on June 8th. and 9th. the Vypers cycling club is organising the provincial youth road cycling championships in Comox. MIVA is assisting them with a supply of volunteers. Any MIVA members who are able to assist with this event, please email info@bikeracing.ca. Since this is a two day series of races, accommodation is available in a very nice facility for only $25 per night. Spouses are welcome.

This is a great way for the club members to get involved in race organisation. This is important for MIVA because the club is putting on a two day omnium event in the Nanaimo area in August

See if you can complete your chosen distance within your chosen time. On Sunday, March 24th. MIVA runs its first timed group rides. Both the 50 kilometre and hundred kilometre rides  start and finish at the Longwood Brew Pub, one of MIVA's sponsors. The fifty km goes up to Parksville Serious Coffee and back, for the most part avoiding the Island Highway. The hundred km continues past Parksville and continues through Errington and Coombs to turn back at Qualicum Beach,  and follow the Sunshine route to Parksville and on to the finish. 50km participants can choose to complete the ride in under two or three hours, while the 100km cyclists can choose to finish their ride in less than three, four or five hour, five or six hours. The start times are staggered so that all finishers should arrive between one and two in the afternoon. To ensure that all participants do the entire course, all are given route cards which should be filled in as they pass various check points.

Start times

100km:  in 6 hr.- 8am, in 5 hr.-9am,  in 4 hr.-10am, in 3 hr.-10.30am                       50km:  in 3hr.-10.45am, in 2 hr.- 11.30am

Registration opposite the Longwood Brew Pub opens at 7.45am. Entry fee for either distance is $10. Non club members need to take out a full or associate mebership as you must be covered by our insurance policy while doing the ride. Membership forms will be available at registration.

For further information info@bikeracing,ca

There will be a social gathering in the upstairs room at Longwood Brew  Pub. where you can order food and drink.

MIVA is organising 50km and 100km reliability trials on March 24th. The registration, start and finish  will be at Longwood Brew Pub and both routes will be northwest. The 50 km will turn at Serious Coffee in Parksville and the 100km will be an extension of this, going up to Coombes and Qualicum Beach. Participants in either event can choose a time in which they expert to complete the ride. 50 km entrants can  choose 2, 2.5 or 3 hours. The 100km riders can choose 4, 5 or 6 hours. If there is sufficient interest, there will also be a 3hour category for the "hard" people! Start times will be staggered so that most riders will complete their rides around the same time and will be able to enjoy the magnificent Longwood Brew Pub brunch if they wish.  The club is also arranging to have the upstairs room available where participants can trade "war stories" . Registration is $10 and will be same day at Longwood Brew Pub. For further information  info, contact @bikeracing.ca. A map of the routes may be found here.

In Britain, the racing season is always preceded by a slew of reliability trials. These are timed group or individual rides on a predetermined course with checkpoints to keep the participants honest. They are similar to the "populaire" events organised by the Randonneurs. Riders can select one of a number of times in which they expect to complete the ride and awards are often given for those competitors who finish nearest to their stated time.  the route often passes cafes or coffee bars during the ride. Checkpoints are located at strategic points and may involve each cyclist getting a signature or picking up a coupon to be presented at the finish.

The chosen route can be easy or include some tough climbing, depending on the location. In many trials, there is an option for less fit, older, or inexperienced riders to do a  half  distance ride. The video and photos here emphasise steady riding  and staying together but participants who choose the shortest time frame will ride more aggressively.

On Sunday, March 24th., MIVA is organising a reliability trial around the Nanaimo Region. Distances will be approximately 120 kilometres and 65 kilometres. Participants will register and start from the Longwood Brew Pub, one of the club's main sponsors . The course heads north through Lantzville  and via North Bay Road to Parksville.  Then riders will return via a circuitous route  to Nanaimo and then down to Cedar and back towards the finish via Hammond Bay. Full course details and start times will be published shortly. Entry fee will be $10.

There are many references on the web to bicycle roller racing but to many, the term is a mystery. Roller racing is a competition among two, three or more riders on stationary bikes. These can be on sets of rollers, where the riders must balance their machines and ride as fast as possible at the same time, sometimes, with the aid of holders who keep them from falling. A second option is to use the same rollers with fork stands and a third, increasingly popular option is the use of home trainers.

In each case, competitors and spectators can see the progress of a contest, usually a 500 metre or one kilometre  "sprint",  but sometimes longer, on a large dial or digital readout on a screen set up behind the contestants.The equipment is set up at a club room o, more often in a mall or shopping centre  and is used as as an attraction in connection with a membership or sponsorship drive. Participants may be from the cycling community or may be 'walk-ons" from the spectators. Interest is sparked by a board showing best time of day or session.

In days of yore and, more infrequently now,  the large dial with from two to four pointers, had the information on contestants' progress fed to the pointers via flexible cable drives, rather like speedometer cables, connected to worm gears behind the dials. The pointers, usually of different colours, moved as the riders pedalled. The dial, marked in metres from zero to five hundred, was painted on plywood backings which were supported on tripod stands,  rather like an archery target. This equipment was cumbersome, prone to frequent breakdowns and needed a good storage place and a willing club member with a half ton.

The latest equipment, however, is much more portable and reliable. It's electronic and consists of speed sensors on each bike transmitting the necessary information to a laptop and thence to a projector that shows the riders' progress on a virtual dial on a large screen.

Whatever the equipment, roller racing is s sure-fire way to publicise a club. Complete the set up with a good sound system, some loud music and a good commentator and public awareness of your organisation and its activities is guaranteed!

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