That was a pretty fine week, and a couple fun segments! (Well, type A fun!😂)

Looks like the Pearson segment had goblins for a number of riders - it was a tricky one to ride correctly....the trick was to turn around right away, and not go to the parking lot - once you hit that point, it seemed it triggered the start, and it was really hard to 'undo' that (even riding over by the tennis courts, etc!) Unfortunately dems the breaks sometimes, I also had to go back for a redo!

Sorry I forgot to update the Series totals last week, they're all updated now, with some interesting rankings - lots of tight battles for the podium spots in a few of the categories!

This week we're headed back over by Island View, with another brand new segment, and yet another rematch!

If you're not following @AboutTheRideCA on Facebook or Instagram, you might want to check it out! As well as highlighting the weekly draw prizes, I've also begun posting riding and tech tips, here's a couple from the last couple weeks:

There's more details about each topic in the description for each post, I'm going to try and post at least one a week, hope you find that helpful! Here are those links:

https://www.instagram.com/abouttherideca/

https://www.facebook.com/abouttherideca/

And finally there may be a cool new race coming up, pencil in Saturday, August 3rd, more details coming soon! 😁

Racing News

We're two weeks into the Tour de France, and it's been pretty exciting! Derek Gee is still in 9th after today, tho 16 minutes down, with a week to go, will be interesting to see how it continues to play out...

The Women's Giro d'Italia has been a real banger, I watched the Blockhaus stage earlier today, wowowowow! Can't wait to see the final stage and how the GC shapes up!! Clara Emonds, a Canadian, won one stage, and was in the QOM jersey, but sadly didn't start today.

And finally in more local news, the Gastown Grand Prix was on Wednesday; did you know it has the biggest payout of any crit in North America with the winners being awarded $12,000?!! The video coverage was pretty good this year, and sorry to spoil part of it, but our own Katja finished 3rd in this prestigious event! (....with a bit of chaos, go to the podium ceremony at the very end for more clarity.)

https://vimeo.com/event/4439702/embed/interaction

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Not much to mention 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! 😁

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 sponsored by the upcoming Broadway one-woman show about Star Wars, staring Katheryn Hahn:

Hahn, Solo

Variety magazine proclaims: "This looks like a community theatre raided a Spirit Halloween Store".

Enjoy the preview here:

https://youtu.be/yxUJ3Gm1g0I?si=SRwg__TYOyRUutYS&t=490

SOUNDTRACK NOTES

Doh, no tunes this week, got a little too focused on this and a few other things I was juggling at the same time!

But I will mention there's yet ANOTHER new Guided By Voices album, and the last track is apparently about cycling...??🎶

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

No A rides this week, but good to see Laura back on the bike this week, and Sofia is headed to Finland for a disc golf competition, good luck to her there, and I suspect she'll add a few Finnish QOMs to her growing collection!

While I claimed the KOM early on Tuesday, it was not to be...a few hours later Rich knocked off a faster ride, but he had a similar experience, and it was Glennon who smashed the segment nearly cracking 2mins! Louis and Travis F were the eventual podium finalists in this tight segment! Travis F also dropped a bomb at Pearson coming closes to Rob Britton's KOM, and Dan Blackwell also had a killer time, and somehow I ended up in the mix, ahead of Glennon. Team B+ is holding up well! 😁

The B's

Renata once again claimed both top times, still the only Female B - and she was just one second off the QOM as well, doh! (Speaking of which, I had to report about 15 e-bike rides to get the eventual QOM to someone who actually pedaled the segment!!)

Dave B was also among the fastest on Rocky Pt, taking the top B spot, but Todd was just 4sec behind, and a very small margin separating him from Mark D. On Pearson Joel C locked in the fastest time, ahead of Todd once again, with Mark also claiming a second podium spot!

The C's

This week Kirstin collected double bonus points. Not only was she the Early Bird, but she also claimed the QOM by 1 second!!! Jane had to settle for second with that difference, and Bonnie was just another few seconds off, ahead of Lani. Rose claimed her second 1st Place of the season on Pearson, and seemed to be the only to avoid the timing curse! Kristin and Lani rounded out the Pearson podium.

Zach had a stellar day, riding the fastest times on both segments in the B's this week! But on Rocky Road he actually was tied with Quinn, so both share the top step, and Jamie, just a second off, was also 2nd, with Greg on the third step. Jamie claimed another 2nd on Pearson, and Kit had the good fortune to claim 3rd, snatching that final podium spot from Greg!

BONUSES & CURSES

As mentioned, a QOM went to Kristin, and KOM to Glennon!

• Early Bird was also Kristin
• No Secret Times this week
• No Socialite points either (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 unclaimed!
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual!

PRIZES!

For those new to the series, 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!

This week the main prizes are the Gift Cards to Meet, Goldstream Bikes and Vegan Supply! As usual this season I'm drawing two random A, B and C riders, and those names are:

Julian Cameron
Dan Blackwell

Graeme Tuck
Joel Crocker

Jamie Caskenette
Tyler Galts

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!

As always a huge thanks to all our event supporters! Take a peek at what we've got for Season 5, even more goodies being added in this week:

https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-5-prize-list/

Week #6 - July 15th - 21st - Speed Farms!

We're out in the farmland around Island View this week, with another new segment, and another rematch from last year - ready to head back up Dooley? (And wouldn't riding up Island View be just a little too predictable?😉)

Segment 6A Name: Corny
Deets: 3.28km, 54m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Rhonda Callender with a 7:38, KOM is Andrew McCartney with a 5:47 & LL is Travis Orr with 2 efforts! (Immune to the LL curse since it's his Rider's Choice!)
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/13059293

Another new-to-me segment, we've got an out-and-back, and another Rider's Choice thanks to Travis O! I might have ridden part of this some time...but never this entire segment! It appears to have a fairly gentle rise to the end, quick dip, and a decent cul-de-sac to turn around in, and then double-back. You make a left hand coming back on Puckland, probably with a bit of speed, but it's a pretty quiet road so shouldn't be much of an issue, but do be careful as always! And looking at the CR speeds, I expect both the QOM and KOM to change hands, likely a few times once again!

Segment 6B Name: No time to stop for Ms. Dooley!
Deets: 4.31km, 84m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with a 8:41, KOM is Damian Parlee with a 7:14 & LL is no one!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/34090166

Many will remember this one from last year - it's got a great mix of terrain, starting with some flat, then a nice rise up Martindale, around the corner where the speed picks back up, then onto Dooley, and wham! A little wall, then a grinder to the end. Be sure to save something for the finish!! Think you'll improve on your previous time?

Happy riding!! 

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

Glennon on his KOM ride
on Rocky Road!
Well, a reenactment of it. 😂
Nice ride tho!!

Another shot of a danger zone!
If you came down this far,
you rode too far!
The trick was apparently to turn right away
further up the road! 🙃🙄

Summer is finally here, and we've got just three weeks of segments left!

This week should be a good one, and will favour the diesels a bit more. As hinted, there's a couple shorter ones next week (and one I'm particularly looking forward to riding, another new hill!) And for the final week I've got another epic lung-buster planned.... 😉

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!