Six of Thomas Aveling’s teachers decided in January that they needed a fitness challenge for the New Year. It was decided that four teachers will cycle to Bruges in Belgium to raise funds for the house charities, Barnardos, Bantabami Aids Orphanage, Diabetes UK and Wisdom Hospice. Students were asked to sponsor their teachers and if they raised a £1000 teachers would cycle in superhero outfits. This was more of a challenge for teachers as the students and staff found it easier to reach the target of a £1000 and get hold of the outfits. Two other teachers Mr.Donahgey and Mr. Moss acted as the support team, they provided the cyclists with cold refreshments (isotonic drinks and Cola for “Robin”) in a village called Bekesbourne, guided them through to Dover, safely got them onto the ferry and made sure they were fully carbo-loaded, rehydrated and had enough sleep (…Robin = 4 hours) ready for the next day. Teachers completed the gruelling 100 miles over Kent country side and along Belgium canals over the two days. They spent 9.5 hours on the bikes, suffered from saddle sore, a few blisters and aching knees, they were lucky not to have had any flat tyres, incidents or accidents. The closest they got to getting into trouble was when Batman (Mr.Smith) leaned on a car at a traffic light in Canterbury and the lady stopped the Friday afternoon traffic to confront the superheroes, the police came to their rescue and diffused the situation. Robin (Mr. Olney) suffered slightly from a bit of banter from locals in the Kent villages, Captain America (Mr.Allman) managed not to dehydrate in his muscle padded suit and Superman (Mr. Hauptfleisch) kept a close eye on the whereabouts of his red cape and inhaler. Rumour has it that the Superheroes might put up another challenge for next June, they are still deciding how they will recruit new team members for next year, who knows – there might be some villains accompanying them next year…
