Hey all! Well that heat was a surprise! Hope everyone's had a safe weekend of riding. I happen to enjoy the heat, but I know others aren't as fond of it.

Some more surprising times this week, we'll get into that in a bit, but it's our final week, and I just want to say thanks to all who've joined us, some have just ridden a segment or two, and others have been out for all, it's been great to see all your names and times out there! Hopefully we'll get most of you out this week as well for the Gravity Challenge Finale!!

Last minute update: just got an email from Alan Mackay, who's taken a tumble this week and broken his collarbone, sounds good otherwise tho, let's all wish him a speedy recovery!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Fortunately no drama this week, let's keep it that way!

Welcoming Quinton to the group in the Cs!

Had a few minor corrections with missing results last week, thanks again for letting me know, the tracker is reset..haha

00 <- THIS MANY DAYS 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

Got some NIN going, Year Zero (from 2007) checks a lot of the boxes for me, kinda like it when Trent gets a bit political as well....and we've got to be due for a new album soon...? Enough with the movie and TV show soundtracks! 🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

The A's

It was a sparse week for A's, with just Damian and Dan Blackwell out, and Damian's partial effort still impresses, though Dan snagged a top spot this week on McTavish!

The B's

Over with the ladies K :) uploaded right at the end...and did not disappoint, logging both the top times for female riders this week, including an incredible 4:11 on McTavish - wow!! Only 3 in the Open rode that faster, and not by much! The rest of the times were very close, but Maria and Laura were next fastest on McT. On Cresswell Jill and Laura tied for 2nd, and Jennifer claimed the third spot on the podium!

Speed Week is my kind of theme, and somehow I ended up logging the fastest times this week on both?!! On Cresswell Spencer tied my time, Kevin makes his first (?) appearance on the podium with 2nd along with Alex and Bruno, and Travis and Joel Crocker tied for 3rd - these short segments make things a bit more interesting..!

Predictably Travis was 2nd on McTavish, and Spencer not far off the mark.

The C's

Again no starters on the Female side, hopefully we'll see them back for the final week!

For the gents, Alan claimed the fastest time on McT, with Kit and Tyler G chasing. Newcomer Quinton took the fastest on the Cresswell sprint, with Mikael and Alan tying for 2nd, and Kit in 3rd.

The Secret Times this week were 5:50 and 0:44, and no one rode the first, but Jill, Laura and Kit snagged 5pts each for the second segment! We're going to rename the Early Bird prize the John MacDonald prize, and Socialite this week was awarded to Dan Shaw, and no local legends this week. K :) has posted the fastest time in the Women on Strava and is listed as #1, but for some reason isn't giving her the crown...but I've awarded the 5pts, assuming Strava will get their system figured out!

PRIZES!

This week's prizes are the items from Russ Hay's, plus a chocolate sample from Drop Naked!

There are 4 items, and distribution is 1x All Female, 3x All Open, and the lucky names are:

Jill P-S

Dan Blackwell
Quinton Benson (beginner's luck again!)
Mikael Jansson

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

For Week #12, we'll be giving all remaining prizes, plus awarding our special commemorative pins!

Thanks again to all our supporters, check out that huge prize list!! 

https://abouttheride.ca/vsc-s1-prizelist/

Week #12 - May 15 - 21 - The Gravity Challenge Finale!

This is it, the grand finale! It's nothing too wild, but it's inspired by a race format I've wanted to see happen for a while. Basically up and then back down the lower portion of Willis Pt. It'd be fun to have a 'team' format, with one rider doing the climb, and the other the descent, but we'll all do both individually.

Segment 12A Name: Wallace to Ross Durance TT
Deets: 4.06km, 101m Elevation
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 7:57, KOM is Rob Britton with a 6:26, Gregory Taylor-Lariviere is LL with 10 efforts.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/1727707

This segment was featured in a previous KOMpetition! I recall stories of people getting dumped on the day they went and nearly going hypothermic, not as likely this week tho. Not too much to explain - it'll wear your legs out at the start, but then picks up speed at the end!

Segment 12B Name: Ross-Durance to Wallace TT - Whoop whoop!
Deets: 3.81km, 20m Elevation
This is an new segment, QOM is Caleigh Filmer with a 4:39, KOM is Ryley Rohan with a 4:34, Keith Encinas is LL with 1 effort.
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/34389697

What goes up must come down! It's a little bit of an uphill near the start, and then you're flying the rest of the way, whoop whoop! There is another segment for this (https://www.strava.com/segments/1411429) but it seems like it can be hard to trigger the start, and ends right in the intersection. (So opted to create a new one.)

And that's your final assignment for Season 1! 💪💪

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

SUGGESTED ROUTING

There's really not a fun way to get here, out Interurban and then down West Saanich. If you've got fatter tires, there's a nice pathway that runs parallel to West Saanich (and skips most of the climbs).

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Updated on the site: Sorry No New Hints (YET!), but as always Routing for this week: https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge/

Oops! Forgot to snap a pic this week!
Thank you Google Maps!

That's a week, and it was a particularly odd one for me, if you hadn't seen my latest Strava post, I got back my junky commuter bike that was stolen from me a few months ago!

Hope everyone enjoys the final segments this week, looking forward to the final results - there are some tight races still there (sorry I didn't have time for an overall summary!), but could be some upsets!!

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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