I heard my name cursed a number of times this week...so I must be doing something right with these segment selections! 😂

Great to see so many tackling them! And also congrats to a number of our riders who were at the River City Gravel Fondo today, saw a bunch of your names there, hope it was a fun event!!

Some cool race action this week if you haven't seen, besides Liege-Bastogne-Liege, there was some more World Cup XC action, and island racer Emilly Johnston had a podium finish in both the short track and XC races (here's the full XC race if you want to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGEnLWEgWJc ), as well as another great finish from local Carter Woods in his first year in the pro field.

I also want to extend another big thank you to all who've chipped in, really appreciate your support, and pretty cool to see how much you guys value this series. 🥰

And back to the regular news....this week we're headed to Ten Mile Point, keep on reading for the full details!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Nothing too dramatic this week, some issues with recording on Strava, etc, but sorted out!

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! 😁

07 <- 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

No tunes tonight again, catching up on that U23 race! 🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

The A's

Sadly none of the A women hit the segments this week, I think this is a first for a total wash in a category! Hope to see you back this week!!

Over with men, Louis FL is back, and dropped two smokin' times, and claiming the KOM on Delore! Spencer and Dan B were closest to claim those spots atop Sunset Heights, and Spencer was also 2nd on Delore, but Adam got the upper hand claiming 3rd, one second ahead of Dan!

The B's

Newcomer Renata took the top spot on Desmond, over 30sec ahead of her rivals! Maria and Tania just seconds apart once again. But Tania was fastest up the steep one, ahead of Renata and Maria.

Unsurprisingly Travis F was fastest up Desmond! But surprisingly I somehow was second, and not far off..! Dave B was not even 10sec behind, and another 10sec step to Alan and Joel C. Glennon slayed Delore however, and once again I was 2nd, and Travis O edged out Travis F by 2 seconds! Dave B was just a few seconds back as well.

The C's

With our C ladies, Jane took top honours on both segments! Suzy was only 2sec off however, and Shannon finished just a bit faster than Lani on Desmond. Over on Delore however, Lani posted a solid time for 2nd, and Shannon topped Suzy on this one as well. Great to see Bonnie in there as well, and newcomer Ruth (who's Dan B's sister!)

Evan, our B to be next season, claimed both spots, but Keith was only 7 seconds behind on Desmond. 🔥 Donnie's time put him solidly in 3rd ahead of Kit. On Delore, Keith also took the second spot, but Mike H's effort earned him 3rd, ahead of Kit.

Solid rides, and the overall results in several categories had a fair bit of shuffling this week!

BONUSES & CURSES

There was a bit of point fluctuation over this way - Tania claimed the QOM, and Louis walked away with the KOM!

• Early Bird was Tania
• No secret time luck this week!
• My socials were quiet, no tags this week (or socialite points!) (post a shot of your ride on IG or FB and tag @AboutTheRideCA for a chance for 5pts each week!)
• The Local Legend curse was also taken by Louis (cancelling out his KOM bonus)!
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual!

PRIZES!

Prizes this week are Gift Cards from some of my favourite vegan spots: Meet on Blanshard, Virtuous Pie and Vegan Supply! The remaining Giant women's items will also be available if preferred!

Based on the numbers, the breakdown this week has 1x A's, 5x B's and 4x C's, and the names drawn are:

Louis FL

Ryan Taylor
Yogi Perogi
Marc Instone 🇨🇦
Dave Bitschy
Joel Crocker

Peter Spindloe
Bonnie Gunderson
Keith Bruhm
Jane Logan

Congrats! I'll email you all privately on Monday with details, note that the first to reply to that email will get their top prize choices!

For this upcoming Week #8, prizes will be some of the Gift Cards from Dan Blackwell's generous series contribution!

As always a huge thanks to all our event supporters, take a peek at all of them here:

https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-4-prize-list/

Week #8 - Apr 22nd - Apr 28th - Pointy End of Ten Mile

This week we're headed into town to Ten Mile Point, and we've got another couple of short but not-so-sweet efforts in store for you!

Segment 8A Name: Filthy, Dirty, Nasty Frick'n Climb At The End Of Arbutus Road!
Deets: 0.74km, 32m elevation gain. (Seems low!🤔😬)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Holly Henry with a 2:20, KOM is Rob Britton with a 1:42 & LL Adrian Yee with 24 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/1643905

I'm sure pretty much everyone has ridden by this incline, and the vast majority of the time opt to ignore it....but not this week! It starts STEEP, and the effort carries on for some time after the pitch eases, so leave a bit in the tank for the finish. There's a left hand turn as well, so be careful when crossing (but it's a very quiet area, and you probably won't be carrying too much speed!)

Segment 8B Name: Ten mile point hill
Deets: 0.85km, 58m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 2:24, KOM is Rob Britton with a 1:46 & LL is Michael Hedlin with 23 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/658029

You're headed to the end point of 8A again, but from the opposite direction! It starts off not-too-bad, but at the end of the road you pass a gate, and then there's a steep pitch, and then a right hander, and up and around the corner with a final little bit of up. But you're at the top, and can simply enjoy coasting back down, phew!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Getting to 10 Mile Point is fairly straight-forward, up Ash and the 'reverse waterfront' or along the waterfront from the Uplands, depending on where you're coming from. 8A is 'right there', and when you're done 8A, you can ride 8B in reverse downhill, or enjoy a little jaunt along Tudor Ave.

If (perhaps on another day😂) you're riding out this way, and looking for a fun detour, there's a nice 10-15mins hilly add-on you can do that tours through most of 10 Mile, here's a segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/12206893

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

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

I'm sure many hit this point
hoping it was over...
...but a bit more to go!

And that's another update - but first one note that might be helpful:

For those who are newish, please be aware that our Sponsors Ad is fictional, and usually rather facetious and more of a mockery and commentary on current affairs than anything!

I actually did read an article last night that was claiming that even lower zone training results in 'big gains'. (Including Zone 1!) Which is really laughable when you're aware of the science.

Or have common sense.

If it were true, commuters would be winning World Championships, and ultra distance riders and randonneurs (no disrespect!) would be winning Grand Tours.

But they most definitely aren't and would be demolished in those races. And that's because the actual science shows ya gotta work for it.

Besides the few who have exceptional genetics, and would be better than most pro cyclists with very little training, most of us actually have to work for our gains. And work HARD. (But not always of course. But it's also not 'all Z2'.)

For those who are interested in this topic, here's a handy chart from Training Peaks outlining how each Training Zone confers specific adaptations:

Here's a direct link as well:

https://abouttheride.ca/wp-content/uploads/coggan-adaptations.png

This is based on decades of research and study of thousands of athletes by Dr. Andy Coggan (who literally wrote the book on training with power), not a 'feeling' or observing a few extreme examples of sporting excellence. Here's another handy link breaking this down:

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/power-training-levels/

Zone 1 does NOT increase mitochondrial density meaningfully, despite what that article I read claims. The chart above shows which training zones actually develop which benefits. And it's evident that harder efforts are absolutely required for meaningful training progress. (Lots of Zone 5 & 6 with the Segments!💪💪)

Don't be lulled into thinking 'what works for the top riders will work for me'. Top riders have a genetic advantage that you probably don't have, and they would likely excel with just about any 'style' of training. The rest of us would benefit most from existing and proven training methods, not these new 'fads'. Not to mention they also have 20+ hours a week to spend on the bike.

Anyway, enough 'coaching'😂, hope some of you find this helpful!

Enjoy the segments this week - or at least as much as you can enjoy those hills!!

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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