I had a bit of a different experience today: an hour long climb! Was out mountain biking at Maple Mountain, and wowwee, that's a pretty long climb to the top, what a treat! (Well, mostly! 😂)

Much longer than the segments this week - the weather wasn't toooo bad, good to see around 30 peeps made it out to Robin Hill!

I've got a secret bonus I'm awarding this week - I mentioned last week how it's interesting that the KOM times are the same, and my own PBs are the same as well, so I'm awarding 5pts to the rider with the closest to matching times!

Drumroll please....

Dan B was very close, with just 2 seconds separating his efforts! Bill and Sam were both just 1sec apart.....but this special bonus goes to Lorne, who's speedy time of 1:50 was logged on both segments! Nicely done, super consistent!

On a personal note: oops - I did it again! 🤦‍♂️

I botched my own effort, classic mistake! I had an excellent run on the B segment, holding WAY MORE watts than I thought I'd be able to. So when I went for the A segment I 'felt confident', and 'felt great' on the start, and caught Dave B where it flattens out, who started several seconds ahead of me.... I was aiming for around 400w, but heck, 500w was feeling okay, so pushed that....and as soon as I got around the corner it hit, HARD...legs turned to rubber, Dave caught and passed me...I suffered to the end. Such a classic error. Stick to your numbers peeps, lost several seconds because of this. 😂

A huge thank you to those who've chipped in, I really appreciate your generosity and support of the series and website!! 🥰 

Thanks to Travis for highlighting that Transport Canada is running a survey about vehicle headlights and glare at night that is very relevant to us as users of the road. Please take some time to make our voice heard in this. 

https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/consultations/canadian-experience-vehicle-headlights-glare-night

This week we're headed over to the 'long' climb on Old West Saanich, as well as the full Elkwood Alternative segment - this end of Old West is now a much better experience with smooth tarmac, and it's a climb we've never used, so let's give it a go this week!

RACING NEWS

Note: expect spoilers!

Some really exciting racing this week, with E3 Saxo and the women's Ronde Van Brugge during the week (Alexandra Volstad, Canadian rider for EF, finished 10th!), the conclusion of the Volta Catalunya (Riley had started it, but fell ill and DNF'd the second stage), and In Flanders Fields (former Ghent-Wevelgem) today. No other major Canadian highlights unfortunately, but some exciting and surprising finishes.

Victoria junior rider Amos Scott Bouris raced the Junior Track Nats this weekend, and walked away with a few podium finishes, including wining the Scratch and Elimination national titles, and funnily enough, the Team Sprint as well!

Also of interest, last Sunday there was a race in Italy where local pro Sarah Van Dam finished on the podium! It's in Italian, but there's a video on Youtube for fans who want to watch - if you scroll to about 45mins you can catch the last 20km which has some good action, last few km is about 1hr12mins in if you just want to watch the finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWuJwlRhlEo

Finally, I mentioned last week it was rumoured both Caleb Pike races were cancelled, this has been confirmed. There also appears to be an added Windsor Park on July 19th, so add that to your calendars (also updated on the ATR site).

I'm looking into putting on a Royal Bay Crit on May 10th, the date that the second Caleb was on, fingers crossed!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

• Not much to report this week, but four riders added to the timing sheets, welcome 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!

2 <- THIS MANY WEEKS WITHOUT AN ERROR 🤣

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

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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! 😊

Been waiting for this for a few weeks, Canadian legends band The New Pornographers released a new album this week!

I only got around to playing it while working on this, so haven't given it much of a listen, but overall the impression does seem much more on the mellow side...will report back next week after I give 'The Former Site Of' a bunch more listens. 🎶

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 A's

Our field of fast ladies remains quiet this week.

Lots of action with the guys however! On the A segment, Graham had the upper hand, with a zippy time of 1:44! Lorne and Josh weren't far off, well under 2mins, rounding out the podium. John and Sam just missed out, also cracking the 2min mark, impressive! On the B segment, Lorne smashed it with the fastest time of 1:50, and Sam was the only other to crack 2mins, and I was just a few seconds above, to complete that medal round! John F and Dave B just missed out, and most of our times were extremely close!!

The B's

Our only QOM/KOM came from the B field - Renata claimed the QOM on the A segment, and held it through the week, congrats!! She had the fastest times on both segments, with Sarah P, battling illness as well as gravity on her efforts, finished 2nd on both, and Sara DV rounds out our podium logging some impressive times!

Dan B was fastest on the steeper section, making up some solid time on Greg and Michael, with Hugo and Ryan just behind. But on the more rolling segment, Hugo hit his stride with a blistering time of 2min even! Dan B couldn't touch that, and our only tie this week happened for 3rd between Greg and Michael, and Ryan completing the group!

The C's

A reversal of fortunes in the C's, as Julia dropped the watts this week, claiming both segments over Kathryn for the first time this season! Can't wait to see what's up next week, and hopefully a few more C's will join in?

Bicycle Dave (who earned the Early Bird and Socialite points, tho I nearly gave a penalty on the latter for the song choice😂) also took top points on the steep segment! Derek wasn't far off, with a gap on Dan C. Kit and Ken just missed the A podium. On the B segment it was Derek however who claimed the top time by 1 second over Bicycle Dave! Just a few seconds behind was Dan, and Tyler and Kit were the 'best of the rest' this week. Excellent riding all, great to see all but one of the C's out this week!!

BONUSES & CURSES

See the Scoring section of the Event Page for more details on how you can score extra points every week.

• QOM was Renata!
• Early Bird was Bicycle Dave again
• No secret times, but several close!
• Bicycle Dave also gets the Socialite points with a vid on the segment!
  (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.)
• No Yellow Jersey curse
• And no Try Hard 'Local Legend' cursees.

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!

A huge thank you to Broad St Cycles / Bici for the draw prizes this week, and we'll give away 6 of their goodies! The Google randomizer has decided the following are worthy of a draw prize this week:

Dan Blackwell
Ken Trudgeon
Rizzi Balestra
Travis Orr
Kathryn TGreat
John Fletcher

Congrats!! I'll email you on Monday with the details!

Our prize page is live on the site, we've got so many fantastic items, most are now listed, take a peek!

Week #4: Mar 30th - Apr 5th – Old West is the New West

As the weather starts to improve, let's wander a bit further out of town!

Old West Saanich was an unpopular road due to a rough surface, but they've repaved it and it's actually a much better option now, especially with how busy Interurban is! So let's do the main climb, starting on the south end! It's a good little grunt, but not at all unreasonable.

And while we're out there, let's revisit one of my favourites: Elkwood. We've done the start of it as a short sprint, and I've been reluctant to include the entire segment as there's a blind and tight right-hander, but hopefully everyone keeps it within reason this week, so we'll give it a rip. If you're not familiar, it's a fun little 'detour' that I enjoy when out this way.

Segment 4A Name: Old W Saanich Climb to Starling
Deets: 1.65km, 55m elevation gain. (Suspect it’s actually a bit higher.)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 3:26, KOM is Jordan Landolt with a 3:02 & LL is Ted McLeod with 4 rides!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/2487485

The profile on Strava isn't accurate, it actually starts with a bit of a downhill, but the climb begins before you know it. It's not so steep, so you can settle into a good tempo and cadence, and a convenient finishing point just before Starling.

Segment 4B Name: The Elkwood Alternative
Deets: 1.53km, 48m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with a 3:18, KOM is Andrew Russell with a 2:34 & LL is nick friesen with 4 rides!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/3697866

This is a fun one to ride, but it's gonna hurt a bit at full gas! It starts with a nasty punch, but there's a bit of recovery to the corner, then southbound is a steady, smooth climb, and mostly flattens out the final stretch. Pacing will be key!

A reminder to please be very cautious on the right hander turning onto Forest Hill Rd - it comes up quick, and is a pretty blind corner - thank you for being sensible!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

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

THE WEEK IN PHOTOS

Funny little tunnel, probably the first time
a bunch of you have been through it!

Here's one last look at the A segment, 
not gonna miss that climb!
The little girl has the right idea. 😂

Once again both segments concluded at the
same spot! Is this just too convenient, or
some kind of conspiracy!!
Tip: we stashed our bottles where my bike is parked,
to save a little weight on the climbs!!

Good luck everyone this week - hope to see you log some times!! We're almost halfway through the series already, and I've got some more surprises in store for you!

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

- Dave

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