7-30-2020 Welcome Twisted Spokes Bicycles Welcome Twisted Spokes Bicycles as an advertiser on Southeastern Cycling! Twisted Spokes Bicycles in Johns Creek is a full service bike shop that also services handi-capable devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, physical therapy devices, scooters and other things like strollers, etc. Among the bikes they carry Bianchi, Marin, Rocky Mountain, Devinci, Niner, KHS and Raleigh as well as e-bikes (electric bikes). The shop also provides consultations, maintenance classes, and guided bike and hiking excursions. TSB also installs hitches and racks.

Organizer, Brent is a former aircraft biomed engineer and is a master wheel-builder. Brent, also an accomplished cycling racer across many genres, can fix any mechanical problem with a bike & does creative custom build work (& correction of others). Twisted Spokes is a bi-lingual shop as their 2nd level mechanic, who has been with them for 3 years, is displaced from Venezuela. TSB offers intern opportunities for youth and has anywhere from 3-5 in the mechanic bay on a regular basis.

Shellie, Co-Owner a former active duty United States Marine and multi-athlete, is a Bianchi Dama and Rocky Mountain Ambassador. Shellie provides one-on-one bike instruction for both kids and adults through RideWithShellie who want to learn to ride (both road & MTB), clinics and ride-a-longs to improve bike handling skills in addition to fitness & nutrition clinics. Shellie started bike clubs in Fulton County schools with the approval of Superintendent starting 4 years ago. Shellie is also involved with assisting Boy Scouts of America TSB serves as the bike shop of choice with the credited program for Alpharetta High School’s Outdoor Academic Program. TSB sponsors JCAAM team, HOOCH Gold Card and is a AAA Discount Partners. TSB is involved in community, safety & legislative awareness concerns regarding laws using Shellie’s knowledge & 25 year legal career. Shellie also started a Non-Profit AMindful Ride, Inc. after surviving being hit by a car over 2 ½ years ago. Sometimes you will also see Shellie in the mechanic bay or at events wrenching.

Brent and Shellie are also race promoters; and the first and only to this date, to own and operate as minorities in this genre of enduro, Third Coast Productions. 3rd Coast Enduro Series was the first to bring enduro to the southeast in 2014. For those who are familiar with the Big Creek Quick Six Enduro, they are ones who do the timing and scoring every year.

7-29-2020 Race Venue Lost this Weekend Because of Racer Behavior  This is why racers should behave themselves at races! This happened at TONGA2 this past past weekend. From Topview Sports WE LOST ANOTHER RACE COURSE! We lost another course because of cyclist behavior. This is unacceptable. Habersham High School will NO longer ever let TVS use their parking again due to behavior in the feed zone! The land owner from across the street was so upset about the behavior of the people in the feed zone that he took his concerns to the Superintendent of schools. Do you realize that this kicks us out of all Schools in this county?

1. Urinating in the owner’s yard! We know of one person whom has apologized profusely and others that the owner saw. There is a reason we provide $1500 in portos for our events!

2. Leaving over 40 water bottles and garbage (Topview Staff cleaned up your messes prior to leaving at the end of the day).
Not our responsibility but we do it in order to continue putting on races! Clean up your own garbage!

3. He mentioned dogs tied up to his fence and this really upset him…..

Act like you want to be in our cities and be kind to the locals or there will be no more bike races!

7-22-2020 Georgia Cross Survey From Georgia Cross: We all recognize that we are facing unprecedented times in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The GACX Board is continuing to monitor information from sources both within cycling and the more general guidelines being shared by the CDC, state and local governments. In order for us to make the best decision possible regarding hosting the series this fall we would appreciate your input in the following survey. We hope that you are all well and getting in plenty of riding!

Group Rides Hi everyone! I’ve been asked why I am not keeping track of which group rides in the Atlanta area have started or restarted in the last month or so. I generally do one big update on the Rides page in the spring over a few weeks and then small updates during the year as I get information about specific rides. The best advice I can give you is to join the Facebook page of your favorite ride and check on the shop/club’s website or contact them to see if it is going on. Some have started, then stopped again, then re-started. It’s humanly impossible to keep up with 100+ group rides weekly. If you do choose to go to a group ride, please use your own discretion. No one is responsible for you but yourself-whether you get sick, have a mechanical, or anything else.

7-20-2020 Silk Sheets Parking  About a week ago a friend of mine posted on social media about a new place to park at Dirty Sheets that is on private property. I was invited out by Steve, the property owner, to check it out this past weekend. Steve is the owner of Klankwerks, a custom bike frame building shop. His property is right on the Dirty Sheets route.

Steve greeted me and showed me where to park, which was under a great shade tree. Most of the parking is in the field away from their house. While I was getting my bike out of the car I must have seen 15 riders pass the intersection near the Klankwerks property. The location is central to the middle of the route, and it makes a good place for a rest stop if you are doing multiple laps or adding miles in the middle of the route. It’s about 10 minutes past Cochran Mill Park but closer to Serenbe if you like eat there after your ride.

For now, Steve is limiting the number of cars to 4-6 per day to see how parking goes. Carpool with your riding buddies! Parking is free, but reservations are required a day or two beforehand. He can be reached on Instagram via DM @Klankwerks.

The view from the back of the field at Klankwerks.

If you go out there, please be considerate and remember this is private property! Steve and his family live on the property. Be courteous and don’t be too loud. There is no water, so bring extra. There is no restroom facility, so do what you need to do before you arrive.

Other places to park include Cochran Mill Park ($5 parking fee), Rico Park at Rico and Upper Wooten, Hutchinson Ferry Park ($5 parking fee, and I’m not sure if it’s always open) and Serenbe (Park away from businesses. The gravel lot behind the farmer’s market area is a good place to park. Serenbe is also private property. I highly recommend The Blue Eyed Daily or Halsa for lunch). The Chatt Hills police will ticket your car if you park on the side of the road.

7-16-2020 GA 400 Ride Cancelled From the Promoter (edited for clarity and length): The GA 400 Ride is cancelled. We are in the process of working with BikeReg on our options for you. Our hope is to offer you to apply your registration to next year, full refund or donate. If you have registered you will receive an email explaining the actions to take.

7-13-2020 Mission Move Physical Therapy Press Release

I’d like to introduce you to Mission Move Physical Therapy, a new advertiser with Southeastern Cycling. Mission Move is a performance-based physical therapy practice that has been helping active adults and athletes in Roswell, Ga since 2008.

“Mission Move is not your typical physical therapy experience. We provide one-on-one attention for a full hour with a PT who has extensive training in strength and conditioning. At Mission Move, helping people with their pain or injury is only the start. Once you are feeling better, we teach you how to stay better and help you become stronger and perform to your highest potential,” says founder Dr. Joel Eaby PT, DPT, ATC, who is also an avid cyclist and certified bike fitter specializing in treating runners, cyclists and triathletes.

If you’re experiencing pain or want to bring your cycling performance to the next level, call Mission Move at (678) 400-0300. Telehealth appointments are also available in addition to in-person visits.

April Fool’s Bike Ride From Bike Walk Baldwin We will host the 2020 April Fools Ride on July 25th. The ride will be held as a show-and-go format. Registration will be open from 7am to 9pm. For those who want to wait until day of to register, you can arrive any time between those hours, pay, sign a waiver and head out on the course. If you have pre-registered and email a signed waiver to me, you are welcome to show up as early as you like to get started with the ride then stop by registration when you finish and pickup your t-shirt. Unlike previous rides, our rest stops will only be open for the specific hours listed below. These hours should accommodate most all riders who start between 7am and 9am. Volunteers will be onsite to hand out food as riders arrive and to ensure that we minimize the number of riders gathered at any time. They will also have containers to refill your water bottles for you.

7-11-2020 Red Clay Ramble Is On! From Chainbuster Racing Lastly, good news/bad news on the gravel racing front. Mulberry Mayhem will be postponed from its scheduled August 8th date, but we have been able to reschedule Red Clay Ramble Gravel Race for August 8! More details on that will come next week.

Twilight Cancelled From Swagger Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and with heavy hearts, it is imperative to cancel the 2020 Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium presented by Terrapin Beer Co, which had been postponed from the Spring to September 18-19. Our responsibility to the community we call home weighed heavily in this decision.

Approximately sixty days out from the event, there is still so much uncertainty. Along with the rising number of cases locally and considerations for the regional, national, and international spectators and athletes the event draws, financial and medical consideration were also taken into account. The amount of pivoting to ensure a safe event for all that attended created an AOC Twilight that was stripped of components that make the event so special. Participants will have several options regarding their entry fee and should check their email in the coming days for more information. Now, we shift our energy and focus towards a traditional Spring event in 2021, tentatively scheduled for April 30 – May 1, for the 41st running of the Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium! We are extremely thankful for the support of all of our partners, participants, staff, and volunteers and look forward to building an even better event for 2021.

USA CRITS announces postponement of remaining dates due to challenges related to Covid-19 Press Release The remaining scheduled USA CRITS events are postponed until 2021. These events include:

Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight Criterium, Athens, GA
Benchmark Twilight Cycling Classic, West Chester, PA
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Criterium, Spartanburg, SC
Sun City Criterium, El Paso, TX
Winston-Salem Cycling Classic, Winston-Salem, NC

Other than Benchmark Cycling Classic, each of these events had been rescheduled from the Spring in an attempt to allow them to safely move forward. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Criterium may still have some form of more localized activities, but those would not be part of the Series. “Given the current conditions, we can’t produce the level of event that has become our standard while checking all the necessary boxes. We have continued to work with each venue locally to determine how the event could happen. The very things that make our events enduring, in this case, worked against us,” said Scott Morris, Director of Development. USA CRITS events generate the largest cycling crowds in the US. The events are built around concerts and community festivals with engagement opportunities for sponsors. They are purposely built for the fans with D1 Teams and athletes from across the country helping to put on #theshow.

“First and foremost on our minds was the safety of our athletes and the fans. Beyond that, we had to address the impact to our local and national partners. Healthcare is a major local supporter of our sport. In addition, the level of permitted activities continue to change on almost a daily basis at the local and state levels making it impossible to plan for all aspects of the event day,” continued Morris. USA CRITS will continue to partner toward a sustainable, watchable, team-based format for the sport of criterium racing in America. Several new venues are under consideration for 2021 and progress will be made toward converting events over to a more team based format while continuing the surrounding individual races. Meanwhile in 2020, there will be some virtual racing opportunities and other initiatives those taking precautions can participate in.

7-8-2020 Dalton Grand Prix Postponed I have learned that the Dalton Grand Prix scheduled for the first weekend of August has been postponed.

7-7-2020 GA Games Cancelled The Georgia Games has cancelled all of the cycling events that were supposed to take place this weekend.

7-6-2020 Dirt Church: Allatoona Creek Park Work Party From SORBA West Georgia Dirt Church: Toona Workday Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 10 AM Come show our trails some love. We’ll be fine tuning the Mason’s Bridge reroute, finishing the first phase of Wildcat and fixing some other trouble spots.

7-3-2020 Rumble at Roebling Cancelled From HHC: I am writing to you on behalf of Hilton Head Cycling to notify you that we will not be going forward with the race weekend which we had scheduled for July 25th & 26th of this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent governmental directives on masking and social distancing guidelines it will not be possible for us to conduct our event. Also regrettably the GBRA and Top View Sports has scheduled an event in North Georgia on the same weekend. We fell this will adversely effect event registrations making it difficult to support you racers with the event you deserve. We appreciate your patronage and hope that you can reserve our weekend for next year. BikeReg.com will be processing refunds to the method of payment used for registration and you should see these refunds by the middle of next week. Thank you so much for supporting our event, and we hope to see you next year.”

6-30-2020 BBC The Beautiful Backroads Century has announced the date for 2020-Sept. 19. September 19th marks the 20th Anniversary of the Beautiful Backroads Century (BBC) Bike Ride. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, Anheuser-Busch will not be the host location of the BBC this year. The host location will be moved to Cass High School. It is crucial the ride occurs this year due to the financial needs of our charity – Hickory Log Personal Care Home. Hickory Log is a safe place to call home for men with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The BBC is a primary source of income for them. Hickory Log is celebrating 50 years this year and your help and support of the ride are needed more this year than in the past. The ride will include a t-shirt, rest stops, $5 Food Truck Voucher, and SAG. Due to Covid-19, we will not be serving a meal or beer at the end of the ride. Our partner, Sosbee Cycle park, will be hosting food trucks at their location on the day of the ride. For those people who still would like to support the BBC, but do not feel comfortable riding on September 19, there will be a virtual ride.

6-29-2020 Georgia Commute Options Interview A couple of weeks ago Georgia Commute Options interviewed me about teleworking for my corporate job. Look for more of the interview in October-Bike to Work month!

Teleworking Like a Professional

Mission Devo Cycling Becomes USA Cycling Center of Excellence Mission Devo Cycling, a Junior development program out of Atlanta, has become a USA Cycling Center of Excellence. “Centers for Excellence are USA Cycling not-for-profit developmental clubs that specialize in junior and under-23 rider identification and development in road, mountain, cyclocross, and track.”.

USA Cycling Foundation awards grants to Centers of Excellence programs

6-27-2020 Holly Shelter Race Postponed This weekend’s Holly Shelter gravel grinder race is postponed because of North Carolina group number restrictions. They are working on rescheduling.

6-26-2020 North Cooper Lake Park Closed The Skills area at the North Cooper Lake Park MTB Trails is currently closed through the first of next week. MTB Atlanta is upgrading and repairing elements of the skills park!

6-25-2020 Ian Garrison Named to Olympic Long Team USA Cycling has named Ian Garrison to the Men’s Road Olympic Long Team for Tokyo 2021. Congratulations Ian!

6-18-2020 Georgia Games From the Georgia Games: With the reopening of Georgia, we are going to host the 2020 Georgia Games CYCLING Championships competition this year. See our website for details: www.georgiagames.org. In order to host these events for the athletes, we will need to institute some changes and modifications to schedules, waivers, venue, social distancing and protective wear, etc. We will post these on our website as we get them updated. EVERYONE will be required to wear a mask or official face covering at all times except during direct competition. Trish’s Notes: The crit and TT are at West Oak in Marietta, home of the Tuesday Night Crit (TNC). The road race will be at Cass High School in White, GA (some of the Bud Plant/Sosebee Bike Park area). The dates are July 11-12. There are only 3 road events that I know of this summer, so take advantage of this one!

6-27-2020 Holly Shelter Race Postponed This weekend’s Holly Shelter gravel grinder race is postponed because of North Carolina group number restrictions. They are working on rescheduling.

6-26-2020 North Cooper Lake Park Closed The Skills area at the North Cooper Lake Park MTB Trails is currently closed through the first of next week. MTB Atlanta is upgrading and repairing elements of the skills park!

6-25-2020 Ian Garrison Named to Olympic Long Team USA Cycling has named Ian Garrison to the Men’s Road Olympic Long Team for Tokyo 2021. Congratulations Ian!

6-18-2020 Georgia Games From the Georgia Games: With the reopening of Georgia, we are going to host the 2020 Georgia Games CYCLING Championships competition this year. See our website for details: www.georgiagames.org. In order to host these events for the athletes, we will need to institute some changes and modifications to schedules, waivers, venue, social distancing and protective wear, etc. We will post these on our website as we get them updated. EVERYONE will be required to wear a mask or official face covering at all times except during direct competition. Trish’s Notes: The crit and TT are at West Oak in Marietta, home of the Tuesday Night Crit (TNC). The road race will be at Cass High School in White, GA (some of the Bud Plant/Sosebee Bike Park area). The dates are July 11-12. There are only 3 road events that I know of this summer, so take advantage of this one!

6-16-2020 Twice Baked Century Ride Sunday, July 19 Twice Baked is a grass-roots effort to raise awareness about mental health and the role that exercise can take in the treatment of mental illness, while raising funds to support local mental health programs. Just 38 miles west of Atlanta, Twice Baked may very well be the most well-marked course ever, with over 500 markings for the various ride options. All this with limited traffic and drivers who actually seem to like having cyclists sharing their roads!!! Ride options include 14, 28, 50, 64 and 100 miles. Rest stops are numerous and will be fully stocked with goodies in order to beat the heat. We’re moving forward while adhering to the latest COVID-19 safety guidelines. (Trish’s Note: I did this ride a few years ago, and it was a lot of fun! I hope to do it again this year. It’s for a great cause!)

6-15-2020 Black Owned Cycling Business in Atlanta Over the last week I’ve thought about what can Southeastern Cycling do? We are anti-racism, bigotry, and hate, and we want to support the cycling community. SE Cycling just pays the bills, so there isn’t thousands or even hundreds of dollars to donate to worthy causes. We are and always have been huge believers in supporting your local bike shop. I decided to publish a list of Black owned cycling businesses in the metro Atlanta area. I reached out to Shellie Dimery at Twisted Spokes Bicycles and Nedra Deadwyler oo Civil Bikes for their input and to see if this was appropriate. Below are the give businesses that are highlighted. If you know of another Black owned cycling related business, please contact me. I’ll be happy to add it! Support these great local bike shops in our community!

Twisted Spokes Bicycles in Johns Creek is a full service bike shop that also services handicapable devices such as wheelchairs, walkers, physical therapy devices, scooters and other things like strollers, etc. Among the bikes they carry are Bianchi, Marin, Rocky Mountain, Devinci, KHS and Raleigh as well as e-bikes. Brent is a former aircraft engineer and a biomed engineer, which makes him a master wheelbuilder. He can fix any mechanical problem with a bike. Twisted Spokes Bicycles is a bi-lingual shop as their 2nd level mechanic, who has been with them for 3 years, is displaced from Venezuela. During the summer they have 4 deep in the mechanic bay. Shellie, a former active duty United States Marine, is a Bianchi Dama Ambassador and Rocky Mountain Ambassador. She provides one-on-one bike instruction for both kids and adults who want to learn to ride & clinics (both road & MTB) to improve their bike handling skills as well as health & nutrition. The shop also provides maintenance classes & ride-a-longs. Shellie started bike clubs in Fulton County schools with the approval of Superintendent starting 4 years ago. TSB serves as the bike shop of choice for the credited program for Alpharetta High School’s Outdoor Academic Program. TSB sponsors JCAAM team, HOOCH Gold Card, is involved in community, safety & legislative awareness concerns regarding laws using Shellie’s knowledge & 25 year legal career. Shellie also started a Non Profit AMindful Ride, Inc. after surviving being hit by a car over 2 ½ years ago. Brent and Shellie are also race promoters and the first and only to this date to own and operate as minorities. The 3rd Coast Enduro Series was the first to bring enduro to the southeast in 2014. For those who are familiar with the Big Creek Quick Six Enduro, they are ones who do the timing and scoring every year.

Aztec Cycles in Stone Mountain can help take care of your bike needs from new bikes to repairs. They carry Fuji, KHS, and Felt. Aztec also has a mobile service that is known for rescuing riders from mechanicals at centuries and charity rides. (Trish’s Note: They saved my ride at the Covington Century last year when my tubeless tire decided to go flat.)

Clutch Bicycle Shop is owned by Kenny Oladapo. His custom BMX builds are legendary in Atlanta. He also provides full service repairs on all bikes.

Bklyn Tech Bicycles is located in Lithonia. I have not been out to this shop before but need to visit.

Civil Bikes provides bicycle and walking tours in Atlanta. They “bring attention to unseen and unheard stories about Atlanta in a unique and accessible way that creatively builds a just community and inspires action. All tours are carefully curated and provide space to build awareness, knowledge, and understanding with sensitivity and skill.” Tours cover a wide range of topics such as the Civil Rights movement and neighborhood history. Civil Bikes is not currently leading tours in light of what is happening in the streets and social media. Owner Nedra Deadwyler said “In the future, our offerings will be a better reflection our intention. Stay connected www.civilbikes.com, subscribe to our newsletter. We do accept donations through our fiscal sponsor. For purchase are our Civil Bikes and Preserve Black Space tees, 10% of proceeds are being donated to a racial justice organization, The Black Mecca Project.” (Trish’s Note: To order a t-shirt, DM Nedra Deadwyler on Facebook. Tell her you saw it on Southeastern Cycling. Tshirts are $25. They arrive this Friday, and she will ship! I ordered mine!)

6-11-2020 Chainbuster Racing News RCR Postponed From Chainbuster Racing: This morning while enroute to the Iron Maiden 24/12, we received a message from our USFS Ranger asking us to postpone Red Clay Ramble. While our local Forest Service rangers have been very optimistic and ardently working with us for the past 4 weeks, they received alternate guidelines 2 days ago from Washingtonn. While reviewing those guidelines, they came to the realization that a postponement will be necessary until we receive greater clarity on what will be required. Also, because Mulberry Mayhem and Shake N Brake are also subject to these same guidelines (which are unknown to Chainbuster at this point), we have suspended registration for those events until we have greater clarity from land management on the guidelines and potential restrictions associated with events in USFS locations. The route for Red Clay Ramble is actually on 100% county maintaining roads, so we are currently looking for a privately owned staging location. Once that is finalized, we will announce the reschedule date. On a positive note, we also received notification that Reclaimed! @ Cloudland Canyon State Park can proceed as scheduled!!!

6-10-2020 Georgia Commute Options Article I think everyone knows I have a corporate day job that I enjoy. I was recently interviewed by Georgia Commute Options about teleworking for their blog. The second part of the article will run for Biketober later this fall.

One Love Cancelled From MACC Hello Everyone, Due to the Governor of Georgia’s mandate that all gatherings of more than 25 people be prohibited unless 6-foot distance can be maintained, we will not be able to host our beloved event the One Love Century this year. The result of the Governor’s order makes it almost impossible to secure the necessary municipal and school board permits required to host our event. In the meantime, we are working with a major sponsor in the virtual cycling world to try to bring you a first-class virtual experience including racing as well as touring opportunities on the One Love elevation profile. Keep posted for further details. Stay on your bike. One Love! (Trish’s Note: This is the worst news of the week–although we totally understand. We are all sad now! One Love is one of the best rides around that benefits some great organizations.)

Allatoona Work Party From SORBA West Georgia Join us this Saturday at 9am for our first Post- COVID work party. (at Allatoona Creek Park) A lot of you have expressed interest in giving back and this is your chance. We will break into groups of ten and practice social distancing while giving back to our trails. Lunch will be provided. If we have enough folks, we would like to tackle 3 separate projects. 1. build a bog bridge between Mason’s Bridge and the Bluff. 2. rock armor the creek crossing on Driftwood. 3. fine tune flow and finishing work on the Mason’s Bridge reroute.

6-6-2020 Centuries Cancelled Last week both the Covington Century and the Tony Serrano Century were cancelled for 2021. The promoters said they would be in contact with those that pre-registered.

Group Rides Some group rides in the Atlanta suburbs have started up again. Please use your best judgement if you choose to attend. Follow the ride leaders in keeping groups small, social distancing, and doing any nose blowing/couching/hacking off the back of the pack. I’m not going to update every ride as there are too many to keep up with–check with your favorite ride to see if it’s back on. I haven’t heard of any group rides ITP being ridden officially.

Gone Riding Cancels SERC and GCS From Gone Riding Update: Good News…racing will be returning in July (please check our 2020 schedule for the latest). However there are some new rules and procedures so please check each event page for the details including the social distancing requirements. *GSC / SERC update: Due to the safety concerns, the timing and the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic plus the limited amount of available event dates left on our calendar this year, the window of opportunity has unfortunately closed for Gone Riding to successfully produce both a meaningful and quality race series that are the 2020 Georgia State Championship series and the 2020 South Eastern Regional Championship series, therefore both of these series will be not be held this year but will be returning in 2021.

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.