On 3rd & 4th July 2025, a group of Wheelers accompanied students from the Priory School on their 100 Mile Cycle Ride Challenge. This is Nick Gilford’s account of the ride.
After a briefing & an enthusiastic send off from other students, staff & parents the 2025 Priory
School 100 Mile Cycle Ride Challenge set off at 08:00 with the climb up Mount Road, always a
good way to start a ride!
9 students from years 10 & 11 were supported by 3 of the Teaching staff from the School: Tom,
Laura & Zoe (driving the “Sag Wagon”), 2 Sports Lecturers from West Suffolk College: Chris &
Ross, Former Headmaster: Mick plus Yaz and myself from the Wheelers.
On our first day we headed east initially on the cycle route to Thurston. We had used this on the
training rides, and it provided a good warm up for the students to get into their rhythm & be able
to settle into the ride without being on roads. With almost 1 Adult to 1 Student, we were able to
provide support & encouragement as the ride progressed and manage road crossings at junctions
keeping the students as safe as possible.
Frequent rest / water / snack breaks were important as both days were hot & sunny.
These young people can sure eat & I wish that we had weighed the stock of flap jacks we set of
with so a calculation of miles per flapjack could be done.
Our route took us through Stowmarket and good team work by all got us through the town on the
“Cycleways” which quite frankly are a disgrace / embarrassment & enough to put youngsters off
cycling. Our well-deserved lunch break was at Needham Market Lakes where a lunch provided by
the School Kitchen was soon demolished by the Students & Adults. I was anticipating a few
moans & groans after lunch, but the students were all keen to get going and “get this done!”
The afternoon ride was quite tough with a couple of road closures encountered and a major
negotiation with a Tarmac laying gang required. Big thanks to the workers at Frontline Surfacing
Ltd. for moving their trucks and road roller and letting us through!
We were not so fortunate at the next road closure, with only 1 mile to go to reach the
accommodation for the night the road was CLOSED at a railway crossing. Choices, a 5 mile back
track & detour including a section of the A12 or a section of footpath crossing some fields.
Footpath it was, initially everyone managed to ride the track but it soon degenerated into a bumpy & rutted narrow path across a wheat field. I did point out that this was an excellent introduction to Cyclo-cross but was told in no uncertain terms to shut up!
The path popped out of the fields right by the Yoxman Statue and we then made our way the short
distance to the accommodation at Darsham Country Centre which was once the Station building
and right beside the railway line. Zoe was waiting for us with a huge stack of Boxed Pizza and fizzy
drinks. I don’t think that I have ever seen food disappear so quickly. All the students were in good
spirits and still chatting away as they had been all day during the ride. After 54 miles, 1,850 feet
climbed & a riding time of 5 hours & 50 minutes there were some very tired young people, by
09:30 they were actually asking to go to bed!
Friday morning came around quickly & with everyone up, bikes checked, breakfast eaten we were
away by 08:00. (yes that’s correct, on the road at 08:00). The first part of the morning was quite
challenging for everyone with the morning traffic, some hills and some atrocious behaviour by
drivers, the worst being the coach & bus drivers from a local company taking Children to school
– they will be getting a phone call!
The group soon settled into a good rhythm, and we made decent progress on the ride, taking in
some lovely Suffolk countryside. A quick break in the charming village of Laxfield where several
locals stopped to chat and praise the students for their efforts. We pressed on and actually
managed to get to our lunch stop at Thornham Walks before our lunch actually arrived. Day 2
lunch deserves a very special mention. Sally Truman arrived with a fabulous picnic with a huge
selection of rolls, salads, fresh fruit, cakes, biscuits and a container full of ice for everyone’s drink
bottles. For those in the know, this Day 2 lunch is legendary and well worth volunteering to help
with the ride just to experience it.
At this stage I do need to mention that whilst “the young of today” generally have a bad reputation for some of their behaviours these students did not cease to amaze me. Throughout the whole 2 days they were polite, enthusiastic, well behaved, supportive of each other and always put their rubbish in the right places.
There was talk at lunch time of how good our pace had been and that we would be back to Bury in record time. Of course, this put the mockers on the first part of the ride. Several mechanicals and some very tired legs did slow the pace down and we made sure to fit in some extra breaks as it certainly was a hot afternoon. As the afternoon progressed the only questions being asked by the riders were: “how far have we got to go”, “what time will we get back”, “are we nearly there yet” & “I wonder what is for dinner”. When we got to Thurston they all knew that we were actually nearly there! The mood lifted, tired legs found a final spurt of energy & everyone started to get excited about crossing the finish line.
We all whizzed down Mount Road, gathered at the bottom before riding back into the School to
be welcomed by Parents, Carers, Siblings & School Staff. Plenty of cheers and bell ringing and the
students congratulating each other on completing the Challenge. I must confess to shedding a
few tears at this point, these young people had given their all over the past 2 days and this was a
major accomplishment for all of them.
Tom presented all the students with a finishers medal, each of them getting a round of applause & cheers. This was followed by the students giving the adults who had accompanied them on the ride a finishers medal too. I wore mine with pride on the cycle home, with a few more tears as I reflected on the past 2 days.
All of the students did so well and were a pleasure to be with, they all face challenges on a daily basis that I cannot start to comprehend but their grit & determination was truly inspiring. The real heroes in my opinion were the teachers & former headmaster. An amazing bunch of people who motivate, encourage, praise & on occasion cajole their students to achieve their best day after day. Thanks to you for letting me come along and enjoy the ride!
The Students were raising funds for the Charity Suffolk Mind; at the time of writing they had
achieved over £1,150 of donations if you can help by making a donation please visit :
https://www.justgiving.com/page/priory100milecycle?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL