Another lovely week, and a couple cool segments, tho only 24 riders made it out this week, even with the Canada Day holiday! Not to mention the B's were on fire, with a few of them posting times that match or beat our A's, impressive!!

This week's segments are much closer, we're back to the Granville & Hastings area for a brand new one, and a rematch....plus a bonus segment - ride it, and you'll collect an easy 30 points. Handy for any who've been missing out.

Another big THANK YOU to all who've chipped in this season! It's really appreciated, and I've got some website updates down the pipe that'll help with as well, and of course it's validating to see how much the series means to you, thank you!! 🥰

I think my planning for the Royal Bay Crit is cursed, turns out July 26th is an event down at the Royal Bay Beach, and just about the biggest event in Colwood this year...so scratch that date, now looking at August 9th...eeep the summer is disappearing!

And sending healing thoughts to Roland who crashed on the final BC Bike Race stage, and ended up with a broken arm! Maybe try doing segments, I don't believe there's been any injuries over 8 season! 😁

Racing News

No local racing this week, tho the BC Bike Race wrapped up today, find the results here.

Today was the second stage of the Tour de France, and mostly a snooze until the very last moments...my big take-away is that Vingegaard seems able to respond to Pogacar's attacks...!

I'm perhaps a bit more excited by the Giro d'Italia Women which started today with a Time Trial. Victoria native Sarah Van Dam finished 15th, 50 seconds down, pretty incredible! There was a story in the TC about her, and I posted some race details on the ATR IG as well, take a look here. Will be cheering for her all week, she doesn't appear to be designated as the GC rider, but good chance she may find herself in that role..!

Reusser predictably won the TT today, and it's going to be hard for anyone to claw back any time from her, she's been phenomenal in the mountains this year!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Not too much this week!

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!

4 <- 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! 😊

Came across a bootleg of a Grouplove show, been enjoying that - and check out the band if you haven't before, chances are you'll love 'em as much as me! 🎶

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

Just the guys out for the A category this week, and Dave B had a clean sweep on the podium, as well as collecting both KOMs (and Josh in the B's tied him as well!) Dan B also had a fantastic week, with 2nd on Tiswilde and 3rd on Pegasus! Ethan came closest to knocking Dave off the podium on Pegasus, just 3sec back, but botched the Tiswilde segment, and was awarded a time of 4:01 after a brief detour. I was 2sec behind Dan on Tis for 3rd, and also 2sec behind Dan on Pegasus, but that put me in 4th. Dave B takes a big jump in the overall, as he was also the Early Bird this week!

The B's

Our lone B this week cleaned up, and Renata earned herself two QOMs as well!

As mentioned, Josh tied Dave B on Tiswilde, and also collected KOM points for that effort! Todd was not far behind, 9sec off, and Evan just a further 2sec to round out this podium. Jamie C and Greg R only seconds off as well! On Pegasus Jamie had the advantage, with Josh just 1sec off, and Joel C a bit further back. Mark D and Scott H just missing the podium this week! Great rides by Greg G, Mark D, Teddy and Tristan as well!

The C's

Just one of our C's again this week, so max points for Kathryn!

Tiswilde seemed ideal for Hobbers this week, taking the top spot by a healthy margin! Sean and Kit were closest, and newcomer Rizzi and Bill were just off the podium. Sean however had better legs on Pegasus, with Hobbers and Rizzi rounding out the podium, and Bill, David R and Mike J putting in great efforts, but no chance against the speedy leaders this week!

BONUSES & CURSES

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

Renata claimed both QOMs, same with Dave B on the KOMs, plus Josh tied him as well on one segment this week!

• Early Bird was Dave B!
• No secret times this week.
• Four riders awarded Socialite points this week - it's a drought or a deluge! Fun posts from Tristan, David R, Evan and Todd, tho I nearly revoked Evan's points for the terrible soundtrack choice! 😂 (NOTE: Normally I only select one post, but awarded all this week since it's been so quiet.)
  (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 taken by Greg R on both segments!
• 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 are thanks to Dan B, who contributes some cash as @MortgageCyclist on IG, and I pick out some prizes! The Google randomizer has decided the following are worthy of a draw prize this week:

Scott Horsley
Greg Rinsma
Mark Devitt
Kit St. John
Mike Jones
Evan Thomas
Todd Rooker
Jamie Caskenette

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

Our prize page is live on the site, a few more to come, but for now take a peek!

Week #6 - July 7th - July 13th - It was the best of climbs, it was the worst of climbs...

This week we're headed back to a Segment Challenge classic area - Granville & Hastings (aka Strawberry Vale), and there's a BONUS segment as well! More short punchy climbs for good times.

Segment 6A Name: woodsend leg buster
Deets: 0.83km, 65m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Julie van Veelen with a 3:21 & KOM is Julian Cameron with a 2:47, and the LL is Logan Edgar with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/3924675

Another one of those 'I've ridden by there many times' roads. I've been eyeing it for a few years as well, and finally checked it out! It's another nice and quiet climb, this segment starts on Burnside, so you get a good burn at the start (this is one of my lesser-favourite ascents), then the rest of the segment is a much more mellow incline. Careful with the left hand turn!

Segment 6B Name: This ain't the Holland I know! 🚵‍♀️
Deets: 1.26km, 37m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Rhonda Callender with a 2:34 & KOM is Julian Cameron with a 1:57, and LL is Dave Pfaffenberger with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/36446528

Another rematch - we ran this Season 4, Spring 2024, and while it starts with a good speedy descent off Granville, there's a firm grind up Holland, which levels out for a good stretch after. Not very Holland-y!

BONUS SEGMENT NAME: Granville/Burnside/Charlton Loop
Deets: 7.12km, 158m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is Katherine Boere with a 15:54 & KOM is Benoit Detering with a 12:06, and LL is Dave Pfaffenberger with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/13176937

BONUS SEGMENT! The times don't count for this one, simply complete this segment, and earn 30 points this week! The only bonus/curse will be the Secret Time. I found this one randomly, and thought it'd be fun to include. 😁

Ride it chill, or TTT it with your riding pals (do be careful with the turn off Burnside onto Charlton), but as long as your name is on there this week, you'll collect some sweet, easy points! And yes, it's TWO laps!

Suggested Routing

Pretty easy getting to this one, simply hope off the Goose onto Burnside (by the Nest), and you're nearly there! Enjoy zooming around one of my favourite riding areas!

Happy riding!! 

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

The top of Tiswilde - notice how
the road just disappears in the background? 😂😭

The finish line on Pegasus, this was a pretty
fun one, and a little weird!

Just a couple weeks left in the Summer Season! We'll be back in September with another edition of the Gravel Segment Challenge as well. For those unfamiliar, it's similar with two segments posted each week, but only one segment every two weeks is timed (so 1 in 4), and it's more about finding new routes and trails, and I avoid most of the more technical trails as well, so it's pretty accessible.

That's about it for this week, safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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