As the riding season evolves our ride start times will anchor. This weekend we still start at 12:30pm. But eventually, we’ll get weekend rides starting at 10am, and weekday rides starting at 6:30pm (note: weekday rides will begin in May). Always check the website for new information.

All late-breaking ride updates will be posted to our Twitter account@VelocityBikeAB, with re-posts to Facebook. You should also note, our website contains a feed of Twitter updates. So even if you’re not a Twitter user, you’ll still easily see our latest Twitter ride updates on the website.

I use the Weather Network app to monitor weather conditions. So if you want to follow the forecast details I’m looking at, please use the same app. If I see a 60% or greater chance of precipitation during the scheduled start time of a regular club ride, I’ll post a Twitter notice to cancel the ride at least 12 hours in advance. I’ll re-check the forecast in the few hours before ride-time, and post any further updates to Twitter.

Realistically, if it’s pouring rain when you’re headed out for a club ride, don’t expect anyone else to show!

Remember: YOU MUST HAVE YOUR 2018 CLUB MEMBERSHIP IN PLACE TO RIDE! No membership, and you negate the insurance for all of us on the ride. Go here to register if you haven’t done so yet: Karelo.com

Saturday April 21 – Endurance Ride

We’ll continue with the same details as last week. In fact, this will be the regular Saturday ride until at least the end of April.

Here’s your link to the route on Strava: Woodbend Community Hall Spring Ride

The ride starts at 12:30pm, and will be about 2hrs long. The current forecast shows some chance of rain in the morning, and then a higher chance towards the end of this ride. Fenders and some rain gear may be necessary. Again, watch Twitter for late-breaking updates if the forecast changes to 60% rain around the 12:30pm start time.

Sunday Inter-Club Ride from Olympiette Centre

The Spring Race Series has failed to secure permits from the county. So we’ll again ride with our friends (or make new friends!) in Edmonton’s other cycling clubs. This will be the last Inter-Club Ride this spring.

The start will be 1pm Sunday from the Strathcona Olympiette Center (RR 224 and TWP 520). The ride will be 2 to 3 hours long and have long, medium and short distance riding groups.

Chief organizer Lance Adamson will have post-ride Coke and cookies for all who ride! When you see him on Sunday, please be sure to extend a warm Thank-You to Lance for his efforts organizing the Spring Series this year.

Castrol Race Series

If you missed the announcement at our latest club meeting, inter-club racing is coming together at Castrol Raceway near Leduc.

Remember the olden days of Tuesday night criteriums? Well, something similar is shaping up on closed race circuits at Castrol Raceway. If you’re keen to learn some road racing skills (or test those you already have!) in a closed-road environment, then stay tuned as this event evolves. It looks like the first event could take place Tuesday June 26.

Spring Penticton Riding Camp Next Two Weekends

I’ll be away the next 2 weekends at our annual Spring Riding Camp in Penticton (see details here). I’ll still be maintaining the club’s local weekend ride schedule, but of course won’t be here to lead anything. Please take some initiative, get out, get riding, and lead your clubmates along! Send me an email if you’re willing to take charge in my place. coaching@velocitycyclingclub.ca

For those of you that are heading to Penticton, please also send me an email so we can stay coordinated with individual arrival dates and to just make sure I know all who are coming. Paul told us of a fantastic ride just across the border in the US – so make sure you bring your passport along to get back and forth across the border.

Life is short. Enjoy your ride!

Ok, let’s get this road season started, for Saturday we ride!

It’s disappointing that we don’t have true spring weather yet. But good is good enough for us Canadian “Hard Persons” … a more inclusive reference to “Belgian Hard Men.” Think sloppy spring weather in Belgium, with temperatures hovering just above zero. Riders wearing regular shorts, but legs slathered in “Belgian Knee Warmers”, i.e., embrocation!

I don’t recommend Belgian Knee Warmers this weekend. Keep those legs covered in leg warmers or full-on tights. And even as spring does arrive, keep your knees covered until at least 15°C.

As mentioned at our club meeting this week, I’ve got a riding loop mapped in the southwest quadrant of the city. Here’s the link on Strava: Woodbend Community Hall Spring Ride (you’ll need a Strava account to download at this link … but hey, you only need their free account to do it).

I highly recommend you download a route copy to your own GPS device. The circuit runs clockwise from the Woodbend Community Hall. It’s about 60km if you ride the full route. However, it pinches back on itself in a few places, giving you some bail-out options if your spring fitness just isn’t there yet. The circuit is relatively flat, and avoids the drop in and out of the river valley near Devon.

Our plan is to meet at the Woodbend Community Hall at 12:30pm on Saturday, giving the day a bit of time to warm up. Throw a thermos of something hot in your vehicle for after the ride. You may need it to warm you up during your drive back home.

YOU MUST HAVE YOUR 2018 CLUB MEMBERSHIP IN PLACE TO RIDE! No membership, and you negate the insurance for all of us on the ride. Go here to register if you haven’t done so yet: Karelo.com

Follow our Twitter account @VelocityBikeAB for any last minute changes. The account feed is also posted on our website (look to the right if you’re reading this on the website), if you’re not a Twitter user. But I highly recommend you become one, just because it’s a fast, efficient way for me to keep our club updated with brief news announcements and ride plan updates.

Sunday’s  Ride

Unfortunately, organizers for Sunday’s Spring Race Series have hit a permitting roadblock. So the race is cancelled this week. BUT, they’ve decided to host an inter-club ride instead for all ABA affiliated clubs — like ours!

The ride will be 1 to 3 hours long and have A, B and C groups (depending on the number of participants) with volunteers leading each group.

The start will be 1pm Sunday from the Strathcona Olympiette Center (RR 224 and TWP 520), which has plenty of parking.

So let’s ride this weekend! Re-connect with your clubmates, after such a looong winter. If you haven’t met me yet, please introduce yourself during any of our rides. I’d love to get to know you better and hear what your plans are for the season!

Life is short. Enjoy your ride!

 

As you may or may not have noticed, our club coach, Michael van den Ham, has moved to other things and will no longer we coaching the club.

I want to thank all of the club members for making my time working with the Velocity Cycling Club a fantastic experience. As my wife and I move to Abbotsford and take on some new challenges, I’m sad to leave behind this community of cyclists. I’ve vastly enjoyed my nearly two years at the Velocity Cycling Club and will miss everyone involved!

Michael 

With Michael gone, this means that we have some holes to fill in our ride programming with experienced volunteers from the club. If you think you would be interested in helping out, we’ve created a simple spreadsheet where you can sign up as a primary or alternate ride leader. Click here for more details. 

If you have any questions about the role, please email Michael.

Velothon

A reminder that we have been invited participate in the Velothon (and received a discount!). This years Edmonton Velothon will be held on September 4th in conjunction with the Tour of Alberta. For more information, see the message below and sign up using the discount code:

“The Velothon takes place on a 20 km circuit in downtown Edmonton on closed roads, with much of the route being the exact same as the Tour of Alberta professional route. This is a great chance to race on roads that generally could not be safely ridden on due to traffic. The Velothon has both 60 and 100 km distances available – the choice is yours.

We also encourage team registrations, and have some added perks to make it more lucrative. For local Alberta clubs and shops, we are happy to offer a discount code that gives each registrant $25 off the cost of registration. Your unique $25 discount code is:  ABLBSDISCOUNT0032 

 Additionally, for teams entering, the 6^th registration is free! If you’re team reaches 5 members, please email me and I will pass along the code for the free entry. A team can be created during the registration process online.”

Old Velocity Clothing

As many of you know, we’ve moved over to using Jakroo for our club clothing. While this means that the club no longer has to hold onto stock items, it also means that we have a number of Garneau items (current design) left over that we are looking to get rid of for a discounted price! If you are interested, contact Ed Heacock (780 437 2979, or email at heacock@planet.eon.net) to see what is available. Continue reading →

Club Meeting

Our next club meeting is TODAY (Monday, July 31)! We’ll be meeting in the Community Room at the Downtown MEC at 7pm. Click here to see the tentative meeting agenda and here to see the minutes from our last meeting.

MTB Provincials 

Another good group of Velocity Riders were out for MTB provincials in Terwilliger this weekend. Jason was 3rd in Masters 30-39,  Francis was 1st in the Novice Category, while I (Michael) was 3rd in Open Men.

 

Velothon

A reminder that we have been invited participate in the Velothon (and received a discount!). This years Edmonton Velothon will be held on September 4th in conjunction with the Tour of Alberta. For more information, see the message below and sign up using the discount code:

“The Velothon takes place on a 20 km circuit in downtown Edmonton on closed roads, with much of the route being the exact same as the Tour of Alberta professional route. This is a great chance to race on roads that generally could not be safely ridden on due to traffic. The Velothon has both 60 and 100 km distances available – the choice is yours.

We also encourage team registrations, and have some added perks to make it more lucrative. For local Alberta clubs and shops, we are happy to offer a discount code that gives each registrant $25 off the cost of registration. Your unique $25 discount code is:  ABLBSDISCOUNT0032 

 Additionally, for teams entering, the 6^th registration is free! If you’re team reaches 5 members, please email me and I will pass along the code for the free entry. A team can be created during the registration process online.”

Old Velocity Clothing

As many of you know, we’ve moved over to using Jakroo for our club clothing. While this means that the club no longer has to hold onto stock items, it also means that we have a number of Garneau items (current design) left over that we are looking to get rid of for a discounted price! If you are interested, contact Ed Heacock (780 437 2979, or email at heacock@planet.eon.net) to see what is available.

Continue reading →

MTB Nationals 

We had a few Velocity athletes out at MTB nationals this past weekend! Jason Redfern finished 19th in Masters Men 30-39, Jay Smith finished 2nd in Masters Women 30-39, and Michael van den Ham finished 17th in Elite Men. For the full results, click here.

Club Meeting

Our next club meeting is quickly approaching on Monday, July 30th! We’ll be meeting in the Community Room at the Downtown MEC at 7pm.

Velothon

We’ve been invited participate in the Velothon (and received a discount!). This years Edmonton Velothon will be held on September 4th in conjunction with the Tour of Alberta. For more information, see the message below and sign up using the discount code:

“The Velothon takes place on a 20 km circuit in downtown Edmonton on closed roads, with much of the route being the exact same as the Tour of Alberta professional route. This is a great chance to race on roads that generally could not be safely ridden on due to traffic. The Velothon has both 60 and 100 km distances available – the choice is yours.

We also encourage team registrations, and have some added perks to make it more lucrative. For local Alberta clubs and shops, we are happy to offer a discount code that gives each registrant $25 off the cost of registration. Your unique $25 discount code is:  ABLBSDISCOUNT0032 

 Additionally, for teams entering, the 6^th registration is free! If you’re team reaches 5 members, please email me and I will pass along the code for the free entry. A team can be created during the registration process online.”

Old Velocity Clothing

As many of you know, we’ve moved over to using Jakroo for our club clothing. While this means that the club no longer has to hold onto stock items, it also means that we have a number of Garneau items (current design) left over that we are looking to get rid of for a discounted price! If you are interested, contact Ed Heacock (780 437 2979, or email at heacock@planet.eon.net) to see what is available.

Continue reading →

Update: The Thursday Road Ride has been cancelled due to poor air quality that is forecasted for this evening. 

Another week of riding and racing is upon us! We have our regular weekly schedule planned, but please keep an eye on our Twitter account (@velocitybikeAB) for updates. Environment Canada has issued a warning about smoke drifting in from the BC Wildfires, so we may decide to cancel rides is the air quality proves to be too poor. As a general rule of thumb, the ride will be cancelled if the AQHI (Link opens to AQHI Forecast) is 7 or above.

On a different note, it’s Mountain Bike Nationals weekend! We have a couple riders competing, so if don’t have plans for this weekends, consider coming down to Canmore to watch our nations best!

Finally, mark your calendars because we have a club meeting coming up on July 30 at 7pm in the Downtown MEC Community Room.

Continue reading →