The finale DOUBLE POINTS hill climb in the Arrowsmith Bikes Hill Climb Series goes this Thursday at 630pm, up the annual finale location, Doumont. MIVA has hosted 14 time trials, 15 crits, and 4 hill climbs.. 33 races down. 1 to go. Let's do this one up HUGE.

I've compiled every result I can find from 2011 to now, all viewable here. Course Records: Female: Janna Gillick 14:12 (2015) Youth Female: Abigail Hare 19:25 (2013) Male: Nick Kupiak 11:49 (2015) Youth Male: Evan Luksay 16:51 (2015)

The Series Standings last year were flipped upside down with the double points race, read about it here.

HILL CLIMB 5 : DOUMONT ROAD DOUBLE POINTS FINALE: THURSDAY SEPT 1ST : 6:30PM

Pre Reg link The classic. The difference maker. The standings up-ender. The social afterward at the Black Bear. Results here. Strava Link here.  

Hill Climb #4 in the 5 race Arrowsmith Bikes Series took place at the popular Departure Bay climb. A good showing of 14 riders came out in 33 degree heat. Janna took the female course record here with a blistering 7:54, 21 seconds off last years best. Tamara Zavarise knocked 33 seconds off her time last year as well, and husband Lee took 10 seconds off of his time. It doesn't go unnoticed how dedicated this couple is to make it out to so many events, arranging childcare, alternating, and even volunteering!

Of last year's 26 starters, only 5 were out tonight, as we've seen many of last years regulars missing in action for the hill climbs (cough: Joel L, Paul A, Ken O, Lisa M, Sandy, Carole..etc) and a bit of a changing of the guard. We'd love to see everyone out at next week's finale, there's even a rumour starting tonight that Reagan Lovig may be over from the Sunshine Coast to take part.

Full results from the race here. 2015 climb results here. 2014 (no climb here) 2013 results here. 2012 results here. 2011 resultrs here.

The standings for the Arrowsmith Bikes Series remain unchanged, with Janna holding onto the lead in the female category:

Place	Racer name	Race results Show all	# of races	Total points
1	Janna Gillick ATAC	Show	4	48
2	Lesley Anderson MIVA	Show	3	30
3	Rose Houle MIVA	Show	3	27

The male category remains unchanged with the 1-2 punch of Nick Kupiak and Eli Buffalo still 1-2 in the standings:

Place	Racer name	Race results Show all	# of races	Total points
1	Nicholas Kupiak Broad Street Cycles	Show	4	48
2	Elijah Buffalo Gastown Racing	Show	4	40
3	Jim Brown MIVA	Show	4	27

Next Thursday is the FINAL climb in the series, good for DOUBLE POINTS as well. It's at the annual championship location, Doumont. There will be a post race social at the Black Bear Pub afterward, building on last years good times. https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=75309&owner=0

(Race report by timekeeper Peter McCaffery) "A very hot evening kept most riders away so there were only 8 competitors in this mass start climb. Aho Road and the lead in on Prospect feature numerous gradient changes, with a brief descent just before the tough final rise. Elijah Buffalo and Nick Kupiak soon drew away from the rest of the riders and stayed together until the final 100metres, when Nick pulled away from Elijah, finishing nearly 5 seconds up in a new record time. Next to finish was MIVA's BAR winner Janna Gillick (ATAC) completing the climb in a new womens record time, just over a minute behind the leaders. The remaining competitors finished at intervals with Jim Brown unexpectedly beating James Sage in the mens category and Lesley Anderson beating Derek Steel to the finish by a scant 18 seconds.

The remaining competitors finished at intervals with Jim Brown unexpectedly beating James Sage in the men's category and Lesley Anderson beating Derek Steel to the finish by a scant 18 seconds.

Next week's event on Departure Bay Road should see a much larger number of riders for this popular ascent in mid Nanaimo."

The results from tonight are located here. Series Standings here.

This weeks race is going to be a popular one up Departure Bay Road so pre register now so I can generate a start list early.

HILL CLIMB 4 : DEPARTURE BAY ROAD : THURSDAY AUGUST 27TH : 6:30PM

Pre Reg link An annual favourite, the Departure Bay Climb had a huge turnout last year with 26 (!!!) coming out to hit it hard.  Results here. Strava Link here. 

20 racers came out to take on the longest hill climb of them all, Nanaimo Lakes Road. The 7.2km grind had some fast times! The top 4 males were all identical to last week with Nick Kupiak, Eli Buffalo, Lazarus Difiore, and Ron Cook all holding their own slots again. In the female race Janna Gillick took top spot, followed by Lesley Anderson, Rose Houle, and Tamara Zavarise.

The Course Records also held on for another year, with Joel Deschiffart (14:28) and Janna Gillick (16:40) both set in 2015 but not taken down today.

Full results here. Series standings here.

Congrats to the following racers who cut time out of their race result compared with last year! Tamara Zavarise (-1 minute 19 seconds) Lee Zavarise (-1 minute 35 seconds) Ken Olson (-5 seconds)

Thank you to Jason Hare and Patrick Burnham for volunteering to timekeep.

This week's 3rd race in the series is at Aho (Yellow Point). One of the nicest climbs out there, don't miss it!

The 3.2km climb up to Witchcraft Lake was a huge success, with 24 racers taking part, making it one of our best attended climbs ever.

Series sponsor Arrowsmith Bikes went above and beyond, recruiting a crew of racers out who normally would be up on Ridgerunner mountain biking. The influx of fresh faces was a welcome rush of energy, and the post race social afterward a great reward for tired legs.

For the skimmers: results link here. 2015 results link here, for those who asked.

In the female category we had 6 battle it out, with newcomers Megan Nunez and Jessie McGarrigle (of Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club fame) making their debut! Janna Gillick took the womens course record down with a fast 9:06, with Lesley Anderson 55 seconds behind in 10:02. Taking third was Tamara Zavarise in 11:41 (50 seconds faster than last year).

The male race had 17 toe the line with Nick Kupiak taking the win in 7:40, and Elijah Buffalo less than 10 seconds behind for second. Arrowsmith's own Lazarus Difiore was just 17 seconds behind for third place putting in a strong ride. Looking at last years results in the mens, only TWO of last years 14 starters were here tonight (Nick and Lee, who took 26 seconds off his time). It's impressive to see such good numbers even with completely new faces. 

The youth male race went to Ayden Houle, who went off course with compadre Matthys Redelinghuys and decided to do a double hill climb up to the top of Northwood Rd.

The winner of the $50 Gift Certificate to Arrowsmith Bikes went to Peter McCaffery who was yet again volunteering and did a great job at the start line. Thank you also to Liz Halloran and Patrick Burnham for volunteering tonight. Tonight's best Tokyo Drift award goes to Brendan Flanagan pulling a side skid not normally seen on a road bike.

The biggest thanks has to go to Kebble of Arrowsmith Bikes for promoting the race, bringing out a huge posse to come with them, setting up flags, bringing a cooler of post race beverages for everyone, AND giving away a water bottle to everyone who came out.

NEXT WEEK: Nanaimo Lakes Road (apologies to those we told it was Aho). Pre registration is free and helps lay out the start list ahead of time, link here.