2017 Big Loop Ride - Sunday, July 16th

[David Attwell]

Prospers Valley Grsnd Fondo registration closes tonight.

We have a discount code:

VancouverIslandRider-17-9999

Sorry but I only got it tonight.

Dave.

[John D]

Hi all;

This is a précis of a message that I sent to Martin this morning. Feedback encouraged:

Cheers,
John

***************************************************
I felt really bad about mismanaging the time. Having cost us all at least 30 minutes with my numerous flats, I should have paid more attention to how much time we spent at the food stops thereafter.

In fact, I think we should re-think how many "real" food stops we need on the Big Loop Ride. We could probably drop the Sooke one altogether, and make the one after the top of the switchback just a quick water resupply stop. That would give us at least a 30 minute time cushion.

Other thoughts:

We should bring a wheel-set, a tire or two, a chain (and chain-tool), and a box of CO2 cartridges next year.

I also wonder whether we could rent sat-phones or radios for the support vehicles to communicate (e.g. in the event of an emergency, etc).

By coincidence, Steve had recently taken an advanced first-aid course and had a first-aid kit in the car, but we should be more proactive in making sure that we have at least 1-2 designated first-aid people in the groups.

[Mikael]

Hi John,

Thanks to you and everyone else who worked so hard to make it a lovely, safe and well organized ride.

Shirley is an alternative for a stop if Sooke is dropped. I think it is a about halfway to Port Renfrew.

And please try to remember:

"Stay with Mikael"

Mikael

Ps. I have patched all those tubes for you now

[Louise Wallace]

Those sound like good ideas John. Last year there wasn't a stop between Port Renfrew and Lake Cowichan which was okay. Sooke is good place to split the groups but we could make it short or split into groups at the start. The more scenic route from Duncan to Mill Bay was nice but it was very undulating and adds a fair chunk of time if people are tired. There were more mechanicals than normal and the 10 or so minutes with the rider in the ditch. These were just ideas if you were wanting to shave time. I'm not complaining about though..... I had a great time!
Louise

[John D]

Hi all, and thanks for the feedback.

Marcus reminded me that after last year's ride we had discussed and agreed on (i) a staggered start for this year, and (ii) that the Sooke stop was not needed. Both of which I completely forgot about. Likewise, there was a wheel-set and the club's big First Aid kit in the support vehicle in previous years.

D'oh!

I guess that's what I get for trying to re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

[JTyre]

Hi John,

Apart from my unplanned detour into the ditch and a lot of cross-chaining on my part I'd do it all over again just as we did -- I had a blast. That said, and only in retrospect, I wouldn't have complained if we'd been able to catch an earlier ferry -- but that's a small detail from my perspective.

John F.

p.s. Dropping Mikael more often would've been desirable as well .

[Fozzy]

Hi John

At the time, I thought the ride was too long, but when you look at it, an additional 30 minutes to the time we usually do it in is negligible.
I had a blast, but I hear that there were a few complaints that I didn't pull enough.

[EricS]

Great ride! And good suggestions for improvement. I agree, fewer stops would have been fine. Also, grabbing food, and eating while riding is not as bad as it seems (not every time of course, the breaks were very nice:). One suggestion I might make: have folks sign up ahead of time for a group (maybe 3 groups?) based on ride speed and number of required stops. Then if, for example, there were only 3 people signed up for the slow group, we could check in with them ahead of time and see if that was ok. I thought the time between Duncan and Millbay was an interesting study in group dynamics and the sociology of low-blood-sugared, over fatigued individuals. It was like a group of 3 year olds who had stayed up way too late. I'm surprised there were no fist fights. Actually, despite a brief period of grumpiness, I really enjoyed the day.

Huge thanks to the support crew! Well done!

Eric