June 20 - Saturday Ride Report - The Panorama that wasn't
A bit of a different group today's ride, with the heavy hitters taking their testicles of metal over to Squamish for the Test of Metal or beginning their taper for Nationals the weekend upcoming. The ride itself was a bit different too, but I'm not sure how exactly. It had to be different though right? Because there was no Panorama to separate the wheat from the chaff? A two car pileup of tennis fans near the rec center meant that the reasonably sized group had to stop and wait to be waved through, and subsequently a prudent voice among us suggested that things be kept together up the remainder of the incline. Once we were safely clear of traffic, I launched an attack just past John Deane, and was joined by Danick and ARuss. I really was a bag of hammers when it came time for me to pull through, and because of my subpar pull the three of us were reigned in by the hard charging group. As we rolled past the Prairie Inn, it was clear that there were plenty of fresh legs in the group. No Panorama kicker has that effect.
The pace through Stelly's reflected the fresh legs of the riders in the group, although there were decidedly fewer riders taking their turns at the front through the pre-Observatory rollers. Cagey souls. A series of quickly brought back modest separations occurred between the observatory and the lead-in to the spring, with ARuss and Danick consistently animating proceedings. A dangerous move by Danick at Camosun-Interurban caused a great deal of anxiety, but a guy with sideburns and cool Richard Sachs socks made the bridge, and the group was one in preparation for the sprint. Although I wasn't thinking it at the time, by the time of writing it is clear to me that my early jump with Danick on my wheel was an act of pure selflessness. Pretty sure the young 'pup took the sprint, and with it some serious confidence heading into Nationals.
Song in my head the whole time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnBjwrRmo2U
OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Moderator:vicwheelers
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Here's my GoPro for today's OBB A Interurban. Dannick for the UCI points.
https://vimeo.com/131311550
https://vimeo.com/131311550
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Nice footage MD. You got me with the bike throw.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
27/6/15
The hottest Saturday of the year saw two groups depart OBB. With nationals and the fondo falling on the same day there was considerably less fire power making it out but anyone thinking this day would be easy would be sorely mistaken (or dropped).
Please keep in mind that our roll out to Sidney is a warm up. Be mindful of the group and if you feel the need to "open it up", don't.
Lands End was spicy with several strong digs by several tri guys. It's been good to have these legs out as of late as they're fit and looking to go quick. Craig's Hill saw Geoff and ARuss open a good gap that forced me to eventually close. They were determined to make me work (thanks for the fitness gains fellas) and I was happy to do some work on a flatter road. Panarama was steady with a nice acceleration over the crest. And you know if I describe it as "nice" I really mean "terrible". We kept the paceline tight through Saanichton until the Red Barn Rollers. Brent McMahon put in the first dig followed by Geoff at the Observatory. Brent and ARuss countered and coming out of the corner I bridged up to them. The 3 of us kept a small gap but were soon joined by the pack. A few of the lads were sitting on so in order to encourage some participation I flicked them through. Surprise, surprise, no takers. So I patiently steadied up and let a sizeable gap grow. Just as I thought it was a good enough distance I bridged up in hopes of trimming the fat. No such luck. Brent led ARuss and I out until Geoff came around to take us in to the final kicker. I got swarmed near the top by 2 or 3 guys.
All in all a fantastic ride. Always a pleasure guys.
The hottest Saturday of the year saw two groups depart OBB. With nationals and the fondo falling on the same day there was considerably less fire power making it out but anyone thinking this day would be easy would be sorely mistaken (or dropped).
Please keep in mind that our roll out to Sidney is a warm up. Be mindful of the group and if you feel the need to "open it up", don't.
Lands End was spicy with several strong digs by several tri guys. It's been good to have these legs out as of late as they're fit and looking to go quick. Craig's Hill saw Geoff and ARuss open a good gap that forced me to eventually close. They were determined to make me work (thanks for the fitness gains fellas) and I was happy to do some work on a flatter road. Panarama was steady with a nice acceleration over the crest. And you know if I describe it as "nice" I really mean "terrible". We kept the paceline tight through Saanichton until the Red Barn Rollers. Brent McMahon put in the first dig followed by Geoff at the Observatory. Brent and ARuss countered and coming out of the corner I bridged up to them. The 3 of us kept a small gap but were soon joined by the pack. A few of the lads were sitting on so in order to encourage some participation I flicked them through. Surprise, surprise, no takers. So I patiently steadied up and let a sizeable gap grow. Just as I thought it was a good enough distance I bridged up in hopes of trimming the fat. No such luck. Brent led ARuss and I out until Geoff came around to take us in to the final kicker. I got swarmed near the top by 2 or 3 guys.
All in all a fantastic ride. Always a pleasure guys.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
The latest iteration of the Oak Bay ride saw lots of hungry riders. I could tell from the ride out to Sidney that souls were on the menu and riders were nervous that theirs wouldn't remain intact by the finish. Riders did a good job of staying two abreast up to the lights by the ferries, but then I rewarded them for it by a nice Ron Benskin style attack just past the lights on Landsend Rd. It took a bit for riders to find their rhythm and roll smoothly through the paceline, but once they did the group started to pick up speed. Trev and Geoff made a hard push over the highest point on landsend just before the long left hander, and I bridged up to them to make a group of 4-5 dudes. The group caught us just before the winery descent, and no one wanted to really push it going up to Craig's hill. As the group made the turn onto Craig's hill however, I told Trev I wanted to smash it, and I followed fast wheels as they accelerated for the first half of the climb. On the second half I made a hard push which I thought would string out the group, but over the top I had a small gap which was closed before the descent.
Coming into the airport it seemed like a few riders were tacked on the back, but as we came rolling up Panorama it was ARuss and Matt Sharpe setting a steady tempo on the front. Geoff lit it up over the Panorama kick, and I pushed by him heading across the flat stretch over the top. Down into Saanichton it was status quo with a little light traffic, but the group picked up speed and resumed their 45km/hr speed heading down Wallace.
There were no real attacks heading up past Red Barn, but Geoff and ARuss got a bit of a gap heading past Prospect Lake Rd, which I closed on the first small climb up to the Observatory. Rolling into Interurban saw the group stay tight until TMack launched just before Camosun, which was chased down by Geoff and a couple others. Trev's gap was small at the hump before the finish, and Ian (I think?... bearded dude on the Specialized) used a massive draft to launch himself by the group with 250m to go. I managed to find a gap between riders and clawed him back, just able to make the pass with 50m to go.
Finish order is as follows:
1. Tom
2. Doesn't matter
3. Doesn't matter
4. Doesn't matter
5. Doesn't matter
A small group rolled the waterfront home and proceeded to annoy local pedestrians and drivers as we buzzed baby carriages, gave the finger to motorists, and passed cars on a double yellow line. I've been trying to make the 'shit cyclists of Victoria' facebook page ever since I got back into town, but no luck. I'm thinking I'll just need to blatantly punch someone in the face when I see them driving with a dashboard camera.
Coming into the airport it seemed like a few riders were tacked on the back, but as we came rolling up Panorama it was ARuss and Matt Sharpe setting a steady tempo on the front. Geoff lit it up over the Panorama kick, and I pushed by him heading across the flat stretch over the top. Down into Saanichton it was status quo with a little light traffic, but the group picked up speed and resumed their 45km/hr speed heading down Wallace.
There were no real attacks heading up past Red Barn, but Geoff and ARuss got a bit of a gap heading past Prospect Lake Rd, which I closed on the first small climb up to the Observatory. Rolling into Interurban saw the group stay tight until TMack launched just before Camosun, which was chased down by Geoff and a couple others. Trev's gap was small at the hump before the finish, and Ian (I think?... bearded dude on the Specialized) used a massive draft to launch himself by the group with 250m to go. I managed to find a gap between riders and clawed him back, just able to make the pass with 50m to go.
Finish order is as follows:
1. Tom
2. Doesn't matter
3. Doesn't matter
4. Doesn't matter
5. Doesn't matter
A small group rolled the waterfront home and proceeded to annoy local pedestrians and drivers as we buzzed baby carriages, gave the finger to motorists, and passed cars on a double yellow line. I've been trying to make the 'shit cyclists of Victoria' facebook page ever since I got back into town, but no luck. I'm thinking I'll just need to blatantly punch someone in the face when I see them driving with a dashboard camera.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Here's July 18th Saturday OBB A group on interurban...in lieu of a ride report. something like a picture's worth a thousand words...
https://vimeo.com/134425428
https://vimeo.com/134425428
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Rad.
Curtis sucked a ton of wheel there and then jumped in the sprint. You gotta pay to play.
Curtis sucked a ton of wheel there and then jumped in the sprint. You gotta pay to play.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
Today's ride was a kinder, more gentle version of the notoriously fast, vicious sufferfest that is the OBB Saturday ride. No big moves, a steady pace with with a decent sized group sticking together until the sprint finish on Interurban. This, if nothing else, speaks to what tomorrow's Windsor Park will bring - pain, suffering and folks out to crush souls. There are folks with some incredible late season form - especially on the Wheelers with the results showing. ARuss finishing a UCI race, Geoff setting a course record on Mount Doug, and Matt Sharpe joining in to aid in doling out pain.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
August 8, 2015
Quite the eclectic group of riders made revolutions around the Saanich peninsula today on another edition of the Wheelers Saturday ride. Internationals from NZ and USA joined us today on the ritual that takes us through some of the most beautiful roads around. After departing the Tulista rest stop things picked up quickly on Lands End with Matt and James taking a flyer on the first rise. Red Truck Trevor set tempo on the front to do most of the reeling, leaving Kirsten to finish them off. Wicked to see some fast females out, burning opposite gender thighs.
Get Some and Craig's Hill saw a few digs but things regrouped on the run-in to Pat Bay. Once on the exposed plains of YYJ came into view cross winds naturally distributed the work load on the col approach. Having not seen much of Red Truck Jay through the first fast portion of the ride you could feel something was about to hatch. Intelligently, he kicked just before the usual spot catching several off-guard and then proceeded to lay down Megawatts at 110 cadence up and along the top. This reporter and Matty Sharpe had made the selection with Jay and now it was do or die. More often than not the break will be pulled back at Saanichton. This time however we still had real estate past the two stop signs so we set to work on Wallace. Once Jay eased his pulls a bit thoughts could once again be processed and sure enough ACDC's "Gonna make a jailbreak!" popped in. Rolling turns to interurban a sense of comradery was felt as I joked to others that we had reached the 'Champs-Elysees'. This was a short illusion however as Jay kicked hard at Camosun with some, in season, blackberry jam and soloed off to take fitting honours on a brilliant ride.
Quite the eclectic group of riders made revolutions around the Saanich peninsula today on another edition of the Wheelers Saturday ride. Internationals from NZ and USA joined us today on the ritual that takes us through some of the most beautiful roads around. After departing the Tulista rest stop things picked up quickly on Lands End with Matt and James taking a flyer on the first rise. Red Truck Trevor set tempo on the front to do most of the reeling, leaving Kirsten to finish them off. Wicked to see some fast females out, burning opposite gender thighs.
Get Some and Craig's Hill saw a few digs but things regrouped on the run-in to Pat Bay. Once on the exposed plains of YYJ came into view cross winds naturally distributed the work load on the col approach. Having not seen much of Red Truck Jay through the first fast portion of the ride you could feel something was about to hatch. Intelligently, he kicked just before the usual spot catching several off-guard and then proceeded to lay down Megawatts at 110 cadence up and along the top. This reporter and Matty Sharpe had made the selection with Jay and now it was do or die. More often than not the break will be pulled back at Saanichton. This time however we still had real estate past the two stop signs so we set to work on Wallace. Once Jay eased his pulls a bit thoughts could once again be processed and sure enough ACDC's "Gonna make a jailbreak!" popped in. Rolling turns to interurban a sense of comradery was felt as I joked to others that we had reached the 'Champs-Elysees'. This was a short illusion however as Jay kicked hard at Camosun with some, in season, blackberry jam and soloed off to take fitting honours on a brilliant ride.
Re: OBB-WHEELERS SATURDAY RIDE REPORT
OBB Saturday Report - August 22
The Saturday Ride was minimally attended today, with few electing not to make an annual contribution to the retirement fund of Victoria’s most (in)famous professional road cyclist. What we lacked in number, we made up for in verve and (arguably) Watts. It was one of the more well-behaved jaunts out to Sidney all year, heightened by a cameo from another local pro, Annie Ewart. When Cody Canning greeted the group at Sidney, there was a pronounced hush among the group, perhaps owing to the realization that hurt was soon to follow. A larger than expected number of riders elected to back their late summer fitness and head out with the ‘A’ group towards Land’s End. Predictably, Cody brought some spice to proceedings, injecting significant amounts of pace on the reg. Cody and myself found ourselves with a little gap over top of the kicker at the end of LE, which we maintained for longer than expected. The bunch re-grouped, just in time for Cody to surge up Craig’s hill, with only ARuss and myself for company. The usual coming back together happened through the airport section of the ride, but feeling particularly spunky I elected to share the pacemaking duties with Cody up the ‘Rama. CCan’s injection of pace over top had me seriously considering shaving all my body hair to improve my W/kg. number. He and I managed to roll a good sized gap up until the Prairie Inn, where we were joined by ARuss, Tony W. and another as yet unheard of rider, with the inspired Specialized Kit/Trek Bike combo. For the remainder of the ride, Cody was the strongman – increasing the speed of the group with each turn on the front. Both ARuss and myself tried to do our bit to share the load, but the pace difference between our pulls and CCan’s was noticeable. Tony W. – winner of the age adjusted ride of the day trophy – became more active come Interurban but there was no stopping Cody, who won the sprint ahead of ARuss and yours truly.
The Saturday Ride was minimally attended today, with few electing not to make an annual contribution to the retirement fund of Victoria’s most (in)famous professional road cyclist. What we lacked in number, we made up for in verve and (arguably) Watts. It was one of the more well-behaved jaunts out to Sidney all year, heightened by a cameo from another local pro, Annie Ewart. When Cody Canning greeted the group at Sidney, there was a pronounced hush among the group, perhaps owing to the realization that hurt was soon to follow. A larger than expected number of riders elected to back their late summer fitness and head out with the ‘A’ group towards Land’s End. Predictably, Cody brought some spice to proceedings, injecting significant amounts of pace on the reg. Cody and myself found ourselves with a little gap over top of the kicker at the end of LE, which we maintained for longer than expected. The bunch re-grouped, just in time for Cody to surge up Craig’s hill, with only ARuss and myself for company. The usual coming back together happened through the airport section of the ride, but feeling particularly spunky I elected to share the pacemaking duties with Cody up the ‘Rama. CCan’s injection of pace over top had me seriously considering shaving all my body hair to improve my W/kg. number. He and I managed to roll a good sized gap up until the Prairie Inn, where we were joined by ARuss, Tony W. and another as yet unheard of rider, with the inspired Specialized Kit/Trek Bike combo. For the remainder of the ride, Cody was the strongman – increasing the speed of the group with each turn on the front. Both ARuss and myself tried to do our bit to share the load, but the pace difference between our pulls and CCan’s was noticeable. Tony W. – winner of the age adjusted ride of the day trophy – became more active come Interurban but there was no stopping Cody, who won the sprint ahead of ARuss and yours truly.