A hot Tuesday evening following a long weekend.  I wasn't really expecting much of a turnout.  I was pleasantly surprised when we had 16 riders show up to race.  The bunch was made up of mostly our core racers.  Everyone knew everyone else and that made this one of the most interesting and exciting races to watch so far.

The race was set at 35 laps with one prime and after two neutral laps to help ease Brodie back into racing the pace picked up sharply.  On Lap 5 Lee who was out with a plan for a solid workout went off the front.  Normally not a threat most of the time a move like this would have been ignored, but not everyone knew Lees plan so a couple of riders went with him and a small break formed which was quickly pulled back in.

On Lap ten the bell was rung for the Prime.  It was good timing for James who appeared to be standing up to attack just as I raised the horn.  He easily took the sprint then carried on his attack continuing to pull away from the pack for another lap before Vinko, Kevin and Laz managed to bridge the gap and catch him.  The rest of the pack wasn't in the mood to let a breakaway happen and the four were back in the bunch with in another lap.

Several more attempts to break away were made over the next 15 laps with all being caught in short order.  Everything seemed to settle down around lap 28 with riders planning to set themselves up for the final sprint.  The decisive move came with three laps to go when Eric Rush attacked building a 13 second lead with two to go and extending his lead to 15 seconds before the last lap.  The pack chased hard but were unable to close the distance giving Eric his first win of the night.

I can't say it enough but huge thanks to our volunteers who came out to stand on the corners and keep the course clear for our riders. Graham, Peter, Autumn, Erin and Lesley have all been entered into the draw for some sweet prizing sourced out with the help of our sponsors Coal City, Rock City and Arrowsmith.

Don't forget to shoulder check when attacking.  No point in burning all your matches if the pack is only half a wheel behind.

MIVA held its toughest time trial to date last night, the 40K TT.  A total of 19 racers came out for this gruelling race against the clock.   Everyone was "PUMPED" 

A lot of AMAZING results!

For the women a NEW COURSE RECORD

Gillian Ellsay broke the Women's 40K record with a blistering time of 1:00:22

Janna Gillick started her TT season with a bang and a sweet PB 1:03:03

Coming in 3rd was Lorrie Baildham 1:07:38

Shout out to Tamara Zavarise for doing her first 40K TT  you rocked it!

Wendy Hicks 2nd 20Kwas a mere 4.6 seconds slower than the first 20k and she finished within 6 seconds of her predicted time.

For the men:

Fasted man of the night was Nigel Ellsay from the Rally Cycling Team in 53:22 - a whopping 44.97km/hr.  In 2nd James Sage was on fire setting a new PB  59:03 followed by Devon Norris hammering his personal best of 1:03:46

Other PB's

Juan set a personal best time of 1:04:54.6

Lee set a personal best time of 1:08:39.9

Hats off to Gary Argyles for making his first MIVA TT debut, wahoo!

Big thanks to the volunteers:

Steve Ollson

Richard Ellsay

Kelly Ellsay

Last nights full results can be found HERE

Series Standings can be found HERE

40KM TT records for the last two year can be found HERE

Thanks to Patrick for making the TT's run so smooth!!

p.s and thank you Lorrie for the write up!

 

17 riders hit the course tonight for 35 laps of fun.  The attacks were steady right from the beginning with Janna and Lazarus stretching the pack out as soon as the first two neutral laps were done.  From there on out the pace was fast with almost every rider attacking at one point or another.  Four laps in MIVA regular Iain Hay rolled up to the finish line with a puncture, fortunately Shep had a tube and was able to get him back up and running in only two and a half laps.

On the 15th lap the horn was sounded for the first Prime of the night.  Nathan Walsh from Comox took it handily.  The second prime came towards the end of the race with only 12 laps to go.  The lead bunch who had been starting to form a breakaway let Kevin Park take this one, saving themselves for the end of the race.

There were a couple more attempts at a break from there on out but the pack wasn't letting anything get away so late in the race. At four laps to go the pace picked up sharply over 40km/h as they lined up for the final sprint.  In the end it was Nathan Walsh taking the win over Connor McGrady.

Full Results Here

Our next race is this Thursday on Nanaimo River Road for a 40km time trial.  Pre Register here with your estimated time to help build the start list

https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=136446

Also for those interested the registration is now open for the VCL Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit race taking place on June 9.  This is a great venue and a chance to race on a closed course with no traffic.

More information Here

Registration Here

There was a general consensus after tonights MIVA/Rock City Cycles 15K TT, held out in Errington and that was, "Grafton Road is not FLAT!!" The slight difference in grade didn't let up for any type of reprieve, for the climbers they wished for more climbing and for the power crew they wished for more downhills. Teamed up with the Arrowsmith Bike Club, MIVA hosted the first interclub challenge at the new venue.  The excitement was in the air as teams for the challenge were formed.  A total of 28 racers battled the headwind out to the turnaround.  Coming back the pace was fast and furious.  It was amazing to see so many racers that traveled the distance to try out this new course.  All the way from Duncan we had the Cycle Therapy Team; Wendy Hicks, Doug Merrick, and Stephen Mohan. Way to represent!

James Sage was the fastest man out there coming in with a blistering time of 21:09, HOLD THE PHONE, that is a crazy 42.55kph.....  AND it was windy....Peter Mogg came in at 21:51 at 41.19kph, inching out Andrew Speed by less than a second at 21:52, 41.16kph.  These guys are frieking FAST and on FIRE!!!

For the women, an incredibly close battle between 2 besties and a mere .4 seconds. Did you read that, POINT FOUR SECONDS!  Lorrie Baildham at 24:59.0, 36.02kph and Kiyomi Schulz at 24:59.4, 36.01kph.  POINT ZERO TWO OF A KILOMETERs difference, next step those swimming cap booties on my shoes!!   Following in 3rd place with a speedy time and her first TT with MIVA was Christine Almond (the Boston Marathoner), coming in at 25:23, 35.46kph!  Girl, you FLY!!!

For full individual results headHERE

Results for the team challenge and bragging rights for the night are as follows:

1. Rock City Cycles
2. 2 Guys and 1 Girl
3. MIVA
4. Cinnabar
5. Cycle Therapy
6. Palamino
7. Red Lanterns

Next InterClub TT, May 24th on Nanaimo River Road.

For the full team results, click HERE

Big shout out to all the volunteers tonight!!

A lot of volunteers from the Arrowsmith bike club where out and it was great to see Marshalls at each intersection and at the turnaround.  And a huge thank you to Arrowsmith for marking the potholes on the road, you are bike-savers.

Roy Kregosky, James Osten, Jason Davies, Paul Connor, Mike Press, Lee Zavarise, Peter McCaffrey, and Steve Ollson (insert emoji prayer hands here).

The next Grafton TT is June 21st and next weeks TT is the grueling 40km up at NRR, 7pm start, (insert green puking face emoji here).  Just remember, with every race you are one day stronger and one day fitter!

Signing off,

KS.

PS.  It was great to see you, Patrick, out there racing tonight AND on your single speed!  You are HARDCORE! 

 

The skies were threatening tonight but the rain held off for the third Coal City Crit. The pace was quick and the pack was smooth. There was some great team work by Riverway Dental Racing when Kevin Park went on a flyer at lap 15, the bell rung for the prime on lap 16 and the pack let him go take it. But when it came down to the line Kevin still took the win of the night. It was a photo finish, that you can see HERE. Ian Hay was just a half a wheel behind that gave him 2nd. Peter Mogg (3rd), James Sage(4th) and Nathan Walsh(5th) were also in the breakaway group at the line.

Shout out to Amanda McRae for making it over from Tofino for the Crit tonight, glad you found us.

Tonight the volleys really pulled through, a big thank you to Shep for keeping an eye on that. At 4:30 there was the possibility we would have had to cancel the race tonight because of the lack of volunteers. The BOD rallied Miva members and family members and pulled through with more than enough volly's for the night. Much gratitude to Graeme Copp, Peter McCaffery, Jim Brown, Shep Stewart, Lee Zavarise and Dwayne Schulz. And Mr. Burnham the night wouldn't have happened with out you!

See the full results HERE

Until next week.

✌️