Below is an archive of each week’s segments, relive the suffering!

When done, we’ll have a season final report here as well!

And here are all our Weekly Newsletter Archives.

PRE-SEASON BONUS Week #1 – Feb 19th – Feb 25th – Extra Time With Gordon

Season 4 has NOT begun, but this is a bonus segment for the keeners! Simply ride the segment this week (and make sure you’re signed up!), and earn yourself a bonus that may come in handy later in the competition! You can use this bonus to:

• get 30pts if you miss/botch one segment…OR:
• collect 5pts at the end of the season if not used for the above

Again, this is not a timed segment, but if you’re signed up, and your name turns up on it, you can use either option for Season 4!

And there’ll be a second Bonus segment next week as well!

Segment B1 Name: Way more fun than just going around the corner! 😂🤢

Deets: 2.20km, 45m elevation gain.
This is brand new segment, QOM, KOM & LL are irrelevant!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36331275

I’ve ridden by Saltair a million times, if you’ve ridden the ‘waterfront’ route, you have as well! I’d been eyeing it for the last month or so, and started checking out the streets in there, and it’s a fun way to add in a little mileage, and get some good cornering practice. Added in the section going back down to Vantreight just for this segment (normally just make a left when you get back on Ferndale). Why not make a little effort of this? Could be a fun loop for intervals too….two small hits, then a biggun, roll back down to the start and repeat! 😊

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Again, we ride by here doing the standard ‘waterfront’ route, so just add in if headed this way, otherwise there are a few ways to get over here, cruise up Ash, or across the San Juan Greenway.

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

PRE-SEASON BONUS Week #2 – Feb 26th – Mar 3rd – Mill Hill No Chill

Season 4 has NOT begun, but this is a bonus segment for the keeners! Simply ride the segment this week (and make sure you’re signed up!), and earn yourself a bonus that may come in handy later in the competition! You can use this bonus to:

• get 30pts if you miss/botch one segment…OR:
• collect 5pts at the end of the season if not used for the above

Again, this is not a timed segment, but if you’re signed up, and your name turns up on it by 6pm Sunday, you can use either option for Season 4!

That’s it for the bonus segments, things get real next week!

Segment B2 Name: I Dream of Jeanine-y

Deets: 1.23km, 66m elevation gain.
This is brand new segment, QOM, KOM & LL are irrelevant!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36364890

We’ve had some fun in Mill Hill in Season 3, and this is a segment idea I had for it, but figured it was a bit too dangerous since there’s a right turn, but it’s perfect for a bonus segment! (And I’m surprised to see that three others have ridden this route – who are these fools!😂)

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Mill Hill is off Selwyn, which is just off Atkins, and easy to get to after that E&N ‘turn off’ before the bridge that takes you to the Colwood Corners. Here’s a handy segment that will get you pointed in the right direction! Just head down Selwyn after this segment, and you’ll get to Mill Hill Rd:

https://www.strava.com/segments/29362832

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

Week #1 – Mar 4th – Mar 10th – Spring Kick-off on Robin Hill

We’re back! 🤩 It’s the spring, so let’s head over to Robin Hill! Never heard of Robin Hill? Not surprised!! It’s a neat little subdivision just under Thetis Park, and there’s a couple good, short climbs – they’re actually pretty good for intervals as well! Check out the Routing on the site, there’s a neat little access point off the Goose!

Segment 1A Name: Chimko’s Chilco Chopper
Deets: 0.75km, 48m elevation gain. (Suspect it’s actually a bit higher.)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Faye Tuck, KOM is Benoit Detering & LL is Andy Telfer with 1 attempt!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/7673028

Let’s start with a bang! (Well, the order you ride these doesn’t matter, but for the sake of this paragraph….😂) Chilco from this end is a solid hill to start, gravel riders may be familiar (with the pathway access at the corner) – but I prefer coming the other way! 🤢 This segment carries on around the corner, and levels off a bit. Fortunately there’s a pretty obvious start and finish that line up with the streets.

Reminder that the first to ‘lock in’ their effort wins the Early Bird points! And anyone know Bill? He’s who’s the segment is named after!

Segment 2B Name: Why don’t you just Chilco out, dude!
Deets: 0.741km, 45m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Lauren Babineau, KOM is Benoit Detering & LL is Bruce Elliot with 24 attempts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/17643706

This is the other end of the same hill, but it rolls quite a bit more with a few sharp kicks. It’s a pretty quiet neighbourhood, so should be good to give it a good rip, but does require some bike handling skills if at speed! It ends at the same intersection as 1A, another conveniently clear finish line. I wonder if Bruce lives up here, that’s a lot of efforts!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Robin Hill is just off the Goose where you cross Atkins the first time (if leaving town). When you cross the road, follow the sidewalk to the right, and there’s a neat tunnel – and once you’re through, you’re on the street for 1A, make a left and go uphill! For 1B, continue straight on Lund and you’re set. Interestingly, according to Strava 17 of our Group members have ridden the 1A before, and 20 the 1B, so this will be new to a bunch of you!

And as mentioned, if looking for a spot to do shorter intervals, this spot is great. Either smash it up the steep bit, and roll back down, or around. Or for more punchy efforts, head up the other way, and with that quick descent you’re back to the start pretty quick. 💪💪

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

Week #2 – Mar 11th – Mar 17th – A Bit of Fast, a Bit of Slow!

We’re already into our second week, and this one has two segments that have both fast and slow spots, and our all-rounders ought to have some fun with these!

Segment 2A Name: Watkiss Whammy
Deets: 0.89km, 18m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Holly Simonson, KOM is Steve Olson & LL is Topher Dean with 12 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/10331860

Hand up if you were around for the first KOMpetition – welcome back to the Watkiss Whammy!

Parallel to the Goose just before Thetis, this one starts off fast and finishes with that famous steep start to Highland Rd – but save a little because you have to go all the way to the stop sign! The Top 15 currently all are from Apr 2021, let’s change that up!

Segment 2B Name: This ain’t the Holland I know! 🚵‍♀️
Deets: 1.26km, 32m elevation gain. (Probably a bit more than this!)
This is a NEW segment, QOM is Rhonda Callender, KOM is Chris Paull & LL is no onet with 0 attempts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36446528

Back to one of my favourite areas – Granville and Hastings! This is a new segment, starts at the corner, down the hill and then you hit most of that nasty thing on Hastings, make a right, and carry on up Holland – which isn’t at all flat!! And it carries on most of the way down Holland (watch for the ‘in and out’ carport on the right.)

Looks like 10 people in the group have ridden this way before, and the QOM and KOM are ripe for the taking!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Watkiss is easy to get to, right off the Goose. Once you’re done, turn around and head up Burnside and Carleton to make your way over to Granville & Hastings. (Or if starting with this one, turn up Hastings off Interurban.) This area is one of my favourites, and I’ll cut through here instead of taking Interurban to the Goose and over to the hospital (or the reverse, as a fun little ‘extension’ on the way back into town.)

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

Week #3 – Mar 18th – Mar 24th – Et tu, Batu?

Week three takes us over to one I’ve been eyeing for a while – Batu! Both start in the same area, one is a solid climb, the other has a fast start, and short kick at the end.

Segment 3A Name: Das Batu
Deets: 0.77km, 68m elevation gain
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with a 2:39, KOM is Jim Nelson with a 2:04 & LL is Ross Hooker with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/8775810

If you haven’t ridden Batu, leave your bottles at the bottom and pack your climbing legs! You’ve got almost 70m of elevation in just over 700m of roadway, and you just roll back down when done. Type-A fun!

If out this way on the gravel bike, there’s actually a moderately technical gravel descent at the end of this, but it’s a pretty silly gravel option. 🤢

Segment 3B Name: Ba Tu, Bear Hill?
Deets: 1.57km, 19m elevation gain.
This is a NEW segment, QOM is Christy Love with a 2:47, KOM is Jordan Gray with a 2:24 & LL is Magnus Verbrugge with 1 attempts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36446588

This one will be enjoyed by the more punchy riders – you can pick up some good speed along Brookleigh, and there’s a fun twist at the end, turning right and heading up Bear Hill Rd. Once again, this is a bit of a ‘gravel’ route, although the trail at the end is fine for road bikes, and if you haven’t, carry on through and check out the other side!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

A lot of riders cruise by here fairly regularly, but if not part of your route, one option is to take Lochside out to Sayward, up the hill and across the road, and there you out! Optionally you can get over this way off Sparton if coming over via Interurban or Prospect Lake.

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

Week #4 – Mar 25th – Mar 31st – Twist & Shout!

This week we’re returning to Royal Oak & Cordova, and we’ve got a longer climbers segment that has some fun twists and turns, and then a gradual climb that’s got no twists or turns – just turn those pedals!

Segment 4A Name: If you have a hidden immunity idol, now would be the time to play it.
Deets: 1.52km, 79m elevation gain.
This is a NEW segment, QOM is none, KOM is Dave Shishkoff (doh!) & LL is no one with 0 attempts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36488883

We’re back on one of my favourites – Amblewood! Using a similar route to the previous season, this one twists up from Lochside, but this time stretches things out more and goes all the way to the top by Grant Park. There’s a few good kicks on this one, and it’ll be longer than any other segments this season so far, so we’ll see how everyone’s endurance is doing. Study the turns carefully and be sure to save something for that last bit! I’m sure we’ll see the KOM & QOM exchange hands a few times as well.

Segment 4B Name: Santa Clara Shuffle – South
Deets: 1.34km, 0m elevation gain. (Not correct, but it’s a pretty shallow climb, maybe 10-15m!)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Laura Brown with a 2:23, KOM is Chuck Detheridge with a 1:50 & LL is Amos Scott Bouris with 7 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/13189808

Another reversal from last season, this time we start on Cordova, and is a straight shot ending at Claremont. It’s a gentle climb, and I imagine most will average over 30kph on here! The TDV has come along a number of times, so it’s going to be a pretty mean feat to claim a high spot overall, but let’s give it a spin! The wind has been trending from the north a lot lately, that ought to help.

SUGGESTED ROUTING

The 4A segment is pretty straightforward, simply access off Lochside. 4B starts on Cordova, you can either continue along Lochside and ride up Cordova, or there’s a fun route along the top after the Amblewood segment using roads like Sea Ridge to Westerly to Del Monte and down Walema that connects to Santa Clara and head to the end there, and you’re at the start of the second segment!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!)

Week #5 – Apr 1st – Apr 7th – Fightin’ Bear Hill Spartons

Back to Saanich this week, with another flashback and a reversal – we bombed down the tail end of Old West last year, but now we’re headed all the way back up to Sparton! (Oddly not the same spelling as Spartan!) Interesting to note the QOM and KOM are both from 2018 & 2017, time for an update!

Segment 5A Name: BORING BEAR BEATS BEST BET BESIDE BINS
Deets: 0.69km, 50m elevation gain. (That seems high..! I’d guess closer to 20m.)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Holly Henry with a 1:49, KOM is Clayton Hiltz with a 1:24 & LL is Logan Kuzyk with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/19501590

Here’s another flashback! Back in May 2020 several of us blasted up the end of Central Saanich for the KOMpetition, and now we’re back. It’s a dead-end road that doesn’t have a ton of elevation, but gradually slants upwards; can our riders overtake the CRs on this one now? Just don’t crash into Bear Hill! 😂

Segment 5B Name: Old West Saanich Verling to Sparton
Deets: 3.78km, 89m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Deborah LeBlanc with a 6:31, KOM is Andrew McCartney with a 5:46 & LL is Stephen Klubi with 14 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/8450230

By popular request, we’ve got another longer one! I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Old West in this direction, feels like way too much climbing, and you don’t seem to carry quite enough speed for some of those rollers…but hey, this is supposed to be a challenge! (It’s right in the event title!) It’s pretty much a straight shot, and not too much traffic. Should be a ‘fun’ one, just don’t blow up on the first kilo uphill! 🤢

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Both segments are sort of connected by Keating, so heading out Lochside and across Island View, and then over to Keating lines you up with the end of Central Saanich, then can bop up the road to Old West Saanich. If coming the other direction, I’d avoid getting on Keating at Wallace – the road surface is miserable…so would recommend West Saanich as the road to take there, a bit more elevation, but significantly more pleasant!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!) Also, if you’re ever trying to find out when you rode a specific road, Find That Ride is an amazing website: https://www.findthatride.com/activitymap

Week #6 – Apr 8th – Apr 14th – From Bear Hill to Bear Mountain

Let’s make a mountain out of a bear hill…although sadly it’s better described as ‘Bare Mountain’ with the destruction of the forests up there. First we’ve got another rematch, some may recall the one up Shaw by Florence Lake, and then a nasty new segment specially designed for this on the back side of Bear Mountain!

Segment 6A Name: Shaw and Gade
Deets: 0.58km, 50m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Julie van Veelen with a 2:43, KOM is Clayton Hiltz with a 1:06 & LL is no one!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/15356102

This was a fun one in the KOMpetition – it’s short, and there’s a neat little pathway cut-through (watch the bollard!!) but we’re going with a slightly longer segment this time, going all the way up to Ironwood (previously we used a shorter segment that ended lower down.) This one is a good grunt!

Segment 6B Name: I am Jack’s inflamed sense of fatigue.
Deets: 3.32km, 190m elevation gain.
This is a new segment, QOM is Rhonda Callender with a 9:42, KOM is Chris MacLeod with a 7:11 & LL is no one!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36610754

IMPORTANT UPDATE: SEGMENT NEUTRALIZED! Due to all the construction on McCallum & Bear Mtn, results won’t be based on time, but everyone who rides this segment will receive 50pts for their effort!

This one is shorter in distance than last week’s big’un, but will no doubt take longer due to all the elevation!! Nearly 200m – this is a record for on the road for the VSC! Rather than start on Leigh (which has some lights), we’re beginning down on McCallum, with a good kick to start, then up Bear Mtn proper. The end point is a bit vague, but should be where it levels out a bit after the round-about. This one is gonna hurt for everyone!! Special thanks to Nick P for creating this for me! (I haven’t actually ridden this way before!)

SUGGESTED ROUTING

These ones aren’t the most fun to get to, if you happen to be coming down Millstream, here’s a little wiggle that goes past Shaw and lines up with the B segment. Otherwise if coming out on the Goose, take the E&N ‘exit’ at Atkins, and follow this route to bypass the plaza in Goldstream, and simply make a right on Leigh, and a wee bit up the hill and this puts you in place for McCallum, or if you want to do Shaw first, continue down and make a left.

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!) Also, if you’re ever trying to find out when you rode a specific road, Find That Ride is an amazing website: https://www.findthatride.com/activitymap

Week #7 – Apr 15th – Apr 21st – Things Looking Up with Desmond & Delore

As promised, more West Shore hills! Delore is longer one, but not too challenging. But Delore may be the toughest segment we’ll hit this season – it’s STEEP. And apparently no female riders have gone up it, as there’s no QOM on the segment! We’ll change that this week.

Segment 7A Name: Sunheights Drive Climb
Deets: 1.35km, 125m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 4:58, KOM is Jay Lamoureux with a 4:00 & LL Joe Barrett with 3 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/4404979

Been meaning to include this one for a while, it’s a solid climb, but not very mean. It’s a strange neighbourhood tho, best just turn around and head back down, but you can find yourself a new adventure carrying on after the climb!

Segment 7B Name: Essential Oceana
Deets: 0.40km, 54m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is none!, KOM is Tyson Sichewski with a 1:28 & LL is Andy Achuff with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/17598959

I think this will be the hardest segment this season – 54m climbing in 400m! Yow! Only 25 people have even ridden this one, and 6 in our group. I’ve ridden by this one on Wishart many times over the years, and finally checked it out in March….ouch.. Note there is a road crossing halfway up, but I doubt anyone will be going very fast and it’s a pretty quiet road. 😭

SUGGESTED ROUTING

These ones are also a bit awkward to get to, but you’ll want to aim for Latoria. Happy Valley or Metchosin (could be via Lagoon) are the two connectors, and Happy Valley is probably the flatter of the two. Seems more fun to come down Happy Valley, and leave via Lagoon. 😁

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!) Also, if you’re ever trying to find out when you rode a specific road, Find That Ride is an amazing website: https://www.findthatride.com/activitymap

Week #8 – Apr 22nd – Apr 28th – Pointy End of Ten Mile

This week we’re headed into town to Ten Mile Point, and we’ve got another couple of short but not-so-sweet efforts in store for you!

Segment 8A Name: Filthy, Dirty, Nasty Frick’n Climb At The End Of Arbutus Road!
Deets: 0.74km, 32m elevation gain. (Seems low!🤔😬)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Holly Henry with a 2:20, KOM is Rob Britton with a 1:42 & LL Adrian Yee with 24 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/1643905

I’m sure pretty much everyone has ridden by this incline, and the vast majority of the time opt to ignore it….but not this week! It starts STEEP, and the effort carries on for some time after the pitch eases, so leave a bit in the tank for the finish. There’s a left hand turn as well, so be careful when crossing (but it’s a very quiet area, and you probably won’t be carrying too much speed!)

Segment 8B Name: Ten mile point hill
Deets: 0.85km, 58m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 2:24, KOM is Rob Britton with a 1:46 & LL is Michael Hedlin with 23 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/658029

You’re headed to the end point of 8A again, but from the opposite direction! It starts off not-too-bad, but at the end of the road you pass a gate, and then there’s a steep pitch, and then a right hander, and up and around the corner with a final little bit of up. But you’re at the top, and can simply enjoy coasting back down, phew!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

Getting to 10 Mile is fairly straight-forward, up Ash or along the waterfront from the Uplands, depending on where you’re coming from. 8A is ‘right there’, and when you’re done 8A, you can ride 8B in reverse downhill, or enjoy a little jaunt along Tudor Ave.

If (perhaps on another day😂) you’re riding out this way, and looking for a fun detour, there’s a nice 10-15mins hilly add-on you can do that tours through most of 10 Mile, here’s a segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/12206893

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!) Also, if you’re ever trying to find out when you rode a specific road, Find That Ride is an amazing website: https://www.findthatride.com/activitymap

Week #9 – Apr 29th – May 5th – Bear to Do It Again!

We’ve been up Bear Hill on two roads…but there’s a third, and so let’s hit that one too! And I wanted another segment with some speed…and Oldfield is right there! We’ve still got a couple climbs on the segment, but a fast bit in there too!!

Segment 9A Name: BearPopper
Deets: 0.94km, 28m elevation gain. (Seems a bit low!)
This is an existing segment, QOM is Claire Townsend with a 2:29, KOM is John Fokkema with a 1:44 & LL is dirt worship with 12 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/5872519

Surprisingly many of our members have been up this way! It’s an odd turn off Oldfield, and a dead-end (unless you take the path at the end, it’s fine on skinnies), but it’s another good little kick, and should be pretty low traffic! The KOM is from 2012, surely one of us can change that! 😉

UPDATE: Note that the pathway is actually part of the segment! It’s not challenging at all, I’d suggest riding the segment backwards to start, and pass through to see, but it’s a smooth pathway and shouldn’t give anyone any trouble.

Segment 9B Name: Oldfield North to South
Deets: 2.92km, 52m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Rhonda Callender with a 5:03, KOM is Samuel Hogman with a 4:14 & LL is martin ‘Vrosty’ vanderspek with 61 efforts!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/2793997

Not much to this one, it starts on Oldfield just past Keating, and ends just past Brookhaven – it’s long, but pretty fast! There’s two climbs on this one, with the kickers at the start, and then a nice, fast downhill, and then back up a bit at the end. Traffic can be a bit iffy on this one, my suggestion is if you get to the top of the first kicker and there are cars in front of you, might want to restart…odds are you’ll be faster than the traffic coming down (I’ve hit over 60kph, but wasn’t even really pushing it then!) But as always, be safe and don’t take any risks!

SUGGESTED ROUTING

It’s a bit akward getting out here, if you’re coming from town, taking the ‘waterfront’ out to Sayward, and across Brookleigh gets the job done. From the other side, I’d take Sparton, or Old West if you want more of a spicy warm-up!

Happy riding!! 🚵‍♀️

Extra Tip: Strava for some dumb reason doesn’t let you save Segments as Routes. But here’s a website where you can enter the segment, and download the GPX file so you can ride it as a route: https://www.doogal.co.uk/SegmentExplorer (Thanks Spencer for the tip!!) Also, if you’re ever trying to find out when you rode a specific road, Find That Ride is an amazing website: https://www.findthatride.com/activitymap

Scoring

Scoring is geared towards rewarding the consistent!

For each segment completed, points will be awarded this way for the A, B & C fields:

1st – 50pts
2nd – 47pts
3rd – 45pts
4th – 43pts
5th – 41pts
6th – 40pts (and one point spread beyond 6th, to 30pts, which all below this will receive.)

Bonus Points

There are a few opportunities to score extra points! Since these are awarded to ‘one’ person each week, the rider may be Open or Female, A, B or C. Some are random, some you can actually go for.

• New QOM/KOM – if a new QOM or KOM is set on the segment, that rider gets an extra 5pts.
• Time Bonus – a time will be secretly pre-selected for each segment, any who happen to ride that exact time will be awarded 5pts.
• The Early Bird – the earliest locked-in effort for each segment will get 5pts. (Eg: someone might preview the segment on Monday, and be the ‘first’, but if they ride it again and their final result tops that one, then the second is what counts – sorry, I just don’t want to have to refresh the segment pages constantly! 😉
• The Socialite – tag @AboutTheRideCA on Twitter, FB or IG in a post relating to the competition, and my favourite post each week will get 5pts.
• Bonus Segments – some weeks there may be a bonus challenge, it won’t be scored like the others, but a declared number of points will be awarded to all who simply complete that segment.

Curses

But it’s not all roses – there are also a few ways to lose points each segment!

• Yellow Jersey Curse – if a rider in the competition holds the QOM/KOM at the start, and they fail to defend it, they lose 5pts.
• Try-Hard Penalty – if a rider becomes the Local Legend during the week of the segment, they lose 5pts. (If they go into it already as the LL, then this will be ignored.)

There’s a few surprises to keep you on your toes! (Also note that in fairness Dave the organizer will be omitted from winning any bonuses, but can collect the curses!)

Help Get Word Out!

Ain’t this more fun with more people? Help get word out! Follow our social channels, and share posts, mention what you’re doing on your Strava rides, invite friends to sign up and join you, get your clubs and bike shops to get word out!

Anything Confusing?

Fire over a note on the contact page if you’ve got any questions, ideas, suggestions, etc!

Chip In & Get Tips Back!

I’m organizing this as a labour of love, but it does take up quite a bit of time! If you’d like to chip in a few dollars, you can send an e-transfer to dave at abouttheride.ca – as a thank-you I’ll add you to a secret email list with tips for getting the fastest time on each segment – like here’s my blog post covering the basics for getting PRs. =)