While the temperature dipped we lucked out as the dark clouds and rain stayed away for the MIVA/RCC 20K TT tonight.  Like an espisode of Stranger Things and the upside down we switched things up and ran the event "backwards" starting and ending at the far end near the yellow gate.  Unfortunately I think the looming rain kept a few riders away but a total of 12 hardy racers came out to try and beat their 20K times.

For the Men 

James Sage hammered out a  time of 28:50 followed by Devon Norris in 31:27 and Stephen Mohan in 32:32

For the Women 

Lorrie Baildham was first with a time of 34:18, followed by Jamie Ollson in 36:45 and Erin Biddlecomb in 40:36

Thanks to Steve Ollson who marshalled the turn around and Patrick for course setup and timing!

Check out the full results here: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=139774

A small (by this years standards) turn out of 17 racers for tonights 15km time trial.  The weather didn't look promising as I could see rain around the top and back of Mount Benson before heading out to the start.  But as they say if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes.  As riders started to arrive and warm up the sun came out and the road dried up.  Not bad considering Gary Argyle who showed up at five thirty reported getting soaked at the turn around during his pre-ride/warm up. A steady headwind slowed most riders on the way out to the turn tonight.  Fortunately though it remained steady and was a handy tailwind to balance the ride out.  Most riders though posted average or slightly slower than usual times as they burned more matches on the way out than usual.

Full Results are here

Thanks to Steve for manning the turn around, Matt for calling the start list and Jesse for holding at the start.

While you might blame the chance of rain for the small turnout it's more likely the plethora of events surrounding this week that has people at home relaxing.  Most notably the Robert Cameron Law Series this weekend in Victoria which is also the Canadian Nationals Masters championship race.

Good Luck to all our members racing this weekend.

Next weeks time trial will be 20km **Run Backwards**

That's right.  We will be starting at the far end of Nanaimo River road and turning around where we normally start.  Most of our regulars are very familiar with this course, with all its little or big climbs and know how to pace themselves accordingly.  This is going to be a chance to shake up the pace and see if putting the climb closer to the start finish will shake up the standings

A huge turnout of 21 ladies today to join in the Miva Diva Saturday Group Ride.  Along with a lot of great familiar faces came some new ladies to try out the group.  The ride was a true success. Each week we will continue to offer a hill climb workout along with a Saturday NO DROP group ride until the Miva Diva 100 ride Sunday, July 22nd. If you or anyone you may know are interested in coming out, we offer one free ride to try it out before you commit to joining the club.  All of the activities are included in your MIVA Membership of $20!

Shout out and thanks to Leydy a powerhouse in all aspects, for fixing a flat in 2.0!  The Crew were all very communicative on the ride calling out actions and breaks in the road.

Check out the Miva Diva's Women's Training Page HERE for details of rides and workouts.

Awesome Day!

MIVA held the 2^nd  interclub challenge last night and it was epic!  Weather was near perfect for the 20K event on Nanaimo River Road.  However sometimes stuff (shit) just happens and you do your best to deal with it.  Our timing system had a glitch last night so we could not give any results after the race.  😞  But have no fear Patrick had done some major sleuthing in strava and other methods to tabulate the results of lastnight.  Thanks Patrick!  

For the men PB's all around - James Sage rocked the 20K in 28:22 followed quickly by Sean Lunny in 29:30 and Stephen Mohan in 31:26

For the women – Janna Gillick dominated with 31:14 , in 2nd with a PB for Lorrie Baildham in 33:11 and in 3^rd  by Angelina Landry making her debut in the TT with a very FAST 33:38

10 Personal Bests

Lee Zavarise

Menno Jognsma

Eric Byres

Fabian Poulin

James Sage

Sean Lunny

Stephen Mohan

Lorrie Baildham

Jamie Ollsen

Wendy Hicks

Full results for the 20k here:

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=137932

Team scores here:

https://www.webscorer.com/teamresult?raceid=137932

Current series standings results here:

https://www.webscorer.com/seriesresult?seriesid=136757

Thank you to our volunteers Steve Ollsen for doing the turn around and Deb Epps for sending off the riders.

See you next week for the 15K on NRR

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.