If it ain’t smoke, it’s rain :( As per typical June fashion the upcoming week is beautiful until its time to ride bikes. 

With Gravel National Championships happening this past weekend, I wanted to extend a congratulations to our members who podiumed (and a shoutout to everyone who raced cause surviving is no easy feat either)!

In no particular order: 

  1. Michelle C. with 2nd place in Friendly Ghost Women

  2. Dan Z. with 3rd place in Canadian Championships - Masters I

  3. John L. with 1st place in Scary Ghost Men

We endeavour to be as clear as possible when putting out what our expectations are for the various rides. Read these ride descriptions carefully, and be honest with yourself and if you are ready for the level of ride you are signing up for, especially for the weekend rides that take us far out of the city. 

No-drop means that if you are having a bad day, or have some bad luck, mechanical trouble, a medical issue, you will never be alone, and the ride leader will figure out a way for you to get home, whether that means making sure you know the way home, having a responsible person pick you up, or if all else fails, escorting you home. It does not necessarily mean that the entire group will wait for you, especially if you are significantly below the expected pace of the group ride (of course, there is wiggle room for this, and your ride leader will explain in more detail at the beginning of your ride).

This is especially true for Tempo A/B and Shootout A/B weekend rides. You should be comfortably able to pull at the pace of the slower ride before making the jump up, or the ride will be difficult for you. For example - If you want to try Tempo A, you should be comfortable with pulling Tempo B for several minutes at a time. Same if you are looking to jump from Tempo A to Shootout B.

If you are not sure of what you are capable of, please come to the Lite Rides, WoERTC rides, Hill Rides, or Intervals to get a sense of where you are before attending one of our longer rides farther out of the city.

Photo: Dan Z with his 3rd Place Photo Credit Nathan Manyk.

Club Updates:

  • Tuesday Gravel Ride is still on! See Strava.

  • July 10 - Little Brick/Good Goods x ERTC Community Ride - More details soon

  • July 23 - Metro Movie Night (Moved from July 17) 

Ride Updates:

  • So many rides! So many options! Remember to RSVP on strava so we have enough ride leaders, and unRSVP if you don’t intend on coming so that we can prepare accordingly. 

Racing Updates:

General Reminders:

  • Official Rides are posted on strava. If you haven’t requested to join, please do so here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/2845 if you’ve applied and haven’t heard back, e-mail me, but first, make sure your strava name matches your registration name.

  • Day to day communication and general chatter is via slack. You can join here: https://join.slack.com/t/edmontonroada-7u36621/shared_invite/zt-1t5qvezds-JotWB~e_EJcXrD9NArQarA - this is where you can get real time updates about unofficial rides, talk bikes with club members, and sell your stuff to other club members! If you identify as female and would like to be included in the WoERTC communications and event announcements, please message Heather Curtis on Slack to be added to the private WoERTC channel. Please remember to use the “reply in thread” feature when using slack (especially in the general channel, think about all the group chats you are in, general is like a 400 person group chat)

  • Remember to review your insurance needs for the season if you registered before March 31st (if you registered after, it will have been an option on your registration. No action means that you will be covered for group rides only. You can learn more here: https://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/insurance-info

  • Have a cool photo from the last week you want featured? Send it to me and I’ll make it the header photo! Cool way to show off what you’ve been up to!