It’s August, we’re in Victoria… it must be time for the Tour de Victoria! This year, it was only Ian and I participating. Tammy was signed up for the 45 km ride, but elected not to ride. Ian and I were riding the 100 km route. That was a step down from the 140 km for me, but a big step up from 45 km for Ian. I was more than happy to shorten my ride to accompany him: he’s only 15 and needed an adult to ride with him for any route longer than 45 km.
But first, yesterday he and I rode down to the package pickup at Trek Bicycle Store near Spinnaker’s brew pub. We took it easy, going along the E&N path and then the Galloping Goose to the Songhees. It was warm, but not too hot. We ran into Lena and Doug from the BCC, who were in Victoria to do the ride, too!
Ian was so happy that the Coho ferry was in. It was tied up in Port Angeles during the worst of the pandemic so he hadn’t seen it in two years.
We forgot to take a backpack with us, so we stuffed our pockets full and had to wear the T-shirts home. We wanted to pick up Tammy’s package too, but couldn’t because she needed to sign the waiver. It was a good shakedown ride to check that the bikes were working and got the cobwebs out of our legs from the long drive from Calgary.
Today we got to “sleep in” a little because the 60 km and 100 km rides started at 9:00 am. We were up at 6:30 and got some breakfast, Ian and I got ready and then we were all off. We parked at Beacon Hill Park and had to ride or walk to the start.
It was a huge group of riders starting out. We started out at shouting distance from the front, and I’d say we were in the right spot.
The ride went really well. I thought I was taking it easy on Ian, but after the fact, I found out that I set a bunch of personal bests, including going up and over the Highlands… 🫢 The weather was sunny, but not too hot. Ian did really well. He wasn’t a fan of the KOM climb up Munn Road, but then who is? He was getting tired by the end. He said his legs felt like jelly. He managed to stay on my wheel as I pushed hard on the time trial section around the waterfront to the finish line. We stopped at all of the aid stations except for the first. He ate and drank enough to not “bonk”. We took one wrong turn.
It wouldn’t have been a big deal, except for the fact that we went screaming downhill before realizing the mistake. We had to climb up a very steep hill to correct our course, and Ian didn’t like that one bit.
We persevered and crossed the line just after 1 pm, after about 4 hours and 10 minutes on the road. The results are posted here, but here’s a summary:
Simon:
- 160th overall (out of 423), 18/59 in my category M4549
- KOM 98/599 overall, 9/59 in my category
- Time trial 39/585 overall, 5/59 in my category (only one minute away from first!)
Ian:
- 161st overall, 3/7 in his category M-U16
- KOM 113/599 overall, 4/7 in his category
- Time trial 40/585 overall, 2/7 in his category (only 3 seconds away from first!)
Meanwhile… Tammy and Miranda had a great old time, walking around downtown Victoria. They went to Murchies, the Dutch Bakery, Russell Books, etc. Tammy managed to “check in” for the ride and get her T-shirt and package. That meant that she and Miranda got to share her post-ride meal while they were waiting for us to get back. Nice that Tammy got some value out of her 2020 registration at long last!
Now we’re all back at Dad’s place and chilling. Miranda’s reading her new books. 📚
Overall a great day.
Great ride for both of you, glad it never really got very hot.Some good pictures also..