In this mini-series, I wanted to take the time to provide those of you who are not familiar with the Victoria 70.3 course a little bit of context for each leg of the race!
There's a lot going on for Race Weekend, and not everyone has the opportunity to swim, bike, and run the course before setting foot on race day, so let's go for a little spin, shall we?!
The bike course is filled with rolling terrain and very few spots where you’ll actually settle into a pace and just cruise. As you exit T1 (First Transition), you’ll be exiting left (West) towards Oldfield Road. This is a semi-rural country road with constant short climbs and descents. Keep your cadence up on these and your hands ready on the shifters. If you’re a confident rider with good handling skills you won’t need much braking in this direction. Once you make your next soft left to Old West Saanich road, you’ll have a solid descent through some more soft corners with a solid climb up the other side. This is a short, moderately steep climb, so again, keep your legs moving! Here you'll settle in along Royal Oak Drive which again is rolling but nothing major here.
Your next SHARP Right will be on Blenkinsop, a fast cruise down this stretch takes you through some light agricultural land and no major hurdles here. It’s the next left turn (heading East) that gives you the next obstacle. This is a moderate kicker of a climb that then continues on a soft incline. It always feels longer than it should, in my opinion… As you reach the top, you’ll be turning left to head North for the 35km.
You’ll immediately drop into a short descent here, with some shallow turns. The bottom of the hill levels out to a left turn that can be a bit tricky to navigate if you’re not a strong technical rider, so be cautious if you don’t have the skills to carry speed through tight turns. This is then a soft descent into another longer climb along Cordova Bay Road. After this road levels out for a few hundred meters, you’ll find yourself through few more rolling hills and on to a quick Right Turn to remain on Cordova Bay Road. This is where you’ll have a chance to see anyone behind you, as this is the same intersection you turned on to Blenkinsop! Make sure to wave!
You’re now on a rolling, fast, descent down Cordova Bay. Pick up some free speed here, and roll through the light inclines. As you continue down this road, you’ll soon find yourself at a small intersection with stop lights after “Mattick's Farm” and at the Golf Course. This means you’re almost at the nasty soul-sucking short kicker of a climb. This is short and steep, and will drag your speed down. Conveniently, the top of this is where the Aid Station is. So, fuel up, refill your water, then right back down the other side of Fowler!
Continuing down Fowler, you’ll need to slow down to make your next right onto Hunt Rd. This is a favorite route we’re on here, and although the road conditions on Hunt can be a little bumpy (watch those BTA and rear bottles!!), it’s a fun section you can pick up some speed on. Only one short climb on Hunt after the big soft left turn, then it’s just a winding slight uphill grade to the top. Big left turn here takes you right into a descent (again, free speed!) down Martindale to the Highway.
As you exit the highway, you’ll turn Right followed by an almost immediate Left to turn North again, and here you’ll be on a flat(-ish) and fast section you can put some work in. You may feel agitated and like you have energy to burn after the bike path section, but don’t go too hard here! There are some decent straightaways here with no real climbing, just rolling, so you’ll find yourself picking up a lot more speed than in the past few kilometers. Stay in control of your effort here, and don’t be too overzealous with your pace. There’s still plenty of work to be done!
This meandering section through the town of Sidney is fairly uneventful, a few small turns to stay on the main arterial roads but otherwise it’s a flat, coastal town area. Some lovely views of the ocean through here, as well as the potential for crosswinds and fog!
After passing through Sidney, you’re heading to the tip of the Peninsula. A short climb up the overpass will put you on the other side of the highway again, with a steady gradient up to the next Aid Station before you turn Right up Tatlow for a fun little mostly flat road to Watkiss. A short, soft climb to the top of West Saanich then pitches you down to the next Left turn onto the Home stretch back towards T2. This is a bit more of a hectic area. Once on Lands End Rd, it’s a meandering rolling section with not too much in terms of technical skill. Some short descent and climbs really set the tone for the return trip to T2 though.
There’s a fun little section most local riders will be familiar with. As you head down Chalet, you’ll reach a T-intersection, 90degree left turn here, again with road closures you should be able to carry some speed if you’re comfortable. If not, take it easy through the turn. Straightaway down Birch (slight false flat section) to West Saanich. Hard Right here. A slight downward gradient here, then another hard right on to Wain Rd. Long straightaway again here until the end with another big swooping turn down Madrona, pick up a little speed here but be warned, it won’t last long! You'll have another Left turn on to Downey Rd in a few hundred meters, this will take you right into a short climb up Downey Road so choose an adequate gear! You’ll have some light rolling along Downey until you turn Right on West Saanich again (that road name is getting familiar by now, eh?), which takes you down a short descent to the water again! At the end of the airport, you’ll immediately start going up again. You have now entered the section of road that is all rolling, no flats. The next 10-15km is full of short climbs and kickers that suck energy from your legs if you’re not in the right gear for them! Just look at that course profile map! You’re around the 60km mark here…
The climbs between 65-70 km are the steepest and least forgiving, in my opinion. You can’t really settle into these climbs so either take the approach of low gear high cadence or just mash your way through these ones. You’ll know the big one when you see it… You’ll also be encountering your third and final Aid Station just past 70km here.
Once that section is over, you have the reprieve of Wallace Road. Watch out for Potholes here! It’s a fast section, so be aware of the road conditions around you! This section is always over too quickly… Because next is the longest climb of the course. This is the steady 2.5km climb all the way up Willis Point Road (no, you don’t ride to the end of it, just until it levels out for a safe turn-around). This slog of a climb will slow you down on the way up, but fear not! The great Newton and his laws of gravity are here to save you! The return trip down Willis is always worth the climb… Have a sip of water at the top, grab a little snack, then pop it into your big ring and cruise back down to the bottom!
Now, it’s not all smooth sailing from here. If you looked closely at the course profile you’d notice another climb, not too much shorter than Willis is still coming up! And you’re correct to make the supposition that it will also be hard… One sharp almost 180 degree turn, then a few kickers in between and you’ll finally be on the last long climb from about 84 km to near the finish. You’ll be making a right hand turn on to Oldfield Road again (remember this one?!) which is a short, moderately steep, section so don’t be caught unawares, this little climb will get the legs pumping right before you make your way back to T2! You have a short descent here, into a false flat before making another Left turn back toward the Lake. This last section is a little rolling section again with some sweeping corners to keep you from picking up too much speed in the descents, but otherwise its a fast and fun section to ride! You’ll know you’re almost at Transition when you see the boat launch section followed by, you guessed it, ONE LAST CLIMB! This little kicker will get you up and over a little hill to descend down to transition. You can coast on down to T2 if you’d like, take a few sips of water and your final nutrition before entering T2 then it’s off too the run, and May The Course be with You!
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