The Sidney Velo Tuesday night time trials began in 1980 on the Lochside Drive – Mt. Newton Cross Road – Patricia Bay Highway (#17) – McTavish Road – Lochside Drive circuit in the Districts of North and Central Saanich. The course consisted of two laps of this circuit, totaling 17.9 km, starting and finishing at Cy Hampson Park in Bazan Bay. Until June 2006, riders were permitted to use the entire traffic lane from centreline to centreline to round the corners at Lochside Drive and Mt. Newton X Road and at McTavish Road and Lochside Drive, resulting in very high speeds through these corners. In June 2006, in response to police safety concerns, traffic cones were introduced at these two corners to keep riders in the bicycle/shoulder lane as they rounded the corners, slowing corner speeds considerably. Time trials continued on this basis until the end of the 2009 season, and records set before June 2006, were flagged with an asterisk to denote the cornering speed advantage the earlier riders had.
The 2010 season was cancelled due to the construction of the McTavish Interchange on Highway 17. The time trials resumed in 2011 with the former Highway 17 – McTavish Road and McTavish Road – Lochside Drive corners replaced by a single hairpin turn from the Highway 17 off-ramp around the base of the pedestrian/bicycle overpass on to Lochside Drive. This hairpin is coned all the way around to keep riders in the shoulder/bicycle lane. The new course at 17.4 km is shorter than the old course, and new course records were started to recognize the significant changes that had occurred.
In 2016, new age categories and equipment rules for young riders were introduced at the request of Cycling BC. The new categories are U13, U15 (13-14), U17 (15-16), and U19 (17-18), the old “Junior” category. The equipment restrictions include: 7.93 m maximum gear roll out for all riders under 19, no time trial specific bikes or helmets, and low-profile (may not exceed 40 mm), non-carbon wheels for all riders under 17. U17 (15-16) may use clip-on aero bars. New records were started to reflect these significant changes with the exception of the U19/Junior category.
In 2019, the start/finish line was moved from Cy Hampson Park, which had become overrun with dog walkers, to Lochside Drive at the McTavish Interchange, but the course remained the same. Non-aerodynamic (Eddy Merckx) categories were added in 2019 for ages 19 and over to encourage the participation of riders with standard road bikes, who do not want to engage in the expensive arms race of time trial bikes and equipment. On-line registration for the time trial was also introduced in 2019.
The 2020 season was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and ran for a half season of 9 races during July – August under a Covid-19 safety plan that included on-line registration only, permanent race numbers, no rider holder at the start, and a cap of 35-40 riders. The 2021 season was also delayed due to the pandemic, running for 11 races during June-August under the same conditions, except that the rider cap was increased to 50. The 2022 season was cancelled due to road construction at Mt. Newton X Road and Highway 17. In November 2022, Sidney Velo decided to stop staging the Tuesday Time Trials due to the retirement of key volunteers with no one to replace them. The time trials had run for 41 seasons during 1980-2021.