That was a pretty fun week of segments, and a few nicer days at long last! (I think we can all agree Tuesday was the nicest?!) There's two new QOMs, but the KOMs were just a few seconds short! (Might be racing a crit before isn't the best warm-up!😂)

We've got a few more riders joining in this week, welcome! It was especially cool to see the UVic Cycling Club incorporate the segments into their Wednesday ride - that's how you do it!!

Quick reminder that I've got an Instagram and Facebook page for @AboutTheRideCA - please consider following one! I post regular updates about the challenge (including what the prizes will be each week!), as well as local news and other odds'n'ends that ought to be of interest to local cyclists!

A huge THANK YOU to all who've chipped in as well, it really helps make this project sustainable for me, and it's encouraging to see how much you value it too!! 🤗🥰

And thanks once again for your submissions for the Rider's Choice - I'll be shutting down the form in the next day or so, I've been THRILLED with your suggestions!! (Have you guys? 😂😭) Hope you've all been enjoying the manifestation of the season's theme as well!

Racing News

The selections for the Canadian cycling team for the Olympics has been announced: 

https://canadiancyclist.com/dailynews.php?id=38489&title=twenty-one-cycling-athletes-named-to-team-canada-for-paris-2024

Sarah Van Dam and Erin Attwell are the Victoria riders that'll be part of the women's track (velodrome) squad, which is very exciting! Maggie from Vancouver is the other BC rider, also on the track. Also notable locally is that Emilly Johnston and Carter Woods, both from up-island, will be alternates for XC. While they may not race, it's great they'll still get to experience the games; they've worked so hard these last few years!

As far as medal potential, I'd say Dylan Bibic is most promising, over on the track, and very likely to medal. Our men's sprint and endurance team have a slim chance, but unlikely. The women's track teams have a better chance, and we could realistically see them in the running for bronze, but it will be tough. Of course Kelsey Mitchell won gold at the previous Olympics, but she's been really inconsistent the last few years so it's tough to call... 

On the road, seem like Gee could be a dark horse, tho I wouldn't bet more than 2nd place for him! #IYKYK Baril is also a bit of a dark horse, she's been consistently good the last year, with lots of high overall results in stage races, but the podium seems to elude her. Alison Jackson won a stage of the Giro this year, but is also really inconsistent and hard to bet on. I would argue Mara Roldan should have been sent as the #2, but the system is what it is.

In Tour de France news, we've had two OUTSTANDING stages so far!! There are three Canadians racing, and I'll avoid any spoilers in case any haven't had a chance to watch, but it'll be fun to see what they can get up to.

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Paging Bicycle Dave - I've got you in the group, and that you rode the segments, but I don't know if you're competing since you didn't sign up, please do so ASAP and I'll add in your result, thanks!

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!

SPONSORS AD

This email is sponsored by Short Blast Energy Drink(Tm).

https://youtu.be/vleEAnsOIvs?si=7C4X4KuZ-xoPQb-T&t=370

Okay, this is really immature..hahahah Martin Short was guest host on Jimmy Kimmel this week, and was pretty hilarious, especially his Jiminy Glick interviews. This was one of the bits as well.

The 'commercial' is totally off the rails, love it!! Hope you do too. 😂

(No comparison to Brawndo however!)

SOUNDTRACK NOTES

I'll share a video this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce4SxPr1tKc

Beck also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel this week, playing Paper Tiger. Amazing song, and the arrangement is gorgeous. Take it in, and check out the album Sea Change if not already familiar.🎶

THIS WEEK IN RIDES

For those new, 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

Sofia was back in town and from her other life as a pro disc golf player (she was on CBS this weekend, breaking records in the US, no surprise! And just found out she won a tournament in Langley!) And that hasn't slowed her down on the bike, claiming both QOMs, and on the B segment posted the 5th overall fastest time! Hopefully we'll see her back for a few more before the end of the season. 🔥

Over with the guys Julian C was back at it giving it a full effort, and fatigued legs came up a few seconds short of the KOMs, but still claimed the top step on both by a healthy margin! Carson was 2nd on Seamist with a huge effort, and Louis wasn't far off with newcomer Julien F just a few seconds off. On Walema, Leo secured 2nd place despite not putting in a proper effort (his HR was 129bpm! Come on Leo, let's see you giv'er!!) Louis was just 1sec off for 3rd, and once again Julian F was just off the podium. My fellow B+ riders may not get highlighted for a few weeks..... 😭 But your bravery does not go unnoticed!! 

The B's

Once again just one of our fantastic female B's out this week again, but great to see you out there Renata!! Will anyone join her this week and take on the big segments?

Over with the guys Travis O suggested the Seamist segment, and put in a full effort to claim the top spot in the B's (and actually topping some of us in the A's!) Dave B (who I had the pleasure of riding with as well this week!) and Joel C were separated by just one second for the other podium spots, just beating out Evan T. Over on Walema it was Joel W who sped up that hill the fastest, with Travis and Dave B just seconds behind, and Josh D just missing out on the podium! Nice riding all!!

The C's

It was a busy week with our C's, and good to see Lani back! Jane was a tour de force, claiming the top times on both! Over on Seamist, Lynn and Lani had to settle for 2nd and 3rd, with Rose just one second off the podium. Lynn was also second on Walema, but Rose snagged 3rd from Bonnie, great battles!!!

Our Open C field had three names topping both segments, with Zach, Quinn and Greg being the order on Seamist, then Quinn, Zach and Greg over on Walema. Jamie and Matthew win the 'close but no cigar' award this week, but keep it up!!

BONUSES & CURSES

Both QOMs were earned by Sofia!

• Early Bird was Zlat once again!
• No Secret Times this week
• No Socialite points either (post a shot of your ride on IG or FB and tag @AboutTheRideCA for a chance for 5pts each week!)
• The Local Legend curse was spared this week!
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual!

PRIZES!

For those new to the series, we've always got some sweet draw prizes every week!

This week we've got some goodies from Fairfield Bicycles and Fort St. Cycles to give out! I'm drawing two random A, B and C riders, and those names are:

Ethan Swain
Travis Field

Joel Wheeler
Dave Bitschy

Bonnie Gunderson
Kit St. John

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

As always a huge thanks to all our event supporters! Take a peek at what we've got for Season 5, a few more goodies were added tonight:

https://abouttheride.ca/victoria-segment-challenge-season-5-prize-list/

Week #4 - July 1st - 7th - A Whole Lotta Lindholm

We're finally headed west, and we've got a couple bigger ones to test the legs and lungs!

Segment 4A Name: 'dis ain't yer mamma's segment...
Deets: 2.29km, 107m elevation gain.
This is an existing segment, QOM is The Squaremeat with a 7:13, KOM is Shay A with a 6:38 & LL is Qionton Disera with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/5279815

Another one many have ridden by, but only 5 in the group have ridden! (The QOM was set when we were checking it out last year!) It doesn't seem like the top times are anywhere near max efforts, so there's probably lots of potential for the QOM and KOM to change hands a few times. A big thanks to Dave B for suggesting this one, it's been on my radar for over a year, glad to finally (have an excuse to) use it!

Segment 4B Name: Infinite Content, Infinite Content, We're Infinitely Content 🎶
Deets: 5.92km, 136m elevation gain.
This is a new segment, QOM is Mega Rath with a 10:12, KOM is Clayton Hiltz with a 9:37 & LL is David Boyd with 1 effort!
Link: https://www.strava.com/segments/37164103

Donell suggested a MUCH longer one (start of Happy Valley all the way around to Kangaroo and back down Sooke Rd back to where you started!) Which was a bit long (and dangerous, not a fan of the Sooke highway), but it inspired this one. I intentionally left off going up Lindholm, tho it was tempting. This is also part of a VCL course, so it'll be interesting to see if any individual can top what appears to be a group of three that set the top times....

Happy riding!! 

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

Julian going full gas
up Sea Pearl!

A very rare photo of myself..
100% staged.
Tho that final kick up Seamist sure hurt.
Thanks Sofia for the pic!

Sofia expressing her
fondness for short hills.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Orange you glad I didn't say Saanich?

Have fun over towards Metchosin this week, they're both a decent challenge, but that's what we're about, and the weather looks like it'll finally be playing nice!!

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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