Cyclocross fun on the Downs

11/11/22

An auspicious date welcomed the riders of the Young Hackney Primary Schools Cycling League to Hackney Downs for round 2 of this years season.  The rain had battered down all week beforehand but Friday saw the sun come out making for ideal conditions on the grass course which featured many tight turns and and a tricky descent then ascent. A challenging course for newcomers to the world of cyclocross but the riders rose to the challenge and produced a series of excellent races.

Action from the year 5 girls race.

The year five girls raced first tasking on three laps of the course. It was a closely fought affair between the front runners but by the last lap Klara of Millfields had put in a hard effort to distance the rest. Flossie from William Patten finished din second place with CCH rider Peppa coming third for Rushmore.

Action from the year 5 girls race.

The crowd waiting at the finishing line to cheer on their team mates.

The battle for third place.

Our year 5 girls winner - Klara

- Year 5 girls results

Year 5 boys in action

The year five boys were next and we had close racing throughout with Leon from Southwold and Tino from William Patten having a real battle for the win.

The leaders in the year 5 boys race.

Year 5 boys in action

Year 5 boys in action

year 5 boys winner

year 5 boys winner

In the end Leon won out over Tino with Ben from Millfields coming in third.

- Year 5 boys results

Year six girls get started

Year six girls went next with Hattie from Millfields taking a quick lead only to slide out on one of the tight turns and lose a lot of places. Her place at the front was taken up by her team mate Billie who was being challenged by Annie from Jubilee.

Year 6 girls race.

Year 6 girls race leaders.

- Year 6 girls results

Hattie made her way back through the field to claim 2nd place behind Billie with Annie finishing third.

Year 6 girls winner

Our last race of the day was the year 6 boys - 

Year 6 boys start

Sam from Millfields powered away and quickly built up ahead he would hold to the end. Oscar from Rushmore and Leo from William Patten rounded out the podium.

- Year 6 boys results

League totals after 2 rounds.

 

 

YHPSCL 22-3 Springs into action

 14/10/22

All the riders applauded each others efforts - especially after they had had their go.

The new season for the Young Hackney Primary Schools Cycling League sprang into action on Friday up at Springfield Park with the traditional opening event - the Hill Climb. The short but lets face it brutally steep climb up the curved hill at the south side of Springfield Park is not to be underestimated. Gearing is critical if you are to get up it with having to jump off and run with the bike to the finish. Six schools attended the first event with 62 riders giving it their all.

Year four girls results

The riders were set off 1 minute apart from the bottom of the hill with the year fours going first. Clem from Jubilee set the fastest time for the girls on 45 seconds with Bay from Millfields getting the fastest time for the boys on 42 seconds.

Year four boys results

You can just about make out the riders on the start line at the bottom of the hill.

Once all the year fours had gone up it was the turn of the year five riders. Tino from William Patten set a very good time of 30 seconds which proved hard for the rest of the boys to match, only the two riders from Millfields - Dominic and Maxwell also managed to set times under 40 seconds.

Year five boys results

Carmen form Jubilee was quickest year 5 girl at 36 seconds but only by half a second from Pepa of Rushmore.

Year five girls results

The year six boys top five riders all were within five seconds of each other with Leon from Southwold taking first place in 33 seconds with Leo from William Patten 1 second back then Milo from Millfields a further second back.

Year six boys results

The fastest time of the day was set in the year six girls by Hattie from Millfields - the only rider to do it in under 30 seconds at 27.01 - a great effort. She was followed by team mate Grace on 36 seconds and Mia from Southwold at just 7/tenths of a second behind her.

Year six girls results

So Tino and Hattie were the masters of the hill for this year - well done to them and all the riders who gave it their best. Next up is the cyclocross race on Hackney Downs on 11th November - hopefully we'll see more schools in attendance for that one. 

League totals after round 1

YHPSCL enters 14th Season

 The Young Hackney Primary Schools Cycling League is entering its 14th season following on from an almost uninterrupted 21-22 season which saw Millfields Community School cycle away with the shield once again. 

Will this year be different? Well we will have some changes to the points scoring so that schools that miss an event due to inset days or the like aren't put at a disadvantage. The top six events scores for each school out of total of nine events will count towards the final league score. This will mean anyone missing one or two events won't be left far behind in the points. Those schools attending all events while have their best six totals counting - hopefully this will bring for closer totals at the tail end of the season. 

Individual points will again be awarded 30 for 1st place 28 for second and so on downwards - all riders participating are automatically awarded a single point.  The totals for year groups and genders then make up the schools total for the event. 

We will be getting a new trophy as the shield has run out of space now - so look out for that.

If you want to get your school involved contact Young Hackney or message Neil at Cycling Club Hackney.

YHPSCL 21-22 Finale - Team Grass Track

 8/7/22 

Riders listening to the race briefing

A bucolic scene in Hackney Downs

The finale of this years league had to move from the Velopark road circuit to hackney Downs to accommodate the upcoming Commonwealth Games. No matter we had great racing with a grass track event of a different kind from the previous two rounds. This time all the events were team events with the boys and girls from each year group riding as a four up team for their schools.

Riders resting in the shade on a very hot day.

First up we 3 lap team time trials or the pursuit as its commonly called. --- schools were taking part so we set off the teams in two heats. In the first heat for the year 4s we had Hoxton Gardens at 3minutes and 1 second, Orchard at 2mins 56 seconds and Benthal at 2 mins 32 secs. In the second y4 heat we had Rushmore at 2:55 mins, Southwold 2:25 mins, Millfields 1:50 mins and Gayhurst 1:54mins.

For the year 5 3 lap TTT we had Rushmore at 3.23, Orchard at 2:19, Millfields 1:48, Benthal 2:07, Gayhurst 1:56, Southwold 2:53.

The y6 TTTs went Southwold 2:18, Orchard 2:19, Gayhurst 1:53, Millfields 1:40.

The next set of races were team sprints for 1 lap with the leading rider of each quartet pulling over after quarter of a a lap. Year 4s  results were Benthal -51secs, Hoxton gardens 48.58 secs, Rushmore 46.16 secs,  Orchard 45 seconds, Southwold 38.3 seconds, Gayhurst 37.85 secs, and Millfields 35 secs.

year 5 sprints were Rushmore 55secs, Southwold 47 secs Hoxton gardens 45 secs, Benthal and Orchard both on 37 seconds, Gayhurst 36 secs and Millfields 33 secs.

The year 6 sprints were Orchard 43 secs, Southwold 38 secs, Rushmore 36.7 secs, Gayhurst 33.5 secs and Millfields 33 secs.

We finished off with a longest lap race for all competitors - some pretty good track stands going on there.

Overall then the results were Millfields 1st, Gayhurst 2nd, Southwold Benthal Orchard Hoxton Gardens Rushmore 8th.

Final league positions for the year are below - 

So once again Millfields retain the YHPSCL  shield. Hope you all have a great summer holiday with lots of cycling - I'll be watching the Tour de France and wondering if any of our riders here will ride it in the future.