2007 World Tuesday Night Championships
The Tuesday Night Series has been a staple of the road racing scene in Vancouver since the early 1980's.
Started by a club riding out of Cicli Forsa in the West End, its first incarnation was a simple route out at the University of B.C., 2km up and down either side of 16th Avenue.
After a couple of seasons, the race was moved a few blocks closer to the campus and a new configuration.
Escape Velocity has continued the tradition of running these races and turned it into a genuine race series, with points tallied through the season to determine an overall series winner. The current 1.6 km "short" course has been in use for a few years, and in 2005 key parts were repaved, removing some Roubaix-grade potholes on the climb.
Despite the fact that these races are designed to be simply training events, the level of competition has always been high. For many people, nothing is more important in their racing lives than doing well at the Tuesday Nighters. Its when their parents, friends and spouses come out to watch them race. Because of this fanatical need to succeed the event has long been known as the "World Tuesday Night Championships" (we couldn't use Tuesday Night World Championships due to UCI issues....). On warm summer evenings, we can get close to 200 racers putting it all on the line for the best part of an hour. The reasons for such a healthy turnout are many:
- the course is close to where people live: most can ride there in half an hour from their homes or their workplaces
- it's still cheap. For the 2007 season, it still costs only $5 to race ($10 for a season-long number, $5 to race), we have prizes galore from our sponsors who see this event as the heart of road racing in B.C.
- it's well organized - races start on time, the roads are properly marshalled, the course is interesting
So come out to the friendliest, most competitive, best attended road racing in Western Canada.
Racing happens every DRY Tuesday (rain = no race) during the months of May, June, July and August, from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.
See you there.
