St. Aidan’s claimed an emphatic Round 4 points victory at Ducketts Common last Friday. Their riders won four races – including two B finals – and amassed 234 points to finish the day on top.

Only Stroud Green could come close in points (229), maintaining its customary control over the Girls 24” category to take both heats and the A final. Risley dominated in the Boys 24”, winning one of the heats and both finals.

North Harringay won the A final and two of the three heats in the Girls 26”. Belmont won the Girls 26” B final although, down one rider, they couldn’t repeat their Round 3 success and were overtaken by St. Mary’s in the day’s points.

See the full results and points-per-school.

With three more scoring rounds to go, the League standings after Round 4 have Belmont and North Harringay vying for position behind Stroud Green in the trophy competition.

League standings after Round 4

But it’s not all about the points. The day saw some of the most exciting riding of this year’s League as riders negotiated an exceptionally twisty course with skill and determination, sometimes using techniques in the hairpins more at home in speedway.

The “Ducketts Diablo”: hairpins, switchbacks and a fast return straight!

No cornering skills needed for our next event, however, when the League will see a welcome return to roller racing.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

Round 3 of the 2021-22 League saw a return to racing at Ducketts Common for the final event of the year.

Forty-five riders from five schools competed in a series of 15 races on a mercifully dry cyclo-cross course.

St. Aidan’s maintained their impressive form from the last round, winning all but one of their B-finals — despite fielding the smallest team of only seven riders.

North Harringay took the most race wins overall, including both the Boys 26” and Girls 26” A-finals. But it was Belmont’s consistency at finishing in the top three that saw them accrue the most points (252), just pipping Stroud Green’s 250 points to take the day.

Stroud Green’s lead in the overall standings remains unthreatened for now — though the race for second and third between Belmont and North Harringay is heating up.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 3

Round 4 — an indoor roller racing event postponed due to the pandemic — will be rescheduled in February.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

Round 2 saw the second highest attendance in the League’s 9-year history, with 66 riders from seven schools taking part in 20 races on an MTB course in Finsbury Park.

The day also had one of the largest numbers of younger riders taking part, with most schools taking advantage of the bonus points on offer to Year 4s.

But the youngest year group didn’t need the help of points incentives to make their mark on the day. Year 4 riders took six race wins — two of them A-finals — and seven podium places in the finals.

Stroud Green continued to dominate the racing overall, taking 6 race wins and accruing 266 points.

Belmont and North Harringay tied for second place at 229 points, with NHP winning four races, including two finals.

St. Aidan’s won the most finals (3) and came third overall in the points tally, with 227 points.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 2

Special thanks to all schools, parents and volunteers for helping to make one of our largest race events a success.

Round 3 will be at Ducketts Common on 3rd December.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

The League’s first full season in three years got underway last Friday at Ducketts Common.

58 riders from six primary schools competed on a longer, albeit less technical, course than normal that proved to be an endurance test for riders more familiar with the tight turns and fast finishes of previous races.

Stroud Green, Belmont, North Harringay and Risley were joined by  St. Mary’s (making a welcome return) and newcomers Ferry Lane.

Continuing their dominant form shown in our post-lockdown mini-series, Stroud Green won the day by a wide margin. They won eight of the day’s 16 races — including three out of four A-finals — to finish on 255 points.

Belmont and North Harringay came next, taking three races each and finishing with 210 and 199 points respectively.

Ferry Lane ended their first day’s racing with the League with 195 points, winning their Girls 26″ race and coming 2nd in the A-final.

St. Mary’s finished at 192 points, and were one of only two schools to include year 4 riders in their team. They won their Boys 24″ race, and notched up an impressive five 2nd places across the day’s events.

Fielding a team of only eight riders, Risley were at a disadvantage compared to larger teams and finished the day with 178 points.

Round 2 will be at Finsbury Park on 5th November.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 1

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

Stroud Green continued their winning form last Friday at Downhills Park to take the post-lockdown race series by a comfortable margin.

Stroud Green’s dominance was tested by a resurgent Risley team — the only other school to take part in each of the three rounds.

They were joined by the current title holders North Harringay, making a welcome return to the League.

Risley took control of the boys 24” and 26” categories, winning all but two races after one of their riders was relegated for repeated and deliberate swerving into another.

The girls races were fairly well split between Stroud Green and North Harringay, with three wins each and, for the most part, sharing second places.

The balance shifted back to Stroud Green during the mixed finals, with the school winning three out of the five races.

But it was Risley’s new-found strength and confidence that marked the day. Tired of trailing behind Stroud Green, they came determined to win the round — and they would have, too, if not for their rider’s relegation. Five wins and seven 2nd places: their best result of the series.

Consistency, though, is everything, and no team was able to mount a serious challenge to Stroud Green’s command in the standings.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 4

Thank you to all the schools, volunteers and parents for their support and enthusiasm as we sought to get our League back on track after so many months. And for your patience on race day as we fumbled with our face masks, sanitised bikes and did what we could to make race days as safe as possible without killing too much of the fun.

We look forward to returning with our normal calendar of monthly races in the new school year, with a full complement of schools.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

After a gap of three years, the League returned to MTB racing in Finsbury Park for the penultimate round in the post-lockdown mini-series.

With just two schools taking part, riders were able to compete in multiple races, boosting their teams’ standings with the extra points on offer.

Normally held in autumn or early spring, the track was a lot drier than in previous years. Despite the lack of mud, it was still a technical course which needed skill and confidence to handle at speed — and stamina for the uphill return straight.

The day saw expert bike handling by some riders who negotiated the twists and sharp turns with apparent ease. And there were the usual close finishes that make the races such fun to spectate.

The lack of riders on the day meant that some races were mixed categories, and the boys and girls races were combined in the three finals. It was great to see the girls giving the boys a run for their money, taking top spots in both the A and B finals.

Stroud Green maintained a comfortable lead over Risley (who were down two riders), winning most of the races (save the Boys 26”, which Risley dominated) and the team relay. Risley ended the day with 179 points, with Stroud Green on 265.

See the full results and points-per-school.

League standings after Round 3

But the fights to cross the line first are only part of the story. 

In the day’s racing, we saw riders crash dramatically — and get back on and finish the race. There were riders who chased hard from the back, just so they could move up one place. And riders for whom just getting round the course was an achievement in itself.

So, while everyone races to win, what defines their win will not be the same for all.

The league’s final event this term will be on 9th July at Downhills Park.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

We think all primary school children should have the opportunity to experience the sheer fun of racing on bikes. To help new schools give it a try, we can now bring cycle racing directly to your school — indoors!

Using our brand new Frog track bikes mounted on Kreitler Goldsprints rollers, and hooked up to OpenSprints electronics, we can run roller racing sessions in your school’s gym or hall.

Roller racing is an easy way for schools to introduce bike racing to children — even those who aren’t too confident on two wheels. Four riders at a time pedal as fast as they can on our static bikes, while their progress round a virtual course is projected on the wall in front of them. It’s fun, fast and noisy! And because the races are quick, there’s usually time for several classes to have a go.

So, just how fast is your school?

We’ve been running a mini roller-racing series in the latter days of lockdown with some of our regular schools — and getting some impressive times over 500m races (that’s two laps of the Olympic Velodrome).

We’re especially keen to hear from Haringey primary schools that haven’t taken part in the cycling league before. So here’s the challenge: can you beat our schools’ top times?

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

Last Friday, the Haringey Schools Cycling League held its first outdoor race event since the easing of the pandemic lockdown.

Belmont Junior, Risley and Stroud Green primaries raced on a cyclo-cross course at Belmont Recreation Ground, as a part of a mini post-lockdown series.

And it was close: Belmont and Stroud Green were evenly matched, with either one taking first or second spots in most of the afternoon’s races. Risley, who fielded the smallest team, dominated in the Boys 26″ B-Final. In the end, Belmont edged in front of Stroud Green by just one point. See the full scores and points-per-school.

Mini-series standings so far

The day also marked the first event since the League became an independent, British Cycling-affiliated club.

The league has also been running a series of indoor roller racing days at primary schools in Haringey. If you’d like us to come to your school, please contact us for details.

The league’s next event will be an MTB race on 25 June at Finsbury Park.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.

The Haringey Schools Cycling League’s first AGM on Tuesday 17th March 2020, 6pm-8pm (at the Turkish Cypriot Community Association, 628 – 630 Green Lanes, N8 OSD)

This is an exciting time for the League, as we move away from our host school and set up as an independent club, affiliated to British Cycling.

We’ll be doing what we’ve always done: bringing the fun of cycle racing to primary school children in Haringey.

We’re still only reaching a small number of Haringey schools, though, and we want to change that!

Please come to our AGM, get involved and help us do it.

Thank you.

After the disappointment of having Round 6 rained off last month, the sun finally shone on the League for the last event of the season.

Five schools competed in Downhills Park on a fast course that suited the sprinters — but only if they had the skills to tackle the tight, technical turns effectively.

And there was a lot to race for. North Harringay needed to hang on to their place at the top of the standings. Chestnuts — who’d been having their best ever season — were threatening to push South Harringay out of their way and fight NHP for the top spot.

Some races were settled by the first turn, if riders could get a good start and put distance between themselves and the pack before the riders bunched up at the bend.

Others were fights all the way to the line, with the last tight, narrow turn bringing riders almost to a stop before powering down the the final straight.

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

Photo: Henry Jacobs

All the schools showed impressive bike skills at being able to handle the course with such confidence. There were inevitable crashes, but these became further examples of the riders’ determination and resilience.

North Harringay just managed to scrape ahead of Chestnuts to take the most points of the day, and claim the League title for the fifth time. Winning five of the days’ 16 races, Chestnuts came second on the day, finishing just behind South Harringay to take third place in the title race.

Completing their first season with the League, St Mary’s notched up an impressive three wins, including the Boys 26″ A-final. Risley and SHP both had A-final winners in the 24″ categories.

Full race results and points

The event brought to a close one of the most successful seasons since the beginning of the League in 2012. Three new schools have taken part, with the total number of children racing at our events across the year topping 340. Nearly half of these children were racing for the first time.

Events for the 2019-20 season will be added to the calendar once the new school year starts in September.

Find out more about the Haringey Schools Cycling League. If you’d like your school to take part, see How to Join.