MIVA Boxwood Criterium 13/09/10 40 lap criterium with 4 primes

The final criterium in the MIVA 2013 series saw one of the biggest fields of the year take the start. Included in the participants was Tony Winter, one of the founding members of MIVA, who now lives in Victoria and has been riding at the Juan de Fuca velodrome. Another welcome face was that of Peter Stevenson from Duncan riding for Experience Cycle. Other familiar faces were those of Dave Kenny, the still spry septuagenarian and Regis Chapman, who is returning to competitive cycling now that his Cassidy yoga studio iis up and running'.

As usual, the first couple of laps were neutralised to enable the youth riders to experience pack riding at near racing speeds and then the green flag dropped and the pace immediately picked up. The next few laps were among the fastest of the race and the pack was spread out in almost single file for a while, with veteran Dave Kenny losing contact. Then the speed dropped a notch and the bunch spread across the road.

With ten laps completed, the bell rang for the first prime and the speed increased again. The first sprint was won by Justin Mark from Chris Cameron and John Lam, with the rest of the pack close behind. By lap twelve, Regis Chapman, then Patrick Burnham and Mike Gill were dropped and by the seventeenth lap, both were lapped and rejoined the pack just before Justin won the second prime.

There was no further action until the third prime which was also won by Steed. Then Nick Kupiak attempted a breakaway, with Justin, Peter Stevenson, and John Lam going with him. In just a lap, they were five seconds up but the bunch, seeing that this was a strong group, set to and brought them back with ten laps to go.

With only four laps remaining, the bell rang signalling the final prime and this time Phil Birrer put his head down and held everyone else off to take the sprint from Burnham, Mark Wieler, Brodie Hay, Justin and Mike Sevcov.

As the race ending approached, the riders set up for the final sprint, knowing that a good position coming out of the last corner would give each the best chance of a high placing. Coming down the straight, Justin Mark was slightly ahead of Peter Stevenson, with Iain and Brodie Hay tucked in behind. Nick Kupiak and Chris Cameron were also in contention, as was Tony Winter As they crossed the finish line, Peter just edged Justin, with youth rider Brodie Hay getting a very creditable third place. Then came Nick who beat Iain Hay by a whisker and Tony Winter rounding out the top six.

All agreed that it had been one of the best races of the season.

In the youth event Abigail rode the twenty laps nearly two minutes faster than the previous week, with brother Aiden also improving on his previous time. It was great to see Dave Kenny, Regis Chapman and Patrick Burnham riding with the youngsters and helping them to improve their drafting skills.

Thanks to Doug Merrick, Glen Gordon and Doug Routley for doing the marshaling tonight.

This year the popular MIVA cyclo-cross clinics return for a third year. The venue is Beban Park BMX grounds and the new day and time is Wednesday from 5pm on. All MIVA members and associate members may take part for free. Charge for non-members is $5 per session.  Dates are:

September 11th.

September 18th.

Septenmber 25th.

October 2nd.

If you do not have a cyclo-cross bike, bring a road bike as carrying a front or full suspension MTB gets pretty tiring. Topics covered will include:

bike equipment and preparation (tires, pressures, gearing, adapting your road bike), course walking and examination, getting over natural and artificial obstacles, dismounting and mounting, bike carrying,  negotiating  the running (walking?) sections, pacing yourself through the event.

For your interest and edification here is a video of a 1950's cyclo-cross in Britain. Note the bikes and the course features plus the Le Mans start; a little different from today's carbon bikes and fast technical courses!

MIVA Boxwood Criterium 13/09/03 40 lap criterium with 4 primes

With only next week's event left in the series, we expected a fairly good turnout and were not disappointed. The pack stayed pretty much together until the second prime at seventeen laps to go. After Shawn Boyd won the sprint, Justin Mark and Ian Smith moved up to the front of the group and were quickly joined by Nick Kupiak, with Phil Birrer chasing hard, just in front of the rest of the bunch. Two laps later, Phil had dropped back and the lead trio pulled clear, working well together. They then proceeded to gain seven to eight seconds each lap and by the finish were almost a minute and a half up.

Justin won, with Ian second and Nick third, all three beeing given the same time. The bunch sprint for fourth was taken by Iain Hay from Mike Sevcov, with Phil Birrer and Shawn Boyd just behind.

All agreed that this was a very different race from the rain soaked one last week, and all are looking forward to the final event in the series.

Thanks to MLA Doug Routley, a MIVA member, Jason Hare and Brodie Hay for doing the important job of marshaling.

The Best All-Around Rider Award (Male/Female) at the year end banquet is awarded to the TT racer who has the highest overall average speed over all 3 race distances combined(15k, 20k, and 40k).  

Below is a quick screen shot of the current standings.  If you recall, this came down to the wire in 2012 with Don Gilmore narrowly edging out Paul Auton by a miniscule 0.23km/hr average over 75km of time trialing!  This year Don holds a commanding lead to date, but the battle for the rest of the podium is tight as you can see.

The final TT of the year is this Thursday, August 29th.  It's a 15k, let's have a big crowd out for the finale.  Rehydration afterwards!

MIVA Boxwood Criterium 13/08/27 30 lap criterium

As Iain Hay and son Brodie were setting up the course for tonight's race, ominous clouds were gathering and the first drops of rain were heralding the advance of a steady downpour. Still, there were ten stalwart souls who were going to ride, whatever the weather. It was decided to cut the event to thirty laps and to dispense with the primes as a safety measure and at 6.35pm, the pack, including youth riders Abigail and Aiden Hare set off.

The first couple of laps were neutralised to allow Aiden and Abigail the opportunity of riding in the group for a while and then the race proper started, with Iain Hay already five seconds up on the rest of the bunch, taking advantage of his wet weather skills. Abigail was still managing to hang onto the back end of the seniors, with Aiden already several lengths back and by lap four, both had lost contact and continued with their own contest.

Iain was soon back in the pack since no-one else was prepared to join him and for the balance of the race everyone stayed together. The final sprint was predictable and the top for places from two weeks ago were repeated, with Justin mark out sprinting Hay for the win with Nick Kupiak third and Mike Sevcov rounding out the top four. Justin's win put him just two points ahead of Nick in the series standings but, with two events left, Kupiak still has a chance to take overall honours.

In the youth event, Abigail Hare showed her improved speed by lapping her brother just before the finish to tie up the women's youth contest.

Thanks to MLA Doug Routley, a MIVA member, Glen Gordon and Brodie Hay for doing a great if soggy stint as marshals and to Jason Hare for a photographic record.