Re. parking for this event: park in the Country Grocer car park as Serious Coffee is OPEN. A nice place to relax and swap excuses after the time trial. Besides, riding up the hill to the start is a good warm-up. For real wimps, there is parking along the hard shoulder before the start.

BTW, if this event is as successful as we think it will be, the organiser is exploring the possibility of holding further events on the Duke Point Highway after the ferries start running again. The ships arrive and leave every two hours and there is about a one hour plus window between sailing times when there is very little traffic. Further information to follow.

The eRace Cancer Cycling Team is  an Ontario based cycling team created to raise money for Cancer research. They hope to make a little difference through their cycling and fund-raising efforts. The team members will race across all cycling disciplines : Mountain Biking, Road and Cyclocross. The riders must be all licensed Ontario riders . The team will raise funds from Corporate and Private sponsor / donors . Fund raising efforts will benefit cancer research. This is how it all started:  From Lori Kofman

"Pete and I have decided to change our focus for next year and add a new dimension to our racing; that is, instead of going fast purely for our own indulgence, we have created a team dedicated to raising money for a charity, the Princess Margaret Hospital. After losing Pete's Dad a year ago to esophageal cancer, we wanted to funnel our energies in a meaningful way. To that end, we have garnered support from a number of corporate sponsors who want to back the efforts of our cause. Our new team, E-RACE CANCER . If you are interested, please contact  Lori Kofman or Peter Kofman at: pkofman@rogers.com

We currently have 6 riders and are looking for about 5 more . If you are a licensed rider in Ontario racing Mountain , Road or Cyclocross and need a team affiliation for 2012 please consider racing for us".

The editor (and event Organiser) spent some time on Wednesday morning looking for safe start, turn-around and finish locations. Since it's New Year's and most participants will have put on a few kilos over the holidays, it was decided to have a downhill start so the added weight will aid in much-needed momentum, a turn round at traffic lights so that no-one has any excuse for missing it and riding on into the Georgia Strait, and a finish before the steep climb up to the overpass. Course details as follows: Start will be at the short lay-by just before the overpass at beginning of Duke Point Highway, turn at end of median and just before the entrance to the long term car park (Coned), finish just after the Cedar Road bridge. Distance is almost exactly 15 kilometres.

Registration is just by the start at 10.40am and first rider off at 11.01am  (no tent as we don't want to attract undue attention). Suggest that participants park at Chase River Shopping Centre by Tim Hortons.

If anyone whom you suspect to be in official capacity - RCMP, Transportation BC, papal delegate, etc. - apprehends a participant, the rider should simply claim to be  inspecting the road for debris, weeds, garbage, etc. as the club is considering looking after the Duke Point Highway as a part of the "Adopt a Highway" progamme.

By the Way, MIVA male Best All Rounder for last season, Don Gillmore, is riding so there should be a pretty fast time for the other riders to aim at.

Course map here

The Duke Point Highway (DPH) in Nanaimo, leading from the Trans Canada Highway just south of Chase River to the ferry terminal is a beautiful stretch of divided highway, ideal for cycling. Unfortunately, when a ferry is arriving or departing, there is a large amount of fast-moving traffic on this well-paved road. Trying to fit in any competitive events between the scheduled ferry times is not a good idea.

However, a few days ago, one of the ferries hit the Duke Point ramp pretty hard and, as a result, the terminal is closed for the next three weeks and there will be no surges of traffic on the connecting route. This presents a wonderful opportunity for holding a time trial on the DPH.

MIVA is measuring a 15km out-and back course and will hold a time trial on New Year's Day. Start time will be 11am, with registration at 10.40am just a few hundred metres past where the road goes over the Trans Canada Highway. All who are interested in riding on this beautiful course should take the opportunity to do so on January 1st. a this may be the only time that this will be possible.

If there is sufficient interest,  MIVA will organise a 15km time trial on New Year's Day, possibly on the Duke Point Highway (yeah baby!) as the ferry terminal is closed for repairs but more probably on the regular Nanaimo River Road course.  All interested riders please email pakamanc@gmail.com asap. If there are six or more responses, the event is a go,  followed by a visit to a local Starbucks.