Women 7 laps

Judy Villeneuve	MIVA	16' 56"	12 points
Charlene Stewart	MIVA	17' 01"	10
Vicki Boyd	MIVA	17' 04"	9
Deb Epps	MIVA	at 1 lap	8
Nadia Plamondon	Ind.	lapped	7
Cheryl Morch	MIVA	DNS

Men 9 laps

Ian Smith	MIVA	15' 13"	12
Paul Thompson	MIVA	16' 06"	10
Kirby Villeneuve	MIVA	16' 54"	9
John Lam	MIVA	17' 01"	8
Shepherd Stewart	MIVA	at 1 lap	7
Ron Hewitson	MIVA	lapped	6

MIVA Cyclo-cross Clinic and Race # 4 After a review of skills and techniques covered in the previous weeks, the participants rode a number of alternating slow and fast laps of a short, tight circuit. features included a 30 metre 33% climb, a fast, downhill chicane, a twisty section through a copse, and a couple of fast, straight stretches..

Once all were familiar with the course, the session ended with a 15 minute race, the women starting off a minute ahead of the men.. There was a mix of bikes, with all but two of the men on CX machines and all but one of the ladies on MTB's, some of them full suspension.

In the women's event, Judy Villeneuve took an early lead and was never seriously challenged. Behind her, Vicki Boyd held on to second for a while but was eventually caught and passed by Charlene Stewart. Deb Epps in her first CX race dropped back and Nadia Plamondon, also a newbie, brought up the rear.. The top three girls also managed to ride up the steep incline as did most of the men

In the men's event, Ian Smith took a real flyer and caught the last of the women within one lap. Not far behind, was Paul Thompson, with John Lam and Menno Jongsma chasing hard. Ron Hewitson was also in the mix but was sidelined with a flat. Bringing up the rear were Kirby Villeneuve, who gradually worked his way up through the field, and Shepherd Stewart who lagged back. In the second half of the race, Menno had moved up to challenge Paul for second and Kirby had also managed to pass John. With just over a lpa to go, that was the order but unfortunately, Menno flatted and retired. Ron had come back into the race and was moving fast, albeit a couple of laps down. At the line it was Ian, winning by nearly a minute, with Paul a solid second. and Kirby a further 48 seconds back. Shepherd was lapped just before the finish so he didn't have to ride the final lap.

big thank you to everyone for taking down the course in record time!

Kris Westwood,who represented Canada at a number of World Cyclo-cross Championships in the 90's, has produced a number of excellent training videos dealing with the development of CX skills  Go here  for the one on dismounting and remounting and then you will be able to access the rest.

For anyone interested, I've posted some pictures from Sunday's event of some MIVA members here.  I can send out originals if anyone would like them.  Great turnout by MIVA membership!

Seems the organiser lost count due to being on Alberta time for a week. This week is the final clinic and there will be two more training sessions on October 10th. and 17th. As Janna suggests, these will take the form of fast laps over a simplified circuit so participants can hone their skills.  Clinic components will include a review, hints on modifying mountain bikes to suit CX events and also how to execute a face plant with grace and aplomb!