Cycling season is well underway with much activity given the incredible cycling weather we are having. Outside of the busy club event calendar, many events on weekends have taken place such as the Cowichan Crusher and recently the Belgium Waffle Ride. Members will also be participating in future non club events such as the Cowichan Populaire June 10th and Forbidden Gravel in Cumberland June 17th. We live in an area with many cycling distraction, so we can expect participation in our events to be a little unpredictable over the next few months. Also some members, apparently, take holidays! and when school is out there could be additional family commitments.
To accomodate this uncertainty some events may be canceled and some will require an impromptu leader to step forward, possibly on the spot, such as at the start of a Sunday Social Ride or a Monday Night Development Ride. Most of us are very familiar with the ride formats so it shouldn't be a problem. Kudos to those who have already stepped up. If your event is not canceled and you are the only one to show up, that is very unfortunate and hopefully will rarely happen. Not a good thing.
This coming weekend June 3-4 seems to have an absence of big events?, so maybe we will have a large turnout for the Sunday Social Ride on June 4th. Planned is a civilized 78km ride around Nanoose and parts of hilly Nanaimo. And for you gravel riders the Coal City Cycle Gravel Group Ride will be heading out Saturday June 3rd from the end of Nanaimo Rider Road at 9am.
Please note: Lantzville Foothills Hill Climb on Tuesday May 30th is Canceled.
Sunday Social Ride Plans.
All the information for the season is now in the calendar including ride plans for the Sunday Social Group Rides.
Note: On the club home page https://midislandvelo.ca/ an UPCOMING EVENTS queue conveniently lists approaching events with their calendar entry where you will find location and start times.
On a cell phone you may have to scroll past the LATEST NEWS to find the UPCOMING EVENTS section.
Ride Leaders Wanted.
The pool of members signed up as potential ride leaders is a bit small. Currently there are no formal qualifications to be a ride leader, but reasonable fitness and group riding experience is essential. If this is something you might want to try, even just once, talk to a current ride leader at an event else mention your interest on the Discord channel of the event you are interested in leading.
Monday Night Development Ride
Location: 124 Westwood Rd
(Intersection of Westwood Rd and East Wellington)
Start: April 24 at 6:30pm
Duration: till 8pm roughly
Keep your fingers crossed that the weather cooperates for the Monday Night Development Ride. We seem to be on the cusp of warmer drier weather.
Again, we will post a cancellation notice at least an hour ahead, if need be.
We generally break up the participants into separate groups based on fitness and experience. The length of the ride varies each week and we rarely ride the whole length as outlined on the calendar, maybe later in the year. This MIVA activity is for all levels of cycling skill and fitness.
Note: This is a MIVA activity for MIVA members
If you aren't yet a MIVA member you can come try out up to 2 rides with signed waivers.
2018 Cycing BC Waiver Final.pdf
2020 Club Waiver.pdf
Location: Rock City Cycles
Start: April 23rd at 9am
Duration: 9am - 11am (ish)
You have probably just washed off your bike after today's Spring Challenge and are ready for another morning ride. This Sunday's weather might cooperate but the forecasts have been very fickle this spring. If weather cancellation is required a notice should be out at least an hour before the event starts.
The route for B and C is 34 figure 8 to NLR. The A group have their own plans that may include a ride out to the end of the pavement on Nanaimo River Rd.
We are using ridewithgps for managing our routes. From the site you can dowwnload a “.fit” file of your route which encodes more navigation information then a GPX file such as turn by turn directions. A “.fit” file is supported by most bike computers.
Note: This is a MIVA club ride for MIVA members.
50k riders 2022
That time of year is nearing where we test our legs with the Spring Challenge: Saturday April 22! As usual, there is a 50km and 100km route to choose from starting and finishing at Maffeo Sutton Park in Nanaimo, BC.
Start times can vary depending on your anticipated ride time. Goal to be finished is between 12-12:30pm, recommended 8am for 100km and 9:30am for the 50km. Sign up is available day of between 7:30am and 8am and must be a MIVA member with a valid Cycling BC license to ride. Sign in is on webscorer: https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=310151
Routes will be the same as last year.
50k: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42408672
100k:: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/42408673
Riders can choose to start at the suggested start times and group up with others starting at the same time, or alternately can choose to start earlier or later depending on their preference. It's not a very formal ride, just come on out, and afterwards folks can choose to head over to White Sails (which does have indoor bike parking) to socialize.
We encourage everyone to have a copy of the route on them, and judging by the forecast, dress for the weather!
Addendum:
Traditionally the Spring Challenge goes ahead regardless of weather. With rain in the forecast participants might be limited to a few hardy fender clad warriors, so do come prepared to be self sufficient.
For those who brave the elements tomorrow post your stories and pictures under Discord’s spring-challenge to get all the glory!
For the indoor warriors among us, check out the indoor channel.