Long-time no see! (Well, I just saw some of you at the Tripleshot social a few hours ago!)

The final segments were ridden by over 20 brave people these last two weeks, and that makes it a wrap on the Summer season!

Dean Park was a tough one, congrats to all who gave it a go, what a great group!!

This update I'll focus on the final week, and will send another update with the final Season summaries (and prizes - I think nearly everyone who rode this week will end up with a goodie, and there are some real good goodies!)

Racing News

The Royal Bay Crit was a blast, great to have some of you out to race too! I wasn't quite sure how the course would be, but it seemed like it was universally enjoyed. A bit different from other crit courses, especially with the left hand turns and a round-about, but that's also what makes crit racing more diverse. If you haven't seen, results and a brief write-up were posted: https://abouttheride.ca/royal-bay-crit/

I mentioned the potential of the BC Crit Champs happening, but sadly that doesn't appear to be in the books, especially when CyclingBC took nearly a week to get back to me to say 'sorry, we don't think there'd be enough time for notice for racers'. 🤦‍♂️

The Olympics were......tough this year. There were a lot of expectations on the velodrome, historically we hit way above our weight class, winning a few medals, but we were pretty much universally off the mark. Hard to say 'what happened', many had 3yrs of dedicated prep since the last Olympics. I imagine there are going to be some tough conversations, and there's always screwy politics, but the Olympic cycle will renew, and hopefully our programs work better for our athletes this time around.

In more cheery news, the Tour de France Femmes starts tomorrow, and it should be quite the show!! There are 3 Canadians on the EF-Oatly team (yay Oatly - a new title sponsor!) Movistar has Olivia Baril, Uno-X has Simone Boilard and Team Roland will be there with Maggie Coles-Lyster. I think that might be a record number of Canucks in a Grand Tour?! Hopefully we'll see some of them on the podium, and the bigger names are sure to put on a show!

HOUSEKEEPING

Notes for the week:

Josh and Renata took a wrong turn in their climb, but I did a manual timing of their full effort, otherwise pretty easy!

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! 😁

6 <- 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

Jack White has a new album this week, and gave it a spin while working on this.

If you're a blues/rock fan, this will probably appeal, but as more of a White Stripes 'quirky rock' fan, and while there are a few catchier tunes, it doesn't really hit the spot for me as a whole. 🎶

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

Emma jumped into the summer season, and made a splash with an incredibly fast time! The 4th fastest time overall this week in fact! Outstanding ride!

Louis set the bar really high early on, cracking 11mins, and looked to be the week's champ until Brennen flew up the hill with an incredible 10:17! Travis F rounded out the podium, a bit ahead of Dan B. Over on Haro, Travis logged the fastest time of 37sec, the only to get under 40sec. I somehow got 2nd, just a couple seconds ahead of Louis and Ethan. 

The B's

Renata was back for the final segment, and unfortunately took a wrong turn (along with Josh), but I figured out their total time for the week's results.

Dave B once again churned out an incredible time, just above 13mins, and Mark D logged the next fastest time, securing second ahead of Joel C who also put in a solid time! On Haro, Todd's fast-twitch muscles earned him the top spot, ahead of Joel C and Dave B, and Evan and Josh were in the mix as well! 

The C's

Only two C's took on Dean, and once again it was Rose with the top time, and Jane not far off - nicely done!! Kristin blasted up Haro however, opening a big gap, but Rose, Jane and Bonnie were only separate by a few seconds, and in that order.

Just four of our guys made it out as well, and Zach posted an A-worthy time of 13:10! This guy can climb apparently!! Jamie was closest, followed by Greg and Tyler G. And on Haro Jamie logged the fastest time to take the very final top podium spot, followed by Zach and Greg, just ahead of Tyler G as well.

Amazing season all!!

BONUSES & CURSES

The QOM was well earned by Emma, and her partner Brennen took the KOM! I think that's the first time we've seen a couple claim the top spots on a segment!!

• Early Bird was Travis F this week
• No Secret Times this week
• No Socialite points this week (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 your post, please DM me directly, IG has been a bit finiky.)
• The Local Legend curse was claimed by Brennen (cancelling out his KOM) and Todd
• No Yellow Jersey curse as usual!

PRIZES!

For those new to the series, 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!

I'll be awarding prizes in the follow-up Season Report! Please be sure to take a look at the overall results, and let me know ASAP if there are any errors! The Series Podium finishers all get an extra 'draw' in the final draw, so important to make sure these are accurate, thanks!

But by my quick count there are about 20 draw prizes, so nearly everyone who rode the final week is likely to get a goodie! And there are lots of AMAZING prizes left!

As always a huge thanks to all our event supporters! The page is now full, take a peek at what we've got for Season 5:

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

Not sure which section was more
of a challenge? Ravensview or...

...or the road up to Dean?
And oh, hey, it's Kat! 😁

The final effort - Haro Heights!

Just a wee bit easier than the other.

That's another season completed, who thought we'd still be doing this after Season 1 last year?!

Please do check the OVERALL results and let me know ASAP if there are any issues!

And a heads up that the sign-up for my annual Cyclocross Skills School clinic series is live! The dates are Aug 25th, Sept 1st and Sept 8th. They're surprisingly fun, and you'll learn quite a bit! Gravel riders will also find tons of these tips and techniques will help out on the trails as well. More details and registration can be found here:

https://abouttheride.ca/cyclocross-skills-school/

Safe and speedy riding all! 🚲

- Dave

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