‘It’s once-in-a-lifetime’: Murray Bridge pedal prix is about more than just racing
Thousands have flocked to this year's Australian International Pedal Prix, including competitors from three local schools.
Unity College has taken bragging rights among the three hometown schools at this year’s Australian International Pedal Prix in Murray Bridge.
Bunyip, one of four vehicles the college entered in the race, completed 489 laps of the Sturt Reserve track to finish in 38th place overall.
That put them inside the top 10 in the senior school category, and almost a hundred laps ahead of the top Murray Bridge High School team, Aftermath.
But the pedal prix experience is about so much more than just winning or losing, participants from the three local schools have told Murray Bridge News.
Unity College team members Taya Bormann and Caitlin Koop said it was a highlight of their year.
“I love being around other people who have the same passion for pedal prix,” Taya said.
“It’s a great experience … it’s awesome.”
“It’s great for team bonding,” Caitlin said.
Team coordinator Renee Bell said the event gave students a rare opportunity to hang out with schoolmates from different year levels, forming friendships that would endure beyond their school years.
It was great for the community, too – the more visitors were exposed to Murray Bridge’s natural beauty and hospitality, the more likely they might come back in future.
Murray Bridge North School were high achievers in the race, too, finishing seventh in the primary schools category.
It was a big deal for kids who were only 10 or 11 to go out on the track and race by themselves, especially through the night, team leader Ruth Stutley said.
In fact, it was significant that North School was there at all – only a handful of primary schools had been invited to compete.
“It’s once-in-a-lifetime for some of us,” Ms Stutley said.
“Once (students) leave school, they won’t do stuff like this again.
“For some of these kids it’s the only sport they’ll do … as part of a team.”
Racing at Sturt Reserve was awesome enough, she suggested, but pedal prix had also opened the door for participants to race on the same track as the Supercars at Tailem Bend, and even parade across the old Murray Bridge when it reopened to traffic last year.
Murray Bridge High School’s Kelsey Milne agreed that it was an invaluable experience.
“It brings together those (kids) that don’t associate with your stereotypical sports and builds them into a team,” she said.
“It brings everyone together: those that are really athletic, those that are just having fun … (and) those who are mechanically minded.
“As a PE teacher, it’s just great to see some movement.”
It was good fun, too, the teenaged participants said.
Makaylah Cooper loved riding the bike, feeling the atmosphere and said it was “pretty sick” to do it all on the riverfront; another loved the adrenaline; another, the sense of community.
Mayor Wayne Thorley started the race with a wave of the Australian flag at midday on Saturday.
More than 150 vehicles had assembled on the starting grid and tooted their warning devices in time with the national anthem.
The event wound up being marred only by an early-morning crash which sent a 14-year-old racer to hospital with a sore back.
Emergency services had to extract the teenaged girl from her vehicle after an accident on the track at Sturt Reserve around 12.45am on Sunday.
She was taken to hospital in Adelaide for a scan, but event organiser Marcus Lacey said she had got the all-clear after “a few hours” and was able to recover at home.
The weekend’s race was the 26th running of the Murray Bridge pedal prix, the final race in the Australian Human-Powered Vehicle Super Series.
Scenes from the pedal prix. Photos: Peri Strathearn.
Race results
- Bunyip (Unity College): 38th overall / eighth in S3
- Aftermath (Murray Bridge High School): 97th overall / 31st in S3
- Minnie Mouse (Unity College): 100th overall / 34th in S3
- Road Runner (Unity College): 117th overall / 22nd in S2
- Ever After (Murray Bridge High School): 124th overall / 40th in S3
- Sylvester (Unity College): 142nd overall / 44th in S3
- The Beast (Murray Bridge North School): 147th overall / seventh in S1
Minnie Mouse team finished eighth among 13 all-female teams, while Ever After finished two spots behind them in that group.
Coomandook and Mannum also sent teams to the event.
