Our 2018 6/7 Navigator College Pedal Prix team was joined by two of our team sponsors from the Bendigo Bank and Eyre Eye Centre for the Middle and Senior School assembly last week. At this assembly we were presented with our team T-shirts and caps which we will proudly wear whilst competing in the event at Victoria Park next weekend. All of the students were really excited to receive their uniforms and thrilled with how they looked. It was an honour to have two of our sponsors present to wish our students the best of luck for the event. The students were praised for their team work, application to training and the setting of personal goals as well as encouraging and celebrating the growth in others. Good Luck Team!!
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Riders are well on their way to completing their lead up training programs to the Victoria Park Race. One of the big learnings from today was the importance of wearing our riding glasses. There is the chance that stones on the track catch in the vehicle wheels and can flick through into the body of the vehicle. We noticed today that this could result in stones hitting your face and eyes. There are just three full weeks of training and preparation left and we will be on our way to Adelaide. It really is amazing to see how well our team are riding. Their team work, support and encouragement of one another and confidence has grown at an astounding rate. Today we sat down and asked our riders to reflect on some of the points about Pedal Prix preparation that they perceive as points of personal growth. We would love to share some of their comments with you! Archie Coote
" All of our riders have been building confidence, It's been great to figure out peoples strengths. Reagan is really good at going up hills." Axel Stephenson "It's good to test how much power you have in your body. It;s a great challenge and fun to hang out at lunch with your mates." Hunter Smith "I think that the Pedal Prix booklet has been really useful. I have been reading it once or twice a week to make sure I understand the event and have prepared myself. I think one improvement to the handbook would be to to put in some more information about 'Crash Corner'. I want to know more about what happens if you have a crash." Iluka Sanderson "It's been fun also using the Nikon digital camera. I have learnt how the focus works by pressing the silver button half way" To add some context to Iluka's statement over the last few weeks we have provided a DSLR Camera for students to being to experiment with and gain some confidence in using prior to heading through to Adelaide. The camera's have large zoom lenses and take fantastic action photographs - many of which are used on our website to help capture the excitement of being involved in Pedal Prix. Students have learnt by inquiry how to change settings, swap from auto to manual focus, take photograph 'bursts', review and delete photos, decide on which image is 'best' and explain why its composition or focus is better than others. The last few weeks have presented the 6/7 team with some challenging weather conditions. We have been building our perseverance and resourcefulness working through training in medium to heavy rain on occasion. With some of our practice vehicles having open canopies, riders have certainly worked through feelings of being wet and cold. They have also come to understand that a wet track presents other problems with water and mud flicking up from the tyres, socks being wet and uncomfortable and riding glasses fogging up. In our closed vehicles we have also found it difficult to maintain clear visibility as the inside of the vehicle can fog through the heat of exercising bodies. The outside of the windscreen is not permitted to have windscreen wipers so the use of water beading spray will be an important addition to the tool kit. Riders have loved the adventure of riding in the rain and have a clear understanding as to how this can impact motor vehicle drivers with braking distances increasing and windscreen fog and rain hampering visibility.
One of the other important considerations is to not walk around in the cycling cleats. As you can see from the image below, there is a lot of wear and tear on the locking mechanism which fits into the pedals. Scuffing the edges unnecessarily means that the cleats can 'slip' out of position when riding as their neat and snug fit into the attachment is loosened. Having to re-secure the cleats can cause time delays as this is something that the rider must manage on their own when out on the track. This means a loss of momentum during racing. Being responsible and showing care for our equipment is something that we have supported each other to learn. We are especially mindful of this because lots of the equipment that we have available has been donated or purchased through the support of local Port Lincoln businesses. Fundraising efforts are proceeding at full speed, with the aim for 2018 being the procurement of a second new racing trike to add to the Navigator College armory! The Twilight Festival on the 23rd of March provided a fantastic opportunity for our Pedal Prix Family to coordinate some fundraising energies into selling Mexican Nachos. It was great to have both past and present riders and their families involved in the evening. The monies raised were combined with other sponsorship agreements that have been made in partnership with many other local businesses and individuals. This week our media team will be working hard to bring our sponsorship acknowledgements up to date and let the wider community know how much support we have behind us to continue to be involved in such an exciting undertaking. 'Muchos Gracious' to everyone who bought some Nachos at the Twilight Festival - you have all in some way helped contribute to the success of this years team! 3/28/2018 0 Comments Come and Try ConcludedThis year we have commenced our Pedal Prix training with a three week come and try program where people who are interested and have their parents support to attend Pedal Prix at Victoria Park can practice using the vehicles without having to make final commitment to attend until after the three week trial. It has been quite amazing to watch students new to the Middle School tentatively riding the vehicles for the first time. This really highlighted how far we came last year and the amazing progress that we were able to make as a group. The next step in our journey is to select an A and then a B team. This will be based on our initial assessment of riders proficiency and then we commence a program of time trialing riders on our Ravendale circuit. The test for our riders will be to clock their fastest time possible and then set personal improvement goals over the ensuing weeks. For example on our rides today the fastest rider completed a circuit in 1 minute and 13 seconds. This individual may then set a goal to race 1.11 seconds the following week and perhaps improve their understanding of how to manipulate gear changes to maximise riding efficiency. We are also using these time trials to establish a 'Performance' team and a 'Participation' team. Our performance team will race using our newly purchased (2017) trike and will be closely monitored on their individual track times with the ambition to finish in a strong overall ranking. Out participation team will also have a lap monitoring system in play but without the pressure of needing to maintain a place or ranking. These students may be first time riders or perhaps first time road users. Check out our latest training video below! |
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