A fantastic week for ERTC! All of the rides were well attended, despite the threat of rain, we managed to not hit any on most of them! Lots of stuff went on this week; I will get into them in a bit. Are you all excited for the Tour d’la Alberta?! We are going to have quite the group there, nearly 25% of all our registered members! We will be doing some photos and maybe some video so it would be great if you came out in your ERTC kit, but it’s by no means necessary. Your presence will be enough!
Ride / race reports:
Tuesday saw about a half dozen of us crush the intervals down by Beaumont, getting our interval hurt on! Thursday saw about 20-25 of us all rolling though our hill circuit on a beautiful evening. Saturday saw another huge group, heading out towards Devon – some of us enjoying the Cinnamon buns, and some of us enjoying the Calmar bakery! On Sunday we were split – but still strong! We had 2 events we were a part of, the Double XX Women’s Ride, as well as hosting our Time Trial.
I’ll let Andre, our race director, talk about the time trial:
“I can’t thank our ERTC volunteers enough for helping out with our ITT race this weekend. Without volunteers, there is no way to put on an event like this. Feel like you missed out? We’ll be needing volunteers for our next race which will be School of Cross on October 23. We did take a bit of gamble with putting on a Citizens Class category for non-ABA licensed racers, but with 20 citizen class racers signing up (6 of them from ERTC) the gamble paid off! We won’t blink an eye next time to offer this opportunity to non-racers and I see a lot of potential to grow this category. Along with our ERTC Citizen racers, we had ERTC racers in just about every other Category as well. The weekend belonged to the ERTC women however as they brought home the most podium beers with Stefanie and Brynlee in Citizen Female, and Suzie in Women 3/4/5. Had Greg not raced a triathlon in the morning before the time trial, maybe that 4th place in Cat4 would have been a podium too? Thanks again to all that supported our event!”
Andre did an amazing about of work and there’s nothing I can really say to express how thankful I am for him putting it all together! I will definitely be getting him some beer the next time I see him!
Among the 8000 women participating globally in the Rapha Women's 100 on Sunday were 25 women from Edmonton, led by our own Women's Cycling Manager Tiffany. Here's what Tiffany has to say about the ride:
"This was our second annual women's 100km ride, so I was hoping for some increased participation, but I was shocked when 25 women rolled up Sunday morning! Admittedly everyone was there for the cinnamon buns from Grounded Cafe which were scheduled halfway through our ride. Next year I'm changing the ride name to the Women's 100km Cinnamon Bun ride! The group had a fantastic ride, despite being completely hammered by rain as we left Devon. Spirits remained high through the downpour and chatter could be heard throughout the group for the whole ride. Over half of the women were new to me, and 75% were new to each other. Friendships were fostered, connections on social media made, and promises of further rides committed to. We filled Grounded Cafe, who opened especially for our ride, and we proved our girl power with an expertly changed flat (all my practice in front of the TV has paid off!!). For some this was their very first 100km ride, and for others this was their first big group ride! I'm humbled by the participation and enthusiasm of all those who attended - we truly are making a difference in women's cycling in Edmonton!!"
Announcements/Upcoming Events:
July 24th – Our sponsor, Revolution Cycle is hosting the Tour d’la Alberta again this year. It is a fully supported 60/100/160km ride and definitely one of the BEST options for you if you want to attempt one of these distances for the first time, as there are regular breaks for refueling and water, as well as a lunch stop. There will be a vehicle to drive you to the next break point or back to the line should you choose pull out. This is one of the biggest events of this type up here in Alberta (if not the biggest) We are making this a focus event and encouraging ALL ERTC members to attend if they can – we are getting a $15 discount on entries (use coupon code “ertctda2016”) and we will have our tent and chairs set up at the start/finish line. Our race team members will be out, as well as many of our non-racing members. You will never ride alone! I will let the event page and registration page do the rest of the talking. http://www.tourdalberta.ca/
August Long Weekend: Bowness Stage Race – The final stage race of the Alberta calendar, this is Alberta’s biggest road race weekend. If you’ve ever wanted to try road racing, this race is as good as any other to do it on! You’ll need a race license, but getting one just means you get one nice and early for Cross Season, right?
Ride Changes:
All rides are a go, except for Sunday. The only ride on Sunday will be the Tour d’la Alberta!