From the Victoria Times Colonist -

In the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe came personal triumph on Sunday for Canadian Ryder Hesjedal.

The 29-year-old cyclist placed seventh overall and delivered the best result by a Canadian in the Tour de France since Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., finished fourth in 1988.

After 3,641.9-kilometres of heavy spinning over three weeks, it was all done for the Victoria product in 92 hours nine minutes and three seconds — 10:15 behind champion Alberto Contador of Spain.

“I hope this result does positive things for Canadian cycling and motivates the next generation of Canadian cyclists. I hope that’s the biggest thing that comes out of this,” said Hesjedal, heading into Sunday’s 20th and final stage, a 102.5-kilometre ride into Paris from Longjumeau that was largely ceremonial.

“This placing will be there (in the books) forever.”

Contador finished 39 seconds ahead of runner-up Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and 2:01 up on third-place Denis Menchov of Russia to win his third overall title to go with previous championships in 2007 and 2009.

Michael Barry of Toronto — along with Hesjedal, Bauer, Alex Stieda and Gord Fraser one of only five Canadians ever to race in the Tour de France — finished 99th overall, 3:01:34 off the pace as he rode in support for other Sky team racers.

Mark Cavendish of the Isle of Man, who will face Barry in October at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, won the 20th leg Sunday into Paris for his fifth stage victory of this year’s Tour and an astounding 15th in three years.

For Garmin Transitions team rider Hesjedal, it wasn’t about spurts but well-rounded and well-paced strength in all aspects of the Tour.

“If this makes more Canadians aware of cycling, and want to cycle, then it will have been worth it for that alone,” he said.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Ryder+Hesjedal+proud+seventh+place+finish+Tour+France/3321346/story.html#ixzz0uittF9kT

The 4th annual BC Bike Race is back in a big way.  500 participants, the maximum allowed in this year’s edition, are scheduled to begin the 7 day mountain bike stage race Saturday June 26th in North Vancouver. There, riders will take part in a short 20-30 minute prologue before heading over to Nanaimo Sunday June 27th to officially begin the race.

After riding the trails of Nanaimo on Sunday riders will then head over to Cumberland for the second stage on June 28th, followed by Powell River on June 29th, the Sunshine Coast on June 30th and July 1st, Squamish on July 2nd and finally ending in Whistler on July 3rd.

This year’s field will include some of BC’s top riders including former and current Olympians Andreas Hestler, Geoff Kabush and Catherine Pendrel. World X-Terra champion Melanie McQuaid will also participate. Other notable locals include Squamish’s Brandi Heisterman, Kelly Servinski and Carena Dean and Whistler’s Cathy Zeglinski, Penny Cameron, Duncan MacKenzie and Sarah O’Byrne.

Well known unicyclist Kris Holm will also take part (click here to view a Global BC TV interview with Kris).

For more information on the race and real time results and photos visit www.bcbikerace.com.

This weekend hundreds of cyclists will embark on a 262 kilometer trip in the second annual Ride to Conquer Cancer, benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation. Cyclists will leave Saturday morning from Vancouver and head south through the Pacific Northwest.

BC Cancer Foundation CEO Douglas Nelson is looking forward to this year’s Ride. “The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a great way to make a difference in the lives of British Columbians who are facing cancer,” Nelson said. “We raised over $7 million in our first Ride last year, and we’re confident that this year’s event will have an even bigger impact on the funding we can provide to the BC Cancer Agency.”

For more information AND TO DONATE please visit The Ride To Conquer Cancer website here.

The 2010 North Shore Bikefest returns this upcoming weekend with a collection of cycling events geared towards the entire family. Events include bike demonstrations, rides and races for kids, a pump track, a BMX course, ride & race clinics, group rides and trail building demos.

In addition the famed Lezyne Marathon XC returns as well as the Specialized Smackdown BC Cup Downhill.

Details for the event are as follows:

June 4–6, 2010
Inter River Park, North Vancouver

Click here for a Google Map of the location.

For more information visit the North Shore BikeFest website here.

The beginning of June each years marks the return of Bike to Work Week. This year a large number of events are being held at a number of locations around the province.

If you planning on cycling to and from work next week at least once you can get involved in the festivities in two ways:

1. Visit a commuter station.
2. Organize a group of like-minded cyclists at your workplace and register your Bike to Work Team online for a chance to win prizes.

Here are some additional Resources to help you along…

• Visit the Bike to Work BC Society, a registered non-profit society whose mission is to encourage more people in all BC communities to commute by bicycle through Bike to Work initiatives.
• The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition has a great page of cycling-related resources.
• For commuting tips visit www.commutebybike.com.

If you have additional resources you’d like to share please let us know!

Event Description: MEC Bikefest is a daylong community celebration of bicycles and all things bicycle related and includes information, lessons, a Bike Swap, demos and other activities.

Time: Sunday, 30 May 2010, between 10:00am and 3:00pm.

Location: The event takes place at Victoria’s Centennial Square which is located behind City Hall.

For more information about MEC Bikefest Victoria contact Michael Pardy at mpardy@mec.ca.

A collection of bike routes has been compiled by a local blogger, Joanne. The collection can be viewed on her website, Alive With Sport. Each route is shown on an interactive map, so now you have no excuses not to ride, well except for rain…

The bike routes can be viewed here.

Yearly membership costs range between $100 to $160 and includes a cycling jersey ($160 club membership), club riding insurance, guided weekly rides (Saturdays and some Sundays), a monthly key ride, a basic flat repair clinic, discounts for Bike Tech Clinics, a bike fit assessment and more.

Two groups are available, one based in Vancouver and another on the North Shore. In addition there are several sub-groups available ranging from beginners to Sportif Riders (fastest non-competitive cyclists).

For more information on the club you can visit their website here.

The new magazine has just released its first issue and includes sections on gear, training, health and nutrition, and more.

The new magazine also includes numerous BC content. For example the current issue features Vancouver’s North Shore and also profiles legendary BC cyclist Ryder Hesjedal.

Subscription costs are $20.95 for 1 year (6 issues) or $38.95 for 2 years (12 issues). For more information visit the website: www.cyclingmagazine.ca.

This year will see several changes. Rules have been adjusted slightly, for example the Finals will not be mandatory, and new races have been added. The Rat Race no longer exists and has been replaced by the Sunshine Coaster, and the Junkyard Dog XC is back on the calendar after being absent for 2009. In addition BC will host 2 national downhill events.

NEW MARATHON XC SERIES

Showcasing some of the best single track BC has to offer in Squamish and North Vancouver, we have joined forces with 5 epic events to sanction the “Helluva” Series.  This comes after a successful meeting with the organizers of the well known GRMBA races to work together as a cohesive body and truly bring grassroot racing back under the Cycling BC umbrella.

To this affect, the Hell of a Series will bring riders back to the “hay-day” of cross country racing…rather than leaders dawning a jersey, a mojo will be displayed proudly and the crowned King & Queen won’t necessarily be the leader… it could boil down to who writes the best story.

Check out cyclingbc.net/marathon for full information on the Series.

VANCOUVER ISLAND SERIES

Also back for 2010, is the popular Vancouver Island Mountain Bike Series. The Series is open to all; Islander and non Islanders alike!  Check out their new website at:  http://www.islandcupseries.com/

• DRAFT 2010 Road Calendar
• DRAFT 2010  Downhill Calendar
• DRAFT 2010 Cross Country Calendar
• 2010 BMX Calendar

Clinic details included below:

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Youth Triathlon Camp Ages 12 – 15—training to train

Our spring break triathlon training camp will work on skill and technique development for all three sports. Under the direction of a Kids of Steel coach, the PISE Youth Triathlon Camp will help kids get a grasp on how to prepare for races, be confident in their skills, and lay the foundations for a great triathlon season! This program will include strength & conditioning; testing; educational talks; guest coaches; technical skill development; and lots of fun! Cycling and running gear is mandatory.

Instructor: Kelly Guest

Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:00pm

March 8 – 12 250 ($265)/5 sessions

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YOUTH TECHNICAL TRIATHLON CLINIC

Ages 7-10–learning to train

Are you interested in learning about Triathlon but unsure where to begin? Then this once a week clinic is ideal for you! This clinic will introduce you into the sport of Triathlon running and cycling, in a safe and fun environment. This hour and half clinic will include: learning technical development skills in cycling and running, educational sport videos and guest speakers. Required equipment: Bicycle, helmet and running shoes!

Please note: this session does not include swimming sessions.

Instructor: Kelly Guest

Saturdays 2:00 – 3:30pm

February 6 – 27 $60 ($75)/4 sessions

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Youth Cycling Camp Ages 14-16–training to train

This spring break program will teach kids to learn how to train, improve your riding skills, learn how to become a better and stronger cyclist, all under the guidance of the cycling experts at Pacific Cycling Centre. The Youth Cycling Camp will feature: technical riding skills instruction for road &/or mountain biking; educational talks; strength & conditioning sessions; field testing; and ongoing feedback throughout.

Instructor: Houshang Amiri, Ch.P.C.

Road Biking

Monday – Wednesday 8:30am – 4:00pm

March 8 – 10 $200 ($215)/3 sessions

Mountain Biking

Wednesday – Friday 8:30am – 4:00pm

March 10 – 12 $200 ($215)/3 sessions

Mountain & Road Biking

Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:00pm

March 8 – 12 $300 ($315)/5 sessions

Victoria BC, – Seamus McGrath and Andreas Hestler in cooperation with Big Mountain Adventures and BC Bike Race launch ‘Performance Cycling Camps’.

Two seven day training camps will be held in Victoria: March 28-8 and 8-15.

With over 45 years of experience between two celebrated athletes; 3 Olympics, multiple National Titles, countless World Cups and a couple of BC Bike Race wins, Andreas and Seamus know a few things about preparing for a cycling season. Join Performance Cycling Camps to set the foundations for a successful race season or a platform for lifelong cycling success.

Performance Cycling Camps is the synthesis of Andreas and Seamus’ past and present experience all rolled into one comprehensive package. What do athletes do when they retire or slow down, ensure that the knowledge they gained through the school of hard knocks is not lost but passed on?

The site of the camps is Victoria BC where Andreas and Seamus did their training during the winter months. “Victoria offers world class roads and trails, amazing cross training facilities and opportunities and an ideal network of contacts in the high performance field including access to the best therapists, testing and mechanical support. One of the most important things to setting up a race season is the off-season training that occurs in winter! The weather is not perfect, the hours are long, and the muscles are sore, but this style of training developed a list of Canadian Cycling Champions that is quite impressive,” says Hestler enthusiastically.

“We are really excited to start out this next segment of our careers. At the Beijing games I started to formulate an idea about what would be next, but when Dre approached me about training camps I knew it was the right step,” says McGrath from his Victoria home.

Long time friends and competitors, Andreas and Seamus rose through the Canadian National team system under the direction of head coach Yury Kashirin. Kashirin passed along the eastern European methods of training and since then Hestler and McGrath have gone on to conduct successful racing careers.

Big Mountain Bike Adventures is a veteran tour operator with over 35 years of history running cycling trips. They have teamed up with Performance Camps to provide and ensure a seamless experience.

For More Info: www.performancecyclingcamps.com
www.ridebig.com
www.bcbikerace.com

Experts predicted traffic doom, but barring cars from a lane on Burrard Bridge has been anything but

Few can sniff pending disaster like the media, particularly if there might be pictures. So television, radio and notebook-wielding print reporters were in place early, primed to file up-to-the-minute dispatches on what would surely be the fiasco of the year.

This was July 13, Day One of the great bike-lane experiment on the busy Burrard Bridge. Pundits had been predicting chaos for days. TV choppers circled overhead, searching for the first trace of long lines of impatient motorists.

When suddenly, as the Monty Python skit put it, nothing happened. But for a brief snafu at one end of the bridge during the evening rush hour, pounced on by the news-starved media as manna from heaven, the day had all the drama of a golf course tap in.

Restricting one of the bridge’s six lanes to bicycles worked right off the bat. Five and a half months later, it’s still working.

On a recent, hectic, pre-Christmas late afternoon, vehicles moved smoothly across the venerable, 77-year-old crossing, cars slowing only for turns off and onto the bridge.

“There’s a bit of a backup, depending on the lights, but for the most part, it’s fine,” said a driver in a black SUV, waiting for her chance to access the bridge.

Said cyclist Chris Marti, bundled up in bright yellow togs, who pedals across the structure several times a week: “It’s much better. I love it.”

The new bike lane not only gave more room to cyclists, it also ended the perpetual peril of bicycles and pedestrians sharing the sidewalk.

“It was really scary before, always looking over your shoulder for cyclists,” said Nicole Cutler, toting two bags of Christmas shopping, as she headed over by foot. “It’s great. I’d be really upset if it went back to the way it was before.”

No chance.

Although the experiment – a bike-only lane going south with one sidewalk reserved for cyclists headed north and the other sidewalk for pedestrians – is still officially a trial, no one expects it to be reversed.

“It’s working,” said the city’s assistant transportation engineer, Jerry Dobrovolny.

Overall, bike traffic on the bridge is 26 per cent higher, Mr. Dobrovolny said, while vehicle crossings are down slightly and pedestrian use is up slightly.

“The big thing is, there are no delays on the bridge itself. There have been added delays of perhaps a minute or two elsewhere, but the data shows people are changing their habits.”

The success of the experiment is a feather in the cap for the city’s biking mayor, Gregor Robertson.

Mr. Robertson, with the support of his Vision party councillors, pushed the trial through in the face of almost universal predictions of delay-fuelled motorist fury.

The previous, right-of-centre council had bowed to the bleating of the car lobby, opting for a plan to widen the sidewalks for $30-million rather than simply give the bike lane a try.

Critics looked back to a pilot lane closing in 1996 that lasted all of a week before being called off, although traffic had started to stabilize after a few angry days of tie-ups.

Mr. Robertson gives the current trial a nine out of 10.

“It’s definitely improved safety for walking and cycling on the same bridge, and saved us upwards of $30-million in capital costs. We just need to smooth out a few wrinkles.”

Inveterate cyclist Peter Ladner, who ran unsuccessfully against Mr. Robertson for mayor, said there’s no doubt the bike lane works, despite his own vacillation on the issue while a member of council.

“Traffic engineers predicted doom. They gave us maps, showing how far back the traffic would stretch. Where are they now?” wondered Mr. Ladner.

“I cycled over this morning. It’s certainly more relaxed. I think we’re at a bit of a tipping point. People’s attitudes are changing.”

Urban expert Gordon Price, the former councillor who spearheaded the 1996 experiment, said the tactic worked better this time for three reasons.

Officials communicated the change effectively, they closed the southbound lane to cars instead of the northbound lane used in the morning rush hour, and Vancouver is a different city than it used to be.

“It’s moving into post-motordom. By that I mean, everything used to be designed around the car. Now, we have to have other choices, or the car fails,” he said. “That’s happening.”

One dark cloud hovers over the venture. A decision by traffic planners to close off a turn from Pacific Avenue onto Hornby Street to protect cyclists streaming off the bridge is devastating at least one long-standing business.

Since the bike lane opened, sales at Art Knapp Urban Garden, a Hornby fixture for 35 years, have plummeted. Business this month is off 40 to 80 per cent from last year, depending on the day, says owner Wim Vander Zalm. “It’s ugly.”

If he can’t get a break on his rent, he’s gone, Mr. Vander Zalm said. “We need new, drive-by customers, and they’re not there.”

Mr. Robertson hopes a solution can be worked out.

But, after a week earlier this month in cycling-mad Copenhagen, he’s imbued with a distinct case of bike buzz. The mayor wants more.

“If the number of cyclists continue to increase, we are going to be looking at making more space available,” he said.

“Burrard Bridge was the first big demonstration of protecting bicycle lanes. We showed it was possible, without creating a huge traffic issue.”

The quietly intense Hesjedal, 2003 world mountain biking silver medallist who in 2008 and 2009 became the fourth Canadian to ride in the Tour de France, was given the honour in balloting by Canadian fans conducted on CanadianCyclist.com.

Hesjedal received 31.4 per cent of the vote, in the results released Monday. Runner-up was Marie-Helene Premont of Quebec City, 2004 Athens Summer Olympics mountain-biking women’s silver medallist, with 16.6 per cent of the vote. Roland Green of Victoria, two-time world men’s mountain biking champion and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was third with 14.6 per cent.

“It’s a recognition of ten years worth of hard work and a big honour,” said Hesjedal, in a phone interview from a training camp in Maui.

“I’m 29 and feel I have several good years left ahead of me. Maybe I can get the award for the next decade, too.”

Over the summer, the two-time Olympian became the first Canadian to win a stage in the Tour of Spain, which with the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia comprise the Grand Tour of pro cycling. It was the first Grand Tour stage victory for a Canadian since Steve Bauer of Fenwick, Ont., in the 1988 Tour de France.

When Hesjedal made his first of two consecutive Tour de France appearances in 2008, he became the first Canadian to ride in the iconic race since 1997.

“This sport is so hard. To have created a role for myself with a (pro club) of the calibre of Garmin, and thus knowing where I stand at this level, is very satisfying,” said Hesjedal, preparing for next year’s Grand Tour and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

“It’s up to me to build on these successes.”

Hesjedal was also named Canadian male cyclist of 2009 in fan balloting on CanadianCyclist.com, with 49.5 per cent of first-place votes. National mountain-biking champion Geoff Kabush of Courtenay, B.C., who won a World Cup event and placed fifth at the 2009 world championships, was second with 22.3 per cent of first-place votes. Zach Bell of Whitehorse, silver medallist at the 2009 world track (velodrome) championships, was third by garnering 5.9 per cent of first-place votes.

Mountain biker Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, B.C., third overall in the 2009 World Cup points standings, was selected Canadian female cyclist of the year with a leading 35.5 per cent of first-place votes.

Victoria Times Colonist

cdheensaw@tc.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Results can be found here.

An amazing photo slideshow from the race by John Irvine can be viewed here.

Dave Shishkoff has posted a great report from the race including pictures on his blog here.

(Photo courtesy of Dave Shishkoff)

The 2009 cyclocross season offically comes to an end this weekend in North Vancouver at the BC Cyclocross Championships.

The event takes place at Mahon Park on Sunday, November 29th with the first race beginning at 10am.

You can register on-line here.

All participants will also automatically be entered to win a 2009 Rocky Mountain cyclo-cross frame in YOUR size.

Did you know that this week is the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition’s (VACC) 3rd annual Winter Bike to Work Week?

From November 2-6 cycle commuters can either visit a commuter station for free food, prizes and mechanical help, register a team and recruit your co-workers for the online competition, or become a sponsor. The goal in all of this to promote cycling as a viable mode of transportation within the city.

For more information and to register visit the VACC website here. You can also view the map and schedule of commuter stations.

Except for a few angry drivers, the first day of the Burrard Bridge bike lane experiment – with one traffic lane designated for bicycles – had a smooth start yesterday.

According to race organizers, “Solo category riders will experience the full 7 days of racing and will be added to the already successful competitive 2 person team format and the recreational 2, 3, 4 and 5 person team formats that require two riders on the course at any given time.”

Recently organizers unveiled a new route for 2009 which will include a start in Vancouver and a tour through the legendary trails of the North Shore.

The BC Bike Race will take place this year from June 28-July 4. For more information visit www.bcbikerace.com.