SPS Cycling Staff vs Boys Challenge

The St Paul’s cyclists headed out to the North Downs at the start of October for the annual staff vs boys challenge.

The main focus was a one mile individual time trial race up the 10% gradient of Star Hill. This year, the pupils were joined by the racing cyclists and teachers of Westminster School, who were keen to see how they measured up against the demands of the hill. For readers unfamiliar with the idea of a hill climb time trial, it is, essentially, an all-out sprint up a particularly steep hill.

Ideally competitors measure their effort over the short duration of the climb and don’t find themselves in trouble part-way up…
The St Paul’s team of David Moreno, Hamish Elder and James Allen (pictured above) embraced the challenge, beating both the Westminster pupils by 21 seconds and teachers by 16 seconds. The St Paul’s teachers’ team (Messrs Sykes and Warriner) proved a little too strong for the boys, though rumour has it that the boys are already training hard to reverse the result next year.