8 weeks down (well, technically 9!), and that's all our Winter GravelQuest segments!

18 riders braved the sun and warmth this week (Monday and Saturday were pretty soggy tho!), and checked out the brand new Green Room trail! I heard lots of positive feedback on it, so I'm happy everyone enjoyed it, and hope all the rest of you make it over there at some point as well! If you want a preview, check out Bicycle Dave's video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUZdr8tD21a/

It's a bit tricky to navigate the specific segment, but otherwise pretty obvious once you're out there. Also check out the bonus loop that's across the road at the end of the trail. There's a steep bit at the start, but the loop at the top is pretty neat.

So this also means the last batch of Vancouver Island Wildlife icons were given out, and I'm a bit surprised no one got all 10! At least that I could see..hahaha..please do double-check, there were a few people with 9, I highlight them below!

And another big thank you to The Fur-Bearers for partnering up with us, and providing some neat information every week. Be sure to check out their informative social media channels, and consider joining and supporting their important work!

I'll send out a Series Finale report in a few days, so please let me know ASAP if there are any errors or corrections!

We'll be moving onto the road with the Segment Challenge starting in March, but there's still one trail event to come - a Scrabblethon is coming up on Sunday, March 1st!

If unfamiliar, we use a fairly short loop in Francis-King park, it's very rideable with the exception of one techy corner, and not too much elevation.

We do a neutral lap as a group, and then it officially 'starts' and you've got one hour to ride as many laps as you can before the hour ends, collecting a Scrabble tile each lap.

After the hour, we all gather and try to spell the best word we can with our tiles - and best score wins!

Make it a fun social event with friends, or if you're doing the Island Cup MTB series, or gravel racing, this is a good opportunity to put in a little intensity and test the legs! (Any off-road bike is welcome: MTB, gravel, all-road!) I've done it on my gravel bike all previous editions, but this time I'll try out the MTB!

More details and sign-up is now live on the site: https://abouttheride.ca/scrabblethon/

* note: course is not very muddy at all 😂

RACING NEWS

Note: expect spoilers!

Phew - busy week with three more CX races (and I think one left to go), and a bunch of road action!

No Canadians that I saw in the CX races, but lots of great race action.

On the road, Vancouver racer Maggie Coles-Lyster finished 4th on the opening stage of the UAE Tour - Wiebes was unstoppable as usual. Maggie also finished 9th and 10th, but today's stage finished with a tough climb, worth watching the last few km!

Just a funny note on the Saturday finish, the Canadian riders all finished 10th, 11th & 12th:

10 Maggie Coles-Lyster (Can) Human Powered Health
11 Alison Jackson (Can) St Michel-Preference Home Aubi
12 Alexandra Volstad (Can) EF Education-Oatly

There was a one-day race in Valencia, which finished with a pretty impressive move! I think this is Ava Holmgren's first race of the year, she was there in support of her Lidl-Trek team, and Sidney Swierenga was there as well, and I don't know if I knew she's on the Liv AlUla Jayco team, which is pretty great, along with another Canadian, Anabelle Thomas.

The men's Valencia stage race is still playing in the background, but yesterday's finish showed Remco Evenepoel is riding extremely strongly, and kinda looked like Tadej pulling away from everyone. Let's hope his form continues, and we may see some big battles later in the year!!

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.

The final scores are live on the site! As mentioned, let me know if there are any errors or corrections, but will include a few highlights below.

Cougars & Raccoons

In the quest for all 10 critters, we had two in the group who were VERY close: Anne is just missing an Orca, and Bicycle Dave is missing a Bear.

And Bicycle Dave is our OVERALL champion by a landslide, all those social posts really paid off! Nicely done!! 🏆

Bears & Otters

Two in this group also collected 9 of the 10, Markus K was just short an Otter, Rose needed a Whale.

Seals & Wolves

Once again sad to see no Seals, and just three Wolves in the final week!

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
• Secret time doesn't apply this week
• Socialite points go to B Dave, he actually made up two videos this week!
  (Post a shot of your ride on IG or FB and tag @AboutTheRideCA for a chance for 2pts 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.)

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Some updates from last week:

• Nothing much this week!

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!

8 <- THIS MANY WEEKS WITHOUT AN ERROR 🤣

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

SPONSORS AD

This week's sponsor is the once again the new website E-RoadChamps.com. They say:

We've now got the E-MTB category at Worlds, but don't call it motorbiking!!!

Why limit the E-Bike racing to MTB riding? Motors in bikes (still not motorbikes!) should be considered in racing across all disciplines, so we're pushing for the inclusion of E-Road Bike Racing for the 2026 World Championships!

This racing features all the same action as boring old 'regular' road racing, but everyone goes pretty much the same speed uphill! Doesn't that sound like some great bike racing! (Again, not motorbike racing!)

And we don't want to stop there, E-BMX and E-Track bikes are on the way too, and should all be included in future iterations of the World Championships. (Because it's just not motorbiking.)

Check out our site and sign our petition of support, and subscribe to our site, and use #ItsReallyNotAMoped for 20% off all our e-bike swag!

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! 😊

I haven't had a chance to listen to it too much, but Sloan has a new album, 'Based on the Best Seller'!

On a few quick spins (while distracted getting ready for a ride or something similar), it's very much Sloan, and more on the poppy end, similar to their other more recent albums. Not sure yet if any might be 'hits', but not really getting that energy, but will have to keep listening! 🎶

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!

For the final week we do draw prizes a bit differently, and all who rode will be entered for the remaining prizes, plus as mentioned, there's a bonus draw prize of a 44mm Reneherse Corkscrew Climb gravel tire, which was never picked up from the last season, so it's back up for grabs! (Thanks again to Fort St for that!)

So check back in the final report for the draws.

THE SEGMENTS IN PHOTOS

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

Not terribly exciting, but a neat little
pass-through to get to the beach!

I generally avoid hike-a-bikes, but this is
a fun little section.

But here's the good stuff! The new
Green Room trail is a fantastic surface
with some fun twists and ups and downs!

There are some really beautiful
spots on the trail - worth it to hit
in both directions as well.

Some pretty neat hardware
out on the trail too!

TRAILEND

That's it for tonight, reminder to take a peek at the scores and let me know if anything is amiss!

Thanks again for taking part in this new version of the series, we'll be back in the Fall with the GravelQuest format, but will feature more timed segments.

If the Scrabblethon sounds like fun, be sure to sign up!

More in a few days, safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

Join the @AboutTheRideCA social media accounts
for an informative range of local cycling updates!

If you ever have any questions,
feel free to simply hit reply!