Congrats to OA Victoria's racers, who all finished well in each of their events on Sunday! The Times Colonist Bastion Square Criterium is the biggest road race on the island, and typically one of the biggest in BC, and marks the closure of the road season here this year. The course is in downtown Victoria, a four-corner road course around the popular Bastion Square market.

Kevin Park was the first racer up, in the mixed-level Category 5 field, which was the 2nd largest of the weekend with 26 starters. Kevin played an active role in the 25 laps of racing, with a strong effort in the remaining laps in an effort to break up the pack, but it was incredibly tenacious and stuck together for a massive bunch sprint, in which Kevin edged through, including a few bumps with a rider in front, for 4th! OA member Casey Ryder was also in this race, but rumour has it he focused a bit too much on 'fun' in prior evenings, and was not at all in top form, but finished mid-pack. ;)

In the Cat4 race, Dave "What - I Hardly Do Road Races!" Shishkoff was a continual presence at the front of the pack of 12 racers - leading out for the first few laps, then sitting in waiting for a good moment to pounce. Unfortunately, the pack stuck together, and Dave wasn't feeling much like a solo TT effort, and so stuck it out for the bunch sprint. Hoping to whip through on the inside of the final corner, he found everyone else there, and so went wide, and powered by much of the sprinting field on the outside to collect 3rd - a podium spot! Having not done any high-speed racing for over three weeks due to the closure of the velodrome eroded Dave's confidence, who in retrospect should have jumped 150m earlier, and would have easily outsprinted the field once in front... Reminder of today's lesson: you must believe in yourself!! Regardless, despite typing this in the third person, Dave is very happy with his performance, and will likely move up to Cat3.

In the Cat3 race, Emile DeRosnay was an obvious standout in the 12 starters, and won almost all the Primes (and often by a large gap!) True to form, with four laps (or kilometers) to go, Emile carried through from a Prime sprint and gained nearly an entire block of ground as he pursuited to the finish, and remained ahead of the charging pack to win the race!! Emile was ecstatic to finally win a road race in BC, and will likely be moving up to Cat2.

Gillian Carleton rode a conservative race in the Women's 1/2/3 race, with a disappointing seven starters, although that didn't mean the competition wasn't significant, with international track star Steph Roorda and Canadian MTB sensation Alison Sydor in the field. Gillian demonstrated her tremendous strenghts a few times, going for a few Primes, but would fall back into the pack afterwards...until the final Prime with two laps remaining, when in response to screaming teammates and crowds, she carried the momentum from the Prime win through, and powered away like the future superstar she's going to be, and took the win in style!!!

Photo from the line here: http://duanebc.smugmug.com/gallery/6030043_Svs3Y#377453995_GHKQt

Gillian will be missed after this event, as she's been offered a fantastic opportunity with Total Restoration, and doubtless she'll continue to excel and dominate in whatever races she takes up with the aid of coaching and teammates. All the best to you Gillian, thanks for choosing to race for OA in 2008!! =)

This marks the end of the road season, and the beginning of 'cyclocross!

A listing of many of OA Vic's rider's accomplishments can be found here:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pnfzlMjRxwTsEWTpK45rFcg

Thanks for tuning in!

- Dave