EVENTS
We are the backbone of the road racing scene in Vancouver. We host the Spring Series, the Tuesday Nighters and the Seymour Challenge.
Let's all do our part and follow health guidelines so that we can race in 2021. And...in case you were wondering...we are hatching plans for racing this season. Check back here. Psst..be sure to SAVE THE DATE for AUGUST 14.
EV SPRING SEGMENT CHALLENGE
“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking” – Arthur Conan Doyle
With the second year of COVID restrictions upon us we're kicking off an EV Segment Challenge, this time in the format of an Individual Time Trial Series. Course routes are going to be published every week with timing handled by Strava, and we're expecting 7+ weeks. The first ITT will be published for this Monday, March 22nd through Sunday March 28th.
Who is this open to?
Times will be tracked for anyone in the EV club. It's basically an excuse to get out and ride your bike fast, and try to go faster. Get out there and beat the clock, then have some friendly bragging and/or excuses afterwards.
When and how do I participate? How do I know how I did compared to anyone else?
Times will be counted for the week the segment is active (starting Monday and ending Sunday). You can have as many tries at a segment as you like, but only your PR for the week will be counted. At the end of the week, all segment completions will be scraped from Strava and stored and published to maintain a leaderboard, and we'll share that as it moves along. Make sure your time is uploaded by 9pm on Sunday.
Do I need to be part of the EV Strava Club? How do I join?
Being a part of the Escape Velocity Strava Club (https://www.strava.com/clubs/escape-velocity) will make it simpler to compare yourself vs others, but it is not required. If you want to join the club, simply visit the link above and request to join. Only current club members will be accepted.
What are the categories? Will there be prizes?
While we're not going to maintain Category levels in the standings, Strava will split off times based on age-group, gender, and weight, so we'll use that. Prizes are expected both for participation and performance.
Are there any rules?
No drafting, and no group riding. No sticky bottles. No e-bikes. Merckx style, so no TT bikes or aero bars - a long-tail aero helmet is actually allowed BUT you have to submit a selfie so we can giggle. Keep mindful of COVID restrictions. Obey all traffic laws, safety first. And lastly, represent the club well in your behaviour.
What if I have a gripe with my results?
If there's some issue with your Strava segment time then... go do it again 😄 If you aren't listed in the results once they're published after the week is up, get in touch with us via the Contact section of the site and include a link to your publicly accessible segment time and it will be included. If you really want your Strava result from your Shaw Mobi to show up but it's not your PR, get in touch and it will be included.
Week 7, May 3rd to May 9th - "Cypress: Shed to 2nd Switchback"
Link to segment: https://www.strava.com/segments/620017
"Just enough climbing to seriously put you in a dark place." - some guy named Al
Segment begins just past the fire-warning sign at the base of Cypress (https://goo.gl/maps/rbWJPvHkAf4AWVAYA)
Climb
Proceed past the First Lookout viewpoint that you can't enjoy
Climb
Segment ends at the start of the radius of second switchback
Week 6 Results - 4th Ave NW Marine Loop
EV headed to Jericho beach. Some great power numbers were posted, a KOM was smashed (twice), cross-bikes were run, pollen was breathed, and new wheels were flogged.
Extra points were promised for participating in the upcoming terrible weather, which ended up being beautiful, so maybe we should threaten that more often. Extra 🤙 to those of you outside the club making efforts as well.
Onto the next one!
Series Standings - General Classification
Series standings based on cumulative time
Riders are ranked here based on total cumulative time. To participate (fairly), riders shouldn't miss more than two weeks, and if they do, any missed weeks will be given an arbitrarily silly time. Currently that silly time is the lowest-observed-time + 1 second (noted in bold)
Series Standings - Points
Series standings based on points
Riders are ordered here based on total points.
Points are given for first (3), second (2), and third (1). Participation points are also awarded (1).
Points are also given to each Age Group and Weight Bracket and can be seen at the buttons below.
Week 5 Results - Horseshoe Bay nonstop
Week 5 saw the beginning of the rain and limited time to get a decent run in, with construction and buses encountered on more than one of the attempts. Alex crushed it this week and a man of mystery with a private entry steals second from Laurence. Abriel got his first dig into the series with a solid run as well.
Onto the next one!
Week 4 Results - River Road ++
Week 4 had some awesome stories. EV's women went out and crushed it, with Maria taking a QOM and 2nd on the segment during her effort, then Be A taking the segment QOM by minutes, and Sandra grabbing multiple QOMs and stealing 2nd overall on the final Saturday. Sean somehow posted a ride in the future and won't get credit until May. Al gets a nod for having a bike too shiny to turn around in the gravel (or possibly a GPS issue), and takes a penalty for a shortcut. And Sharath and Jomar posted identical times for 9th position. As always, monster efforts by the front group.
0.1 points were awarded to anyone who set a PR by running an extra km while already gassed, and a ton of people made the effort. Shout-outs to everyone for a great day on the bike.
Onto the next one!
Week 3 Results - SFU Rewards
This week saw trophy hardware flying, with Alex taking 2nd overall, Laurence 3rd, Teru 4th, Blake 5th, Sean 7th, and Lee 10th overall on their attempts. The times could have been even faster if it weren't for the 45kph rule through the roundabout, but rather than DQ the whole field, anyone in the top-10 who went over 110% took a 5second penalty. Jomar and Sharath swapped and tied up their weight category as a result.
For the mini-challenge, Teru took both the climbs for a whopping, totally worthwhile 0.1 points each. A super strong day on the bike.
"BBY Mtn - Bus Stop to Road Split" - https://www.strava.com/segments/12741594
"Burnaby Mountain - Broadway to University" - https://www.strava.com/segments/613638
Full credit to Al T, one of EV's ride leaders for this week's course running around SFU, as this was definitely the most fun and technical segment to date. Riders were climbing, gasping through the false flat, and testing themselves on the downhill running full gas. Thanks Al.
Awesome results from everyone who gave it a go. Onto the next one!
Week 2 Results - Iona Daytona
Laurence dominated for a second week in a row with a flyer at over 41kmh, posting power numbers to back it up. Torin threw up second fastest, notably after finishing a set of intervals before attempting a run. Not to be outdone, Al threw down 4x Iona Daytona's back to back for his effort. Heartbreaking pictures of Teru's double punctures hit the group chat, but a friendly stranger (thank you YVR cycling community!) was able to get him going. Dickson didn't get lost. Sandra casually snuck one in as part of a huge 120+km loop. And George M at 71years old, possibly riding a Shiv brought it home.
Week 1 Results - Blanca Pants
EV battles the spring winds
A solid start with plenty of participants. Laurence and Torin broke into the top 10 all-time on their runs, and new member Teru has a very healthy heart (and legs). Scott promised to give it a shot on a commuter with paniers, but never did - hopefully he gives it a go next week. Someone rode it on a gravel bike. Dickson got lost, but managed to post a solid time. And there were at least 3 punctures. Onto the next one!
