- Flyer about Bikeability Olympics & Photo story of Heat 1 in March & Heat 2 in May & Heat 3 on 30th June
- For parents registering individual child: Parent form to register individual child to take part
- For school informing parents about option of individual registration – Letter to parents for individual child registration
- For school registering a team of children – Teacher form to register school team to take part & Template letter from school to parents (TMA adaptation).
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Following the successful pilot event on 7.7.22 (see photo story), MK Bikeability Olympics 2023 will involve up to 135 pupils from 27 MK primary schools in three Heats of five contests. The top three winning schools from each Heat will be entered in the Final.
The aim of Bikeability Olympics is to encourage more cycling to school by celebrating the achievements of MK primary school pupils in Bikeability courses and raising awareness about the fun, health and environmental benefits of cycling.
Registration: Registration is open to all pupils who have completed Bikeability Training at Level 2. There are two ways to register:
- Schools register teams and organise transport of pupils to the venue, using this this short online form, including the names of six pupil contestants, at least one week before each Heat (dates below).
- Parents register individual pupils using this short online form.
In both types of registration, parents must give consent to the participation of their child and indicate whether they permit photo and film recording of the activities to be used on social media and website, and possibly TV broadcast, to promote similar events in future. Parents must indicate any health needs of their child, e.g. asthma pump. Parents must ensure that their child’s bicycle is roadworthy (see below).
Dates/Times: Each Heat 1, 2 and 3 may involve up to 9 schools, each school entering six pupil contestants. Heats will take place 3.45-5.45pm (changed from 3.30-5.30) on Friday 24.3.23 for Autumn Term trainees, Thursday 25.5.23 for Spring Term trainees, and Friday 30.6.23 for Summer Term trainees. The 3 winning teams from each Heat will compete in the Bikeability Olympics Final on Friday 7.7.23, involving up to 45 contestants from 9 schools.
Venue: With one exception, the Heats and Final will take place at Sports Central, Elder Gate, MK9 1EN, the double netball court north of CMK Station and west of Network Rail (pictured below). Parking details below.
The one exception is Heat 2 on Thursday 25th May. This one will be held, with the kind permission of its management, at Middleton Hall in thecentre:mk. Click here for conditions of usage, including instructions to children on how to walk bicycles to and from the competition area.
Awards: 15 winners of the Finals (5 Gold, Silver and Bronze medallists) will receive Mayor’s Cycling Awards before the start of City Cycle Ride 13.7.23 (as on 14.7.22 – see photo story). All participants will receive a certificate. The 3 winning schools in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place at the end of the Finals will each receive a trophy.
Staffing: staffed by Bikeability instructors and Cycle Saviours mechanic, with instructor Richard Allman as MC and volunteer stewards, e.g. from Network Rail.
Safety: Ringway Infrastructure Services are providing cones and tape to mark the area off for safety.
Events (with contest organisers in brackets) . In all events the method of scoring will be made clear to the participants.
- Bike Detectives – testing Level 1 skills (Martin Swift, Cycle Saviours) – see details
- Obstacle Course – testing Level 1 skills (Richard Allman, Bikeability Instructor) – see details
- Relay Race – testing Level 1 skills (Nicky Newlands, Bikeability Instructor) – see details
- Slow Race – testing Level 1 skills (Maria Riding, Bikeability Instructor) – see details
- Road Ride – testing Level 2 skills (Dave Lewis, Bikeability Instructor) – see details
Competition areas
Sports Central:
Contests 1-4 will take place in the competition area, with contest 5 taking place on quiet roads nearby. Each contest will have one representative from each school and will be less than 20 minutes, after which the contest organiser will instruct participants to move to the next contest in the carousel. Each contest will be scored separately, with timings to the deci-second where timings are used. When all contests are complete, each contest organiser will report their top 5 winners to the contest administrator.
Schedule:
- 3pm – Organisers mark up contest areas, Contestants begin to arrive, give names to Registration (Judges & Admin desk) and walk bicycles to their first contest area
- 3.45pm – Announcement of contest rules – Richard Allman
- 3.50pm – First round of contests 1-5
- 4.10pm – Second round of contests 1-5
- 4.30pm – Third round of contests 1-5
- 4.50pm – Fourth round of contests 1-5
- 5.10pm – Fifth round of contests 1-5
- 5.30pm – All contest results submitted to Judges desk
- 5.35pm – Results announced and group photo
- 5.45pm – End.
Arrival: On arrival, each pupil will be informed of their first contest (1-5) and asked to walk their bicycle to that contest area, leave their bicycles there and put any other baggage in the schools baggage area. Road Ride contestants (contest 5) will be asked to leave their bicycles in the Obstacle Course area (contest 1). Bikes will be checked by the Context Organiser at this time to ensure they are roadworthy.
Bicycle & clothing: parents are responsible for ensuring that their child’s bicycle is roadworthy (see Bikeability Bike Check) and their child is wearing school PE kit, with shoe laces done up. Contestants must also bring sun cream and a waterproof coat in case of extremely sunny or wet weather. Bicycles to be walked through gate at north-east corner of netball court, near pavilion.
Support: Adult volunteers from Network Rail will act as contest marshals, assisting contests 1-4 and Registration desk duties. These volunteers will be supervised by Bikeability instructors at all times during this one-off event. Cycle Saviours will provide basic repairs to bicycles (bicycles must be roadworthy). Trek Bikes will be providing the bicycles for Bike Detectives.
Refreshments: Contestants must bring snacks and water and ask permission from their contest organiser to get them while the contests are in progress. Parents and other spectators are welcome to purchase refreshments from the bar area of the pavilion.
Safeguarding & Risk Assessment: Children must be accompanied by parents or school staff. Only Bikeability trainers and other approved staff will be permitted to enter the contest area. The following risks have been identified and control measures will be applied:
RISK | SIGNIFICANCE | PROBABILITY | CONTROL MEASURE |
Personal injury due to collision | High | Medium | Contest areas to be sectioned with bollards and high viz tape, organisers to give clear instructions. Contestants to wear high viz vests. |
Injury/fall due to bicycle not in correct condition | High | Medium | Parents advised to check bicycle before event. Mechanic advise and tools available for basic repairs. |
Head injury due to fall | High | Medium | All contestants to wear a properly fitted cycle helmet. |
Injury due to slip | High | Low | Contestants to be advised of surface conditions as part of general Risk Assessment announcement at start. In case of extreme weather, event will be postponed or cancelled. |
Poor pupil behaviour due to confusion among contestants | Low | Low | All instructions to be communicated clearly at start and throughout. Contests are designed to be engaging throughout. |
First Aid: Bikeability instructors are First Aid trained.
Parking at Sports Central: Parking is very limited. Sports Central has only 12 spaces. It is best to park either in the surrounding public pay spaces or at the nearby multi-story car park or in the Aldi car park nearby, if shopping!
For more information, contact:
- Tom Bulman, Cycling CitizensMK, cycling@citizensuk.org, 07962 838685
- Raeesa Choudhury, MK Council, raeesa.choudhury@milton-keynes.gov.uk, 01908 254516