In Alberta, June Is the Wettest Month
I remember Ed Heacock telling me once that we can expect the most rainfall in June. Ed was an Environment Canada Meteorologist. Ed knows a little something about the weather!
My general policy on club rides when it’s raining is to cancel if the chance of rain is 60% or higher, or when it’s raining already. That’s not to say don’t go out and ride in the rain yourself. If you’ve got serious event and/or racing goals, you will need to observe “Rule V” and find a way, most every day. But for club riding, it’s not much fun, nor is it very healthy, gulping down road spray from the riders in front of you.
Just like when we need to cancel for air quality reasons, I will make the call at least an hour before our intended riding time, and announce it on the “Sticky Bar” at the top of our website. When in doubt, read the latest update when you land on the website. If there’s no announcement, assume the ride is a go.
Meet Again at Edgemont Landing This Saturday
Sticking to the theme of riding on the west side, we’ll take a little different route north of Devon again.
New Sunday Gravel Loop
For our gravel enthusiasts not heading to the Canadian Gravel Championship in Water Valley this Sunday, we’ll offer you a local gravel ride instead.
Thanks goes out to Jason Redfern for sharing a gravel loop from Sherwood Park up to Fort Saskatchewan and back. This circuit isn’t 100% gravel, but it’s a start. I don’t have a gravel bike (yet) myself, so load up the route if you plan to ride and join your fellow gravel riders for the 65km loop. Let me know how it goes, and I’ll plan some more rides in the coming weeks. Since our own Afterburner Gravel event in September will be this year’s gravel provincial championship, it would be great to see some of our own club members getting ready to race!
Meet at 10am near the Starbucks in Sherwood Park’s Emerald Hills shopping complex (location pinned in the event description):
Monday Track Session
Now that I’m back on this side of the ocean, I’ll running our track session again this Monday starting at 7pm. Remember, you don’t need your own track bike to participate. The club has a stable of its own bikes that we can get you set up on. Just bring your own pedals, shoes and helmet and enter the fast-paced world of fixed gear riding!
Wednesday Hill Circuit
Unless it’s raining on Wednesday (again!), chase your club mates up some of the more challenging hills in our river valley. Leave from Emily Murphy Park at 6:30pm. I’ll be coaching a Learn To Race clinic this night, so you’ll be on your own.
The Edmonton Midweek Race Club hasn’t yet finalized next week’s spicy group ride yet. Check back on their website by next Wednesday to see what’s the plan.
Miscellaneous Bits
If you missed the initial ordering window, our Jakroo store is back open now to fill your on-demand orders. It’ll be open all season long.
One of our members was cleaning out his garage and came across a couple of Bike Skinz he no longer needs. If you transport your bike on a roof rack, this keeps many of the bug splatters from building up on your handlebars. They are FREE to whoever reaches out to me first: coaching@velocitycyclingclub.ca I’ll put you in touch with Al to arrange pickup.
And along the lines of gear swapping, remember we have a member Buy/Sell area here on our website. There’s nothing listed right now. But if you’ve got something you’d like to unload, send me a few pictures, a word description, your asking price and how you would like to be contacted. We won’t complete the transaction through our website. We’ll just connect buyers and sellers together and let them take it from there.