Hey everyone, it's been a minute!

Today wrapped up the inaugural EndurUPtor, and we've got some results! But first, some fun stats. 🤣

There were 40 who signed up, but only 23 braved it in the end!

I went to ride them yesterday, but as those who follow me on Strava saw, I had a catastrophic failure with my rim (finally) wearing through, doh! Fortunately no crashes or anything, but it did end my ride prematurely.

Of the 40 registrants:

• 23 have ridden the Segment Challenge series (welcome to the other 17! Hope you check it out in the spring!)
• 75% checked Gravel bike, 5 went with CX, 4 with FS MTB, and 1 HT MTB!
• 1/4 were female

A quick thank you to those who chipped in as well, it's really appreciated, and I guess this time around will be really helpful with replacing my wheel! 😬

Racing News

Haven't had a chance to check in on the CX races this weekend yet, but the Track Champs League saw some pretty awesome racing, with Victoria rider Sarah Van Dam winning the Scratch Race on Friday with a long-bomb attack, rolling off the front of the field with 10 laps to go, and nearly catching the pack! She had some great results in the following races as well, and I believe is sitting 2nd overall in the series now.

I believe this series is live-streaming on CBC and the UCI Youtube page, and the next event is Dec 6th in London, here's their website. Check it out if you like bike racing, it's quite exciting stuff!

THE RESULTS

There's a full spreadsheet with all the results on the event page, take a peek here: https://abouttheride.ca/highlands-gravel-enduruptor-2024/

The A's

Sadly none of our speedy female A's took part.

We had three guys jump in, and shred the climbs setting some fast times! The order was the same for all three, with Nicky putting in the top time on all segments, and Matt and newcomer Brennan not far off the mark to round out the podiums! Worth noting Matt was on a hardtail MTB for these as well!

The B's

The competition was fierce with our B ladies! Newcomer Amy Willox put in solid times taking the OVERALL WIN, and top times on segments #1 & #2, both of those about a minute faster than another newcomer, Lindsay Woykin! But Lindsay got the upper hand in Hartland, nabbing that segment by 12 seconds. Kathy M and Katy W also each earned 3rd place spots on segments, and actually TIED in the overall for 3rd!  Renata put in some great times, but was denied any spots on the podium.

The guy's field was our biggest overall with 10 riders! Markus K started off strong, taking the top time in Thetis, and maybe went a bit too hard there, collecting 2nd on the other two. But newcomer Jon B prevailed on those other two. These two claimed 1st and 2nd overall, respectively, and 3rd went to newcomer C Bitterman, showing how that consistency pays off! Congrats to newcomer Rory and Joel C for finishing just off the podium, and thanks to the five other fellows for making them work for it!

It's worth taking a peek at the times and scores for the whole field, it was quite close in many instances, nicely done!!

The C's

Tanya B was our lone female rider, great times tho, and congrats on the overall podium!

We had four guys in the C's as well, and Zlatan pulled off a hat trick and the overall, riding his full-suspension MTB as well! The order was the same for all the segments, with Greg sweeping all the 2nds, newcomer Kyle the 3rd, and Tyler G rounding it out!

So great having you all take part, thank you again!!

I'll probably bring this back some time next year, so don't fear if you didn't make it out this time around!

PRIZES!

I wasn't planning any prizes for this, but there are a few left over from Season 6 of the Segment Challenge!

There are some items with specific sizes, so I'll probably have to run through a fair bit of the list to give them all away, but keep your eyes peeled in the next day or two for a possible email if I draw your name!

COMING SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15th:

THE SCRABBLETHON!

It the first mass-start all-fun ATR event!

Simply put, ride a short loop at Royal Roads as many times as you want or can, collect a Scrabble tile each lap, and after an hour, we'll see who can spell out the highest value words!

Gravel, CX, all-road, MTB, whatever!

All the details are on the new event page, sign-up is required as always: https://abouttheride.ca/scrabblethon/

Also, I could use a couple volunteers for this if anyone wants to help hand out Scrabble tiles! 😁

My only segment photo,
the singletrack after Davies!

That'll buff out, right?

If anyone reading this enjoys building wheels,
and wants a quick side job, zing me a note!

Thanks again to all who took part this month, and welcome again to the new riders and subscribers as well!

I'm bummed I didn't get to complete this, but will definitely be out on the 15th for the Scrabblethon (might have to workshop that name a bit more.🤣)

Hopefully see you there, safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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