A perfect night for a bike race.  Tonight we had 16 riders take the line for a 40 lap points Crit.  With sprints and points every 5 laps Norms suggestion of 39 neutral laps was quickly forgotten as he shot off the front on lap 3.  The pack quickly reeled him in and lined up for the first sprint which was taken by James sage followed by John Lam with the junior rider from Comox, Connor McGrady, taking the third spot. Chris James and John would cover the majority of the remaining sprints making it a close race.

The lap 20 sprint was neutralized as a rider crashed in the top corner one lap before and the racers sat up to make sure he was ok.

17 pts James Sage

16pts Jon Lam

11pts Chris Cameron

4pts Kevin Park

3pts Nate Walsh

2pts Iain Hay

1pt Connor McGrady

Wade Luksay

Kevin Park

Norm Thibault

Brett Whitehead

Phill Birrer

Lee Zavarise

Larry Dicker

Maxime Therrien

Patrick Burnham

Mark Wieler

Lap times can be found here

We also had Eric Byres one of our long time club members come out tonight with his grand daughter Aleah who was selling home made cinnamon buns to raise fund for the Kids International Development Society , the funds raised are going to purchase low cost bicycles for Cambodian children so they can attend school.

Next week will be our final Crit of the season.  Following the race there will be a social at Whitesails.  As always everyone is more than welcome to come watch and cheer.

As always these races simply couldn't happen without the help of our volunteers.  All of whom have been entered into a draw for not one but two sets of shiny new wheels.  The second set of wheels added to our prize pool comes courtesy of Coal City Cycles and is a Cross ready set of disc brake Vision Wheels.

Monday - Group ride from NIC @ 6pm. Open to all levels - come out and ride with a great group of people.Tuesday - Crit Race - the second last one in the series. Race time is 7pm. Thursday - 15k time trial on Nanaimo River Road starting at 7pm. Only 2 more left in our series. Sign up below. Sunday - MIVA DIVA 100k - we have 23 signed up already! But there is lots more room so sign up ladies. See below. MIVA event sign up: https://www.webscorer.com/miva?pg=register

Who - Over 10,000 women around the world, including the women of MIVA! (See #womens100 hashtag on social media) When - The ride will take place on Sunday, July 23, 2017. Start times will vary: 8:00AM (easy), 8:30AM (moderate) and 9AM (fast).

What - The Rapha Women’s 100 is a global challenge inviting female cyclists around the world to ride 100 km or more on the same day. It's not a race. On this day, MIVA will be hosting a female-only group ride in Nanaimo called the "MIVA Women's 100"

Where - Approximate route will be the MIVA Spring Challenge (South) route, but a final route map will be available prior to the event.

Why - Riding bikes is fun. Plus the Rapha100 would provide a goal for riders to work towards together. Having a local option means less travel time for those with busy schedules.

How - Riders would be expected to sign up in advance. A waiver, similar to the Monday night rides, will be required for NON Miva members, so everyone is welcome to ride! https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=105070

The group would be split into 3, with each subgroup having an ambassador assigned. Ambassadors will be seasoned cyclists familiar with the route, safety considerations and will be prepared to ensure that the ride proceeds in a "no-drop" format.

Support, including snacks, water, washrooms could be provided at the mid-point. Post-ride social will be held White Sails Brewing, swag bags and prizes for those that ride!

For more information, please feel free to contact Janna Gillick (jannag@gmail.com) or Kiyomi Schulz

The fight for second place is going to be a tight one as only five points separate the next five riders in the standings.  With four races left and double points in the final it's possible for these five to work together and shut down James Sage who has been great form and willingness to suffer at the front of the pack this season.

We are still looking for volunteers to come out and marshall the corners tonight.  If you're available please let us know by signing up online here

We've got some pretty sweet draw prizes lined up and everyone who volunteers is entered every time they come out, so lend a hand, stack your chances and have some fun watching some exciting local racing.

There is no race next week.  We'll be back on July 11th

While many of the riders were thankful it wasn't another points crit, the headwind coming down the finishing straight over the finish line had me wishing otherwise. It was a fast race tonight with riders taking advantage of the tailwind up the back straight to push the pace into the top corner on Meredith and Tulsa before the headwind forced the pack into a paceline over the line.  Ten laps into the race just as promised by Phil the was sounded for the first prime.  James Sage must have been the only one who remembered Phils comment and attacked into the wind well before the finish line and before the siren.  The pack seemed caught off guard by this and didn't form a solid chase until they hit the back straight where James was able to keep his lead with the tail wind.  Sean Lunney managed to close the gap and from there the two of them formed a break away slowly taking time out of the pack and managing to lap the field before the end of the race.

Full results and Lap times here

Thank you to our volunteers tonight who have all been entered into our draw prize for a set of Easton EC90 wheels.