It's been pretty interesting monitoring the segments this week - both QOMs and KOMs changed hands several times! I couldn't keep up with giving out congratulations! 😂 #1stWorldProblems

This coming week is the Rest Week as promised, but I won't be handing over the points... There's a whopping 50pts for each segment for each person who rides them, but you'll have a bit of a trip for at least one of them. But it'll be worth it!

I had a fun ride on Saturday with several of our Segment regulars, doing part of the 'Gravel Triple Crown' route, so fun to get out on the bike with people in the group!

It was a hoot watching a bunch of the races at the BC Provincial Crit Champs around the Legislature today! Lots of familiar names out there racing, and even a few new (and past) Provincial Champs in our midst! Thanks for putting on a show!

Also of note, I've teamed up with local QOM collector and coach Holly Henry to put on a Road Climbing Clinic. We're planning it for Saturday, July 29th at the Observatory, and is geared for anyone who wants to enjoy climbs more, and/or climb faster. It's $25, and if interested, hit reply to reserve a spot! (Will be posting more info soon, but feel free to take advantage of this early alert if interested!)

And for the cyclocross fans, there's a memorial race coming up July 27th at Driver Lake in Nanaimo, save the date, and here's the Facebook post.

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Paging Christine Neal! It's great to have you back, but I don't believe you've signed up on the website form, please do so, I'm assuming you still want to be in the C field, but please confirm!

Other than that, welcome to our new riders!

01 <- THIS MANY WEEKS WITHOUT AN ERROR 🤣

If there are any errors, omissions, issues, concerns, or anything else, feel free to hit reply!

SPONSORS AD

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*ahem*

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It's like Threads, but with a few more bugs. Okay, literally nothing has gotten better since Elon took over, but that doesn't mean it'll keep going that way! Use #NotBitterAboutTwitter for 20% off!

SOUNDTRACK NOTES

Alt rock? Blues? Shoegazer? Is shoegazer even still a thing? Well, whatever the Eels are, that's what jamming out of my speakers at the moment!

Quirky lyrics and an eclectic mix of styles, typically catchy and surprisingly touching and emotive, if looking for some new music check out their Essentials album. 🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

The A's

More top times from our Female A riders, unfortunately The Squaremeat had to take the week off with an injured foot (I was really looking forward to her 4B time!), and Mikayla held the QOMs for a short period, but K :)'s times were insurmountable, including holding the second fastest time overall on the B segment!

Julian also demolished the 4B segments with a 1:13, but I sense he had a similar experience as me on the 4A and didn't quite have as much kick after that first effort.

The B's

Shannon and Laura posted close times, but Laura was the victor on both this week!

Oh the guy's side, Tyler Venn once again put in a commanding performance on Linnet! I managed 2nd, and newcomer Curran Crawford opened his account with a 3rd place finish. And Curran improved on that taking 1st on Starling, again I got 2nd and Sasa makes his first appearance on the podium taking 3rd place!

The C's

It's great to see that the Female C field continues to grow! Tijana claimed the top spot on Linnet, and we welcome back Christine Neal who got 2nd, and Suzy was just a second off for 3rd. Starling seemed to favour Suzy however, and she once again took the top step of the podium, with Heidi and Christine rounding out this podium. So many close times in this competitive field!! Welcome to Bonnie as well!

Kit, Juan and David B posted the fastest times this week, in that order on the A segment, and Juan and Kit traded spots on the B segment, and David just trailing over with the guys.

BONUSES & CURSES

Once again Julian claimed both KOMs, so another 10pts for him! K :) claimed both QOMs as well, it's good to be young!

I've got a new system to track the Early Bird, so back to 'normal'! This week Heidi got 5pts for this bonus!

Sadly Tijana lost 5pts, as she was the QOM, but didn't defend the title. Both Local Legend curses were claimed by Curran! The Secret Times were 2:22 and 3:33, and once again didn't come up. Dave Bitschy gets 5pts for the Socialite post for a story on IG.

PRIZES!

This week's prizes are the items from Broad Street Cycles and Oak Bay Bikes!

This round draw prizes have 2 items going to our Female riders, and 4 going to Open, and our lucky riders are:

Shannon Baerg
Lani *

Ryan Taylor
Glennon Rosenbloom
Dave Bitschy
Alex LaJeunesse

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 #5, I'll be giving out goodies from Trek Bicycle Store!

Big thanks to all our supporters, check out the prize list!!

https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-2-prize-list/

Week #5 - July 17th - 23rd - No Rest for the Wicked

It's Rest Week, which means no times are tracked, no bonuses or curses, but we've still got two segments for you to enjoy - simply ride for 50pts each, you'll all feel like you're #1! They're not close to each other, so get out and enjoy a couple rides on some less-commonly trodden roads this week!

Segment 5A Name: Liberty to "The Good" Climb
Deets: 2.85km, 89m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, no other details relevant this week!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/29855034

This one is a bit of a hike to get to, but it's such a lovely road! Quiet, fun ups and downs, smooth surface.... It's an out-and-back, and I challenge you to find a better one!

Segment 5B Name: Old West Saanich N
Deets: 3.02km, 52m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, no other details relevant this week!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/3782572

I sent you all out along the south side of Old West last week, this week enjoy the other end! This is another quiet, rolling road takes you through some lovely wooded areas, enjoy!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

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

There were some pretty neat
buildings on Starling! Anyone
notice the teal decahedron house??!

Katja rolls down Sparling
to claim another QOM!

That's a wrap on this week! Hope you enjoy these roads, and we'll be back with our regular timed segments next week as we move into the second half of Season 2, and some more fun challenges to come!

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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