Who got rained on this week? I think if you rode your bike this week, you most likely got a bit of it, what a wild one! Didn't rain much volume....just a haphazard frequency!!

That's another week down tho (or up, since we do mostly climbs!) The 'mixed' segments continue this week tho, as we head back to Granville & Hastings!

Also just a heads up that four people were added to the scoring last week, as they hadn't signed up but rode the segments, so good to have you join us Daniel in the B's, Kathryn, Bill and Kit in the C's! And this week we've got 8 riders joining in across all categories - love it!!

Keep scrolling for the summaries below!

Racing News

Some more big races this week, Paris-Nice looked pretty miserable with a number of stages in cold and wet weather...well, maybe even a bit familiar!

Some great Canadian finishes to highlight - Derek Gee once again stomped his authority on a stage race, this time Tirreno-Adriatico where he finished 4th overall and just 42s off the leader. We also saw Trofeo Alfredo Binda today, and Olivia Baril was 12th in the front group. Sarah Van Dam had her first race back after breaking her collarbone a couple months ago, and was a DNF. Her ride title is just 'OTHER' so I'm assuming nothing went wrong, and she left the race voluntarily. Nice to see her back tho!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Not too much this week other than the late-comers!

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! 😁

1 <- 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

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! 😊

Franz Ferdinand is back with 'The Human Fear' released a month or so ago. First spin didn't really catch me, but after a couple listens I got hooked. Lots of really catchy up-beat tunes, tho my biggest complaint is the album is on the short side at around 35mins total.

As usual with this band, I love the instrumentation and arrangements, it's a pleasure just listening to the interactions of the instruments, especially the bass and guitars.

Don't stop being audacious, and give it a listen!🎶

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

Unfortunately Jen isn't showing up the guys again this week, but Kimberly Chen dipped her toes back in and had a little rip up Amblewood!

Newcomer Phillip Jurek set some exceptionally fast times early in the week (and was signed up as a B, sorry bud, you're in with the A's with times like that!) But Julian put a little pepper in his efforts this week, and claimed both KOMs! Phillip's times kept him safely in 2nd on both, and Spencer was 3rd in both, tho only 1sec off on Boulderwood. Good to see Nicky back and getting 4th on Amblewood with a healthy margin ahead of Dave B.

The B's

Renata unfortunately didn't have any competition again this week, and was faster than some of the B fellows!

Newcomer Daniel posted some A-worthy times this week to claim both top spots (let me know if you'd like to move up to A!) Travis locked in a fantastic time on Amblewood for 2nd, and Josh rounded out that podium. On Boulderwood Travis was also 2nd, also followed by Josh. Joel and Scott rounded out the final positions, in that order. 

The C's

Turns out we had two C's last week, and two more joined in this week, but Suzy still held onto the top spots this week. (Her Boulderwood time beat all the C guys except one! And beat most up Amblewood!🔥) Anne and Heidi are back, and they swapped 2nd & 3rd between them. Sadly no Kathryn this week, but hopefully we'll see her back next week!

Two more guys joined in this week as well, but none could top Greg who locked in the fastest times! (Let me know if you're thinking of bumping up to B, looks like you'd fit in there!) Newcomer Teddy came in flying, claiming 2nd in both segments. Tyler G had a great ride, and secured 3rd for himself ahead of Kit, and Kit moved up on Boulderwood, finishing 3rd, ahead of newcomer Ben. Lots of great battles in this field to come I'm sure!

BONUSES & CURSES

See the Scoring section of the Event Page for more details!

As mentioned, Julian rolled away with both KOMs!

• Early Bird was Suzy!
• No Secret Time this week (1:56 & 1:08)
• I didn't see any tags, so sadly no Socialite points to award - too bad Cycles West isn't racing, as they actually did tag me! 😂 (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.)
• The Local Legend curse was safe this week!
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual.

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 courtesy of Goldstream Bikes with a bunch of $20 Gift Cards, and our lucky two riders from each field (A, B & C) are:

Spencer Floyd
Dan Blackwell

Daniel Struthers
Scott Horsley

Tyler Galts
Greg Goforth

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

Check out all the prizes (so far) here: https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-7-prize-list/

Week #3 - Mar 17th - 23rd - Two Fast Finishes!

Back to another one of my favourite areas: Granville & Hastings, aka Strawberry Vale. This is a regular detour for me, pretty little area, tho a bit lumpy! Of not familiar, you might start adding this into your rides, it's also a bit of a shortcut between Interurban and the Goose over by Nest. There are some high speed portions on the segments this week, so do use caution where needed!

Segment 3A Name: Big Dog Charlie
Deets: 2.27km, 7m elevation gain. (Not correct! Probably closer to 50m.)
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with a 3:54 & KOM is Cole Guest with a 3:31, LL is Doug Tuck with 4 efforts.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/9008545

We've done a similar segment on Charlton in past seasons, but usually I go with the shorter version that ends at the top - this time let's keep it going and finish over at Hastings, which features a speedy finish! Please be extra careful on that right hand turn onto Granville. The road is pretty quiet and you have a good line of sight, but it's easy to pick up a lot of speed there!

Fun fact about this one: Laura aka The Squaremeat attained the QOM whilst kicking my butt on a ride a couple years ago. 😭

Segment 3B Name: Funner than you think
Deets: 1.95km, 43m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 3:00 & KOM is Cody Canning with a 2:49, LL is Vegan Dave Shishkoff with 6 efforts.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/37389664

And now we turn around, and do the same thing in the opposite direction! This direction starts fast into a kicker that I'm just not a fan of...but then smooths out, and has a nice swoopy downhill finish. The pacing on this one will be interesting!

Happy riding!! 

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

The calm before the storm...
A pleasant and tranquil roadway
but just around the corner
is a lot of not fun!!

Boulderwood was more my style!
You could get a good head start by
coming down Amblewood into the
run-up. You really needed to save a
bit for the final bit tho.

Came across this and thought I'd share!
Pro rider Demi Vollering had her race
at Strade Bianche flagged by Strava
thinking she was driving. 😂

Hopefully the weather starts to calm itself this week, I for one am a bit tired of random rain clouds popping up and ruining an otherwise nice ride!

Have fun out at Granville & Hastings (if that sounds weird, check the intersection, that's really what's there!) The following week we'll see some tougher hills as well. 😉😭

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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