6-4-2020 Tour of North Georgia From TopView Sports After much deliberation and planning we are finally ready to announce the return of BIKE RACING. We are proud to announce that TONGA (Tour of North Georgia) is now a 2 event Omnium spread over two months. With so many national events cancelled this is the only 2 weekend, 8 race omnium in the country at the moment. TONGA Part 1 will be held on June 26-28 and Part 2 will be on July 24-26. Part 1 will include the Demorest Elementary Criterium on Friday evening. The Rock Springs Baptist RR and TT on Saturday and the North Georgia Tech RR (Oakey Mtn. RR) on Sunday.
The July event(Part 2) will have the same Friday and Saturday but the Sunday course will be the same as last year’s TONGA from the Habersham High School.
We will do our best to keep everyone safe during these crazy times but we do ask that if you are sick please stay home. If you are uncomfortable with the small crowd of a bike race then please stay home. We can assure you that there will be less people at the bike race than at any given Walmart. We will need to enforce field limits of 50 riders per field. So that means only 50 masters, 50 pro 1-3, 50 cat 4-5 etc. This is just so we can keep the event safer during this time. Please register early and don’t wait until gameday or you may miss the boat. There is a plan to offer an overflow field ONLY if the fields fill on the currently offered categories. We also ask that you be patient with us during this restart to the season. We know that not everyone will agree and that’s ok, but please keep those comments to yourself. Like your momma said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.

6-2-2020 New Women’s Everlasting Record on Hogpen Gap From Velonews “On Sunday, Lauren De Crescenzo set a new Everesting world record with a time of 9:57:29. A week before that, the former pro and current research fellow at the Center’s for Disease Control (CDC) ended a 60-day COVID-19 emergency response deployment. For now, in the hours after her 29, 777-foot attempt (yes, she went over the 29,029 requirement), Everesting takes the cake in terms of difficult life experiences.

De Crescenzo and her fiancee Jim used the Hog Pen Gap climb, two hours outside of Atlanta, Georgia for their attempts. The segment measures 2.1 miles, averages 9.8 percent grade, and perhaps most importantly, is very straight. De Crescenzo says that she averaged 45 – 50 mph on the descent. After 24 laps, she’d broken Katie Hall’s record. The extra half lap was to make up for GPS discrepancy. De Crescenzo credits both Hall and Ruth Winder for blazing the trail and providing some good teaching points re: Everesting.”

Lauren De Crescenzo sets new Everesting record

6-1-2020 Track Removal on SCT Extension Started From the Cobb County Courier: “An eastward expansion of the beloved Silver Comet Trail is now underway in earnest, with former CSX Corp. rail tracks being removed on a 2.3-mile extension that will take the trail inside the I-285 perimeter for the first time.

“We’ll make this the best part of the Silver Comet yet,” said Ed McBrayer, executive director of the PATH Foundation, an organization hat builds trails throughout metro Atlanta. “We hope to be under construction by the end of the year.”…… Track removal for the current extension began at the south end and is moving north. From there, Cobb County will survey the corridor and PATH will begin design work this fall, with construction beginning soon after. McBrayer said the new portion will be 14 feet wide, which is two feet wider than the rest of the Silver Comet Trail.

Blanket’s Creek Dirty 30/15 From Mountain Goat Adventures: I FINALLY have some GOOD news to report! We have spoken with Cherokee County and we are being allowed to proceed with the June 27th event at Blankets Creek provided we maintain social distancing and safety guidelines as outlined in the Georgia Governor’s latest Executive Order.

We are committed to providing a safe environment for our participants and event staff, so this means we will have a lot of operational changes which will be communicated to you all as we get closer to the race – but here are some of the major changes to expect (full details specific to each venue will come out in your racer update about a week before each event):
▪ Event sizes limited to avoid over-crowding on trails and at venue
▪ No mass start – participants will be given a pre-assigned start time between 11 am – 12 noon based on category, with roughly 5 riders per start wave. No parking lot loop at start.
▪ No pre-race group meeting – this information will be sent via email before the race. Any last minute additions will be posted at check-in so you can photograph and read back at your car.
▪ Early Thursday night check-in still available – at an outdoor location staffed by me, location TBD. If you check in early, you can just show up and go straight to the start line at your start time.
▪Socially distanced and contactless Saturday check-in (waivers should be filled out at home, 10′ spacing between tables and people in line, only one person per check-in station at a time, 10′ line spacing, masked check-in staff, hand sanitizer available)
▪30 Mile Riders may pre-place bottles/coolers/etc in the skills yard for use before their second lap. 15 Mile Riders need to be self sufficient as there is no aid station on the 15 mile course. A Hammer Gel and Fizz will be included in your race packet.
▪Results will be uploaded to an external website, so you can view them on your mobile device from your car or elsewhere at the venue.
▪No group awards ceremony – prizes for top 3 in each category can be picked up individually at a given time at the event.
▪We strongly suggest wearing a face covering to pick up your race packet, however you are not required to wear a face covering while exercising outdoors.
NO RACE DAY REGISTRATION AT THIS EVENT – YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER – APPROX 50 SPOTS AVAILABLE

15 and 30 mile courses available – each lap is approximately 15 miles and includes most of the trails at Blankets Creek. All non-virtual riders receive a super comfy tri-blend event shirt and pint glass. Prizes and Medals for the top 3 in each category. We have also added a VIRTUAL category to each event, so if you are not comfortable coming out on race day, but you would like to support the event, you can register in the virtual category and ride the course at any time up until the race date and submit your time. We will mail you your race bib and and t-shirt after the event. There are no prizes/medals for the virtual race, but an overall finish list will be posted. We strive to provide a safe and comfortable environment for all of our crew and participants, but any activity in the presence of other humans presents a potential risk of being infected with COVID-19. If you are the least bit hesitant to come out, are sick or showing signs of sickness or illness (running a fever over 100.4 F, having a cough or shortness of breath, have been diagnosed with COVID-19, had symptoms of COVID-19) or come in contact with a person that has or is suspected of having COVID-19, please sit this one out – there will be other races we’d love to see you healthy at! We hope you all are excited to get the competitive juices flowing again and hope that these events will provide some motivation to keep staying active. We miss seeing everyone and are looking forward to being together again – while maintaining a safe distance – at these upcoming events : )

5-29-2020 Silver Comet Restsooms (Said in my best deep voice) …AND WITH THAT COBB COUNTY HATH SPOKEN! BATHROOMS AND FACILITIES WILL REOPEN JUNE 1. What does that mean? Bathrooms along the SCT will reopen Monday, June 1. Restrooms in Paulding County are open at Tara Drummond but still closed at the Caboose. Trees are abundant–watch out for snakes and poison ivy.

5-23-2020 AP Challenge Bike Ride From the promoter: Join us for the upcoming AP Challenge Bike Ride on Saturday, August 15th! Bike Ride Registration begins at 6:45 AM & Bike Ride starts promptly at 8 AM. The meeting place is Assembly of Praise @ Lula. The scenic route will take cyclists through the wondrous landscapes including Apple Pie Ridge. The route options include the 20 mile, 50 mile, and the metric century. All routes are well marked with SAG vehicle support and have well stocked rest stops. Registrants also receive a delicious post-ride meal.   Early registrants receive a free T-shirt and discounted registration fee of $35 if registration is completed by August 1st! (Registration/Event Waiver forms along with payment are needed for application process to be complete.) We look forward to meeting you at the AP Challenge Bike Ride and we are thankful in advance for your help with this most worthwhile cause. If you have questions about registration or would like to make a non-taxable donation to the AP Challenge Bike Ride, ple]

MTB Time Trial Series at Road Atlanta Come support our local middle and high school Georgia League mountain bike teams every Tuesday evening in June. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to ride the private Fox RaceFace XC Course at Road Atlanta which is only open to the public a few times a year. This is a 4 race series in June with an overall championship on June 30. See more information here.

5-22-2020 Calendar Updates  I’m putting the races back up at the top of the page. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE PROMOTER TO MAKE SURE THE RACE IS STILL HAPPENING. I’m trying to keep everything updated, but things change daily. All calendars are updated for the June races as of today. I’ll start updating July in a few days.