Dartmouth Academy students experience Tour of Britain cycle race first hand
As the popularity of cycling continues to grow across the country, a recent Skills Day at Dartmouth Academy provided a superb opportunity to sample the atmosphere of the UK's biggest professional bike race, the Tour of Britain, while developing their studies in Science, Maths, Physical Education and Geography. On Thursday 11 September, 75 Year 9, Year 10 and Sixth Form students visited Haytor, a famous climb for cyclists on Dartmoor, where they set about a variety of tasks before having an opportunity to watch the elite riders pass up the climb. The Geography students were tasked with making sketch maps of the area to show the reasons why people visit Haytor and the impact of tourism in the area. They also measured the gradient of the final part of the climb and during the day asked visitors why they came to the area using a pre planned questionnaire. For the Maths, Science and PE teams the day revolved around testing riders' capacity and endurance to complete the climb. A variety of tests were set up outside the Dartmoor Visitors' Centre and visitors were encouraged to show their levels of fitness as well as answer a psychological questionnaire that the students had designed. During lunchtime the group found various advantage points to watch as the riders climbed the hill, making it look rather easy compared to the amateurs who were out in their thousands. During the following Skills Day back at the Academy, the groups brought together all their data and analysed both the impact of Haytor as an iconic place on Dartmoor and its draw to cyclists from all over the country to ride it to test their endurance and fitness. The results of the day will be on show at the Academy Open Evening on Wednesday 24 September.
