News for 11-30-2022
Night Ride Season for Mountain Biking
From RAMBO-Big Creek
Welcome to night ride season! We wanted to share some important reminders for night riding at our local trails. If you’ve never joined us for a ride, this is a great time to buy a light from our local shops, and try something new!
Big Creek Park: Trails are open dawn to dusk. Night riding is ONLY permitted during City of Roswell sanctioned night rides operated by RAMBO. Starting Wednesday, November 16, RAMBO will host night rides every other Wednesday from 7pm-9pm through March. Weather and trail conditions permitting. Riders wishing to join a night ride must register in advance at roswellgov.com/register. RAMBO will be hosting special night rides with pizza and installing temporary lights at the pump tracks and Freeride area jumps several times this year! IMPORTANT! Night riding outside sanctioned events may be subject to a fine from the City. Please follow these guidelines, so we can continue our night ride program.
Charleston Park, Haw Creek and Matt Park: Trails are open 7am-10pm, and night riding is permitted any time of the year. No registration is required. We do recommend you ride with someone for safety in case of emergency. See you on the trails!

Trish’s Notes: Other trails open for night riding: Ft. Yargo State Park til the park’s official closing time. Check with the park. Blanket’s Creek never closes unless the gate is closed; don’t ride wet trails. Rope Mill in Woodstock is open until 10:00 pm. Allatoona Creek Park has official night rides (no other night riding peritted). Mt Tabor is open 7 am-11 pm, so you can night ride til the park closes. The group ride “Wednesday Night Wabbit Hunt” is at 7 pm on Wednesdays. Rumor has it Lake Russell is open at night. Clinton Nature Preserve is open.

News for 11-27-2022
WBL HUB HOME OPENER: MADISON
From the WBL
WBL Ride # 1: The HUB HOME OPENER: MARCH TO MADISON (https://www.hubbikes.com/)
When: Saturday, 3 December
Where: The Hub / Jittery Joes (5 Points)
Time: 10 a.m. (window open)
Length: 83 miles / 4.123 hours
4 pts: 1 per hour (digital sign in)
Exit Route: South Milledge > Watkinsville
Store Stop: Apalachee (Mile 45)
Pee Break: approx. Mile 21
Map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41350340
Sprints: None
Parking: Ride your bike down, park on a side street nearby. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE CAR IN HUB PARKING LOT DURING RIDE.

News for 11-24-2022
Across the Beeriers Weekend
The AOC Twilight isn’t the only bike race in town! Get your gravel or mountain bike ready for a little off-road racing at Across the Beeriers, two days of cyclocross racing held in Athens, GA at Southern Brewing Company (Dec. 3) and Terrapin Beer Co. (Dec. 4) on Dec. 3 & 4 as part of the Georgia Cyclocross Series.

Categories from beginner to expert, along with kids races, highlight the two days of outdoor fun at these beloved Classic City breweries. Cyclocross racing is a unique, non-Olympic discipline of cycling that can best described as a cross between road cycling, mountain biking, and steeplechase. Watching cyclists dismount their bikes to run up stairs and steep embankments often arouses questions about the origin of the sport. Although it is difficult to find the exact reason, many legends have it that cyclists would race from town to town off-road to bring a new element to road racing. These off-road adventures could have often required dismounting to hop fences and impossible terrain.

Come race and enjoy delicious local brews Saturday AND Sunday!

The Chestnut Family Foundation Awards MTB Atlanta $1 Million for New Trail Construction in Metro Atlanta
From MTB Atlanta
Press ReleaseMTB Atlanta to utilize award to construct 24 Miles of new Multi-use Trail and new Hard Surface Pump Track

(ATLANTA, Georgia, November 23, 2022) — The Chestnut Family Foundation has awarded the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association, Atlanta Chapter (MTB Atlanta) $1,008,535 to be utilized for the construction of 24 new miles of multi-use trails and the development of a new hard surface pump track. Eight parks across Metro Atlanta will benefit from the award. The award is one of the largest gifts awarded by a single donor in the history of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association for new trail construction.

“This award will assist MTB Atlanta in our mission to meet the demand for building new multi-use soft surface trails for mountain biking and passive outdoor recreation in the Metro Atlanta region,” Brett Davidson, Executive Director of MTB Atlanta said. “We are so thankful to the Chestnut Family Foundation for this award. Their support of our mission is greatly appreciated and will benefit mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners across Metro Atlanta. The demand for multi-use trails in Atlanta is at an all-time high in the wake of the Covid19 pandemic and the commitment made by the Chestnut Family Foundation has moved every shovel ready project we have in development into construction. All of these shovel ready projects have been brought to existence and are “half-way there” because of the sweat equity of MTB Atlanta volunteers and public grant awards. This single donation will move all of these projects to completion and the award will make a huge impact on the landscape of mountain biking and outdoor recreation in Metro Atlanta for generations to come.”

The Chestnut Family Foundation Award will fund MTB Atlanta’s professional trail building program and crew, MTB Atlanta Pro Trails, who will manage projects and construct new trails in Cobb, Coweta, Carroll, Troup, Fulton, Spalding and Rockdale Counties.

Philip Darden, Executive Director of the Southern Off Road Bicycle Association (SORBA) noted, “This generous donation from The Chestnut Family Foundation to MTB Atlanta will be a game changer for natural surface trails in the Metro-Atlanta area. With improvements spanning multiple locations across the city, more and more residents will be able to get outside and enjoy trails right in the neighborhoods where they live. And as one of the largest gifts in SORBA history, it shows the value that MTB Atlanta, as well as our other 46 chapters across the southeast, bring to their communities. My hope is that the trend continues, and we see similar strong investments in our chapters, both in Atlanta and beyond. Thank you to the Chestnut Family Foundation for your support to help change the landscape of natural surface trails in Atlanta!”

See the article for all of the trails that will benefit!

News for 11-23-2022
Joey Rosskopf to team Q36.5
Joey Rosskopf of Decatur, Georgia moves from Human Powered Health to the new team Q36.5. The team will compete at the ProTeam level (level below the WorldTour) in Europe in 2023. Joey said “”Looking at the roster I feel very fortunate to be included in this new cycling project, surrounded by so many other talented riders, and I look forward to tackling the challenges that arise and building @q36.5_procycling team together.”

CALENDARS ARE UP TO DATE!!
The calendars (see the menu at the top of the page) are up to date with any 2023 dates I have. As usual, mountain bike and gravel have way more dates than road. Road dates don’t start coming out til about late January. I’ll keep updating as I usually do. If you know of a date or are a promoter and have your 2023 date, please contact me!