Tonight is Cancelled - June 16th

Due to the weather tonight's race is cancelled. See you next week!!!

Teaming it up...

The first team RR of the year will be this Wednesday the 14th with meeting at 6:30 and racing after we get things sorted out. I know there has been some concern regarding the traffic in getting to the South and that the timeline has been tight so in recognition of the wonderful day length that this latitude offers we will look to starting a bit after 6:30 in order to accomodate those who might struggle to get there on time.
The race format will be the ever popular team race. In this, we divide the riders into a fairly evenly mixed few teams and assign them the task of getting the bulk of their team over the line before the other teams. In other words, it's not which team can get one rider over first but rather who can get the rest of their riders over before the other teams. Clear as mud. We've run these before and they have proven quite popular and a great excercise in working together, communication, and tactics as the teams work amongst themselves and against the other teams. We'll set the number of riders on a team and the number of teams once we get an idea of the total number of riders that we'll have out for the evening. This is a race for everyone, regardless of ability, and a great experience.
We will meet again at the Priddis meeting spot at the corner of 22 and 22X as we did a couple of weeks ago BUT for a slightly different course. I've always looked to trying to get on Range Road 30 for a race but was hampered by construction the last two years. This year however, Mark Perry is reporting that it's free and clear so we'll run a clockwise square along 22X, south on Range Road 30, west on 274 avenue, and finally north on 22. I'm guessing we'll run it twice for about a 45km experience that isn't quite as flat as one might suspect.

View Larger Map
Of course, we could use another volunteer to make it a go so if you feel like just watching or know somebody that would, we'll put you to work.
Sorry for the delay in getting this out, I was in Osoyoos for the last 10 days riding, golfing, and avoiding landslides.

Series I is done!!! Congrats....

....to everybody that raced and made it as close as it was.
The top 5 are listed on the right side of the blog and reflect the points at the end of the first 5 week series.
The As were lead faily handily by Harley Borlee with a close race behind with honours falling to Clarke Ellis, Rick Courtney, Dan Sigouin, and Joel Goralski.
The Bs was as close as it gets with Tom Kenney taking the win over Carlos Bonilla based sole on ITT placing as they tied in points. Third was Rob Welch with Ron Feill and Dale Hildebrand rounding out the top five.
The Cs were interesting with Karel Bergmann hammering out the win well clear of the tight race for second where again Clarence Poon edged Brad Barron out based on ITT placing as there was another tie. Not to be missed were Kailee Boyle and Emilie Langevin in fourth and fifth and close behind.
With that, we'll clean the slate and reload for the second five race series beginning with a road race this Wednesday.
In addition, there will be prizes, buckets of prizes, in August where we will celebrate the champions for each of the three series that make up the overall C4 Wednesday Night Series.

June 9th Results

Thirteen hard core racers showed up for the 4.5 km hillclimb. We even had Jared and Frank ride all the way from the city through a thunderstorm to get to the relatively dry but cold south. The format was each racer to take on the hillclimb twice with points being awarded for the fastest time and the most consistent times. Everyone had a faster time on their second run, except of course for Jared and Frank who laid it all out on their first try, they had the advantage of being warmed up from their ride from the city. Thanks to Willy Vansevenant and Tom Kenny for volunteering.

I think everyone liked the format and we could do something similar again, although using a hill closer to town would be much better. Any other feedback welcome.

June 9th. Hills and Pain.

This Wednesday is Speed Theory turn to host the best racing series in Alberta. Like doing hill repeats? Yes we are going to do a couple on Wednesday night on Township Road 214 just south of Highway 22 X in the Road to Nepal area. We will do the hill two times and points will be awarded for the fastest time and also for consistency in your two times up the hill. I'll measure the course out properly before the race so you will know exactly how long the pain will last. The below map is just approximate. The start will be near the T junction.

If there is a big turnout we will start the first run around 6:30 PM. If there is a smaller turnout you will likely get a chance to do one warm up repeat before we race. You can park at the school on Highway 22 X just north of the start or you can drive to the start area. Hopefully not everyone will drive to the start! Bring your weight weenie bike if you like, we won't weigh anything! We might check for bike doping though.

I will need a couple of volunteers from Speed Theory. One to help me with the timing and one for crowd control. Leave a comment if you can volunteer.


View WNS June 9 in a larger map

Millarville Madness

We just about answered the question of how many cars you can fit in that meeting spot. The number is ... lots. What an excellent turnout, good weather, and lots of full on, hard charging, strategic racing.
The A's were brought home by Trev Williams in hos 2010 WNS debut followed by Harley Borlee and Bryon Howard who emerged from the splintered group to claim the rest of the podium. B's were lead by Rob Welch who was chased in by Mike Hoang and Mike Waldhuber in another split up group. C's had quite a tactical race with Clarence poon nipping Karel Bergmann and Carl Lepointe at the end. Good racing all and I'm sure there are lots of stories there. Special mention to Lachlan Holmes who joined the race in progress (early) and put on the hurt.
Thanks to my faithful volunteers Mark Perry and Willy Vansevenant who were instrumental in getting the race off without a hitch. Keep the volunteers coming out we could always use a couple more. In fact we did have a couple of riders who missed a turn we were not able to man and they turned their day from a 29km race to a 70km ride. Nice night for it though.
I did hear that there were some traffic problems in Calgary and that it could be a struggle to get out there for 6:30. While we can't change the time fundamentally we'll endeavour to try and hold back the racing in those cases as the days lengthen. As it was, it was pretty much dark by the time we rescued the last lost rider.
We did see quite a few new faces this time and we hope that everyone keeps coming out. We also ask that people do make sure that they are at least secondary members to participate and keep this as a club race. I do take it on faith that you're all signed up but there is an audit process and I do get warned. Easy to do via Karelo with details on the main Crankmaster's page (www.calgarycycling.com).
I'm off to the sunny southern Okanagan for my annual bike camp for the next while so Mike Healy and Speed Theory have stepped up and will be your hosts next week. I've seen what they want to do and as usual, it sounds interesting.

We're back on the road...

...at the Priddis meeting spot, Wednesday, June 2nd, 6:30pm. As the first series gets closer to wrapping up, we'll go single and go hard this time. Road race (by categories) at 6:30 to see who can hang on, hold out, and bring it home. We'll meet at the Priddis meeting spot and utilize our Millarville course for the first time this year. The Priddis meeting spot is at the corner of highways 22 and 22X.


View Priddis Meeting Spot (PMS) in a larger map

As for the course, we'll form up at the meeting spot and once started everyone heads south along 22 to the Millarville turnoff (549) where we go west until range road 33. North along Range Road 33 to Plummers road where we turn eastwards, drift north, and finally eastward again to 22 where we start another lap. The race will finish along Plummer's Road just before you get back to 22 the second time. Its a nice easy cool down ride back to the meeting spot. A's and B's will make two loops of the square, C's and novices will make one.


View Priddis Meeting Spot (PMS) in a larger map

I need just a few volunteers for this one and it would be great if I had enough to run a novice group during the race. It's fun to watch these ones too as it's evolving craziness out there.

Should be fun.