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.  

The 2016 TT Series was a huge success, with 69 racers taking part and 336 race entries over the 14 races. We saw an average of 24 racers per TT, with the biggest year to year increase showing in the female group. A very competitive, yet social and supportive group showed up week after week and pushed their limits. It was great to see everyone push themselves to get better, racing the TT week after week makes you FAST. The Overall Standings Link is here. All racers times are shown here when expanded. Bookmark this and set your goals for 2017.

Womens Category Congratulations to LORRIE BAILDHAM for picking up her first overall TT championship! Lorrie is the 2 time reigning hill climb champ as well, and only got faster and faster as the TT season went on. 3 time champ Janna Gillick took second place, winning 9 races and setting course records top to bottom. The final spot on the podium goes to Rose Houle, who made a welcome return to the TT series finishing the season with 1 win and 2 second place finishes. Wendy Hicks and Rose tied for most TT's, racing in 12 of the 14 races MIVA held. Special thanks to the Duncan group who came out to give one 20k a shot, and ended up racing the rest.

Mens Category PAUL AUTON managed his second straight TT Overall Points Championship, winning 8 TTs and finishing with 131 points. Second place goes to 2014 points champ Patrick Burnham (100pts), and third place goes to Matthys Redelinghuys (75pts). Patrick also set the bar for most dedicated, racing 13 of 14 events.

Youth Female Perennial champion ABIGAIL HARE took the title in her final year as a junior, edging out Meghan Gillmore, who managed to set both course records this year in the 15k and 20k.  Abigail made the long drive from Parksville to race 11 events this season.

Youth Male Former BMX standout, and rookie sensation AYDEN HOULE took the TT by storm by winning all 12 of the events he entered, and setting new course records in both distances (as well as unofficially in the 40k). Ian Gillmore proved his hard work keeps paying off and has a long bright future in TT as he's only 10 years old and beating some adults. 2-time champ Aiden Hare rounded out the top 3 with another great year. These 3 were some of our most dedicated, only missing FIVE races total amongst the three of them combined. Ian Gillmore raced 13/14, with Ayden and Aiden pairing off with 12 races each. 

BAR AWARD (Best All-Around Rider) This award goes to the male and female who rides the fastest OVERALL average on all 3 TT distances. The trophies for this prize are the old OBB Wheelers Cups, full of history and a few stories of where they've been. Congrats to Janna Gillick who took the top spot at 38km/hr average speed, and to Paul Auton who averaged 42km/hr.

The biggest thank you has to go to our series sponsor, Rock City Cycles, who stepped up yet again to lend their support to cycling in the mid island. On that thought, it's time for a giveaway! $50 Gift Card from Rock City Cycles goes to....Lucky number 155 on our membership list! Congrats to Tamara Zavarise!

Last but not least, THANK YOU to all of the volunteers who made this race possible. There is so much work behind the scenes in planning, permitting, promoting, and running these events, all the help is truly appreciated. This is MIVA's 6th year of holding TTs here, and prior to that OBB (now Rock City Cycles) ran the series for years before that. Thank you to those who came out to act as turn around marshall, holder, spotter, and timekeeper. Thanks to Patrick Burnham for setting up cones and signs and taking them home week after week. Thanks to Don Gillmore and Jason Hare for stepping in to timekeep when needed without hesitation, and to regulars like Glenn Houle and Peter McCaffery who both made big efforts to come support the races.

You have your times and your baselines, here's to everyone beating them in 2017.

The 2016 Rock City Cycles TT Series hosted a huge turnout for the hottest race of the year, in its finale. 27 racers showed up, and we welcomed out a familiar face with one of MIVA's founding fathers, Dave Kenny coming out to race.  Dave Steen again made the trek from Thetis for his 9th TT this season and decided to break his season best by 37 seconds! A warm headwind off the start kept most of the field from PB'ing, except for Janna Gillick who set another course record 2 days after winning the crit race outright, and Eli Buffalo who knocked 20 seconds off his best. For the skimmers: Results Series Standings 15k Course Records

Course Records (1) Janna Gillick 23:04 (-0:05)

Personal Bests (2) Janna Gillick 23:04 Elijah Buffalo 21:22

Janna Gillick (ATAC) took the win tonight, setting the new womens course record at 23:04! Lorrie Baildham took second in 24:57 on her way to winning her first overall TT points championship. While Glenda Harling made her 15k debut and took third in 27:29. MIVA welcomed newcomer (to the TT) Caitlin Kenny out tonight as well, who took her cross bike out for it and then proceeded to win tonights grand prize $50 gift card from Rock City Cycles!

Don Gillmore came out to race the 15k, even as he trains for an entirely different cycling discipline, and took the win with a 21:12 (42.4km/hr). Eli Buffalo was less than 9 seconds behind, 20 seconds faster than his last run at this last month. Taking third place was Peter Stevenson in 21:39 (41.6km/hr). Paul Auton took 4th in 21:54 as he went with his road bike tonight instead of his normal TT setup, and clinched the overall TT mens championship in the process.

The youth female saw Abigail Hare take the win and the overall championship, and Ian Gillmore win tonights race, his 13th TT of the year.

Thank you to Peter McCaffery for cycling out to act as turn around marshall. Peter's support of cycling in the mid island region is unmatched.

Stay tuned for a series wrap up post, coming soon. Congrats to everyone who came out tonight!

NEXT Thursday its hill climb time. 5 races, 5 Thursdays. Witchcraft climb is on deck, pre reg here!

Tomorrow morning at 8am check back for the Hill Climb Series post with all the info you can handle.

Thank you as always to series sponsor ROCK CITY CYCLES!

A perfect night for racing brought out 22 riders to take on the second last race in the Rock City Cycles TT Series for 2016. For the skimmers: Results Series Standings 20k Course Records

Course Records (2) Meghan Gillmore 34:23 (-0:30) Ayden Houle 32:49 (-0:15)

Personal Bests (7) Lorrie Baildham 33:20 Lorraine Hepting 39:06 Wendy Hicks 39:36 Matthys Redelinghuys 31:38 Derek Steel 33:52 Meghan Gillmore 34:23 Ayden Houle 22:49

Janna Gillick led the female category with a good race, only 44 seconds off her course record, this on tired legs after a week of suffering (and placing top 10) at BC SuperWeek on the mainland. Lorrie Baildham, the current series leader tied her personal best in a quick 33:20, followed by Rose Houle in 37:37. Both Cycle Therapy riders Lorraine Hepting and Wendy Hicks set PBs on the final 20k of the year, nice work!

Paul Auton took the male group in 28:28, followed closely by Johan Lindkvist in his first 20k TT (29:34). Patrick Burnham narrowly took 3rd on the podium in 31:30. Matthys Redelinghuys set a massive personal best tonight in 31:38, averaging just a sliver under 38 km/hr! Early this season Matthys rode a respectable 34:17, but his hard work has lowered his PB by 2 1/2 minutes. Great way to close out your TT season! Derek Steel also set a PB tonight knocking 42 seconds off his best 20k time!

Meghan Gillmore set a new Youth Female course record in 34:23, knocking 30 seconds off the CR! To show how far Meghan has come, in 2015 she raced a 42:08 in her opening 20k. Nearly 8 MINUTES is incredible. Ayden Houle came with his game face on ready to ride as he set a new Youth Male course record in 32:49 (averaging 36.6km/hr), knocking 15 seconds off his old record.

The BAR (Best All Around Rider) Standings don't move much, updated after tonight to read:

The Series Standings have fleshed themselves out a bit more as well, with Ayden Houle clinching the Youth Male TT Title, and Abigail Hare taking the Youth Female TT crown. The mens race will have a repeat winner with Paul Auton clinching another trophy. The womens race has yet to be decided, with Lorrie Baildham holding a 106-96 lead over Janna Gillick going into next weeks final race.

Next week is the series finale with a nice easy 15k, hope to see all of you out there. Pre reg here.

The second last crit of the season saw our largest turn out in several weeks with 21 riders taking a gamble on the weather to come out and play.  It was especially fortunate that the weather held off with 8 CVAA riders making the trip down from Comox/Courtenay.  Having Evan Luksay in the field for his first crit of the year as a youth rider the first two of forty laps were ridden at a neutral pace.  The tame start to the race caught several riders flat footed as the pace increased sharply with the Comox riders attacking each other making several attempts at a breakaway; all of which were quickly brought back in.

The Comox riders swept up the three Primes with Kevin Park taking the first two and Harry Reddiw taking the third.

After the third prime with five laps to go Nick Kupiak attacked trying break away from the pack.  His attack united the CVAA riders who gave up attacking each other and worked together to reel Nick in with three laps to go.  Knowing he was caught Nick sat in and worked on positioning himself for the final sprint to win the race followed by Janna Gillick (fresh off a hard week of racing in the lower mainland for Super Week) and Kevin Park.

1. Nick Kupiak
2. Janna Gillick
3. Kevin Park
4. John Lam
5. Kent Duncan
6. James Sage*
7. Ayden Houle*
8. Daniel Wilson*
9. Tyler McCallen*
10. Kent Duncan*
11. Nathan Walsh*
12. Harry Reddiw*
13. Philippe Turgeon Dion*
14. Scott Flemming*
15. Norm Thibault
16. Wade Luksay
17. Mark Wieler
18. Phil Birrer -1 lap
19. Lee Zavarise -1 lap
20. Dave Kenny -1 lap
21. Evan Luksay -Junior 20 laps

*Main Bunch, positions approximate

As always a huge thanks to our volunteers Lorrie, Mike and Michael for watching the corners.

More Photos Here