road.cc report that a school in Derby will be offering cycling as a special addition to its GSCE in Physical Education from next term.
Sinfin Community School is well equipped to offer this course as it already has it’s own cyclo-cross track. Fully 60% of the course will be based on practical work involving mountain biking, cyclo-cross and BMXing.
Most of a GCSE for riding your bike, how good is that? It’s a step beyond cycle proficiency training and further solidifies cycling’s position as a mainstream activity like football or rugby and not a niche sport practiced only by hippy mountain bikers, hoodies on BMXs or weirdos with a penchant for skin-tight Lycra.
A school spokesman is quoted as saying “not all kids want to take part in team sports”. I can identify with that! As a schoolboy I hated most team sports, yet somehow managed to display enough skill (or not enough sense) to keep getting picked for the school rugby team. I would have loved to have had cycling as an option, either as part of a GCSE or even just as an extra-curricular activity riding for the school.
Read the full report on road.cc here.
