Event Recap: VICF x Rifflandia Kickoff

This past weekend kicked off the Victoria International Cycling Fest with a party and concert promoted in conjunction with Vancouver Island Alley Cat Racing Association and local music festival Rifflandia.
A crowd of good people came together to take in live music, finely brewed local beer, and roller sprint bike racing.

A stage with a handful of Canadian groups, a rather elegant beer trailer, and hordes of pop music & urban cycling fans descended on the back lot of Phillips brewery.  In the melee, The Vancouver Island Alley Cat Association stole hearts with a series of hard fought 10 seconds battles.

Linnea and her gang from Gastown Sprints made the trip over from Vancouver to set up and let us throw down on their excellent Gold Sprints setup.

Two fixed gear bikes, forks securely bolted down, spinning on rollers calibrating speed over a short 250m theoretical distance. Sounds easy enough, but this is the kind of 13 second race that has you puking up weissbier after the second round.

Lots of friends came out, bands played music, the sun shone and set, and things were good. Summer's almost here.

Afterwards, the boys from the newly minted Broad Street Cycles opened their doors and let us continue carousing at the shop. Camaraderie around the drill press, hi jinks on the work bench, et al. This is our kind of cycling culture.