Well that was an improvement in weather! Oddly chilly, but at least there were warm spots in the sun this weekend!

I was worried Fulton might cause riders to flee, but over 30 of you took it on, nice!!! "Survived" seemed to be a word I kept seeing, and that's about right, you all deserve a medal for that. 😁

This week on Wednesday we had a fun crew hit them, where I planned to meet up with Dave B, Phil and Jen, and Gabrielle happened to roll by the Switch Bridge at the same time and joined us! Saw Bill at Switch as well, and possibly David R on the segments. Have you run into others on segments by happenstance? (What else are people doing out on these obscure roads!!)

Just wanted to say another big thanks to all who've chipped in for the series, even tho I make you do horrible things to yourself! 🤗

That's one of the toughest segments, and while I wouldn't say we've got smooth sailing remaining, this week we've got two more sensible segments, as we return to the West Shore for a couple more climbs......

Racing News

Up island was another Island Cup on Saturday, congrats to our peeps who raced the trails in Cumberland!

Down south is the Redlands Classic stage race, and on the men's side Canadians seem to be getting the beat-down, but Sidney Swierenga is sitting in 2nd overall in the Women's racing! Islanders Katja Verkerk and Brenna Pauly are down as well, supporting their teams. Unfortunately Kimberly Chen DNF'd in an earlier stage. The race continues for a few more days!

In the pro circuit, there was quite a bit going on! There was a second MTB World Cup in Brazil, and more incredible Canadian performances!! In the Short Track, U23 rider Isabella Holmgren took another win, Marin Lowe and Ellla MacPhee were just off the podium! Jenn Jackson finished a career high 5th, as well as Islander Carter Woods who finished 4th!!

In the Cross Country race, it was 1st, 3rd and 5th for Holmgren, Lowe and MacPhee in the U23, absolutely incredible!! Once again Jackson finished a career high 5th, and Islander Emilly Johnston finished 27th, turns out she crashed pretty hard last week, skipped the Short Track, but raced solidly in the XCO. I haven't heard what's up, but Carter Woods sadly didn't have as good a day in the XC.

Then there was Paris Roubaix, Ferrand-Prevot had a commanding win, and Alison Jackson finished 5th! (She won it a few years ago!) Olivia Baril was the only other Canadian to finish, 15mins down. In the Men's race, Islander Riley Pickrell was in, but was crashed out fairly late in the race, hopefully he's okay. But a slightly controversial win by van der Poel - I feel Pog overcooked that corner, and MVDP continuing on was fair game. On a sad note, it was really unfortunate to see someone hit him with a bottle during the race, what's wrong with people?! 🤬

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Minor change in scoring from Week 1 in the C's women's category, I had 1st & 2nd swapped in the B segment.

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

I'm just gonna leave this one here. 😂

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! 😊

Tonight I spun up the latest Neil Young release, 'Oceanside Countryside'.

It's actually an unrelease album back from the Harvest/Rust Never Sleeps era, with classics like Pocahontas, Goin' Back and Human Highway, and then a few tunes I may have heard before, but most surprising was Lost In Space with some very odd 'backing' vocals...haha.. If you like this era of NY, then this album is for you!🎶

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

Jen was our lone A rider this week, but of course locked in a couple solid times!

Phil set some smokin' times early on in the week, but today Julian went out, and looks like two very strategic efforts, topping him by just a few seconds on each! Justin claimed 3rd on both as well, and Dave B earned 4th on Walfred, and newcomer Graham took 4th on Fulton (apparently on a very rainy ride! Unfortunately wasn't able to hit Walfred.) Welcome Graham!! 

The B's

Gabrielle once again edged out Renata! There was a new sign-up this week, but I don't have any times for her, but hopefully we'll see her out next week!

Daniel S's dominance continued this week, claiming both by a pretty solid margin. Joel C had one of his top finishes on Walfred, followed by David K, just ahead of Travis and Josh. On Fulton, Joel W and Travis completed the podium with pretty awesome times, ahead of David K and Joel.

The C's

It's all or nothing with the ladies in C, unfortunately just two out this week, but they traded places, with Kathryn taking the top time on Walfred, and Heidi on Fulton.

Greg was shut out of the top spot by Michael Jones (not to be confused with Mike Jones!!) Nice riding by Michael this week, I also met him tonight picking up his draw prize! Greg of course was 2nd on both, and Ron topped Tony and Teddy on Walfred, where as Tony claimed that 3rd podium on Fulton, holding off Ron and Kit.

OVERALL SUMMARIES

In the overall, things are pretty close in several categories as the series gets close to the final!

In the A's, Jen could possibly take over the A field, but Brooklynn would have to sit out the last two weeks. Dave B now has a fairly solid hold on 1st, but 3rd is pretty tight between Julian, Dan B and Phil.

Renata has a pretty solid lead in the B's, and Daniel S is up by 19pts over Travis, with Josh and Joel C not far off.

Despite not riding this week, Suzy still holds the lead in the C's, tho Kathryn is very close in 2nd, and Heidi nipping at her heels. Over with the guys, Kit is in 1st, but Greg (despite missing a week) is still a big threat, and Bill, David R and Ron are all still in contention for 3rd with Tyler G sitting in the dark horse position!!

BONUSES & CURSES

See the Scoring section of the Event Page for more details!

No QOMs or KOMs this week sadly!

• Early Bird was Phil!
• No Secret Time this week (3:41 & 5:45) - the drought continues, I should make this a lottery and add points each week! 😂
• David R tagged the ATR account on IG this week to claim the Socialite points!
  (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.)
• The Local Legend curse was claimed by Daniel and Phil (negating his Early Bird!)
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual.

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!

Prizes this week are from Oak Bay Bikes, as well as a bunch of remaining items from previous weeks! The breakdown this week is: 3x A, 3x B and 4x C, and the randomizer gives me:

justin kobbero
Graham Fletcher
Dave Bitschy

Josh Durgin
Renata Troc
Scott Horsley

clayton odberg
Kathryn TGreat
Ron Mierau 🇨🇦
Bill Ransford

Congrats!! I'll email you on Monday with the details, be sure to reply ASAP! 😉

Check out all the prizes (so far) here - there are some really awesome items, and we're not quite done yet: https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-7-prize-list/

Week #7 - Apr 14th - 20th - Reach for the Stars..or Likely Seeing Stars!

It's the penultimate week for the Spring Segment Challenge, and we're headed back to the West Shore, over near the Jordie Lunn park. First up is a 'brand new' climb, up a new road into a new subdivision. Sometimes the urban sprawl has an upside. And we'll also hit Humpback Rd, which is a beatiful area!

Segment 7A Name: Push to the water (tower)
Deets: 0.88km, 66m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Shelley Donovan with a 4:34 & KOM is Adam Wadden 🇨🇦 🐺 with a 2:41, and the LL is Landon Benson.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/34820844

This is fun - fresh tarmac and a sparse leaderboard; a total of 7 in the group have been up Constellation...and where's segment KOM Adam W been? Maybe this will get him back to riding some segments, someone hurry up and send him a notification stealing his KOM. 😉 It's actually a pretty nice climb, not steep and you should be able to pace it well.

Segment 7B Name: Humpback Reservoir Climb
Deets: 0.79km, 60m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 2:25 & KOM is Rob Britton with a 1:50, and LL is Erik Deferme.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/1172905

Down and around the corner from 7A is Humpback Road, and it's about time we hit it! Would be fun to run the length of it, but it's a bit sketchy in spots, so we'll focus on the actual hump! I don't think the elevation profile on the segment is quite right..it's relatively smooth but has a solid grunt in it near the end, so don't go out too hard!

Suggested Routing

Another one that doesn't have the most pleasant route to get to, but you can once again use the routing that goes along Selwyn, except when you hit the Langford Parkway, just continue straight up the hill and around the round-about, and you're right there!  https://www.strava.com/routes/3107750435997229492

Happy riding!! 

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

Here we are on Walfred cheering
Phil as he finishes off his effort!!

That's a wrap on Fulton, smiles and/or
grimaces all around!!

That's aboot it for this week!

I guess I haven't mentioned the @AboutTheRideCA social channels in a while, but be sure to check them out (and follow!) on Instagram or Facebook! I post updates about the Segment Challenge of course, as well as other local bike news, upcoming races and events, the odd riding tip, and other items that seem appropriate. Give them a peek, links below.

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

Join the @AboutTheRideCA social media accounts
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If you ever have any questions,
feel free to simply hit reply!