Beban Park, Nanaimo October 27^th.

Tonight's clinic was on running with the bike, and uphill and downhill cross camber riding plus uphill turning. Nine people showed up, with a mix of experienced and green riders. All showed considerable improvement inboth skills and a couple of squeamish riders got much braver during both the clinic and the race.

At the conclusion ofthe clinic, there was ahalf hour race which included the cross camber section, a flight of steps, and dismounts of two barriers sixty metres apart with the option of riding or running between them.

All started together and John Lam took n early lead, powering away from the rest of the riders in the first fewhundred meters. He had a twenty second lead by the end of the first lap on a a group of four men that included Kirby Villeneuve, Shawn Boyd, Ron Hewitson (who had joined the race just after the start) and Justin Mark. Simon Weber was near the tail of the field, followed by Tim Stokes ring a mountain bike – not an advantage on the fast course.

By the end of lap two, Lam had increased his lead to twentu-three seconds and the chasing quartette had started to spread out, with Kirby moving into second place, Justin speeding up into third, Shawn staying in fourth and Ron down into fifth. Simon and Tim were both dropping back

With three laps completed, Lam still hung onto the lead,but was now only fifteen seconds ahead of Mark, who had passed Villeneuve and was moving faster with every lap. Boyd had also moved up - to third – with Hewitson and Villeneuve, who was feeling the effects of a leg injury, hangin on about ten seconds back. Weber was now almost af ull lap down and Stokes had just been lapped by al the other men.

As the riders cross the line on lap four, Lam was holding ontohis lead but was now only eight seconds up on Mark who was riding stronger with every lap. Hewitson had now moved into third with Boyd close behind. Villeneuve was now definitely in trouble and elected to ride around the barriers, a move which favoured his leg burt resulted in his eventual disqualification. Weber was now also lapped but was half a lap up on Stokes, who soldiered on on his slow machine.

At the conclusion of lap five, the race was well nto its second half and Justin Mark had finallcaught John Lam, passing him as they started lap six. Ron Hewitson had ridden into third place, about twenty seconds down on the lead duo, with Shawn Boyd now in fourth and looking set to move up further Kirby Villeneuve was still hanging on tofifth place but was dropping back. The two tail-enders were now both lapped and continued onat their own pace.

In the last three laps, Justin increased his lead steadily, completing each lap faster than the previous one and finishing injust under thirty-one and a half minutes. Shawn moved into second place and managed to limit the leader's advantage to just over twenty seconds. John held on to third place, a further 11 seconds down and Kirby crossed the line a further minute down. Ron had faded consideably and rolled in tofinish over two minutes behind Justin. Simon and Tim completed seven and six laps respectively.

In the women's category, Vicki Boyd took an early lead by the end of lap one, with Rose Houle just behind and Judy Villeneuve bringing up the rear. By the end of lap two, however, Judy was still in the lead but Judy had moved into second spot with Rose close on her tail.

As they crossed the line next lap Vicki and Judy were togetherbut thenVicki stopped to take of multitudinous layers of clothing (I bet she won't overdress next time!) and Judy moved into the lead. Rose was now about fifteen seconds back.

Going into lap five, Boyd had regained the lead and, for the balance of therace, pulled steadily ahead of the other two girls, eventually completing the eight laps almost two minutes ahead of Villeneuve and over two and a half minutes in advance of Houle.

Thanks to Dave Kenny for helping set up the course and to all for a very quick take down.

The final clinic next Thursday will start at 4.30pm with a quick review of the three previous weeks and the race will start at 5pm so we can finish in daylight.

Some of the MIVA members have been researching new criterium courses for the Club's weekly series in 2012. Some of the submissions are here, here and here. The Extension circuit is the most interesting but there are issues with a poor surface on the back straight, and parking. The out and back course on McKeown has the best surface and it's a dead end with no traffic and therefore, completely closed, no marshals, only cones down road centre,  and ample parking. The Cinnabar circuit is a good one with a hard hill but there is one really sketchy, downhill corner and a lot of parked cars which need to be moved every week.

This week's cyclo-cross clinic, in Beban Park, Nanaimo, will include advice and practice on cross camber riding , running sections, and a review of previously-covered skills. It will conclude with a thirty minute race on a course that will include cross camber and running sections. The course will commence at 4.30pm and the race will start at 5.30pm. The first two clinics were very-well attended, with nearly twenty participants at each.

COTR Race number 6 for 2011: THE GREAT PUMPKIN CROSS at Transfer Beach in Ladysmith. (Second to last race for COTR 2011)

Often a criterium lasts about one hour, which is shorter than that of a traditional road race — which can last many hours, sometimes of several days or even weeks, as in a Grand Tour. However, the average speed and is much higher. The winner is the first rider to cross the finish line without having been "lapped" (overtaken).  Events often have prizes (called primes, usually cash) for winning specific intermediate laps (for instance, every 10th lap). Winning criteriums needs a mix of good technical skills — especially the ability to corner rapidly and sharply — and riding safely with a large group on a short circuit and exceptional fitness to attack other riders and repeatedly accelerate hard from corners

All kinds of courses have been used for closed circuit criteriums over the years. In Europe, criteriums are invitation only races on closed circuits, which may be anywhere from 1km to 10 km in length. However, in North America, the criterium is almost always held on a closed circuit of from less than a kilometer to around 2 km. These courses can be rectangular with four 90 degree corners, more convoluted circuits, with left and right turns, or up and down events with 180 turns at each end. Each type of course requires a slightly different application of rider skills.

Where municipality restrictions limit location and length of courses, the up and back variety is the easiest for which to get approval and the simplest to organise. Of course, the 180 degree turnarounds mean considerable deceleration and intense acceleration out of the turn and favour riders who can produce sprint after sprint and still recover. Mid Island Velo Association may be looking at an up and back course for its weekly criteriums next season unless the club can find a true circuit reasonably near to Nanaimo.

What are our readers' thoughts about the different types of crit. courses?

For the last fifteen months. Mid Island Velo has run two series of criteriums on a nearly perfect 1.1 kilometer course in Nanaimo. It has all the components to make it ideal for the closed circuit style of massed start racing - newly paved roads in an industrial park, no traffic after 6PM.slight rises before two of the ninety degree turns, a wide, safe finishing straight, a good area for registration, and it is easily accessible from nearby communities. However, recent commercial development will result in Boxwood Road becoming a through route, with traffic lights at both ends and a large supermarket near the west junction. This will result in a huge increase in traffic and a reluctance on the part of the city to issue any further  permits to MIVA for the use of the circuit.

So the club is in need of a new circuit to replace the Boxwood Road course. The city may look favourably on a residential circuit if a poll of the residents produces no reasonable objections. The club may also consider a rural circuit but the only suitable ones are quits a distance from the city. If any of our readers are aware of a suitable location for the weekly criteriums for next season, please let us know.