Just got back from Cross on the Rock in Cumberland, and that was a FUN ONE. Classic cross course, with very few 'dramatic' elements, good mix of power and technical sections. Consider racing the series if you haven't, and no CyclingBC license is required, if that has been a concern!!

Another big group of riders out on the segments this week, LOVE IT!!

And many took on the challenge to hit those bonus times, and a few managed to hit the mark, impressive! (Tho I may have been too generous with the amount of points...but live and learn!)

I was out with Dave B and Scott H on Thursday for the Tripleshot Vitamin D ride around 10am, we may carry this on if others are interested, be sure to sign up!

This week we're headed over to Jordie Lunn Park, and I tracked down a couple reasonable segments, tho it's really much more of an MTB park. One is a loop, and then a short climb for our second timed/challenge segment. As it's a holiday on Tuesday, may see a bunch of you out there?!

Let's carry on, shall we!

Racing News

As mentioned, the first Cross on the Rock was today up in Cumberland! Find the results here.

The BIG news of course is how Magdeleine Vallieres won the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS yesterday. She and two others broke away from the 'favourites', who just looked at each other expecting someone else to chase....and then Magdeleine put in an effort on the final cobbled climb....and won by 23 seconds!! So incredible she'll be wearing the rainbow bands for the next year. She's been in more of a domestique/support role with the EF Oatly team, but that may change in 2026. She's also the first Canadian to win the Elite World Championships (no male has!)

It was a bit surprising to see Isa Holmgren finish 6th in the U23 race, she was the BIG favourite, but not sure if she had an off day, or the climbs weren't long enough...but still a pretty exciting race to watch, and deserved podium. Olivia Baril was the other Canadian finisher, in last place - a Canadian sandwich! 😂

Other highlights include Sidney Swierenga who finished 4th in the Jr Women's race - can't wait to see her kill it in cyclocross again, and she races up in the U23 category too! Only 30 men finished the Elite race today, but Pogacar was dominant and will spend another year in the rainbow bands.

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Amy W has been moved up to the A's thanks to her smokin' time on the Scrabblethon loop.

Newcomer James Craven had some technical issues last week, but has also joined the A's!

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!

SPONSORS AD

This email is once again sponsored by Muc Off, featuring their new Pumpkin Spice Autumnal Chain Lube!

This is a special formulation for your drivetrain in the very unique fall conditions.

Is it dry lube? Nope.

Is it wet lube? Also nope.

It's moist lube. Yup. M O I S T.

Not dry, but also not wet. It's moist.

And of course, pumpkin spice scented!

Smells so good, you'll be wishing it were this moist all year round!

As always, use hashtag #PumpkinSpiceFTW for 20% off!

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! 😊

Sorry, no tunes this week, but in a related note, I've dug up my old iPhone 4 as an MP3 player because my Pixel phone doesn't have a headphone jack, and I like my headphones with a headphone jack, and the USB adapter sucks and cuts out constantly. Why can't we have headphone jacks??

Anyway, I haven't used the phone in almost two decades, but enjoying the mix of music on there from a while back. 🎶

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

Just focusing on the bonus points this week, but a quick welcome to Julia B, Sarah DV, and Nathan!

On to the scoring, our speedy ladies BOTH cracked 5:45 to earn an extra 25pts!

None of our A's could, tho both Jon B and James C came within 10sec of 4:45!!

The B's

6:15 was the B time, and Anne was closest, but no points.

For the guys it was 5:45, and Markus K came 6sec under, and Mark D hit that time exactly!

The C's

7:30 was the time for our C ladies, and both Tanya B and Sonya made it, Sonya was also right on the time, and Tanya B had 6sec to spare!

And finally with our C guys, we may have a a future B, with Mark B logging a 5:41, which would have gotten him the B points! Kit crushed it as well, and Dan C and Gary P also made it with time to spare!

BONUSES & CURSES

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

No KOM or QOM points this week since technically not a timed week.

• Early Bird was Markus K!
• No secret time as well.
• As mentioned David R collected the Socialite points - how could I not, he actually found a Scrabblethon tile on the course!! (The letter A!)
  (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!

Prizes this week are courtesy of EasyVegan.ca - plant-based meal kits, delivered to your door, yum! I've got $20 Gift Cards for 6 riders and the Google randomizer has decided the following are worthy of a draw prize this week:

Renata Troc
Nathan Smith
Ryan Taylor
Gary Peever
Rob Parkin
Michael Jones, KoS

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

Our prize page is live on the site, a bunch of updates, and lots more to come, but for now take a peek!

Week #4 - Sept 29th - Oct 5th - Gravel Fun in Jordie Lunn

Admittedly not a ton of great gravel in JLP, for me it's usually more of a pass-through on the way to the Great Trail, but since it's a bike park, and bikes are supposed expected to be going fairly quickly through there, it's a good spot for another timed segment!

Segment 4A Name: XCC Nats
Deets: 0.90km, 35m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Jenn Jackson with a 2:32 & KOM is Ian Ackert with a 2:08, and the LL is Dan Molgat-Roy! (Reminder these really don't matter.)
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/39654368

This was the Short Track (XCC) loop for the Canadian Cross Country MTB Nationals this summer, and a fun little loop through some of the tamer trails (Cross on the Rock racers will recognize some!) Reminder this segment is not timed.

Starts up past the clubhouse through the parking lot, around the corner along the dirt jumps, then down by the pond into a nice steady climb. There's a few switchbacks on the descent, then back up to the clubhouse! This segment lists a who's-who of Canadian mountain biking, will be very surprised if anyone makes it on the first page!! (And careful, there may be a fence to ride around near the start..?)

Segment 4B Name (🔥TIMED🔥): Initial Attack (Official)
Deets: 0.66km, 24m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Nicole Bradbury with a 2:24 & KOM is Logan Sadesky with a 2:00, and LL is Andrew MacKeen with 43 efforts(!!).
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/31743512

Here's our second timed/challenge segment of the season!

This is fairly short and sweet, and not too much to it, but you should be able to give it a solid go without much concern!

Once at the finish, if you're adventurous, keep going up, or head back down the way you came, or you can exit and access the road right there as well. 😉

Happy riding!! 

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

This was a real grind....even more fun in the Scrabblethon!

That steep and rocky climb on Bellamy, but with
the lead-up to this smoothed out, and that
muddy section no longer muddy, you can
pick up a LOT of speed and just roll most the way up!

Nearing the end of the trail.

We're hitting the halfway mark in the series, so great to see so many hitting the trails each week!! (And recruiting riding pals to join - that's the spirit!)

And the weather was looking pretty miserable ("rain parade?!"), but seems it's really turned around, woohoo!

That's about it for this week, 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!