First Club Ride Saturday Apr 2 11AM!

The weather is looking great for Saturday so let's get our first club ride done!

The idea is to host a formal team ride starting at a north location one weekend and a south location the next.  We'll start by splitting the difference and doing the wheelers route. However, this will be a friendly ride, with a more relaxed early-season pace, with the goal of keeping the group together.  Anyone feeling inclined to test their indoor training will be free to do so, but expect to wait at strategic points to re-group.  Details of the route are here.

A stop will be made in Cochrane for coffee and snacks with a short break.

Meet at the Tim's at 85th Str and 9th ave SW at 11:00 am sharp, but I'll check my phone for stragglers.

I'm looking forward to seeing the regulars and some new faces!
Chuck Johnstone
403-620-2304

Strava Club.... join it!

Team... there is a 'Speed Theory Current Members'  club in Strava. If you are on Strava.. go to Clubs and join it!

Here is a direct link to it!

Jason Lapierre Memorial Cycling Race meeting last night.

We had a good turnout for the meeting last night. Here is a synopsis of what we decided.

We would like to make the race desirable to Edmontonians willing to make the trip. So we are going to have the events Saturday late-ish afternoon and Sunday mid-morning. This will concentrate the event to make it easier on volunteers as well. We will make it an Omnium and try to devise a cool point structure that will still appeal to the Crit Specialists who would sometime skip the TT. Make the TT short enough that people can't use its length as an excuse to skip it and wait for the Crit, but make it challenging so that the weekend isn't dominated solely by one type of rider.

We are going to use our new location for the Criterium since it will be on almost abandoned wide well-maintained roads making it safe and appealing to cyclists wanting to try a first Crit or to experienced racers that usually shy away from Crits.

So, pending approval from all the authority figures (Rocky View County, the City, the ABA, etc), here is what we are going to do this year!

June 4th late afternoon:    12km TT. Course here.   We wanted a challenging course that would make it worthwhile for people to test their pacing and gearing strategies on.

June 5th mid-morning:  1.1km Crit. Course here.   This course will be a good contrast to something like the Velocity course which contains multiple direction changes and slight elevation changes. This will cater to slightly different skill sets and also appeal to those that may not always enter Crits.


We'll keep everyone updated on the approval progress.

2016 Speed Theory/Penticton Training Camp

Please note that the 2016 annual Speed Theory Penticton Training Camp will take place from:

 Sunday May 15 (day 1) 

to 

Saturday May 21 (day 7)

Stay tuned for the actual daily routes which will be very similar to prior training camps. Note that the longer challenging days will have a shortcut option to ensure everyone is back in Penticton at a reasonable time for dinner. 

For those who may not want to cook after a long day in the saddle we will also be organizing daily dinner reservations at various local restaurants.

Please indicate if you are attending and also indicate if you are interested in sharing accommodations and/or carpooling.

*Temporary insurance will be available for guests who are not current members of Speed Theory Cycling.

UPDATE:  [Here is the link to follow to become an STC member while in Penticton.]

It's time to get out there!

Rob hosted a NW ride on Sat.   Make sure to hook up with him next time he posts!

Thank you Rob!

Training Rides already happening!

STC group rides are already being posted in the Training Forum!  

Remember, you need to be a current member of our club, or another ABA club to participate in these. You don't need to have your ABA race license. As long as you are a CURRENT member of an ABA affiliated club like ours, you are good.

Here is the link to sign up for STC if you have not already.

See you guys on the road!

Clothing Order update.

I just got confirmation from Champion System that our order is due to ship the week of March 28th !!

Meaning we will get our kit either that week or the next. We we efficient this year!

Wednesday Night Series Fun Wrap Up, Race, and Awards Night.

To all you STC'ers who did the Wednesday Night Series last summer.... this is to you...

Hey WNSers,

Your last chance to RSVP for the Last Chance Qualifier-WNS / Crankmasters Banquet is tonight and tomorrow morning! Send Glenn an email now at glenn@rmvpublications.com to let him know you’ll be there. 

Thursday night is the last chance to enter the Last Chance Qualifier race. Hit the Zone4.ca link and commit to some serious fun that only a callous cyclist could know.

This is just like a typical bike race - everyone registers at the 11th hour! Don’t worry about the weather, its indoors, so the climate is controlled. You’ll have artificial wind generated by massive fans - just like a tail wind. It won’t rain and you won’t crash on icy roads (but be careful on the sweaty cement)! Add that to an easy field of only 9 so far and it will be a breeze.

Caterer Karen wants to know how many pizzas to deliver, so its time. Send me an email now. We'd love you to see you there!

Dinner details: 

Calgary Jewish Community Centre (CJCC) 1607 90 Ave SW

February 20, 2016

Dinner begins at 6 pm, awards start at 7 pm. Event is over at 9 pm.

Race Details:

Races will be held beginning at 4 pm, 4:40 pm and 5:20 pm. 

Register and see technical details on Zone4.ca

Cheers,

Glenn Miles

glenn@rmvpublications.com

403-471-1881

Clothing order!

Club, Champion Systems have upgraded their front-end to be a little more user-friendly for the team. I have put together the 'store' for the team clothing. Thank you to Kluane Partners, Charles' company, who have agreed to help pay for the Kid's Crit portion of our race!

We are going to close the first round of clothing early this year, so there is no question everyone will have their new kits by the first event, be it a race or the training camp.

Clothing DEADLINE! is Feb. 21st !!

Here is the link to order.

Notes:

The clothing design will remain the same this year so there is no stipulation to ordering kit. Your kits of years past will work at events.

I have the 'Repel' Rain Jacket and it has become my favourite piece of clothing. Somewhat expensive, but I wear it almost every ride at some point.

Repel jacket.

Field of Dreams (cyclist's cut)

Scene: A young pre-disgraced Lance speaking to his elder Aussie team mate (Phil Anderson) Lance: "is this heaven"

Phil: "Nah mate, this is New South Wales, Westhead Road"

Legend has it that Tony Abbott, the last PM of Australia and an avid cyclist, had this little used National Park road paved. It may be legend, but on any weekend hundreds, if not thousands of cyclist descend on this little piece of heaven. It's like being in Area 51, but with prefectly smooth riding roads! Stats: 25 KM, 400 meters round trip with plenty of side options to jam up the mileage and meters!

Pictures from the AGM Race action!

Beer me !!  Fat Tire Belguim in the bottle cage!

Jose Soriano was on hand Sat night do his best to make us look fast!  (But there is only so much a good lens and Photoshop can do ?!?!)

Here is a link to his Facebook album covering both heats.

Jose is a professional photographer based in Calgary. His website is linked here.

Thank you Jose!

Heat 2 just getting started.

Everyone is smiles before the start.

Lessons for you Amateurs from the Pros

G'day to you Newbies from Down Under. Here's your lessons for the day: 1. Forget all that fancy nutrition mumbo jumbo, here's Orica chowing down on pressed ham sandwiches with the soigneur bringing the espresso about 10 minutes before the start.

2. Hot day? Sunny day? Rain? not sure what to wear - just cut the top of your new cycling cap off so the elastic is intact and your visor will be snug into place. Don't worry, you can always get more kit for free! Matty Hayman to the left studiously cutting, then showing his style!

3. FOLLOW THE PROS FOR THE BEST COFFEE!!!!!!!!!! Drapac, UHC, Sky and Dimension Data (Cav's inside) all here in pic 1. Showing off the Speed Theory cap to IAM in pic #2. BTW - Refer to point #1 - IAM chowing on bacon and egg sandwiches mid ride the day following the race.

4. Yer a sprinter - you'll never survive three finish circuits with a 20% kicker! (AND - don't cheer Cav when he has been dropped. We got the dirtiest look you could give through Oakley's by just saying "Go Cav".)

That finishes your lessons for the day - go ride.

Fun club night. Good racing and Thanks to Darcy for handling our '10 minute AGM' !

Fun times last night. We started the evening with about 21 club mates completing a 10km rolly course. Then after crushing 12 pizzas and hanging, Darcy was limited to 10 minutes for the AGM! the jersey presentation was almost overlooked, but was performed near the end of the night! 

Heat 1 nearing the finish of the 10km.

Lumber Jersey winner, Slayer Dan fits a medium perfectly!

This Saturday at 6pm. Beer, wine, pizza, and some cheering!

For the fun cycling event we are having during the party at 6pm on Saturday before or during the beer, Speed Theory has donated special 'Canadian' style jerseys!

LumberJill and LumberJack prize jerseys!

So, a long time ago I remember reading a fact list about Lumberjacks and I remember seeing fact #6 was 'Lumberjacks win most competitions they enter'. Therefore, it is only appropriate the the 6th cyclist in the women's and men's heat on Saturday wins the jersey!

So, if you aren't riding, come down at around 6pm to grab a beer and cheer on your club mates, and then stick around to hang out. If you ARE riding, then bring your bike around 5:45pm and we'll split the gang into two heats and let them loose!

During the evening, at some point Darcy will quickly go over the year in review as well as a quick synopsis if what STC's plans are for 2016!

If you are thinking of joining the club to gain riding buddies or possibly entering events, then come on out and see if you like the atmosphere.

If you are competing in the 10km rolling race, you get time bonuses if you hammer back a beer hand-up!

Adam Hansen beer hand-up!