The rain held off this evening although there were ominous rain clouds hovering over the mountains. Eight junior riders showed up, including the Courtenay cohorts. The two Nanaimo MIVA reps. were there too. However, only five seniors arrived, probably because late August is the time when many take holidays.

The youth elimination race saw the less experienced riders called out first.but everyone showed a better understanding of tactics and the pack did not disintegrate as in previous weeks. Mark and James Grant and Alec Stapff contested the final sprint, with James using his skill to take the sprint from Alec.

In the criterium, Mykelti Berg was the first to drop off the pace. She had the strength to stay with the lead pack once she was lapped but once her cornering and pacing skills develop, she will be right up with the other girls. Jane was having a hard evening, with the after-effects of a heavy weekend at the track championships in Victoria taking its toll, and lost contact soon after Mykelti. Ben also slipped back, leaving the fast-moving, five strong bunch to stay together until the last lap, lapping the rest of the field. In the final sprint, Alec used his power and increasing skills to take a clear win from the Grant brothers, with Nanaimo's Brodie Hay five seconds back and Jessica Reynolds, who had done well to stay with the group, a further three seconds back.

The five seniors agreed to do just one event -a thirty lap points race, with sprints every three laps. John Lam immediately went out fast and made the effort to take the first three sprints and the fifteen points; he continued near the head of the field, scoring a second and a further win at the half way point.

Meanwhile, Matt Allardyce, after getting no points in the first sprint, made sure he was scoring in the following sprints,and after the halfway point won the next four sprints, just being edged by Iain Hay in the final dash for the line. Iain had amassed seventeen points, including the ten for last lap, but was a lap down and so dashing dentist Steve Crowley's thirteen points assured him of third place.

Russell Berg was dropped a few laps after the start and eventually finished two laps down but had been in the right place a few times and had collected eleven points, including a third place finish.

All agreed that this was one of their more enjoyable events of the series.

Thanks to Steve Grant and Larry Reynolds for bringing the Courtenay crew down despite the uncertain weather. Thanks also to all who helped to pack up the equipment.

 Next week is the final event of the criterium series so we hope to see large fields for both junior and senior events. Don't forget to thank Rob Bau for the use of the great Arbutus circuit.

Our final Monday ride of the season will start at 6PM on Monday from Oak Bay Bikes. (http://goo.gl/maps/ioyKc) Hopefully we can get a good crowd out to celebrate the end of summer.  

There has been some discussion around having a similar ride on the weekend. The struggle with that idea is finding someone willing to act as sweeper. Typically, a sweeper is a stronger rider who is familiar with the route/area and willing to encourage and/or tow any weaker riders who are at risk of getting left behind. With limited opportunity to ride in the fall/winter, this can be a difficult role to fill. Our goal with these Monday rides is to encourage newer riders and riders intimidated by group rides, so having a sweeper is essential to achieving this goal.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave them here (below) or bring them to the Monday ride for discussion. Our rides have been well-received and it would be great to be able to hang on to something similar through the fall and winter.

MIVA HILL CLIMB NO. 1 12 08 23 Departure Bay Road / Uplands Road, Nanaimo

Cloudy skies, a touch of sun, a stiff wind , and 19 deg. C. temperature greeted the starters in the club's first hill climb of the season. This hill usually attracts a good entry and tonight was no exception, with a record number of sixteen participants. It was great to see three juniors among the riders. The MIVA hill climbs attract a large age spread, tonight drawing contestants from eleven to seventy-two!

Eleven of the entrants were newcomers to this hill with five return riders showing up, among them both the men's and women's record holders.

These latter had the advantage of knowing how to tackle the changing gradients and the sharp twelve percent section towards the top so their times were generally faster.

Of particular note, apart from the two record rides, were the times posted by Andrew Willmott, Mykelti Berg and Dave Kenny. Andrew was an elite rower and triathlete but this is possibly his first cycling event; an excellent ride, Andrew. Ykelti has only started racing this year but is already showuing considerable promise. Her sub eleven minute time underlines her continued progress. Dave Kenny was a national level cyclist in years gone by but in the past few years has just ridden for fun with a few forays into masters' racing. His age-corrected time would have given him third place overall.

Thanks to Phil Birrer for acting as starting timekeeper so soon after his cross-Canada holiday. On an associated note: the club events depend on volunteers for their success but the offers of help from the majority of the ninety-five members are non existent. If the organisers don't start getting considerably more assistance, The club may see its yearly total of fifty-plus events cut in half.

Tonight we had a good turnout of junior riders and a fair selection of our regular seniors. In the junior event, strong man Alec Stapff was outfoxed by James Grant in the final sprint, with Mark Grant taking third place.

In the junior criterium that followed, the pack stayed together for the first four laps. Then Ben Harmsworth dropped back, losing a few seconds each lap. The rest of the riders continued, and with one lap to go finally lapped Ben. At the line, it was Alec Stapff outsprinting James Grant, with Mark taking third a few seconds back and the rest of the splintered pack coming in one at a time.

The senior elimination event was more organised than last weeks race, with a number of the riders showing some real savvy in avoiding elimination in the early stages. Master F Dave Kenny was obviously quite fit but didn't have the acceleration out of the corner to maintain contact and was first to go. Several others were caught by change in pace or misjudged their positions and were also eliminated.. Normon Thibault was especially crafty and managed to stay in until four laps to go. In the final two laps, Ian Smith and Paul Thompson pulled away from survivor Mark Wieler, taking first and second, with an exhausted Mark rolling in several seconds later.

The senior points race was exciting to watch but, as expected, Ian Smith took all the sprints with Paul; Thompson coming in second in the first four. Norman Thibault edged Paul in the final sprint to up his points to 19.

The start time error on the calendar has been corrected. Please see the event description for a map to the start location.