Currently watching the women's Tour Down Under with Sarah Van Dam in the breakaway on the final day, wow this is exciting!!! She's in a break of 3, and they have two teammates, and currently they're trying to work over Sarah, but she's hanging in there...eeeep! Hard to focus on the newsletter!

What a great week, weather was fantastic, tho don't get comfortable, this is what those of us who've been around call Fool's Spring! It's gonna cool back down. 😉

Sounds like the segments were a hit this week! It was pretty wild to ride a flooded Donwood on Wednesday, with water up to my BB, and the next day it was dry! We had a couple sets of stairs as well, but overall a nice mix of trails.

This week we're headed back to Layritz/PISE, with a nice 'tour' through the parks, plus our first TIMED segment with a short, bumpy climb, for those who feel like picking up the pace!

Please take a look at results, and let me know if I've missed any icon bonuses, like three-of-a-kinds - it's possible I've overlooked some (thanks Tanya for emailing about hers!) And if anyone who's good at eyeballing these things wants to volunteer to help out as backup scoring, zing me a note! =)

RACING NEWS

Note: expect spoilers!

As mentioned the Tour Down Under women's race is on, and it's been really exciting to see several Canadian's getting some serious screen time! Saw that Maggie Coles-Lyster from Vancouver was a DNF yesterday, not sure why, but there were a dozen others.

Crazy finish today as well, fantastic final 30km or so!

Today was also the Benidorm World Cup cyclocross race, and Sidney McGill was the top placing Canadian at 24th, 3mins down. Was hoping to see Carrier again, but she might be saving it for the double-header next weekend.

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Some updates from last week:

• Prizes are now listed on the site! A big thanks to Goldstream Bicycles, Fairfield Bicycles and Vegan Supply for contributing some goodies!
• Welcome Janice, Mike H and David R, great to have you back!

Reminder if your time didn't record (this week or any), please either tag me in your ride, comment on the Strava group post, or send me an email -- if you rode it, I can usually figure out a 'manual' time for you, but you need to let me know!

5 <- THIS MANY WEEKS WITHOUT AN ERROR 🤣

If there are any errors, omissions, issues, concerns, or anything else, feel free to hit reply!

SPONSORS AD

No sponsors this week, but take a look at this amusing 'ad' of the Dominator bike on Bike Radar: 

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/the-dominator-is-the-greatest-bike-ever-made

SOUNDTRACK NOTES

Note: 'back in my day' people talked about music, albums, etc.. Doesn't really seem to happen much these days, so I'm carrying on the tradition here! 😊

Anyone familiar with the Soft Boys? haha - probably not!

I'm a big Robyn Hitchcock fan, and his first band was the Soft Boys. They didn't release too many albums, but if you like Robyn, you'll like the Soft Boys. If totally unfamiliar, kinda pop-rock, but with really quirky lyrics.

"Where are the prawns?"🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

For those new to the series, results are tabulated each week, and the event page has all the results updated each Sunday night! To see the weekly results, hit the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

Cougars & Raccoons

This week Curtis has scored bonus points with three Oyster Catchers! Bicycle Dave continues to pwn the entire series with a pretty serious lead! He scored more points with the Early Bird, and another great video on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTbUwzkEtYq/

Rich and myself are currently tied for 2nd, with Curtis, Anne and Dave B just a point or two behind in this field.

Bears & Otters

Kevin T has collected three Owls for some extra points, but our top rider in this field is Sonya with 28pts, but Markus is just 1pt behind, and Jolene just a point behind him! Tanya B and Kevin T are also very close in contention!

Seals & Wolves

Greg G is having a hoot, collecting three Owls! But it seems we're seeing the fewest Seals and Wolves, and Dan C is the top scorer, with Greg just a point behind, and Kit and Lauren with Joel challenging for this group's podium.

BONUSES & CURSES

See the Scoring section of the Event Page for more details - note that there aren't any curses for the GravelQuest!

No KOM or QOM points this week.

• Early Bird (or should we call this 'Oyster Catcher'?) was Bicycle Dave
• Socialite points go to both Sonya and Dave B this week again! Sonya's comment of "best segments ever!!" were nice to see! 😁
  (Post a shot of your ride on IG or FB and tag @AboutTheRideCA for a chance for 5pts each week! If you've posted, but I haven't given you credit, or liked or commented on your post, please DM me directly, IG has been a bit finicky.)

PRIZES!

We've always got some sweet draw prizes every week! Watch our socials (Insta & Facebook) to see what we'll be giving away each week!

Draw prizes are listed on the site, we've got three event supporters this series, plus there'll be a fourth bonus prize for the finale!

Here are our winners so far:

• Week #1 - Mark B
• Week #2 - Rich L
• Week #3 - Joel C
• Week #4 - Dave B
• Week #5 - Josh D

Congrats Josh this week, will follow up with you!

There'll be one name drawn each week, and they can select from the items, and there'll be a few extra draws for the finale as well!

Week #6: Jan 19th - 25th - A Whole Lotta Glendale Trail

This week we're headed back to PISE for a couple segments that I intended to run a couple weeks ago! The first is a nice long winder, bit of a 'tour de Layritz' highlighting a bunch of the best stuff there! It also runs through Quick's Bottom, which has been pretty flooded the last few weeks, but with a rain-free week, and no rain in the forecast this week, I'm going to take advantage of this!

And we'll also welcome our first TIMED segment of the series! It's a re-run of a short little kicker we did in Season 6 (https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-6-segment-archives/), but if you're feeling like putting a bit of mustard on it, this is your week!

Segment 6A Name: A Quick ride with Your Mom
Deets: 3.28km, 68m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is no one so far & KOM is Aidan Currie with a 10:01, and the LL is Jason Gammon with 3 efforts! (Reminder these really don't matter.)
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/33892489

Discovered this one by accident, just out looping around with Dave B last July, and when I uploaded my ride, saw I got a random 4th🏆! But despite the silly name, it's a fantastic route through this area.

It starts at Wilkinson with a fun downhill, then the long way through Quick's Bottom (likely to be mucky!) Double-back up Markham, then a right-hander into some fun singletrack. Note this section has a few techy spots, but nothing crazy.

Once you're out of the woods, there's a bit of a downhill, into a looser rocky climb, then downhill over to the Glendale Trail. Unfortunately this segment goes up the Dogwalker's Trail - if you'd rather not ride this, stick to the Glendale Trail, and at the top you can make the right-hander and enjoy this fun flowy singletrack descent to finish off the segment! (If the segment doesn't register, will still give credit of course.)

🔥TIMED🔥 Segment 6B Name: Out of the blue, and into the black
Deets: 0.64km, 15m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Sofia Donnecke with a 1:43 & KOM is Jimmy OK with a 1:37, and the LL is Zev Fisher with 7 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/37907280

We've got a rematch from Season 6 - it starts off on Glendale a bit fast and to a tricky corner, and then you've got a grind up some loose rocky terrain, and finishes with some twisty singletrack! When I did it last time, I went first, and was getting kicked around on the gravel, and Sophia, who started behind me, went FLYING by me! I was on thinner tires, so looking forward to giving it a go with bigger tires...tho my Jan fitness vs Oct fitness will be a factor!

Watch the very end of the segment, you come out into a fairly open field, and there may be some construction activity, so do be careful at the very end. And don't be afraid to pre-ride it, you continue up past where you come out on 6A, and the singletrack is a different left hander!

As a timed segment, there's a few bonus points up for grabs, with 5pts for the top rider in each category, then 4pts & 3pts for 2nd & 3rd, and all others will get 2pts, so not too much on the line, but a chance to get the heartrate up if you're feeling it!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Updated on the site - as always Suggested Routing for this week: https://abouttheride.ca/gravelquest/

ISLAND WILDLIFE CORNER

Each week we'll feature a little highlight about island wildlife, thanks to The Fur-Bearers! Consider becoming a member and supporting their work, and check out their socials for lots of great posts about wildlife, advocacy and peaceful co-existence.

Week 6 - Four Facts About Vancouver Island's wolves!

1 - Yes, there are wolves on Vancouver Island. Wolves can be found throughout Vancouver Island, particularly on the west coast (Tofino & Ucluelet) and in the north island (Cape Scott).

2 - Sea wolf! Vancouver Island's wolves belong to the coastal or sea wolf group of the grey wolf (Canis lupus). They are adapted to the island’s forest and shoreline environments and differ in behaviour and diet from inland wolves.

3 - Don't touch or feed them! In addition to being an offense under BC's Wildlife Act, feeding and baiting wolves for photos and videos, can cause all sorts of other issues. A new documentary, coming soon, talks about this very issue! https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-93-all-points-west/clip/16164268-new-documentary-aims-help-co-exist-wolves

4 - Takaya is Vancouver Island's most famous wolf. Takaya was a lone coastal wolf who lived in isolation on Discovery Island (near Victoria) from about 2012 until 2020. His story captured the hearts of British Columbians everywhere. He died on March 24, 2020 after being shot by police in Sooke following a human encounter. Learn more about Takaya's legacy: https://takayaslegacy.com/

THE SEGMENTS IN PHOTOS

Here's a few snapshots of the segments this week!

Donwood's start on Wednesday....managed
not to get a soaker!

Same location, the very next day!! 🤯

Lots of neat features this week!

Including stairs!
But good times out with Jon B, Josh D and Scott H!

TRAILEND

We have another great week ahead of us, hope you get out there!!

I get people asking 'hey Dave, what do you do for a living?', and I'm actually a freelance web designer! Besides the ATR site, if you've been following the series, you've probably seen a few other sites I've designed and worked on, but if you're looking for a hand with a website, feel free to reach out! 😁

That's it for this week, safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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