MIVA is proud to host the 6th consecutive TT Series, again sponsored by Rock City Cycles. This year due to member feedback, we have increased the number of TTs up to 16. There will be 6x15k, 6x20k, and 4x40k events, plenty of chances to knock some PBs out this year. In 2015 we had record numbers as we averaged 25 racers per event and 339 total race entries. I expect to smash these numbers in 2016. Location The race is in the same location since 2013, on Nanaimo River Road starting just west of the intersection of South Forks Road. Many cycle to the start line over the Gogos hill for a warm up. Here's the route map and google map of start location. It isn't flat, not much is in Nanaimo. But it will make you stronger, and there are plenty of fast sections.

Starters 30 Seconds Apart The biggest change will be that the interval gap will be 30 seconds between starting riders, as opposed to the 60 seconds we had used previous. The racers will still be seeded so the super fast are at the end, and we will try our best to group you with similarly skilled riders to 'give you a rabbit' up ahead to chase after as you make your heart come out of your chest. With the shorter gap between starters the race will also end sooner for most, as well as giving you more 'rabbits' up the road. No rolling starts.

Pre-registration and Start Lists We will be utilizing a webscorer sign up list to generate the start lists again. There will be a place in the sign up for you to put in your anticipated finish time (do not write SLOW or I'll add 2 minutes to your time). Look up last seasons times if you need to get a rough idea of where you'll be. If you NEED to go early in the lineup, like Mr.Steen who sets AG records then races back for the ferry, let me know in advance and I'm happy to help. The most stressful part is swapping people around on the fly 2 minutes before the start gun goes, so that won't happen anymore.

Speed and Fit Session Don Gillmore, holder of numerous TT records has offered to hold a 'Speed and Fit Session' prior to our first 15k TT. Don has tweaked many local time trialists fit the past few years and it paid dividends immediately. This will take place at 530pm at the start line on Nanaimo River Road. The 15k TT will start at exactly 630pm. More details to come.

Race Fees & Cycling BC $5 per race $50 for seasons pass  Must be a MIVA member to race Every racer MUST have a Cycling BC membership of some sort, bring your card with you. CyclingBC gives you 2 free club rides/races before you have to take out a membership, there is a waiver to fill out to use this feature if you're unsure of getting into racing. As Norm says with Cross On The Rock: bring your CyclingBC card no exceptions.

Volunteers We will need volunteers! The positions that are needed each race are a timekeeper, holder, turn around marshall, and spotter. Email to miva.president@gmail.com to get on the list. With family commitments and other pursuits, MIVA as a club will have to step up this year to run the events.

Newbies These TT's have grown in size over the past 6 years,while also growing into an awesome supportive group who push each other to get better. It's a race against the clock, so don't get hung up on what others are doing, especially if you're new. You don't need a dimpled aero helmet to do your best, come on out and give it a try.

Cancellations In case of extreme weather, MIVA will make the final call on cancelling the TT minimum 2 hours before race start time. Announcement via bikeracing.ca, twitter, and facebook will publish this info.

RACE RULES

• - Centre-line rule in effect. Riders must stay as far to the right as practicable. Riders caught crossing the centre-line will be disqualified. (When the RCMP came out to crack down on speeding here they noted a few of our riders not staying to the right as well)
• - There is to be no drafting. Standard TT rules apply, riders must stay 10m behind unless overtaking another rider (5 bike lengths)
• - Pass only on the left. Common courtesy is to notify the rider by calling out "On your left".
• - A pass occurs when the overtaking athlete's front wheel passes the leading edge of the athlete being overtaken. Failure to complete a pass within 20 seconds will result in a drafting violation.
• - Once overtaken, rider must fall back 7m before attempting to regain the lead.
• - Be gracious to your fellow competitors. If you are overtaken, do not feel compelled to re-pass unless you are confident you can hold the lead until the finish.
• - No blocking or impeding the forward progress of other athletes.
• - No parking west of the start line

The days are getting longer and its almost time to ditch the leg warmers for good.  It's time to start thinking about adding miles and building speed.  It's also time to start thinking about riding in a group.  The Crits and time trials will be underway before you know it.  Not to mention all the great racing happening in Victoria and on the mainland.  To help get ready for it and offer a little extra incentive to get out and hit the roads we're trying something a little bit different.

For the month of March, we will have an open challenge on this segment https://www.strava.com/segments/11430823?filter=overall  Up for grabs are three $50 gift cards.

The idea behind this challenge is to get you out on your bikes pushing each other, working together and getting better. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut over the winter. Logging hundreds of hours on the trainer or riding alone in the dark. So hit up our Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/midislandveloassociation/ and find a couple other suckers friends to hit the road with.

The rules

1. Mixed teams of 3 riders (1male/2female or 2male/1female)

2. All three riders must be paid club members – Join here https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=55941&owner=0

3. All three riders must ride the segment together (Johnny can't ride it on his way to work with Susie and sally riding it in the evening the next day)

4. Rides must be uploaded onto strava and public so I can check and compile the times.

5. Must email me palleus@hotmail.com with the names of the three riders and date/time of your attempt and if possible a link to all three rides on strava to save me hunting them down

6. Team time will be based on the time of the slowest rider.  (It won't help if you drop your two friends and sprint away for the KOM leaving them to struggle in the wind)

7. Challenge will run for the month of March and riders can attempt it as many times as they like with as many other riders as they like.

Some things to think about with this challenge are: Pacing, it’s a little over ten kilometers. If you go out too hard, you’ll be dying at the end of it. Keep a steady pace and finish strong. Watch the gap between riders, the closer you are to the wheel in front of you the less energy you’re going to use to maintain the pace. How long is each rider going to pull? Taking a longer turn at the front will give the other riders more time to recover, but if you pull too long and too hard, you might not be able to hang on and get dropped off the back.

Good luck and ride safe.

25 riders showed up to take on the Oak Bay Bikes TT Series SEASON FINALE.  A proper series write up will follow... Tonights results HERE 15k Course Records HERE OBB Series Standings HERE Just your 15k times from 2015 HERE

Perfect temps and zero wind made for a fast (and awesome) final time trial on Nanaimo River Road. This 15k course has 4 course records (one for each category).  THREE WERE BROKEN TONIGHT!

First up, Janna Gillick took down the course record in 23:09 (prev 23:21) to clinch the series championship as well, not a bad night.  Lorrie Baildham's injury is long gone as she flew at a 36.1 avg speed for second, followed by series runner up Kiyomi Schulz @ 25:24.

In the mens race Don Gillmore rode a fast 20:41 to clinch his BAR (Best All-Around Rider) award zipping along at 43.5km/hr.  Patrick Burnham slammed home a PB in 22:31, attaining his season goal of averaging 40km/hr over this hilly course.  Justin Mark showed up late (its his birthday we will let it slide!) and still managed to place third with a 22:36, just 9 seconds ahead of Joel Lutz.

The youth female course record was set tonight by the ever improving Meghan Gillmore with a 28:05 (prev 28:46).  Her first 15k race this year was in 31:51, showing a remarkable improvement.

The youth male record also was set tonight by her brother Ian Gillmore riding to a 28:42 finish, the former record was held by Youth Male points leader Aiden Hare @ 29:38.  I'm already looking forward to seeing these two raise the bar even more next season.

3 COURSE RECORDS SET Youth Male: Ian Gillmore Youth Female: Meghan Gillmore Female: Janna Gillick

14 SEASONS BEST TIMES SET Janna Gillick Lorrie Baildham Anita Gillmore Lisa McLeod Sandy Przada Patrick Burnham Joel Lutz Mark Overton Derek Steel Murray Walters Corey Friesen Ross Palfery Ian Gillmore Meghan Gillmore

10 PERSONAL BESTS (LIFETIME) Janna Gillick Anita Gillmore Lisa McLeod Sandy Przada Patrick Burnham Joel Lutz Mark Overton Derek Steele Murray Walters Ross Palfery

Thank you to the Zavarise family for again volunteering at the turn around and ringing cowbells. Big thank you to Jason Hare for timing again!

Now with our Crit Series and TT Series over, its time for the August Special....HILL CLIMB CHAMPS.  5 races, 5 different locations.  First one is next Thursday @ Jameson Road.  This link has all the info, and the pre reg!

A proper season TT round up will be hashed out in the next few days!  For those of you in Nanaimo, see you at Oak Bay Bikes tomorrow (7pm) for a social gathering, it'll be great to catch up!

Pre reg link here!

Tonight is a 15k TT, the final one of the 2015 OBB TT Series.  Will a course record or two go down tonight?  So far 17 racers lined up ready to roll.

Female Record: Janna Gillick 23:21 (6/11/2015) Male Record: Don Gillmore 20:13 (7/17/2014) Youth Female Record: Meghan Gillmore 28:28 (6/18/2015) Youth Male Record: Aiden Hare 29:38 (7/9/2015)

It was a perfect night for racing tonight, 23 degrees, no wind, and almost no cars on the road (except for the shirtless guy on the scooter). RESULTS HERE! OBB Series Standings HERE! 20k Course Records HERE !

MIVA welcomed its newest member (signed up at 3pm today) Joel Deschiffart to the time trials tonight.  Making the most of his offseason from running (really really fast), he's here to make the last couple TTs then a hill climb series assault.  Never having raced a TT IN HIS LIFE, he guessed 'about a 36 minute 20k'.  Then raced a 31:32, good for 4th overall!

COURSE RECORDS BROKEN: 1 Youth Female: Meghan Gillmore

PERSONAL BESTS: 12 Joel Lutz Simon Weber Matthys Redelinghuys Lee Zavarise Ian Drown Murray Walters Fred Rockwell Kiyomi Schulz Anita Gillmore Meghan Gillmore Tamara Zavarise Sandy Przada

Don Gillmore rode his seasons best 20k in 27:45 (43.2km/hr avg), followed by Joel Lutz' PB (30:47) and Patrick Burnham (31:09).  In the Female Category Janna Gillick rode a fast 31:43 just seconds off a PB, followed by Lorrie Baildham (33:47) on the injury comeback trail, then Kiyomi Schulz (34:46) with her PB!

In the youth categories, Meghan Gillmore SHATTERED the course record with a 36:26 (2 minutes 43 seconds knocked off tonight)!  Abigail Hare rode strong and held her season lead, fresh off last nights Hub City Tri Club race where she clinched the Youth Female Series Champion Trophy!  In the male group Ian Gillmore rode his second best time of the year, with Aiden Hare just behind also riding his second best time of the year just 6 seconds off a PB, and retained his lead atop the standings.

Special thanks to Paul Callow for volunteering as turn around marshall tonight.  All set to race, but with a bike locked to the rack and no key, he made the most of his drive out and helped MIVA out, thanks Paul!

The standings to date look like this: MALE Paul Auton 112 Patrick Burnham 95 Nick Kupiak 87

FEMALE Janna Gillick 113 Kiyomi Schulz 108 Lorrie Baildham 62

YOUTH MALE Aiden Hare 126 Ian Gillmore 100

YOUTH FEMALE Abigail Hare 130 Meghan Gillmore 116

Best of luck to MIVA members Paul Auton, Dave Patterson, and Nancy Patterson, who are over in Whistler racing Ironman Canada this Sunday!

Missing tonight was Dave Steen, who unfortunately broke his elbow a few days ago.  Dave's always been a very big supporter of MIVA and cycling in general, heal up quick!

We have ONE FINAL TIME TRIAL to go this year, a 15k next Thursday July 30th, pre reg here!  The following night we'll have a mid season series wrap up social at Oak Bay Bikes (Fri 7/31 @ 7pm). Click here and let us know if you're coming so we can stock the "refreshments" accordingly!

-Corey