Edging ahead: Chestnuts and North Harringay battle it out in the Girls 24″

Chestnuts Primary were on a mission to win as Round 5 of the League took to the school’s home park last week.

Racing against five other schools, they dominated the day, taking the most wins overall, and continued their hold over the Girls 24” category.

North Harringay were snapping at their heals — winning five races in the Boys and Girls 26” — but had to settle for second place in points for the day.

Stroud Green won three of the days’ races, taking first place in both the Boys’ 24” A-Final and 26” B-Final. South Harringay, St. Aidan’s and St. Mary’s notched up two wins each.

Round 5 saw the most races ever held in a single League event — 20 races in just 2 hours. Thanks to the riders, school staff and volunteers for their help and cooperation in making this possible.

Race results and points

South Harringay currently have a slender lead in the standings¹, just ahead of North Harringay. The League competition will be decided on the schools’ best 5 out of 6 scores.

¹To make it fairer to schools unable to attend all events, the roller racing scores have been weighted to give each school double points.

Round 6 will be held on 7th June in Bruce Castle Park.

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

Riders from Coleridge, North Haringey, Stroud Green and Risley took part in the League’s annual trip to the Herne Hill Velodrome for a day’s coaching and racing on track bikes.

The first half of the session was getting children accustomed to riding track bikes — which have no freewheel or brakes, and require riders to use toe straps on the pedals.

The riders rode progressively higher lines around the banked track and, as their confidence grew, practised speed control, pacing and overtaking.

The day finished with a pursuit race between the four schools, won by Stroud Green. Risley came second, with Coleridge and North Harringay drawing for third place.

Round 5 of the League is on 10th May at Chestnuts Park.

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

Round 4 of the League saw six schools return to cyclo-cross racing on a twisty, technical course at a blustery Ducketts Common still recovering from the effects of Storm Gareth two days before.

This was just the second time that schools had raced on grass since the season opener in November. With North Harringay knocked off the top of the standings during the previous round, and Risley and South Harringay set to push them into third place, there was a lot to race for.

Chestnuts dominated the Girls 24, winning both heats and taking first and second places in the A final.

In the Boys 24, South Harringay took the first heat and the A final. Risley won the B final and the first heat of the Boys 26.

Stroud Green had a good day, winning the B finals in both the Girls 24 and 26 races. And St Mary’s — racing for the first time on grass — won the second heat in the Boys 24 and came second in the Boys 26 B final.

North Harringay saw a return to form, confidently winning all but one race in the Girls 26 and the A final in the Boys 26. They finished the day with a 16-point lead in the standings.

The next round will be on 10th May at Chestnuts Park.

Race results and points

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

Reigning champions North Harringay were pushed into second place in the League competition by South Harringay at this year’s roller racing event.

In what is to become a regular winter fixture, 82 riders from eight schools (including newcomers St Mary’s and Our Lady of Muswell Hill) raced each other on fixed wheeled track bikes mounted on roller racing stations, while a computer projector displayed their progress over 500 meters.

The day’s top time was notched up by Risley, recording a very fast 34.06 seconds in the Year 6 Boys race.

Next up was South Harringay, achieving almost the same time in Year 5 Boys (34.62 seconds).

Stroud Green achieved the third best time, an impressive 37.06 seconds in Year 4 Girls.

But it was South Harringay who came top of the points leader board for the day, with 63 points. Stroud Green were second with 53 points, and Risley third with 50 points.

Surprise of the day was seeing North Harringay come joint 6th with just 33 points, and South Harringay knock them into second place in the overall standings.

The next round will be on 15th March at Ducketts Common.

Race results and points

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

Rain might have stopped play on Friday — forcing us to cancel Round 2 — but some of our riders went racing in Wales, the Lake District and San Francisco, courtesy of Leigh Day Cycling’s Wahoo Kickr set up and the FulGaz app.

Alpe d’Huez anyone?

The next round will be roller racing at North Harringay Primary on 16th January.

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

Nearly 70 riders took part in the 2018-9 League’s first race at Ducketts Common.

The 2018-19 season got off to a cracking start last Friday with the highest number of schools ever attending a League event.

Sixty-seven children from seven schools took part in a cyclo-cross race on Ducketts Common in brilliant autumn sunshine.

And if last Friday’s racing is anything to go by, the competition for the League trophy is going to be tougher than ever. Two schools, South Harringay and Chestnuts, showed that the days of the two-horse race between North Harringay and Risley could be over.

North Harringay were still able to dominate the day, however. They won eight of the 16 races, with 16 top three results, and notched up 174 points in the League table.

Second were South Harringay (145 points), who won two races and had 12 finishers in the top three. They nudged ahead of Risley (132), who also had two wins and three second places. Chestnuts in fourth with 127 points had three wins in the 24” races and two second and third places.

North Harringay out in front — but for how long?

St. Aidan’s and Coleridge drew with 88 points, with St. Aidan’s taking a first and second place in the Boys 24”, and Coleridge scoring two third places in the Girls and Boys 24”.

They may have come at the bottom of the table, but newcomers Stroud Green had an impressive first day’s racing. The only team to consist entirely of year 4 riders — fielding just two riders in the 26” races — they took a second and third in the Girls 24” and 26” respectively.

The school teams competed in 16 races across four categories, with each rider able to race twice. That we were able to accommodate so many riders and run the event so smoothly was down to the hard work of our coaches, parents and volunteers, and the great support from all the schools.

Round 2 will be in Finsbury Park on 7th December.

Race results and points
Total points per school

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

Round 6 saw the League’s first visit to Alexandra Palace Park.

North Harringay became League champions for the fourth time after an afternoon of racing in sweltering conditions at Alexandra Palace Park. Risley Avenue came second, scoring the most points for Round 6. South Harringay, competing in their first League, took third place.

A total of 39 riders from four schools took part in the finale of the 2018 Haringey Schools Cycling League, racing on a challenging but fun cyclo-cross course in 30-degree heat.

With North Harringay almost out of reach at the top of the League standings, Risley were determined not to let them have it all their own way and fought hard to win the most points for the day.

Their chance came with the pursuit relay, which was neck and neck until Risley began to gain on their rivals towards the end. With just one rider left, NHP managed to claw back some of their lead — but Risley hung on just enough to take the win by a wheel length.

St Aidan’s Primary had a good day, with an emphatic win in the Boys 24” and taking 2nd in the Boys 26”. They just missed out in their pursuit relay which, in another close finish, was won by South Harringay. St. Aidan’s finished the League series in fourth place, above Coleridge and Chestnuts primaries.

A big thanks to the schools who’ve taken part this year and for all the help from support staff, volunteers and parents, and for the continuing support from Haringey Council. And not least, congratulations to the nearly 150 riders from six schools who competed so hard throughout the year and delighted us with some brilliant racing.

Next year’s calendar will be posted here soon. See you next term for Round 1 of the 2018/9 League!

Race results and points
Total points per school
Photos of Round 6

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