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Prix is truly a family affair. |
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| Valley Vortex completes yet another lap. | ||
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| Principal, Doug MacLean "plays" a well known Scottish air. But, sadly nobody was able to recognize it! | ||
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| Georgie Goldfinch leads the troops on a morning stroll. Perhaps they were all trying to seek refuge from the sound of bagpipes! | ||
 Valley Vortex commences another lap after a pit stop and driver change. |
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| A BBQ is an ideal way to feed a hungry team of pedal prix members. | ||
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| Valley Viper | ||
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| Valley Vortex overtakes during the 6 Hour race at Victoria Park in July. | ||
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One of the most eagerly anticipated events in the busy senior school calendar is the annual International Pedal Prix Competition. Our school has two human powered vehicles or bikes, which have been raced by teams of students for the past seven years. Pedal Prix is a wonderful experience for the whole family. It is an exciting and challenging part of our school program and is available to all Year 6 and 7 students, girls and boys (and some Year 5's). There are many benefits for students who become involved in pedal prix. They certainly improve their fitness, they become familiar with the workings of a Pedal Prix vehicle and they learn the importance of teamwork and cooperation. But above all, they have a lot of fun!
Because Pedal Prix is a family event, families get involved in all of the social activities connected to the Pedal Prix programme. Pedal Prix is therefore run by parents, with the support of the school. Families certainly have a great time camping by the river at Murray Bridge on the weekend of the main race. This year our Pedal Prix team competed in both the 6 Hour Race at Victoria Park in July, and the 24 Hour Race at Murray Bridge in September. In the 6 Hour Race on the V8 Supercar track, our two vehicles performed very well, competing right through to the end of the race. The Valley Viper, which is the Year 7 vehicle, completed 69 laps with a fastest lap of 3 minutes 52.8 seconds and finished 28th out of 51 entries in their category. The Valley Vortex, which is the Year 6 vehicle, also competed in the primary school's category, completed 57 laps, and finished 43rd, with a fastest lap of 4 minutes 30.01 seconds.
From 16th-18th September, 25 Happy Valley Pedal Prix riders competed in the 24 hour International Pedal Prix event. On Friday, twenty of the riders drove to Murray Bridge to help set up the pit and food tents. Between 6pm and 8pm on Friday evening, these students participated in the time trials event. On Saturday morning, the rest of the team arrived. Before the race started, the whole team walked around the 2.1 km Sturt Reserve track. At 12 noon the race commenced with a rolling start. During the next 24 hours, the Vortex had three post rammings, one flat tyre and a few chain problems. The Viper had one post ramming, one hay bale ramming and three flat tyres. Luckily all of the mishaps were repairable. There were three groups in each bike that started their two-hour stints at 5pm. The last hour of the race in both bikes was the sprint round, which included the five fastest riders. Overall the Viper finished 167th and 41st in its category, whereas the Vortex finished 189th overall and 55th in its category.
Sponsorship has become an important part of Pedal Prix, and the Committee wishes to thank our major Sponsors:-
Without your kindness and generosity, our team would struggle to exist. We thank you sincerely. In addition to our sponsors, we would also like to thank the following supporters who gave donations or discounts throughout the year.
The school and Pedal Prix Committee would like to thank Kim Wilson for convening Pedal Prix during 2005. His leadership and direction were pivotal in the overall success of the events. Thankyou also to the other members of the parent and teacher committee -- Edna Vanderham, Georgie Goldfinch, Geoff Hutchings, Trevor Hogan, Scott Francis, Doug MacLean, Kay Dennert, Leanne Robertson, Sandie Hutchings and Kevin McDonald. Thankyou also to the other parents who assisted with the set-up, catering, timing, team supervision, maintenance, clean-up and a host of other tasks. Every little bit helped! Thankyou. Finally, our congratulations and thanks go to the wonderful students who participated during 2005. Once again they demonstrated all the qualities that we have come to expect from the students of Happy Valley School. Well done to each and everyone of you!
Back to 2005 School Highlights
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