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Above: The Happy Valley School 2000 Pedal Prix team
For the fifth consecutive year, the school participated in the
Australian
International Pedal Prix at Murray Bridge from 9th - 10th September
2000. This year the school entered two machines, the "Valley
Viper" and the "Valley Vortex." This event has become one of the real school highlights for
those Year 6 and 7 students (and parents) who are prepared to make
the commitment to the project..........and COMMITMENT it must
be!
Although the actual race days were in September, the task of
preparing the team began, in earnest, from the beginning of the
school year. There were meetings to be held, committees to be elected, cars to be designed, constructed
and modified, fitness and team spirit to be built,
fundraising that needed to start and many others. It was to be
a
lot of hard work, with much frustration and many sacrifices.
However, for those who made the effort, there was to be a tremendous sense of
achievement, satisfaction, accomplishment and euphoria when all was
finished ............. and this made it all worth while!
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Above: Students Brad
Middleton, Dale Tattersall and Brett Graham pictured with
the "Happy Valley Viper." |
One of the more important tasks during the
year was to prepare the cars. The race organizers expected
that students became closely involved in the development of
the vehicles. By doing this, it was hoped that students
would feel a much greater ownership of what pedal prix was all
about. To achieve this, regular workshops were held on
Tuesday evenings in the pedal prix shed. All pedal prix
students were expected to attend at some stage and all were
expected to record their session in writing including
diagrams, where necessary. |
Above: Regular fitness sessions were held
at the school every Wednesday morning for many months leading up to
the Pedal Prix weekend.
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In addition to the regular fitness sessions
on Wednesday mornings, the team often trained in the grounds
of nearby United Water Happy Valley Treatment Plant. This
attractive venue offered excellent and safe training
facilities for the team. These sessions were often followed
by a sausage sizzle that did much to build team spirit
amongst the students, and also provided parents with an
excellent opportunity to get to know one other. |
Happy Valley Water Filtration Plant
(Photo: Courtesy of United Water) |
Another great day that helped the team prepare
for Murray Bridge was organized by Terry Merritt. It consisted of a
bicycle ride through Kuipto Forest, on Sunday 23rd July. The
children thoroughly enjoyed the experience which included riding
along some muddy tracks and exploring an old gold mine. The ride was
followed by a most enjoyable barbeque and cold refreshments.
Another important element of the Pedal Prix year
was fund-raising. Money needed to be raised for uniforms, food
for the Pedal Prix week-end and, of course, the cars themselves.
During the year a number of very successful fundraisers was held.
They included:
A 32 km Bike-a-thon along the Torrens Linear Track
A Pedal
Prix Special Lunch at school
A
Raffle
An aerial view of
the Murray Bridge Track. Photo: Adelaide International Pedal Prix
The Pedal Prix parents and
students would like to thank the following organizations for their
kindness and generosity during the year.
The school would like to acknowledge the
outstanding contribution made by all of the parents who supported
their children in this year's Pedal Prix. Particular thanks to Ian
Tattersall and his magnificent committee who so generously gave of
their time and talents.
Above: The 2000 Pedal Prix Team
Parent leaders Rob Graham and Ian Tattersall are pictured at rear.
"Congratulations to
all the students who took part in the Australian International Pedal
Prix. Although we had mechanical problems early, both bikes
completed the race (better than some others) and the students did a
fantastic job in propelling these machines around the track."
Ian Tattersall (Convenor)
For full details of results
click below:
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