Year 5 girls results

Year 5 boys results

The Year 6 girls were next up and again we had break away by a strong threesome stringing out the other riders and lapping some of them. Billie Kilburn from Gayhurst road to a fine win followed by Leila Abbot from Kingsmead and Evie Fletcher - Gayhurst.

The final race saw 22 year 6 boys battle it out and again we saw a break of three followed by a chasing pack of five stringing out the remainder of the field - Mack Mooney from jubilee took the honours from the Gayhurst pair Tom Bardill and Stanley Boyd.

year 6 girls results

year 6 boys results

 It was a great effort by all the riders and I'm sure they'll all come back stronger for the next race at the Velopark circuit in January. The current league standings are below and we'll see you all the Forest Centre on Thursday 11th December for the next event in the league - Roller Racing.

League standings November 2014

Springfield Hill Climb kicks off new league to a great start

Its that way to the top....

A record turn out for the Hill Climb at Springfield park could only mean one or two things - 

1- is wasn't raining  - or

2- everyone wants to take part in the most exciting primary school league in Hackney

The riders get briefed before the racing starts

Well it's probably a combination of both but the 2014/15 season got off to a great start in the sunshine with 72 riders from eight schools participating in the short but sharp hill climb. Rising 55m for a length of around 150m with a real ramp up near the top the Springfield Hill Climb is not to be sniffed at.

With so many riders we had to set them off every 30 seconds to make sure everyone got back in time. So big thanks to the David and the Young Hackney staff and the coaches/teachers and parents for helping make the competition run so smoothly we were all finished in plenty of time.

Southwold riders enjoying their afternoon out

 Once the riders were briefed and numbered up they got themselves lined up in order  for their effort.
Quite a few riders found the latter part of the climb too steep to cycle so they jumped off and ran the bike over the line - after all their time may still count for league points.

Another rider setting off up the "Col de Springfield"

With points for 1st down to 10th for each age group and for boys/girls there were plenty on offer, and with the times averaging around 45 seconds the racing was pretty close. Kingsmead came out top followed by Jubilee then Gayhurst - but all schools scored points. Well done to new league members Parkwood and Sir Thomas Abney. Well done to all the riders - we look forward to the next event at the Lea Valley Velopark circuit next month. Full results below.

 - School League totals after round 1

Year 4 girls results

Year 4 boys results

Year 5 girls results

Year 5 boys results

Year 6 girls results

Year 6 boys results

New Term - New Season 2014-15 event list

The start of autumn term marks the start of the Hackney Primary Schools CyclingLeague 2014-15 season. We have nine events planned for the League this year with a possible 10th event being inter borough racing with schools from our neighbouring boroughs. This year we plan to put on three of the events at Lea Valley Velopark in the Queen  Elizabeth Olympic Park, on the lovely smooth road circuit they have over there.
Two new schools have already expressed an interest in joining the league so welcome to Parkwood Primary School and Sir Thomas Abney Primary School, and I'm sure they will be followed by others soon. Cycling Club hackney and Young Hackney continue to support the league and are currently sourcing some new roller racing equipment that as well as being used for a league event will be taken into schools so they can get a taste of cycle racing.

The events for this season are as follows - please note new day being Thursday and dates and times provisional in the case of events at LVV -

Thursday 16th October -     Hill Climb Springfield Park             12.30-3pm   Years - 4/5/6.
Thursday 13th November - Circuit Race Lea Valley Velopark times -tbc     Y5/6.
Thursday 11th December - Roller Racing Forest Centre          12.30-3pm    y5/6.
Thursday 15th January -     Circuit Race LVV                              time tbc        y5/6.
Thursday 12th February -   Circuit Race LVV                              time tbc        y4/5.
Thursday 12th March -        MTb Cross Race Hackney Downs 12.30-3pm  y5/6.
Thursday 14th May -           Grass Track Maybley Green            12.30-3pm  y4/5.
Thursday 11th June -          Grass Track Shoreditch Park          12.30-3pm  y5/6.
Thursday 16th July -           Grass Track Hackney Downs          12.30-3pm  y4/5/6.

So get these in your diaries and start training. You will receive notification prior to each event  detailing what is happening. Llok forward to seeing you all out there.

Final league meetng of the year - and final league placings - report

The riders briefing before racing commences

The final event of the 2013-14 Hackney Primary School's Cycling League was held last Friday 11th July at Hackney Downs and true to form it rained again- not too heavily thankfully but enough to ensure the riders were using bikes with freewheels rather than fixed.

Kingsmead girls enjoying the action

Millfields, Gayhurst, Kingsmead and Tyssen schools all sent along teams to take part in the Go-Ride Tour event - part of British Cycling's celebrations of the Tour de France visiting Britain this time around. and seeing as how many of the riders had been down the Olympic Park last Monday to see the Tour de France  whizz by the were all fired up to show their skills and pace. The points up for grabs would mean  a fight to the finish between Gayhurst and Kingsmead for the overall title.

Year 4/5 girls scratch race

First up were the year 4/5 girls in the 3 lap scratch won convincingly by Mercy Phipps from Gayhurst who was fighting back pain from a knock the previous day to her knee, whilst her bravery was rewarded she had to withdraw from any further racing - a lesson learnt there from the professionals in the Tour. 2nd pace went to Mia Perez - Gayhurst followed by Leila Abbot - Kingsmead in third.

Year 4 boys scratch race

The following scratch race was for year 4 boys and was closely fought out with Leon Musson-Brown from Kingsmead taking the honours from Milo Endres and Conrad Couzins of Millfields. After this came the year 6 girls scratch with Victoria Nkan from Millfields taking a resounding win over Rachel Chimezeri and Shahila Richards - Kingsmead.

Year 5 boys scratch race

Next up were the year 5 boys with a big field that was dominated by a clean sweep of the podium place s by Gayhurst trio Stanley Boyd, Tom Bardill and Tahir Suleyman. This was followed by the year 6 boys scratch race won by Harry gregory - Gayhurst followed by Julio Bernucci and Dylan McNally both Millfields.

Mia winning the girls 4/5 devil

The next set of races were the Devil or elimination race  - the girls 4/5 race was won By Mia Perez from Kezia Cotterell  a year 4 rider from Gayhurst followed by Leila Abbot.

year 4 boys line up for the devil

The year four boys devil was won by Conrad Couzins then Robbie de Monchaux-Irons - Gayhurst from   Milo Endres. The year six girls was another victory for Victoria Nkan followed by Rachel Chimezeri and Ashanti Chandler both from Tyssen.

Year 5 boys devil

The year 5 boys devil went the way of clean sweep again this time round Stanley followed by Tahir then Tom. Year six sorry Harry take his 2nd win of the day from Julio then Harvey Hart - Gayhurst.

Year 6 boys devil winner - Harry

The final set of races were Handicap sprints where the slower riders from the previous races set off in front of the faster riders. In theory they would all cross the line together or near about. The 4/5 girls race was again by Mia from Leila whilst Kiara Smillie-Dyer - Kingsmead - came third.

The girls line up for the handicap sprint

Leon won the year 4 boys from Conrad and Milo an in the year 5 boys Tahir won from Stanley followed by Inacio da Silva - Millfields. The year six girls was won by Shahila from Victoria then Ashanti, and the year 6 boys went to Dylan McNally followed by Harvey Hart then Courtney Derby - Tyssen.

Yera 6 girls podium

Year 6 boys podium

Year 5 boys podium

Year 5 girls podium

Year 4 boys podium

The races over with it was time to count up the points - 

The girls results from Friday 11/7/14

The boys results from Friday 11/7/14

The girls point scorers from across the season

The boys point scorers from across the season

The final league table for 2013/14

Year 4 winner - Kezia

5 times league winners - Gayhurst

Grass Track - Rain does not stop play.

The girls Scratch race gets under way.

Friday 9th of may saw the summers first Grass track race of this years league and true to every other event we've had this year the rain came out to play but we didn't let it stop our fun and the racing went ahead all being it on geared bikes rather than the track bikes.

The boys scratch race.

Four schools turned out to race - Gayhurst, Kingsmead, Southwold and Tyssen with a spread of riders across years 4,5 and 6.

First race was the 1 lap Time Trial with four riders setting off a querter of the way around the track from each other at once. The fastest time of the day was 29 seconds set by Gyula Buzasi from Southwold for the boys and 34 seconds by Mercy Phipps from gayhurst in the girls race.



Following this we scratch races with years 4,5 and 6 all racing at once in the boys and girls races. Medals will go the top three finishers whilst points were awarded 1st to 10th in the three year groups which meant most riders scored some points for their team. Harry Gregory and Mercy Phipps( both Gayhurst) won their races.

After the scratch we had the elimination race or Devil as its known where the last rider over the line each lap is taken out of the race - these were closely contested with Harry and Mercy once again being the victors.


The final races of the day were team pursuits with two riders from each team battling it out against their opponents against the clock over three or four laps. The girls were up first with the times for three laps being Gayhurst - 2.07min, Kingsmead - 2.48min, Tyssen 3.04 min, Southwold 3.10 min. The boys did four laps - Gayhurst -3.35.6 mins, Kingsmead -3.17.71 mins, Tyseen - 3.19.13,Southwold 3.19.53 - very close times between the last two there.


Everyone had great fun and the rain held off mainly. Looking forward to seeing you all at the next one on the 13th of June.






Results -
Girls time trial - 1st , Mercy Phipps - Gayhurst, 2nd Shahila Richards - Kingsmead, 3rd - Mia Perez _ Gayhurst.

Girls Scratch Race - Mercy Phipps - Gayhurst, 2nd - Mia Perez _ Gayhurst, 3rd Evie Fletcher - gayhurst.

Girls Devil - Mercy Phipps - Gayhurst, 2nd - Mia Perez _ Gayhurst, 3rd Evie Fletcher - gayhurst.

Boys Time trial - 1st -Gyula Buzasi - Southwold, 2nd - Harry Gregory - Gayhurst, 3rd - Stanley Boyd - Gayhurst.

Boys scratch - 1st Harry Gregory - Gayhurst, 2nd - Stanley Boyd - Gayhurst, 3rd Tom Bardill - gayhurst.

Boys Devil - 1st Harry Gregory - Gayhurst, 2nd - Stanley Boyd - Gayhurst, 3rd Tom Bardill - gayhurst.