11-24-2015 NUE Series Southeastern Races From MTBRaceNews: “The 10th Annual KENDA National Ultra Endurance (NUE) Series www.nuemtb.com announced the 2016 schedule this week, including the addition of a new NUE Marathon Race Series, complementing the NUE CENTURY Race Series Schedule.” Read the rest if the article at MTB Race News.
NUE Race Series SE Races: Cohutta 100, April 30, 2016 Tanasi- Ducktown, TN; Shenandoah 100, September 4, Harrisonburg, VA; Fool’s Gold 100, September 17, Dahlonega, GA
11-22-2015 Tucker Start Time Through discussion at two Tucker rides over last few weeks, majority opinion has expressed desire to keep Tucker ride at 9 am through the end of DEC. Starting this SAT NOV 21, Tucker ride moves to 9 am through end of DEC. Mark shared the ride list so this announcement can be shared with interested parties. Baby Tucker still at 9:30 unless the riders of that group decide otherwise. Trish’s Note: Confirmed. 9 am through the end of Dec. Then 10 am for Jan.
11-18-2015 Atlanta WBL 3rd Annual Atlanta WBL Series Season 3 starts THIS Saturday, Nov 21st, for the Atlanta Winter Bike League (WBL). Open to all road cyclists and triathletes. Come experience what an avg of 80 cyclists did in Season 2. Time: 9:20am Ride Mtg/9:30am Roll time, Place: 300 Peters Street, Atlanta, GA The rides are every other Saturday, so this way you don’t have to choose between your club or favorite group rides and ours; just alternate and ride both. Win-Win. Depending upon weather, we have moved the start time back an hour and have re-scheduled ride dates. Hey, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Bike Alpharetta Needs Kids Bikes! From Bike Alpharetta: Time to do something great with a previously-loved bicycle or tricycle… it is Donation Week with Bikes For Kids! Bring any bike or trike you can’t use any longer (or a friend or neighbor does not want) and drop it at ANY Alpharetta Fire Station (there are 6) OR ANY participating bike shop in Alpharetta, Roswell, Duluth, Cumming. See list below or visit bikealpharetta.org. ALL bikes/trikes will be cleaned and repaired on Dec 5 and provided to Santa Shop at North Fulton Community Charities! We appreciate all cyclists in the area helping us collect 300 items this year. Bike Alpharetta will buy new helmets to go with all donated bikes/trikes! Details on the Southeastern Cycling Facebook page (scroll down a bit).
Some Creek Work Party From SORBA Atlanta: SORBA Atlanta Monthly Work Party, Sope Creek Atlanta, Saturday, November 21, 2015, 9:00 AM, Sope Creek Trails, Interstate Pkwy SE, We will meet at the Columns Drive Parking lot at 9 this Saturday morning to work on the trails at the Sope Creek Mt Bike trails . Wear closed toed shoes and pants, bring gloves, snacks and water. If you are allergic to bees, bring your epi pen.
11-17-2015 Georgia Bikes is Hiring! The state cycling advocacy agency, Georgia Bikes! is hiring for two full time positions: Complete Streets Coordinator & an Educational Programs Manager. Both positions are grant funded and will work remotely from home offices. Click the position title for details. Please contact us if you have any questions. Applications are due via email by 5 pm EST on November 30, 2015.
Rope Mill Work Party From SORBA Woodstock: Rope Mill Work Party, Sat., Nov. 21 9:00am – 1:00pm Raceway needs some serious attention this Saturday. This will be a big project and needs a great turn out. We need to get a good headcount so we can plan. As always we will provide lunch.
11-16-2015 Elks Aidmore CX Photos Photos of the Georgia Cross Elks Aidmore Festival are up at http://sadlebred.smugmug.com. (Day 2 will be done by mid-morning on Monday.) The ditch on Sunday’s Shades of Honey Badger course was the source of a lot of great photos–mostly endos. No cyclists were harmed in the taking of these photos. The soft mud helped.
Silver Comet Work Party From SORBA West Georgia: Silver Comet MTB Trail Work Party Saturday at 9:00am – 1:00pm. Meet at the Silver Comet Trail (Rambo Trailhead) MM23.4 Bring your bikes and meet at the Silver Comet Rambo Trailhead. We will be working at MM 23.4. Dress appropriately, (it will be cold outside). Lunch will be provided at noon.
Stephan Hicks practices his stylish dismount technique in the Cat. 5 race.
This Frazier Cycling Junior (Josh Hills) was fearless! He aimed right for the ditch to ride it on the first lap of the Juniors race. He almost made it! He landed like a frog, according to his mom.
11-13-2015 HandUp Gloves Winner Congratulations to Kathleen L. from Atlanta, who won the Merican HandUp Gloves!!
Alabama Cycling Classic Press Release: Anniston, Ala. (Nov. 12, 2015) – – Organizers have rebranded the popular two-day cycling and community event hosted in Anniston each spring as the Alabama Cycling Classic. This event, April 2-3, 2016, combines the Sunny King Criterium, now in its 14th year, and the Fort McClellan Road Race with the Noble Street Festival in downtown Anniston. The Alabama Cycling Classic will host the opening road races on the 2016 USA Cycling calendar of events for elite and professional cyclists across the United States. “The momentum continues to grow in Anniston for this annual weekend of great food, great cycling and great family fun,” said Anniston Mayor Vaughn Stewart. “We take every opportunity to show off our historical downtown complete with its Victorian-age architecture, parks, and unique restaurants. From our micro-brewery to our mountain views, bike trails, and vibrant arts scene, Anniston has it all.” This is the third year that the Sunny King Criterium has served as the kick-off event for top-rated criterium races in the U.S. More than 500 cyclists competed in 20 categorized bicycle races last year – juniors, masters, elite/pro women, elite/pro men – on a one-kilometer, four-turn course in downtown Anniston. This year, more than $40,000 will be up for grabs among the races for USA Cycling- registered riders, as well as prizes and medals for amateurs. Entering its sixth year, the Fort McClellan Road Race began in 2010 as the Foothills Classic Road Race. Along with a name change, a new course was introduced last year that included a 20-mile circuit with a mountain-top finish on Bains Gap. The 2016 edition will return with this same course, and has been upgraded as a national road race on the USA Cycling event calendar. The Fort McClellan Road Race will offer a $10,000 prize purse for the elite/pro women, elite/pro men. Equal prize purses will continue to be awarded for men and women in the professional categories.
“The Alabama Cycling Classic events entertain thousands of cycling fans each year, and provide national exposure for the top cyclists across the country, men and women. Having both the Sunny King Criterium and the Fort McClellan Road Race as kickoff events for USA Cycling competitions is tremendous. It speaks volumes about the dedication and high caliber of support and services provided by the City of Anniston, Calhoun County and generous support from Sunny King Automotive and all our sponsors,” added Marilyn Cullinane, who returns as race director for a third year. Her event management company, Start Smart Cycling, operates both races for the Alabama Cycling Classic. The City of Anniston manages the Noble Street Festival.
11-12-2015 Tucker Ride Vote From Mark Linenburg: L”ast week at the 10AM Tucker Ride, there were probably 20 or so riders. A question (not asked or initiated by me in any capacity) was posed to the group about keeping Tucker at 9AM through the end of the December. The poll was taken and overwhelmingly this group wanted a 9AM start, there were dissenters of course, too. Now, this group was also the ones riding, and there was a chance of rain coming, so maybe this group would have said yes to starting at any time of day and is not representative of the group, as a whole. That being said, I have received numerous requests over the years to have the ride start earlier and I feel the best way to handle this is for someone to pose the question to the entire group, on a typical Tucker Fall Season Day- so the typical Fall/Winter Tucker rider has a chance to say their yes or no. So, Tucker will continue to remain at 10AM, until a proper poll is taken (if ever taken) of a typical Tucker Dry Fall Ride (say 50 + riders)
11-11-2015 HandUp Gloves Giveaway! (Sorry, It’s Over! The winner will be drawn soon!) The HandUp Gloves Giveaway ends on Tuesday night! There isn’t much time left to enter! Scroll down just a bit to enter!
Savannah Video Savannah WV, one of the Savannah Superprestige Cyclorcoss Weekend sponsors, produced a great recap video of the weekend.
Lights Rides Every year a couple of bike shops host Christmas Lights rides. From Atlanta Cycling: Please join us for our Annual Christmas Lights Ride from the Atlanta Cycling – Vinings store on Wednesday, December 9th at 6:30 pm. The ride will be short, slow, and stay together to see the Christmas Lights – about 12 miles. Dinner follows just before 8:00 so non-riders may join us. Bring an unwrapped toy (optional), and Atlanta Cycling will give you a 10% off clothing and accessory coupon in appreciation of your generosity. You should not need powerful lights to see, but front and rear lights are required to be seen. It’s a fun ride; please join us.
From Free Flite Sunday December 13th is our 6th annual Light the Night Christmas Ride. Hot beverages and snacks will be provided by Free- Flite Bicycles at the end of the ride to all attendees. This is a free ride and we welcome all to attend. All we ask is that attendees bring food donations for Must Ministries. All bikes must be equipped with front and rear lights in accordance with traffic laws. Optional Christmas decorations are up to the riders. We will have a prize for the best decorated bike this year. The ride will be 25 miles at 14-15 mph average. This is a no-drop group ride that is intended to celebrate the Holidays and collect food donations for Must Ministries. Please join us in support of our local community during a much needed time of year.
Amy Ross (Peachtree Bikes) took her first win of the year at Sunday’s Savannah Georgia CX Race in the Cat. 4 Women.
Underwear Ride From Reality Bikes: Fifth Annual Underwear Ride, Sunday, December 13, 9:00am at Dutch Monkey Doughnuts Join us Sunday, December 13th 2015 for a social bicycle ride benefiting Forsyth County’s homeless children. Please bring an unopened package of underwear and/or socks for middle school or high school age children in lieu of registration fee. Social begins at 8:00am, ride begins at 9:00am. 25mi or 50mi options. Helmets are mandatory- road bikes strongly encouraged.
Frank Trevieso (UHC-706) won the Elite Men’s race Sunday in Savannah.
11-9-2015 Savannah Superprestige Photos The photos from this weekend’s awesome race-the Savannah Superprestige-are up at http://sadlebred.smugmug.com. I’ll share some after I get sleep….
11-7-2015 NCC Calendar Press Release: – USA Cycling announced Friday that the National Racing and Criterium Calendars (NRC and NCC) will be joined as a single calendar of domestic professional road events beginning in 2016. The NCC and NRC will combine into a single, 24-event calendar in 2016. “Combining the NRC and NCC into a single calendar is an positive move heading into next year,” said Micah Rice, USA Cycling Vice President of National Events. “This change, decided from feedback given by race directors and U.S.-based teams at October’s National Symposium, will allow us to tighten up the schedule and regularly showcase our top domestic road talent.” The 2016 calendar will brig all American road racing together and promote it as a whole. A ranking system, which will be released in the near future, is being designed to give value to all the participating races, be it a criterium, road race, omnium, or stage race to showcase the leaders in American racing.
2016 Southeastern Events
April 2 Sunny King Criterium Anniston, AL
April 3 Anniston Fort McClellan Road Race Anniston, AL
April 30 Charlotte Criterium Charlotte, N.C.
May 29 Winston-Salem Classic Criterium Winston-Salem, N.C.
11-4-2015 HandUp Gloves Merican Review Inspired by “beverage” Hand Ups in cyclocross, HandUp Gloves in a somewhat new company out of Chattanooga, TN. Their motto is “best for grabbing beer and bars.” After coming out first with a long finger glove, HUG finally released a short HandUp finger version. It is minimalist, which I love. The palm is synthetic Clarino leather and has no padding. The back is a stretch mesh for easy on and off. The silicone printed graphics on the palm provide traction to grab the frosty beverage or your handlebars.
I’ll reiterate this of from my earlier review of HandUp Gloves long finger gloves: “I hate gloves, but they are a necessity. Most gloves are bulky hunks with terrible padding. I do not need or want ergonomic padding as it makes it difficult for my short fingers to wrap around the handlebar.” I received pair of the Merican Short Finger gloves just in time to test them on a few of the last Daylight Saving Time rides of the year. They performed as expected. They were very grippy, and my hands felt secure on the road bike bars. I did one dry cyclocross race with them, too. Again, they made me confident that my hands were not going to slip off the bars. Without the padding, it was easy to maintain my grip just where I wanted whether I was on top of the bars or on the hoods. I did not get to test out the beverage grabbing capabilities as I cannot drink anything during a cx race. Most of the rides I did were in the 60s, which is my lower limit for short finger gloves, and my hands were never too hot. I’d like to see how the Merican gloves do in a hot, humid Atlanta summer, but that will have to wait until next year.
They are very stylish and would look great with any kit, especially around the 4th of July. A size small fit my hands really well. I normally wear a glove unisex size small or women’s medium or large. I did an urban CX ramble for one of the test rides. A Wounded Warrior commented that he loved the gloves as a show of his patriotism. I hope he was able to get a pair! I would have given them mine, but he said he could not fit into a small.
I’ve been using the long finger HandUp Gloves aka “The Mug Gloves” since last January, and they have held up really well mountain biking and road riding. I had problem with one glove from the start. The stitching came undone up near the top of two of the fingers on the first ride. I emailed HandUp Gloves photos, and they determined that it was a manufacturing defect. I haven’t had the problem with the replacement pair. The ribbon pull tabs kept getting caught on everything during my cx race preride, so I had to cut them off. I’d rather see one tab on top of the glove instead of 2 on the bottom. I’d also like to see the short finger gloves in a few more color options.
HandUp Merican Short Finger Gloves are everything a minimalist pair of gloves should be. They grip well, fit like a glove, and look really cool! HandUp Gloves and Southeastern Cycling are giving away a pair of medium short finger Merican gloves!! Enter starting at 12:01 am on Wednesday, November 4, 2015. The contest ends Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at midnight. The winner will be drawn by 12:01 am on Sunday, November 15, 2015. US Residents only. No purchase necessary. Enter in the Rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
11-3-2015 Former State Rep. Dick Lane Dies From CBS 46: “Former state representative from the 55th district, Dick Lane, died Saturday after a long battle with an illness. Representative Lane was elected to the General Assembly in 1966 and served the people of East Point and Fulton County for 28 years…..(shortened)…Representative Lane personified the City of East Point, and was instrumental in acquiring the popular bicycle racing “velodrome” that bears his name. The Dick Lane Velodrome was constructed in 1974 and is located eight miles south of downtown Atlanta.” 11-2-2015 Serenbe CX Photos Photos from the Serenbe CX race will be up by lunchtime on Monday at http://sadlebred.smugmug.com. In the meantime, here’s a preview! 
Dave “The Storm Trooper” Marbut (Death Star Racing p/b Toyota Forklifts) on his way to taking over the universe in the Single Speed race. 
Jeff Moore (L5 Flyers) was having a great time in the mud in the Masters 35+ Cat. 4/5. 10-31-2015 Allatoona Creek Trails Closed As a reminder, the Alatoona Creek Trails close in November and December for hunting. They will reopen at 10:00 am January 1, 2016. No riding at all there in Nov.-Dec.! Go hit Mt. Tabor, Blanket’s Creek, Rope Mill, etc. instead. 10-30-2015 MGA Partnership Southeastern Cycling is once again partnering with Mountain Goat Adventures in 2016! You can count on us to give you the latest updates on MGA races, information about courses, and other stuff! (Stuff=everything else, the good gossip!). TEAM MAGIC CX PELL CITY IS CANCELLED! From Team Magic: Team Magic working with Pell City is canceling the Team Magic CX Pell City race for this weekend due to adverse weather conditions. It has already rained and soaked the area of the racecourse several days this week. The Pell City and greater Birmingham forecast has shown for the last 5 days: 50-78% chance of rain Saturday night & 90-95% chance of thundershowers for SUNDAY (race day). Plus the largest area of our course is weather sensitive due to being bowl shaped and very “soft” soil grassy areas. City and park officials approve and are thankful for this decision. Those preregistered for Pell City race can change at no charge to: Team Magic CX Montevallo. TEAM MAGIC CX MONTEVALLO is BOTH the last race of the Alabama CX Season & Alabama Cycling Association Series Finale – where ACA will be awarding series jersey presentations and trophies for the champions. To change to Team Magic CX Montevallo race or for a refund contact: Stuart Lamp, USA Cycling Business Development Manager 719-209-8211, 719-434-4300 slamp@usacycling.org
