All the arrangements have been made, a venue found and a time schedule worked out and an extra half hour built in for those who REALLY like to suffer!

The MIVA indoor trainer evenings will be on Thursdays from 7.45pm to 9.15pm at Pleasant Valley School on Dunbar Road off Metral Drive, just south of the Real Canadian Superstore.

Please arrive fifteen minutes early to make sure you are set up at the start of each night's video. You should bring a towel, a water bottle, and something to protect the floor from sweat and oil. The sessions will last one and a half hours and you will have another fifteen minutes to pack your stuff. There is plenty of parking at the school. BTW, cost for each session is $5.

Session will start on Thursday December 1^st. And continue weekly until the end of February. There will be no sessions on December 22^nd or Dec. 29th.. So you can go and buy all that neat cycling stuff for your nearest and dearest and the liquid refreshment for New Year's Eve.

This photo received the most number of votes from the 11 Judge panel. Photos were judged based on:

1)       Quality of photo

2)       Composition

3)       Framing

4)       IF the photo captures “Cross”

5)       If the photo captures COTR?

One of the best Cross Photographers out there, Joe Sales, was one of our judges and he had this to say about Halldor’s photo:

A Euro-maxed out dude shoulder to shoulder with a guy rocking disc brakes and a BC bike race jersey with fans cheering.  Older dude even has a bloody mini-bike light on his handlebars. And its  a perfect mild pan, just enough to capture motion and spoke blur but the riders are sharp.   The colours aren't dialed in but content is king.  This picture wins for sure.   There's even a baseball diamond in the background!  This picture shows that there is something for everyone at COTR: Euro - geekiness, Fred-Geekiness and crazed rabid spectators.   And after the race you can play softball.

The Tour of Tucson is one of many mass participation rides that attracts thousands of entries. I wonder if Nanaimo will ever see an event that attracts so many riders. Here is an interesting video of the leaders, the mid- pack, and the stragglers hitting a sharp climb. Note the difference in approach and the resulting variety of outcomes.

Arrangements are being completed for MIVA home trainer evenings. The weekly "sweat with the oldies" sessions will be on Thursday evenings from 7-8pm at a venue to be announced. There will be great videos and loud music to mask the pain! The Sufferfest series of training videos has been purchased and, believe me, these super productions will make you really work!

MIVA  riders posted more good results in the final Cross on the Rock event in Victoria on Sunday. Thanks to Janna Gillick for this report.

In the Intermediate Women's race, Charlene Stewart proved that consistency is key. She finished fifth, giving her enough points to take second place in the series. Vicki Boyd narrowly missing a 3rd straight win in Intermediate Women, finishing only seconds behind the winner. Colleen Wtorek and Charlene Hay toughed it out through the mud for a couple of solid finishes.

In Intermediate Men, Shawn Boyd finished 6th and Corey Friesen had a great finish for his first race in this new category.

A big crash and some mechanicals in expert women took out most the field so Janna Gillick managed to end the season with a good result too.