March 2018 News

3-26-2018 Road Racing Decline? Is it me or there is there no weekend road racing in the Carolinas this year? Did I miss something? I am trying to update the Road Calendar and can find very few weekend road races in NC/SC. AL, GA, and TN seem to have about as much road racing as the last 2 years. MTB, Gravel, and Cross are flourishing across the region. Join the discussion on the Southeastern Cycling Facebook page .

3-23-2018 Hincapie Finale Cancelled The Hincapie Spring Series finale in Hendersonville this weekend has been cancelled because of anticipated severe weather. (This is the second cancellation for the event).

3-22-2018 TYMBR MTB Series  TYMBR Series (pronounced timber) Tennessee Youth Mountain Bike Racing Series. Offers discrete age grouping for youth categories with fun race course and low entry fees. The TYMBR Series also offers adult categories with very competitive races for cash and prizes. The next race 4/22/18 at Enterprise South Nature Park on the TNT loop. Follow Cohutta Adventures on Facebook.

Twilights at AMP Press Release The Atlanta Motorsports Park has invited TopView Sports and our bike racers back to race again. We are racing 6 different dates (April 18th, May 16th , June 13th, July 20th – Friday of GCGP, August 15th, September 12th). There are two waves of race times. The “B” race will begin at 6pm and the “A” race will begin at 6:45pm. The exception is on Friday, July 20th. The race will be part of the Georgia Cycling Gran Prix. Please come join the fun! We love spectators at our events.

3-21-2018 Cartersville Century “The 20th Annual Cartersville Century at Barnsley Resort will be held on June 16, 2018. This year’s ride begins and finishes at this world class resort, providing our Riders, guests, friends, and families an enhanced experience for 2018. This is the ultimate cycling and resort experience, whether just participating in the ride or making it a weekend-long getaway! After the Cartersville Century, riders and their guests enjoy lunch prepared by the resort’s talented chefs, a pop up beer garden featuring the Reformation Brewery Airstream, music and more in a relaxed outdoor setting.”

3-20-2018 Carrier Park Velodrome Reopening The velodrome at Carrier Park in Asheville will reopen on March 21 with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Improvements include: The Carrier Park Velodrome Improvement Project incorporated multiple improvements, “including: Re-grading and resurfacing of the track surface; Installation of new lighting for the track; Installation of new fencing; Clean-up of the outer wall and guardrail; Re-grading and shaping the interior edges of the track to blend with the other existing recreation activities and improve drainage.” Trish’s Note: There traditionally has not been any programming at Carrier Park in quite a few years. It is open to the public. I cannot find any information on events for this year; there may be none.

3-19-2018 Speedweek Races Announced Speedweek is coming! The races will be Wed, April 25: Walterboro, Friday, April 27: Spartanburg, Sat, April 28: Athens, Sun, April 29: Commerce! NEW Event!!

3-17-2018 Taco Stand MTB Race Venue Update From Chain Buster: Due to circumstances beyond our control, we announce that the Taco Stand Classic at Tribble Mill on April 28 will not happen as scheduled. The Gwinnett Area Trail Riders have been an awesome partner with Chain Buster racing for years, and they are a group that we proudly support. They put in tons of time redesigning a killer new course for the event, but in the end, the requirements of the county government could not be met despite the best efforts of GATR and representatives of Chain Buster Racing.

But the news isn’t all bad! We are thrilled to let you in on some exciting news! On April 28, we will be hosting the first ever MTB race at Hard Labor Creek State Park. The race will be called the NACHO STAND CLASSIC because…well… you can’t always have tacos! The exact course will be determined over the next few days, but you can expect a distance of at least 9 miles and around 750 feet of elevation per lap! We hate to see the Taco Stand Classic come off the schedule, but we are excited to highlight a new system of trails that are a blast to ride! There are no words to describe the red carpet treatment that park system has already given us through this process, and I know they are eager to extend that same treatment to you!

3-16-2018 GA Cycling Laws Bike Law Georgia has a great new post on their website summarizing some of the laws that affect cyclists in Georgia. Know your rights AND responsibilities as a cyclist!

Sykes Park Mega Work Week From SORBA Atlanta We will have trail crew working all week at Sykes Park with an excavator and skid steer to work towards completing the outer loop. Since they’ll be there we are asking that if you have the time please come help us after work and/or that weekend for a few hours doing a little handwork and cleanup. Please let us know if you’re interested and what day so we can start to get a better idea of tools needed. The goal is to open the outer loop in May so we can start to work on some of the advanced trail spurs before it gets too hot. The dates are March 26-April 1 at 5:00 pm. Come one day or all!

Blanket’s Creek Work Party From SORBA Woodstock There will be a work party at Blanket’s Creek on Sat., March 17, 9 am-1 pm. “We have some big builds to manage this month including reroutes at the top of Dwelling and some finish work at the drops. Let us know if you can make it by hitting the Going button. Bring some gloves and boots. Thanks in advance and see you there. We’ll provide a tasty meal following.”

Some Creek Work Party From SORBA Atlanta Join us for our monthly Work Party at Sope Creek and give back to the trails that you love to ride. We meet at the Columns Drive parking lot at 9 AM at the gate by the Fitness loop. Wear long pants, closed toed shoes, bring gloves, water, snacks and your epi pen if you are allergic to bees. We will see you there.

3-14-2018 Blanket’s Creek Dirty 15/30 From Mountain Goat Adventures Are you looking for something longer than an XC race but not quite ready for a 50 miler? Then check out the Blankets Creek Dirty Thirty Endurance MTB Race. The course includes most of the trails at Blankets Creek in a clockwise direction for a total distance of 15 miles per lap. Intermediate and advanced riders will complete two laps, for a total of 30 miles. A shorter one lap, 15 mile course will be offered for beginner categories. Each lap has just under 1400′ of elevation gain, so this will be a challenging course. For 2018, we are changing the direction of the course to clockwise on all trails! This means you will ride South Loop, Dwelling and then Van Michael Trail. An aid station and access to drop bags will be available at the half way point for riders participating in the 30 mile race. This event is a major fundraiser for SORBA Woodstock, so please come out and support your local trails.

Arabia Mountain Trail News From PATH: DeKalb County will close the Arabia Mountain Trail between N. Goddard Road and the intersection with the east-west trail from Murphy Candler School from March 6 through June. The sewer line south of N. Goddard Road has failed and must be replaced. Mile 5.0-5.8 will be affected. Start rides from Flat Rock trailhead or Murphy Candler School to go south.

3-13-2018 Roswell Moves and Mayor’s Ride Bike Roswell! and the City of Roswell will launch the first “open streets” program in the city on Sunday, April 29 with the Roswell Moves! event. A five-block section of Canton Street in historic downtown Roswell, from the south end of Canton Street to Webb Street, Elizabeth Way, Norcross Street, the New East Alley, Plum Street and North Canton Street. Activities will take place from 11 a. m. to 3 p.m., while roads will close to motorized vehicles from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vendors & local businesses will be on-site, and attendees will be encouraged to walk, pedal, and roll along Canton St .Live music presented by Atlanta Plays It Forward will be located at two stages along Canton Street near Highway 9 and on North Canton near Woodstock Road.

A festival for cycling began in 2002 as the Historic Roswell Criterium. One of the anchor events created in 2003, the Bike Roswell! Mayor’s Ride, will continue as part of the new Roswell Moves! festivities this year. This full-supported, recreational bike ride will offer distances of 18, 42 and 64 miles, all routes beginning at 8 a.m. from Roswell Area Park. Lunch will be provided for all participants, sponsored by Lucky’s Burger & Brew and Red Hare Brewery. The Mayor’s Ride is the largest fundraiser of the year for Bike Roswell!. Early registration is available online with a discounted fee of $35 per rider available through March 31 (www.bikeroswell.com/rides-maps/mayorsride). T-shirts will be provided to the first 500 pre-registered riders.

April 21-29 will also be a cycling festival with the week incorporating different existing rides in the North Fulton County area (Olde Blind Dog, Roswell Thursday Night Ride, etc.) in the ride. The full schedule can be seen here.

3-12-2018 GA State TT Championship GBRA & Middle Ga Time Trial series presents the 2018 Georgia State Time Trial Championship on Saturday July 14, 2018. The adult course is a 30K course with two good climbs, and some good rolling hills. I believe you will find the course challenging for all levels. The Juniors course is the first half of the adult course ending at 15K. Remember THERE WILL BE NO RACE DAY REGISTRATION. Timing will be handled by Precision Race. Check-in opens at 8:00am. First rider off at 9:00am.

Hendersonville Crit Rescheduled From Hincapie Spring Series: For anyone who was planning to do the crit in Hendersonville, NC. The new tentative date for rescheduling is March 25th. This is due to impending cold thunderstorms. Please help us spread the word!

3-9-2018 GROUP RIDE SEASON IS HERE!!!! Who’s excited for GROUP RIDE SEASON???? It starts next week! The Rides page is all shiny and updated for 2018. Get the details on your favorite ride! See Atlanta area rides over at the rides page:  http://www.southeasterncycling.com/rides

Gaps Training Rides Atlanta Cycling will be hosting a Gaps Training Ride on select Saturdays in 2018. The ride starts at 8:00 AM at the Rock Pile. Park along the highway at the intersection of GA 60 and US 19 (The Rock Pile) north of Dahlonega, GA. This is a very challenging, but beautiful, 33 mile training ride over three gaps – Neal’s, Wolfpen & Woody’s. There are store stop opportunities along the route. The early season rides will be “No Drop” designed for those who are new to riding in the mountains. Estimated ride time is 3-4 hours. Late season, we will have drop rides and perhaps add additional gaps. Dates are April 21, May 26, June 16, July 14, July 28, Aug. 11, Aug. 25, and Sept. 15. Contact Mark via email Mark at Atlantacycling.com (Duluth) for more information. 770-476-4949.

3-7-2018 GA Tech Race Weekend Press Release Brooks Road Race and Tucker Criterium The Brooks Road Race and Tucker Criterium will return on Saturday, March 10th thru Sunday, March 11th. The event is presented by TopView Sports, Georgia Tech and Snyder Cycles! We welcome you to race with us. Categories include Collegiate, Masters, Cat 4/5, Women and Pro 1/2/3. There will be a Road Race, Individual Time Trial and Collegiate Team Time Trial on Saturday. Sunday’s event will be the downtown Criterium. We will also have a kiddie race for ages 10 and under at 12:30. Please come join the fun! We love spectators at our events. Registration is open.

3-6-2018 Group Ride Seasonb Group Ride Season will be upon us this Sunday! Don’t forget to SPRING AHEAD Saturday night before you go to bed. Here are the details for the Eastside Rides:

Airport– Sundays- 10:00AM through – end of March (ride tradition goes through end of March). Airport Ride Start- meet at Trinity Ave SW, Atlanta, just west of Forsyth St SW. Approximate address- Trinity Lofts- 249 Trinity Ave SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

Saturday Tucker– goes back to 9:00AM the first Saturday in April (April 7) // B Tucker Group goes to 8:30AM April 7. Tucker Ride Start- meet at the intersection Lynburn Drive and Main St, Tucker, GA- right by Snyder Cycles, Approximately 46 miles (shortcut options available).

Tuesday Northlake Ride – Kicks off the first Tuesday after the time change- March 13 @ 6:15PM. 6:15PM for all March Rides (1 Belgium loop in park); 6:30PM for all April Rides (1 small five mile counterclockwise and 1 eight mile Belgium loop in park); 6:30PM for May – late summer rides (2 loops in park) Summer Solstice Trifecta- 3 loops in the park the week before, the week that includes June 21, and the week after. Northlake Ride Start- meet at the back of the parking lot of the Restaurants located at: 3900 Lavista Road, Tucker, GA. If you look at a map- meeting location is between Montreal Rd and Harobi Drive, East of Wendy’s across the street from Chevron Gas Station / McDonald’s.
Distance- Approximately 30 miles round trip in Summer- then moves to 23 miles as ride gets shorter (shorter options available in the park).

Thursday Pizza Ride – Daylight Schedule Kicks off March 15 @ 6:15PM
6:15PM for all March Rides (1 loop in park); 6:30PM for all April Rides (1 loop in park); 6:30PM for May – late summer rides (2 loops in park)
Summer Solstice Trifecta- 3 loops in the park the week before, the week of (June 21), and the week after. Pizza Ride Start- meet in the old location Avondale Pizza Cafe parking lot-(which is now an outdoor Artist Park). 70 North Avondale Road, Avondale Estates, GA 30002 Distance- Approximately 33 miles round trip in Summer- then moves to 26 miles as ride gets shorter (shorter options available in the park).

3-5-2018 Big Creek Work Party From RAMBO: RAMBO will host a work party at Big Creek in Roswell on Saturday, March 10 to tackle a list of issues. The more folks that show up, the more we can get accomplished. Work to take place in both XC and Free ride areas. XC – meet in the lower lot, Free ride – meet by the storage container in the FRA. 9 a.m. We will provide tools, and lunch afterward.

3-1-2018 UCI Eliminator Returns to Columbus Press Release The 2018 UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup will include new rounds in Graz (Austria), Bangkok (Thailand) and Brazil. The series will kick off in Columbus (Georgia/USA), to be held in the beginning of June, with the finals taking place in Brazil at the end of November. In between, City Mountainbike is set to add three additional races to the calendar. After a successful 2017, it is sure to be an exciting and entertaining season with a variety of terrain and challenging new courses.

2-28-2018 Mountain Ranger 34K MTB Race The Mountain Ranger 34K MTB Race will be April 28th 2018, Time: 7:00am (mountain bike race start time, trail run times start later – all are listed on the registration page), Location: Camp Frank D. Merrill (5th Ranger Training Battalion) 1 Camp Merrill Drive, Dahlonega, Ga 30533, The course for the mountain bike race starts out on FS roads but goes quickly into single track and and the majority of the course stays on the single track. The Mountain Ranger Run and Bike race are the morning of the annual Open House that the Ranger Camp puts on every spring. The day is full of demonstrations including airborne demonstrations and hand-to-hand combat. It’s a great family and community event that gives the general public a look into what Army Rangers learn during the mountain phase here in Dahlonega. This year, they will have the showers in the gym available to race participants to use to clean up after the race and stick around for Open House. (Trish’s Note: If you have never been to the Ranger Camp, it’s really cool! Kids would love the open house and demonstrations!)

2-27-2018 Ride and Fly Trails Work Party From SORBA Atlanta: Ride & Fly Trails Work Party, Saturday, March 3 9 am-Noon, 3224 Dodson Drive Connector East Point, GA 30344 SORBA Atlanta and the City of East Point have partnered to develop what we hope will eventually become a series of connecting trails throughout the ATL Airport District by starting with beautiful Skyes Park in East Point. SORBA will be providing some coffee and morning snacks (Donuts, bagels, biscuits or similar), On the agenda: 1. Continued Trash pickup, 2. Continued Privet and English Ivy Removal, 3. New Trail Building, 4. Cleanup and modification of existing walking trails.

2-26-2018 HEY GROUP RIDE LEADERS!! Hey people/shops/clubs/teams that put on weekly rides in Atlanta–I need the details of your ride for the spring.  I’ll be updating the Rides page over the next couple of weeks as details for rides are released! Contact me here.

2-24-2018 Silk Sheets Controlled Burn Head’s up if you are riding Silk Sheets this weekend. I found this on the Chattahoochee Hills City Facebook page. “Property managers will conduct a GA Forestry controlled burn on a 105-acre tract off of Rico-Tatum Rd during the day tomorrow, Saturday, February 24th. Dense smoke may be generated in areas near Cochran Mill and South Fulton Parkway (burn area is within Palmetto city limits – Chattahoochee Hills and Palmetto fire departments will be on standby).”

2-23-2018 DLV Pro Race Series The Dick Lane Velodrome has announced the races for the 2018 Pro Series. The Keirin will be May 5, and the Velodrome Cup is Sept. 1. The Keirin is a fun race to watch as riders stay behind a moto for the first couple of laps while the speed winds up. When the moto pulls off, it’s a free for all sprint to the finish. The Velodrome Cup is an omnium style night with riders accumulating points throughout the events. The rider with the most points is awarded the perpetual Velodrome Cup trophy. Pro races are very family friendly with an exciting atmosphere! The Left Turn Cafe will be serving food. You can bring in your own frosty adult beverages (no glass, please!) and a cooler if you prefer. Spectators are encouraged to cheer and bang on the boards for their favorite racers!

Friday Night Sprints proceed each Pro race. Come out and watch the fastest racers over 3 laps of the track in a two up format including Sorella’s own track sprinter as she prepares for the Masters National Championships! Rumor has it the women will have their own sprint tournament this year at Friday Night Sprints!

2-20-2018 Velocity Atlanta Press Release New Premier Fundraising Ride to Benefit Grady Hospital Four Distances, Indoor Cycling in Downtown Atlanta

The Grady Health Foundation is staging a new, premiere fundraising ride on May 5, 2018, benefiting the Grady Health System. The ride, named VeloCity, will begin and end at the Georgia International Plaza in downtown Atlanta and offer multiple distances for cyclists of all fitness levels.

“Our vision is to offer a world-class ride that will ultimately become a new annual tradition for cyclists throughout the region – one that is also a unique and exciting opportunity to engage with Grady, which is an irreplaceable asset for our community,” said Pete Correll, chair of the Grady Health Foundation.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) is the presenting sponsor for the inaugural VeloCity, which is being co-chaired by two avid cyclists, John Gregg, chairman of the board, president, and CEO of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, and Thomas Dimitroff, general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. Georgia-based, world-renowned sports event management company, Medalist Sports, is overseeing the production and technical aspects of the event. Registration is currently at www.velocityatlanta.com. Participants are required to pay a registration fee as well as commit to fundraising levels based upon the distance selected. Links to routes of 5, 25, 50 and 100 miles can also be found on the website – all will be fully supported with rest stops and support vehicles. Participants are also invited to a special opening celebration on Friday, May 4, at Georgia International Plaza. For additional details visit www.velocityatlanta.com or contact Nick Carvalho at nick@velocityatlanta.com.

About the Grady Health Foundation — The Grady Health Foundation is dedicated to supporting the Grady Health System achieve its vision of becoming the leading public academic healthcare system in the U.S. by funding and accelerating capital renovation, advanced medical technology and equipment, and clinical programs. For more information, visit www.gradyhealthfoundation.org.

No Roswell Crit I have gotten word on good authority that the Historic Roswell Crit is not happening this year. The Mayor’s Ride is still on and registration is open!