Scootin' up Newton, why didn't I think of that earlier? 😂

We're past the halfway mark of the Summer Segment Challenge, and we had lower numbers this week, but looks like some are away, and had a few illnesses - hope you're all feeling better this week!

We've also got Canada Day on Tuesday, what better way is there to celebrate than to head out on the bike and hit a few segments? 😁

A few also got nailed with a bit of a 'curse' on the B segment, stopping before the segment ends.... Dan B looks like he would have had the fastest overall time, but sadly his 2min rest is added onto his time by Strava...doh!

This week we're headed back into Metchosin, with a couple off Rocky Point Road - two more Rider's Choices, and two that will be new to me as well!

There's a news clip in the Saanich News about the Tripleshot Girls Club, if you know any girls 11-13, let them or their parents know about this fantastic program!!

Also an update on the Royal Bay Crit I'm working on, please scratch the 12th, turns out there's a big event in the area that day as well, but July 26th is the new working date, fingers crossed no conflicts.

Racing News

Busy weekend for racing, yesterday was the 12 Hours of Cumberland - some insane people still riding it solo, but looks a lot more fun as a team of four, results here.

There was a Windsor Park crit here today, congrats to Graham F and Adam L for a 2nd place finish in the C's and B's respectively, and Matt P, newcomer from last week, is getting all into the racing and won the D race as well! Full results here, and photos of the B and A races here thanks to Roland (everyone pressure him into doing some segments!😂)

In the pro world, many countries had their National Championships, and I certainly had my fill of races to watch!! But I'll focus on Canada tonight, as we've got a bunch of new champs.

On Friday was the time trial, Oliva Baril and Michael Leonard are our TT champs (bit of a surprise with him topping Derek Gee by over 30sec!) Ava Holmgren won the U23, but her time was actually faster than Baril's.

Saturday was the Road Race for the men, and it was a very cold and wet day, props to our segment killer Julian Cameron for even finishing that race!! The vast majority of riders were DNF. Gee took the W, and will be looking forward to seeing him in the National Champs jersey!

Today was the women's Road Race, and judging by photos conditions were much better! Alison Jackson took the win, she must have broken away at some point, and solo'd to finish a minute ahead of the chase.

Find all the results here!

Next up...the Tour de France starts this Saturday, July 5th!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

* I repeat: Ross Hooker, great to have you back, but please sign up!

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!

3 <- 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! 😊

Once again focused on some bike racing! 🎶

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

🎶Where have all our Female A's gone? Loooong time passing..🎶

Just half of our guys made it out this week, and unexpectedly I claimed the top spot in both instances! 😬 There was definitely no coasting on Thomson, so I don't know how that happened!! Dan B was second fastest there, followed by Dave B, and Travis O. On the more rolling segment, Travis was second fastest, followed by Dave B and Dan B.

The B's

Just Renata and Kathleen made it out this week, and Renata's time on Thomson was ahead by a pretty good margin, but a closer duel on the 'Not As Fun' segment.

Jamie C, who we have to thank for the Thomson segment, actually posted the fastest time of all on it this week! And in the B's he was the top time on both segments, perhaps doing some secret training out there? 🤔😂 Todd was just 10sec behind for 2nd, and Mark D was 3rd, with Joel C and Michael Jones just off the mark. On the longer segment, Joel was only 6sec off the mark, with Even T taking 3rd! Greg and Michael Jones were not far behind tho.

The C's

Kirsty and Kathryn were the two C's to make it out this week, and Kirsty took Thomson by 10sec! It was a bigger gap on the longer segment however, with another W for Kirsty.

Great turnout with our guys, newcomer Dan C opened his account with a W, and a speedy time up Thomson! Sean and Bill were separated by only 3sec, with Chad and Kit trailing. On 'Not As Fun', Hobbers took the top spot (also hit with 'the curse' on the A segment), and Sean and Bill once again rounding out the podium, and David R and Chad the best of the rest.

SUMMER SERIES OVERALL

We're halfway through the season, fairly firm holds on 1 and 2 in a lot of categories, but there's still four weeks go to, let's see how things play out!!

BONUSES & CURSES

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

Sadly no QOMs or KOMs this week!

• Early Bird was Michael J!
• No secret times this week.
• No Socialite points to award.
  (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 taken by Dan C on the B segment!
• 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!

It's yum week! I've got 8x $25 Gift Cards to Odd Burger (on Fisgard, downtown, vegan fast food!) The Google randomizer has decided the following are worthy of a draw prize this week:

Dan Coulton
Jamie Caskenette
Hobbers .
Kathryn TGreat
Dan Blackwell
Kit St. John
Bill Ransford
Kirsty H*

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

Our prize page is live on the site, more to come, but for now take a peek!

Week #5 - June 20th - July 6th - Neither Rocky Nor Pointy

Two more Rider's Choice segments this week, the first was from both Dave B and David R (great Daves think alike!), and the second from Dave B, and they're both off Rocky Point Road! Both are quiet roads, I've only happened upon one of them, and not a lot of elevation, so these will likely suit our more punchy riders this week! I also predict a couple new KOMs & QOMs!

Segment 5A Name: Tiswilde to Cardsview wall
Deets: 1.25km, 67m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Elietha Bocskei with a 4:52 & KOM is Nigel Ellsay with a 3:40, and the LL is Elizabeth Vaags with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/38968040

I've only cruised up this on a gravel ride, and have no memory of it, but by the segment title I suspect it ends with a bit of a grunt!

Segment 5B Name: Pegasus 4 bumps
Deets: 1.32km, 53m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Dawn Heinemeyer with a 4:49 & KOM is Rob Britton with a 3:30, and LL is none!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/39309424

A twisty-looking one, you'll ride in, turn around, and head back up - don't dally at the end, the clock may start ticking right away! Looking at it via streetview, appears to be a nice surface, and should finish at a driveway - take note on your way down (and maybe leave your bottles there as a marker!)

Suggested Routing

If you're good with a little dust, you can take the Goose all the way out! Otherwise working your way over to Happy Valley Road makes for the flattest way out, once again, here's my little wiggle that gets you from the Goose at Atkins over to Happy Valley: https://www.strava.com/routes/3107750435997229492

Happy riding!! 

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

Hey, I did the 'stick trick'!
The finishing point for both segments
- well, a bit on either side!

Spotted on the way home, need
to see a LOT more of these signs
around town, about time!!

There's another week down, and another week coming up! Looking forward to seeing more names on the leaderboards this week, let's keep it up, the Summer Segment Challenge will be over before you know it!!

Thanks as always for taking a peek at my ramblings, safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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