News for 1-27-2026

Southeastern Cycling is accepting new advertisers for 2026! Ask about a discount of ads prepaid for 3 or more months. Let us know how we can help your business! It does not have to be cycling related! Event ads also welcome! Contact us for more information.

News for 1-28-2026
Speedweek Not Returning for 2026; USA Crits Includes More Races in Georgia and the Carolinas
Several major cycling news outlets are reporting the Speedweek is not returning to the south in 2026. Several of the races are in the same time frame and have been incorporated into the USA Crits Series.

• April 11 – Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama
• April 18 – Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight in Athens, Georgia
• April 26 – LaGrange Cycling Classic, in LaGrange, Georgia
• April 30 – Greenville Cycling Classic in Greenville, South Carolina
• May 1 – Spartanburg Criterium in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• May 2 – High Line Criterium in Suwanee, Georgia
• May 16 – Rock Hill Spring Classic in Rock Hill, South Carolina
• May 23 – Winston Salem Cycling Classic in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

From cyclingnews.com:
”The USA CRITS one-day racing series in the US returns for a 17th edition in 2026, anchored by the long-standing Athens Orthopedic Clinic Twilight in Georgia. However, gone this year is the partner series Speed Week, a cluster of races with condensed geographic locations and calendar dates that tagged along with USA CRITS.

There’s still a lot of prize purse on offer with eight races across four south-eastern states in USA CRITS, with $200,000 shared equally among the men’s and women’s elite riders. This purse includes individual race payouts and there is a $10,000 series bonus for the top 10 elite men and elite women plus $20,000 series bonus for teams.

Racing begins at Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama on April 11 and concludes at Winston Salem Cycling Classic on May 23 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Athens Twilight, now in its 46th edition, is the second stop on Saturday, April 18 in Athens, Georgia.

A trio of races pack consecutive days at the mid-point – Greenville Cycling Classic on Thursday, April 30, Spartanburg Criterium on Friday, May 1 and High Line Criterium on Saturday, May 2. The races encompass a compact area across South Carolina and Georgia within 150 miles (240km).

Along with High Line Criterium moving from last year’s mid-week Speed Week slot, Rock Hill Spring Classic joins the series, having been an all-star race before without series points.

“Suwanee upped their game and moved to Saturday. Rock Hill will be two days of crits, so that’s a nice addition with the city involved. They’re really primed,” Gene Dixon, founder of USA CRITS and owner of series producer Swagger LLC, told Cyclingnews.”

News for 1-26-2026
BLANKETS CREEK DIRTY 15 & 30 MILE MTB RACE – APRIL 4, 2026
From Mountain Goat Adventures
Blankets Creek Dirty 15 & 30 MTB Race The course includes most of the trails at Blankets Creek in a counter – clockwise direction for a total distance of 15 miles per lap. Each lap has 1400’+ of elevation gain, so this will be a challenging course. The categories for this event are age based, so that all riders can choose between the 15 mile course (1 lap) and 30 mile course (2 laps). Junior categories available in both race distances. Limit of 250 riders – please register early so you do not miss out. No racing license required for any of our events! All riders who register before March 14 will receive one of our super soft and comfy tri-blend event shirts and a commemorative event swag item. Medals and sponsor prizes 3 deep in all categories, podium shirts for all first place finishers. Access to drop bags will be available at the half way point for riders participating in the 30 mile race. Staggered starts by category for rider/volunteer safety. We are also offering a separate 5 or 10 mile trail run on similar courses in the morning before the bike race!

This event is a major fundraiser for SORBA Woodstock, so please come out and support your local trails! Do you or your business want to support Sorba Woodstock in a big way in 2026? We have openings for all levels of sponsorship from TITLE SPONSORSHIP down to VENDOR LEVEL SPONSORSHIP for our upcomng events at Blankets Creek and Rope Mill Park. Please respond to this email if you’d like more information on all levels of sponsorship or if you’d like to join us for 2026! This is a great way to give back to the trails as well as gain exposure for your business!

ROPE MILL FAST + FURIOUS 15 MILE MTB RACE – APRIL 25, 2026
Make plans to join us for our newest event! This Fast+Furious 15 course features nearly all the trails at Rope Mill Park and will begin along the concrete path to allow riders to space out before entering the singletrack portion of the course. Riders will turn right at the bridge and complete Moore’s Pass, Power House, Raceway and Turbine all in a clockwise direction. These trails are farily wide and allow for passing. Riders will then return across the bridge and complete Explorer Loops 1, 2, and 3 counter-clockwise. The course returns to the start/finish via singletrack trail that links Explorer to the parking lot, crosses the parking lot, then heads onto the Avalanche Trail where riders will proceed counter-clockwise on the Avalance Trail Loops 1, 2, and 3 and then head back to the start/finish to complete the course.

The categories are age based and the same as we are using for the Blankets Creek Dirty 15 Mile Race. Medals and sponsor prizes 3 deep in all categories, podium shirts for all first place finishers. We are also offering a separate 10k or half marathon trail run on a similar course in the morning before the bike race!

News for 1-25-2026
Dirty Spokes 6/3 Hour Mtb Bike Race
From Dirty Spokes Productions
Dirty Spokes 6/3 Hour Mountain Bike Race Presented by Roswell Bicycles! May 2nd, 2026 Fort Yargo State Park, Winder, Ga! Put it on the Calendar! We’re Stoked to Celebrate the 20th Annual Dirty Spokes 6/3 Hour Mountain Bike Race! The Yargo Trail System is One of the Fastest and Best Trail Systems in the Southeastern US! The Dirty Spokes 6/3 Hour Mountain Bike Race Registration Link Is Updated and Open (See Below)! This is the Series Finale for the Chainbuster Mountain Bike Race Series (7th Race of the Series). PARTICIPANT CAP OF 325

Homegrown Gravel Adventure – February 28
From Homegrown Gravel Adventure
Homegrown Gravel Adventure on February 28 is about showing up, riding bikes, and spending a weekend (or just the day) with good people. No expectations. No side-eye. No pressure from us. Ride your ride. We know it’s early in the year. That’s why we offer four distance options. No one’s judging your mileage, your pace, or your training plan. Ride 100, ride 62, ride whatever feels right — then hang out, grab a beer (leaded or unleaded), and stay for the party we’ve brewed up. With that said… if you want to crush the course, by all means — we’ve got you covered there too. There’s $10,000 on the line in the 100-mile distance, spread across 24 separate categories, meaning more opportunities than ever to stand on the podium. We offer timing for all distances — whether you’re racing the 100 or 62, or lining up in the 40 or 20 just to see how you stack up. Test your mettle against riders from 22 states and growing daily. Register by February 7 to be guaranteed a rider tee.

Call us cocky — we don’t care — but you’d be hard-pressed to find an event with better swag than Homegrown. And it all starts with this year’s rider tee. We’re saying it right now: it’s an instant classic. And that’s just the beginning. Every rider gets a finisher patch, and honestly, our number plate is pretty damn hang-up-worthy too. Want more? We’ve got you. Jerseys, trucker hats, and a whole lot in between.

News for 1-22-2026
New Georgia Mountain Bike Trails
From Singletracks.com
Singlestracks.com has a great article about the Chestnut Family Foundation and their support of building mountain bike trails in Georgia. I’m including a few quotes from the article below, but you will want to read the entire piece. 

“From that first meeting came the ambitious idea for the $15 million urban Bike Park at Shirley Clarke Franklin Park, which the CFF has committed $8 million to fund. The groundbreaking for the new bike park will take place on January 22, 2026. Prior to the bike park grant, MTB Atlanta received a direct grant for over $1 million, which they used to build 22 miles of singletrack across eight different sites in North Georgia and Metro Atlanta. And now, MTB Atlanta is putting shovels in the dirt for their second direct grant.”

“This latest $1.26M grant to MTB Atlanta has been allocated to build 25 miles of singletrack across four different trail systems. Even though MTB Atlanta’s in-house crews are doing the build-outs, these projects are spread all across the state. The builds range from the mountains of North Georgia near Ellijay down to West Point Lake in the western part of the state, with Chattahoochee Bend State Park anchoring projects closer to Metro Atlanta.”

Pan Am Track Championships
From USA Cycling
Seventeen athletes will represent Team USA in Santiago, Chile, February 18-22, 2026, at the 2026 Pan American Track Cycling Championships, competing across endurance and sprint events. 

In Asuncion, Paraguay, Team USA closed out the 2025 Pan American Track Cycling Championships with eight gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. The team won the men’s and women’s team pursuit and the women’s team sprint, along with gold medals in the men’s omnium, madison, and elimination, plus the men’s and women’s individual pursuit. A strong group of riders are returning to the event this year.”Included is Emily Hayes of Rock Hill, SC, who will be racing Team Sprint, Sprint, Keirin, 1000m TT.