Pedal Prix
Integrated Learning - Pedal Prix
The Modbury High School Pedal Prix team is a combination of parents, teachers, school personnel and students from the Modbury High community who build, test and race pedal powered 3 wheeled recumbent bikes. It is closely aligned and well supported by Fast Cats Racing. There are six races we can compete in with the best three results counting towards the series result. The funds we receive to run our Pedal Prix program are from school grants and fundraisers.
The program has many benefits for those involved. These include fitness, learning to work as part of a team, development of realistic confidence and independence, resilience, consideration of others and the development of positive social interaction.
2019 was an active and successful year for Modbury High School Pedal Prix. Our goal was to have high top ten overall results for Cheetah and Pink Panther, in the AIPP Super Series.
In 2019:
- We competed in all 5 SA races including Mt Gambier.
- We ran 10 trikes at 2 races this year – Puma, Lynx, Pink Panther, Cheetah and Copycat from the school and Hellcat, Wildcat, Cat Attack, Cheshire and TomCat from Fast Cats
- With ThunderCat from Duncraig WA – we had 9 trikes at the 24-hour Murray Bridge race - the biggest group involved at Pedal Prix
We are one of the few top teams that still build their own trikes, so these are a credit to our endeavours. In 2019 though we had more factory-made trikes. We compete quite well with the factory-made trikes of other teams. The main factor in how well a trike goes is rider fitness so we emphasize this to our riders and our fitness coordinator, Alex Aungles, who does a fantastic job in putting this into action.
The series consist of an eight-hour race at Mt Gambier, a six-hour race at Loxton and 2 six-hour events at Victoria Park and culminates in the highlight of the year with a 24-hour race at Murray Bridge. Cheetah and our all girls trike Pink Panther are our senior secondary trikes, Lynx is our junior secondary, and Puma and Copycat are our support trikes. Our results were positive in the early races with Cheetah and Pink Panther both finishing well within the top 10.
In the week before Murray Bridge, Duncraig flew into Adelaide and went to Murray Bridge to set up. They were racing Thunder Cat – a trike from Fast Cats Racing but renamed for them.
Modbury High School and Fast Cats Racing again shared our facilities, food and support.
The 24-hour race at Murray Bridge is the highlight of the year with over 210 entries and 38,000 people involved. It is an enormous event. We had a few flat tyres, some minor roll-overs and plenty of hard racing. The riders all performed to the best of their ability and we performed well.
Our results in the series are decided by our 2 best results in the shorter races and the result from Murray Bridge. In this Pink Panther finished 3rd in senior girls, which is an excellent result for us. Cheetah finished 9th in senior secondary, with Lynx 26th in junior secondary. These are all very creditable results.
We could not do this without our supporters. We need to thank Adelaide Coachlines, Northern Districts Canoe Club, Police Credit Union, Frances Bedford, Bunnings, Roy Zerna VIP Franchisee, International Cycles and Richard Harvey,
We also need to thank the team managers Richard Hill, Wendy Erkelenz, Roy Zerna and Kym Erkelenz, our trainer Alex Aungles, our trike mechanics Kevin Clarke and Ron Gibbins, our first aid people Chris Taylor and Anstey Farrell-Hill, our catering manager Lyn Gibbins, timing coordinator Rodney Ling, the extra supporting teacher Lyn Gibbins, our many other supporting parents and the whole Fast Cats Racing group. All students were exemplary ambassadors for Modbury High School and are commended for their efforts and commitment.
The North-East Human Powered Vehicle Supporters Association Incorporated (NEHPVSAI) – also called Fast Cats Racing – has supported Pedal Prix at Modbury High School for some time. This group of past and present parents, old scholars and interested community members provide time, expertise and funding to help the Pedal Prix Program. They entirely fund the category 4 teams and help financially with the school teams. They were the prime force in funding and building the Pedal Prix shed at Modbury High School that is used to support Pedal Prix. I wish to publicly acknowledge and thank them for their work.
Wayne Ferguson, Technology Coordinator
Bent Spoke Award Winner – Daniel Erkelenz
Student comments about Pedal Prix 2019:
To me Pedal Prix is like a second family
Clio Carr
Wonderful sense of community and Life lessons learnt in fun
Murray Bridge weekend is simply the best
Annette Fischer
Companionship, exhilarating, thrilling
I like comparing my results with my Dad’s
Cooper Whitbread
Excellent
Jacob Gray
Very Fun
Jade Sleep
PP is fantastic
Thalia Inman
Great Fun
Lachlan Hansford
Pedal Prix is a great experience for all ages
Grace Kinsella
Pedal prix is a life changing experience that creates lifelong friends and skills. Once you start you get hooked and can't stop
Georgia Fordred
Pedal Prix is Awesome
Ewan Enthoven