....and we're off! Week #1 is a wrap, and we had 30 riders tearing up and down Wallace! 😂

We've got some new faces, and lots of old, great to see all y'all back at it!

This coming week is Leg Day, with two short, steep climbs (thanks for the suggestion Maria! Where were you this week??)

A reminder that this season is Rider's Choice, and I've got a great bunch to choose from already, but I'll leave the suggestion form up for another week or two, I really do enjoy getting your suggestions, and I think the segment we had up Garden Gate this week proved it - I thought it was a blast!

Also a HUGE thank you to all those who've chipped in so far, I really appreciate it, and it helps make maintaining this series at the level I want to see it at (and that you deserve!) much more more sustainable for me. 💖

In other news, while not quite as illustrious as winning seasons of the Segment Challenge, Katja (aka "K :)") won the Gravel Nationals in AB today!! There's no U23 category, so she raced Elite, and won by 3mins, beating several pro riders - how do you like them apples??!

Marc from Team Physical Culture probably wouldn't have dreamt that his club would be taking an Elite National title one year ago!

Conditions were perfect for Kat - 3-5C and wet! And I believe her tights were a draw prize she won from the Segment Challenge!

How cool is that? See - doing segments can take you big places!! 🤣 (Photo credit to Kat's dad.)

For other local riders, I believe Garth (understandably) dropped out a kilometer in, not having brought gear for conditions like that, and I know Mikayla finished as well, hopefully I haven't missed anyone else that went, you can find the (not complete last I checked) results here.

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Attention Mark Devitt & Todd Rooker - I moved you both up from C to B based on your times this week!

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! 😁

0 <- 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

I've had Pavement on the playlist the last week or so, currently listening to Brighten The Corners, such a fun album musically. Sounds like it would have been a blast to record or perform, and I just love the creativity of the instruments; a hoot to just listen to what's happening in the background. Classic Pavement, gotta love it! 🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

The A's

Starting off our results, it's great to see Laura (aka The Squaremeat) back at it!! I had the pleasure of riding with her on Thursday, where she posted the 5th fastest overall time on Wallace, and tied for the 3rd fastest time on Durrance. Zoom!! Unfortunately on Saturday she had a run-in with a vehicle, and sustained some nasty injuries - wishing you a recovery as fast as your segment times, and hope you're back on two wheels ASAP!! 💖

(Side note: please be careful exiting the pathway onto the Johnson St Bridge coming back into town.)

Things will be a bit different with the Open A field this season - I talked Travis F and Glennon into joining me in this category, and so we'll get to see some other B's shine for Season 5!

Louis came in hot, posting very fast times on both segments, and held onto Wallace, with Travis F only 8 seconds back, and I somehow managed 3rd, another 4 seconds off. Rich probably would have been up there, but missed the turn! Study those maps!! On Durrance I thought Louis would take both, but a last-minute upload from Damian saw him nearly claim the KOM, and edge out Louis by a whopping 12 seconds - woof! 3rd was a tie between Travis F and myself (how did I end up that high on this one?!) Rich once again took 4th. The rest of you A's better pick up your game this season, the B+ Gang isn't fooling around!!! 😲😜

The B's

Just one of our fabulous female B's out this week, but nice efforts by Renata!!

Over with the guys we might have another Evan Thomas situation - Dave B crushed both segments (would have been 4th in A), but maybe it was the conditions as we ran into each other that day! Newcomer Mark D claimed second on Garden Gate, and Evan T and another newcomer, Todd R, tied for 3rd with Joel W just edged out. On Durrance Joel claimed 2nd and 3 seconds gave Josh the edge over Mark. Great start to this group!

The C's

Another newcomer opened her account with a W, with Kristin R claiming the fastest time on Wallace, tho Jane was only 6 seconds off, and Bonnie rounded out the podium. Jane logged a great time on Durrance, and Kirsten edged out Lynn for 2nd. Surprised a few other C's were missing, but hopefully they'll jump in later in the season!

Our Open C field also kicked off with some excitement, where Keith B took the W on Wallace, 13s ahead of newcomer Jamie. Greg and Ryan T were only 5s apart, but that's how Greg found himself on the podium this week! Jamie took top spot on Durrance by a healthy margin, another newcomer, Zach, took 2nd, and Greg claimed another bronze! 

BONUSES & CURSES

No QOMs or KOMs claimed this week!

• Early Bird was Peter F!
• Ryan T got the Secret Time on the B segment!
• Evan collected the Socialite points for sharing his reaction to Durrance (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 claimed by Mark D on Wallace!
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual!

PRIZES!

For those new to the series, we've always got some sweet draw prizes every week!

I'm a bit behind in organizing and collecting prizes, so this week it'll be pretty simple: three $20 Goldstream Bikes Gift Cards, awarded to a random A, B and C rider. And our winners this week are:

Julian Cameron
Dave Bitschy
Tyler Galts

Congrats! I'll email you all privately on Monday or Tuesday with details (need to confirm something with the shop first), note that the first to reply to that email will get their top prize choices! (Not that it matters this week!🙃)

As always a huge thanks to all our event supporters! Take a peek at last season here, Season 5 will be online shortly:

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

Week #2 - June 17th - 23rd - It's Leg Day!

There's gonna be a lot of ties this week, as we've got two very short but steep segments! Maria sent in the suggestion of Sparton Climb, and since Elkwood is right around the corner, let's stick with the 'short and steep' theme this week with a double-header!

Segment 2A Name: Sparton Climb
Deets: 0.38km, 28m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with 44s, KOM is Chuck Detheridge with 35s & LL is Holly Henry with 11 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/1947833

Let's go anaerobic!! You can get a nice run-in into this one (wait until the road is clear, you've got a great view) - plus you can catch some air on the speed hump! 😲 And then it'll be over before you know it! Thanks again to Maria for the suggestion!

Segment 2B Name: Elkwood Wall
Deets: 0.36km, 20m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Steph Martinek with a 58s, KOM is Andrew Stewart Jones with 46s & LL is Shamus Ford with 4 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/18677544

If you've ridden with me along Oldfield, chances are I've gone up Elkwood - it's a really fun detour (full segment here: https://www.strava.com/segments/3697866 - I'd love to feature this as a Segment, but that second corner is just a little too risky..) Similar to Sparton, it's short and steep, but with an extra corner, and ends a bit down the downhill.

Happy riding!! 

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

Action shot!
Laura blazing down Garden Gate!

Here we are on Durrance..
Whaddya mean there's 40m of
elevation? This seems fine!!

If you stopped and looked,
Durrance is actually a pretty roadway!

Great start to Season 5, nice riding all!!

Hope you enjoy the two segments this week, and don't forget to send in your segment suggestions as well!

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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