COVID-19 Update

As a grass roots club, we are proud of our part in the local cycling community, and the wider community of the mid-island area. Given the current situation with the COVID-19 virus, to protect our community and our members, we are suspending club activities until further notice. 

This includes our Saturday morning gravel rides and our endurance training classes at The Swet Haus. (If you signed up for the classes, you should have already received an email from The Swet Haus with further details.)

However, as the situation is evolving rapidly, we are continuing to plan for the new racing season as normal, and we will be ready to resume as soon as it is safe to do so.

We will keep you all updated as things develop.

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Peter Richards
AGM and Awards Night - Report

Friday night saw club members gathered at Nanaimo Squash Club for our annual general meeting and end-of-season 2019 awards ceremony. We ate pizza and enjoyed what the bar had to offer while we discussed the last year, and what we’re looking forward to in 2020. We also heard about some board members who are stepping down and voted in the board for 2020.

Here’s a brief summary of what changes to expect in the coming year:

  • More group rides! We’ve received feedback that some members would enjoy more friendly rides. We’ll be adding more group riding to the calendar for 2020, but not at the expense of racing.

  • We’re adjusting the focus and format of the Monday night rides to make them friendlier and more accessible to beginners. We’ll still have different speed groups though, so if you’re fast, don’t worry, there’s still a place for you.

  • The MIVA Diva training rides will be open to all genders in 2020 so everyone can enjoy a club ride at the weekend. However, the final Women’s 100 will still be women only.

  • We’re working on an end of year MIVA 100 ride for all members followed by a barbecue or dinner, and awards ceremony. It’ll be a great way to wrap up the season and will bring the awards much closer to the end of the racing season.

Your board members for 2020 are:

  • Patrick Burnham - President

  • Antonius Adema - Treasurer

  • Shepherd Stewart - Administrator

  • Kiyomi Schultz

  • Lee Zavarise

  • Lorrie Baildham

  • Peter Richards

  • Amy Woermke

  • Jesse Manner

  • Brad Temple

  • Peter McCafferey

Phil Birrer and Paul Thompson are stepping down from the board and we thank them and acknowledge all the work that they’ve put into the club.

Awards

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After the AGM was adjourned we moved to the more fun part of the evening; the awards and prizes. No-one left empty-handed and a selection of prizes were handed out, ranging from a set of carbon wheels to some socks.

A few talented individuals also left with one (or two!) of our custom made trophies. These went to:


TT Women: Tamara Zavarise
TT Men: James Sage
Crit Men: Iain Hay
Crit Women: Janna Gillick
Hill Climb Women: Lorrie Baildham
Hill Climb Men: James Sage
Most Improved Men: Lee Zavarise
Most Improved Women: Mary-Jo Mace
Volunteer of the Year: Charlene Stewart/Karen Linterman
Rookie of the Year Medal: Luke Hubner

Peter Richards
Final Arrowsmith Bikes Hill Climb - Nanaimo Lakes Road - Results

Tuesday evening saw the final hill climb of this year’s series. We headed up Nanaimo Lakes Road. Unlike the rest of the series, the final race was run as a mass start. This made for some fun racing for the first two-thirds of the course, but ultimately the gradient proved to be the true adversary, not the other riders, and we all crossed the line with substantial gaps.

Jaymi Dumper was the fastest man with a time of 15:26.474 and Lorrie Baildham was the fastest woman, riding up the hill in 18:15.249. Jaymi and Lorrie both took home bottles of beer courtesy of White Sails Brewing, with Lorrie getting an extra bottle for also being the closest to her estimated time.

This means that James Sage wins the men’s hill climb series with a total of 62 points., while Lorrie Baildham wins the women’s series with a total of 66 points.

Peter Richards
Arrowsmith Bikes Hill Climbs Week 2 - Rounds 3 and 4 - Results

This week we had the third and forth rounds of the Arrowsmith Bikes Hill Climb Series; a shortened Norton on Tuesday and Doumont/Weigles on Thursday. The final round happens next Tuesday, with a mass start event heading up Nanaimo Lakes Road. Click here for details.

Round 3 - Norton

We almost got lucky with the weather for the third round of the hill climb series but the rain started a quarter of an hour out from the start. The riders tackled a shortened course due to a left turn across traffic that wasn’t safe without a volunteer to watch for vehicles. Despite the conditions there was still fun to be had and some strong performances.

Lorrie Baildham was the fastest woman with a time of 4:41.426, while the fastest man was Jaymi Dumper who got up the hill in 3:47.776.

Round 4 - Doumont/Weigles

Thursday saw the Arrowsmith Bikes hill climb series tackling the Doumont/Weigles climb. The course starts out fast with a little downhill but once it starts heading up, it just seems to get harder and harder.

The fastest man was who Jaymi Dumper who made it to the top in 13:06.523. The fastest woman was Janna Gillick in 14:30.094.

Thanks to Patrick for all his hard work this week.

Peter Richards
Arrowsmith Bikes Hill Climb Round 2 - Witchcraft Results

Round two of the hill climb series saw the racers riding up to Witchcraft Lake on the lower slopes of Mount Benson. Again the weather co-operated and it was cool and dry. Eleven riders turned out to test themselves against the hill.

Janna Gillick was the fastest woman with a time of 9:11.995. James sage was the fastest man with a time of 8:38.446.

The next round of the hill climb series is on Tuesday on Norton/Tania just off Hammond Bay Road. Details here.

If you’d like to compare your time to last year, those results can be found here. (I got slower.)

Coming up this weekend:

The Comox Valley Cycle Club is hosting the Tsolum Road Race 2019. The race is split into A (70km), B (50km) and C (30km) categories. It’d be great to see a few club members up there. For more info click here.

Peter Richards