Joined by around 25,000 other cyclists, four teachers from different schools across Essex are taking part in the Ford RideLondon-Essex 2024 100-mile challenge, in aid of the Active Essex Foundation on Sunday 26th May. With under a month to go until they cycle on closed roads around the Essex countryside, our Ford RideLondon-Essex School Cycling Champions are continuing to train hard in preparation for the big day.
After the impressive feet of completing this year’s London Marathon back in April and after a short break from training, Alex Burden, Principal at the Flitch Green Academy is now focusing his training on Ford RideLondon-Essex. Despite a small set back in the form of a twisted knee in the lead up to the marathon, Alex is now back training for the 100-mile ride. Prior to picking up his knee injury, Alex amounted around 233 miles worth of cycling in January and February. The most challenging part of Alex’s training for the event has been finding the time. Being a school principal, having kids of his own and playing sports on the weekend, Alex has found it hard to find time to fit in longer training rides. When it comes to cycling with others Alex said, “Many of my cycling friends go out at times I cannot join them, so my rides have been solo so far except for one.”
To help get his school, the Flitch Green Academy in the spirit for the Ford RideLondon-Essex weekend, Alex has invited parent cycling enthusiasts to come into school and talk to the children around the topic of cycling. To help engage the children, Alex has also contacted a local cycling group to run balance bike sessions with their youngest students in Year 1 and Reception.
Our second Cycling Champion Paul White, Deputy Head at Woodville Primary School…has set himself a target since the February Half-Term to ride at least 120km on his bike each week. Around 75km of this has already been taken up by Paul’s weekly commute from home in Hornchurch to school in South Woodham Ferrers (a 70km round trip!) Following the end of the Spring Term at school, Paul has swapped his winter bike for his road bike as he builds up his preparation for the Ford RideLondon-Essex 100 event. In the coming weeks, Paul aims to complete his first 100km ride of the year as he hopes to improve the powers of his endurance in the lead up to the big day! Another way that Woodville have been getting in the spirit of cycling is with a special VIP visit from GB cyclist Katie Archibald who presented in one of their assemblies about the importance of active travel. The visit was as a result of Woodville’s proactive work towards cycling through the LMF Active Travel fund and other initiatives.
Russell Davies, Head Teacher at Doddinghurst Church of England Junior School has found the weather most challenging whilst trying to train. The miserable weather in the last month or so has meant that getting out on the bike has either been too wet, too windy, or too cold, all of which make cycling on roads tough. However, Russell said that “Being a Cycling Champion for Ford RideLondon-Essex is a serious business and training must continue no matter what the weather. I am very happy with the level of training that I’ve been doing recently.” His training has been supported by the purchase of a new bike, making his rides much more enjoyable. Russell is looking forward to the 26th and can’t wait to tackle the traffic free roads, he’s most looking forward to the Welfare Stations dotted along the route!
To encourage and inspire his students to get involved with Ford RideLondon-Essex and cycling in general, his school have been running promotion for Active Essex and RideLondon ‘Week of Activity’ from May 20th-24th. The ‘Week of Activity’ ill also include each class attempting to collectively complete 100 miles as part of The Daily Mile initiative.
Duncan Rayney, Head of PE at the Stewards Academy in Harlow is also busy training for the big ride. After taking part in the Ford RideLondon-Essex 100 last year, Duncan is finding training easier this year. However, nursing a calf injury this time around, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to complete the ride any quicker than last year. The biggest thing Duncan is looking forward to seeing is The Bell Hotel, Epping as that’s where “I know I can stop in Epping and grab some breakfast after 25 miles here before heading to Felstead”.
If you want to read more about our Ford RideLondon-Essex 2024 Cycling Champions, click here.
