The 2016 Rock City Cycles TT Series hosted a huge turnout for the hottest race of the year, in its finale. 27 racers showed up, and we welcomed out a familiar face with one of MIVA's founding fathers, Dave Kenny coming out to race.  Dave Steen again made the trek from Thetis for his 9th TT this season and decided to break his season best by 37 seconds! A warm headwind off the start kept most of the field from PB'ing, except for Janna Gillick who set another course record 2 days after winning the crit race outright, and Eli Buffalo who knocked 20 seconds off his best. For the skimmers: Results Series Standings 15k Course Records

Course Records (1) Janna Gillick 23:04 (-0:05)

Personal Bests (2) Janna Gillick 23:04 Elijah Buffalo 21:22

Janna Gillick (ATAC) took the win tonight, setting the new womens course record at 23:04! Lorrie Baildham took second in 24:57 on her way to winning her first overall TT points championship. While Glenda Harling made her 15k debut and took third in 27:29. MIVA welcomed newcomer (to the TT) Caitlin Kenny out tonight as well, who took her cross bike out for it and then proceeded to win tonights grand prize $50 gift card from Rock City Cycles!

Don Gillmore came out to race the 15k, even as he trains for an entirely different cycling discipline, and took the win with a 21:12 (42.4km/hr). Eli Buffalo was less than 9 seconds behind, 20 seconds faster than his last run at this last month. Taking third place was Peter Stevenson in 21:39 (41.6km/hr). Paul Auton took 4th in 21:54 as he went with his road bike tonight instead of his normal TT setup, and clinched the overall TT mens championship in the process.

The youth female saw Abigail Hare take the win and the overall championship, and Ian Gillmore win tonights race, his 13th TT of the year.

Thank you to Peter McCaffery for cycling out to act as turn around marshall. Peter's support of cycling in the mid island region is unmatched.

Stay tuned for a series wrap up post, coming soon. Congrats to everyone who came out tonight!

NEXT Thursday its hill climb time. 5 races, 5 Thursdays. Witchcraft climb is on deck, pre reg here!

Tomorrow morning at 8am check back for the Hill Climb Series post with all the info you can handle.

Thank you as always to series sponsor ROCK CITY CYCLES!

16 weeks. 14 races. 67 different racers. 6 out of 10 course records broken. So many PBs. Last shot is tomorrow night, 15k on Nanaimo River Road. There will be draw prizes for those who race, including 1 $50 Gift Card courtesy of series sponsor Rock City Cycles.

Pre Reg https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=68778&owner=0

After fifteen races, sixty-two racers and countless volunteer hours, the 2016 Coal City Cycles Criterium series wrapped up on July 26. First and foremost, a huge thank you to Peter McCaffery, Patrick Burnham and Mike McCarney who made the series happen. Another thank you to the course marshals who helped keep both the riders and the local motorists safe. (Pretty sure I saw Tony Adema out on Boxwood every week!) Another thank you to the series sponsor, Coal City Cycles located at 1825 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo.  

As expected, the Senior Men's category was the most hotly contested. Winner was Nick Kupiak (Broad Street Cycles), second was James Sage (MIVA) and third was Mike Sevcov (Cycle Therapy). Both Sage and Sevcov are also winners of the attendance award. Neither of them missing a race - an major achievement in and of itself.

In the Junior Men category, MIVA is thrilled to welcome Ayden Houle (MIVA) to the road racing discipline. Houle is an accomplished former BMX racer who, in a very short time, has shown the he can race just as well on pavement. We're looking forward to seeing how he progresses in the sport as he gains more experience. Houle handily won the Junior Men category. Second was James Grant (TAG). Tied for third were Mark Grant (TAG) and Evan Luksay (Trail Bicycles). Kudos to Luksay who suffered a mountain bike injury in spring but was still eager to get back racing.

With just two racers in the Senior Women category, Janna Gillick (ATAC) took the win with Angelina Landry (MIVA) in second place.

Here's hoping that Tuesday's final crit will be an all-out intra-MIVA battle between Lam, Cameron, Burnham and Zavarise for the coveted fourth place podium spot*. With Nick Kupiak (Broad Street Cycles), Ayden Houle (MIVA) and Janna Gillick (Women's Team ATAC) having locked up their titles and James Sage (MIVA) and Mike Sevcov (Cycle Therapy) having sealed silver and bronze, respectively, there isn't much on the line except for the smug feeling of satisfaction the winner will get post-race. * Note that in this era of "your kid is a snowflake / everyone deserves a ribbon / I need to Instagram my 7th place finish for my sponsors", MIVA maintains that a podium consists of the top three riders.

A perfect night for racing brought out 22 riders to take on the second last race in the Rock City Cycles TT Series for 2016. For the skimmers: Results Series Standings 20k Course Records

Course Records (2) Meghan Gillmore 34:23 (-0:30) Ayden Houle 32:49 (-0:15)

Personal Bests (7) Lorrie Baildham 33:20 Lorraine Hepting 39:06 Wendy Hicks 39:36 Matthys Redelinghuys 31:38 Derek Steel 33:52 Meghan Gillmore 34:23 Ayden Houle 22:49

Janna Gillick led the female category with a good race, only 44 seconds off her course record, this on tired legs after a week of suffering (and placing top 10) at BC SuperWeek on the mainland. Lorrie Baildham, the current series leader tied her personal best in a quick 33:20, followed by Rose Houle in 37:37. Both Cycle Therapy riders Lorraine Hepting and Wendy Hicks set PBs on the final 20k of the year, nice work!

Paul Auton took the male group in 28:28, followed closely by Johan Lindkvist in his first 20k TT (29:34). Patrick Burnham narrowly took 3rd on the podium in 31:30. Matthys Redelinghuys set a massive personal best tonight in 31:38, averaging just a sliver under 38 km/hr! Early this season Matthys rode a respectable 34:17, but his hard work has lowered his PB by 2 1/2 minutes. Great way to close out your TT season! Derek Steel also set a PB tonight knocking 42 seconds off his best 20k time!

Meghan Gillmore set a new Youth Female course record in 34:23, knocking 30 seconds off the CR! To show how far Meghan has come, in 2015 she raced a 42:08 in her opening 20k. Nearly 8 MINUTES is incredible. Ayden Houle came with his game face on ready to ride as he set a new Youth Male course record in 32:49 (averaging 36.6km/hr), knocking 15 seconds off his old record.

The BAR (Best All Around Rider) Standings don't move much, updated after tonight to read:

The Series Standings have fleshed themselves out a bit more as well, with Ayden Houle clinching the Youth Male TT Title, and Abigail Hare taking the Youth Female TT crown. The mens race will have a repeat winner with Paul Auton clinching another trophy. The womens race has yet to be decided, with Lorrie Baildham holding a 106-96 lead over Janna Gillick going into next weeks final race.

Next week is the series finale with a nice easy 15k, hope to see all of you out there. Pre reg here.