News for 5-26-2022
Shhhh….It’s been quiet!
It’s been a really quiet news week! There are so many races this summer! Please support your local promoters and clubs that put the races on. Sign up even if you are a first time! There are races for everyone-mtb, road, gravel. Also, #crossiscoming
Maysville Gravel Grind
From Topview Sports
We would LOVE to have you join us in Maysville Georgia for the Maysville Gravel Mayhem p/b Panaracer on June 18th. Your parking is pre-paid for the event. We are hanging out eating burgers sitting by the water relaxing after the ride. Please join us for the fun! Save the date for the Georgia Gravel Grinduro on October 29th in Helen, GA. https://www.topviewsports.com/gravel-series
Trish’s Note: I’d love to see the women’s divisions filled out! Bring your friends, your SigO’s, relatives, coworkers, bestie, neighbors! There is a distance for everyone!
News for 5-18-2022
Don’t Fight The Fuzz
From ATL PTN
Here are a set of facts:
We are extremely fortunate to have Stone Mountain for our weeknight rides of NNL (Nasty Northlake) and PZA (Pizza Ride)
Stone Mountain is not a closed race course for us
We must abide by traffic regulations in the park
We do not always abide by traffic regulations in the park
The Stone Mountain Police (SMP) are keen to enforce the traffic regulations on our group
Nobody likes to be a nag, least of all me. But the SMP recently made it clear to a number of PTN’ers that we must change our ways…or else. And it would be a damn shame to lose these rides. So let’s start with the following, specifically for the Pizza ride:
Neutral Start: Once we enter the park, this is a neutral zone. No attacking, surging or general douche-baggery.
The neutral zone lasts until and through the first stop sign at the three-way intersection
Stay in the right lane from park entry until we need to shift left at the stop sign intersection
Stop at the Stop Sign Let’s all put a foot down before proceeding left out of the intersection. Once clear of the intersection, the ride is “on”.
Stay in One Lane Don’t go into the second lane (when there is one on course) or over the double yellow. We’ve all done it. But, it’s not worth the risk. They aren’t handing out a rainbow jersey at the end of these rides.
Stay Behind Cars It should go without saying but…don’t go around cars that we catch??? Yeah let’s go with that.
This is the way.
News for 5-17-2022
Intro to Road Cycling Rides Beginner Ride Series
From OBDCC and Bike Alpharetta
Announcing: “INTRO TO ROAD CYCLING RIDES” – Each Tuesday in June.
Bike Alpharetta and Olde Blind Dog Cycle Club (OBDCC) are teaming up to offer ‘Intro to Road Cycling’ rides on Tuesday nights in June in conjunction with OBDCC rides. These rides are geared for people who know how to ride a bicycle but have not had much experience riding in groups or on roads. Each week we will talk about bike riding skills, preview the route and then go out for a ride. Riders should be able to control their bicycle — stop quickly, maneuver safely to avoid objects, look all around (including behind with some control), and signal turning right and left. Helmets are mandatory and it is recommended to have front and rear lights. Riders may want to familiarize themselves with the Bike Alpharetta Beginner Road Riding Guide. Interested? The rides start on June 7, 2022 and last about one hour. Meet at Milton City Hall ready to ride at 6:20 PM. OBDCC may have between 4-8 different riding groups leaving that night and we will be the last group to go out. The rides are free but online waivers, OBDCC Waiver, must be signed before riders can join. The “Intro to Road Cycling Rides” will be led by Jim and Lora Woodward, who are very accomplished long-distance cyclists and have ridden all over America on their bicycles.
Why Atlanta Streets Alive is So Important
If you haven’t been to an Atlanta Streets Alive, you need to go! Roads are closed on a major thorough-fair in the city of Atlanta. People walk, skate, bike, roll, stroll, and get out into the community. Business (generally) love it. This is an article on why Atlanta Streets alive is so important. https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/letter-editor-why-atlanta-streets-alive-crucial-vote-yes
Fools Gold
From Mountain Goat Adventures
The 2022 Maxxis Tires Fools Gold will be held on September 10, 2022 at the beautiful Montaluce Winery, in Dahlonega, GA. The Fool’s Gold Mountain Bike Races will again offer riders a 38 mile or 60 mile course. Primitive camping is available at Montaluce Winery for Friday and Saturday nights. Register by 7/31 to avoid the registration price increase! Register early, as this event sold out quickly in 2020 and 2021!
Both courses begin at Montaluce Winery and will have approximately 3 miles on pavement, then transition to gravel roads. The 60 mile course begins with a stout 3 mile gravel road climb and takes riders to some great “backcountry style” trails and lesser known roads. The 38 mile course heads directly to the Jones Creek Ridge Singletrack Trail along gravel roads, giving riders the opportunity to space out before hitting nearly 30 miles of fast singletrack.
TONS of good stuff included:
▪ Challenging course that features hard climbs, fast descents and sweet flowy singletrack that you will feel good about finishing.
▪ Cash payout for the Open Men/Open Women’s classes in both the 38 and 60 mile race.
▪ Cash prizes for all first place finishers in the non-open categories in the 60 mile race. Full details on payouts/prizes can be found HERE.
▪ Free Camping at Montaluce Winery!
▪ Terrapin Beer and Moe’s for post-race calorie replenishment!
▪ Highly visible Course Markings and Course Marshals
▪ Finisher awards for all finishers in both races
▪ Custom awards for all podium finishers in both races
▪ Soft and comfy race shirt – size guaranteed if you register by the size deadline of August 18th.
▪ Aid stations with plenty of calories, fluids, mechanical support and first aid supplies.
Quiet Tent Camping along the Etowah River!
Free Camping for Racers at Montaluce Winery Friday/Saturday Night! We will have a dedicated tent/van camping area along the Etowah River as well as separate areas for RVs and travel trailers. Join us for the race and hang out in Dahlonga, GA for the weekend.
News for 5-12-2022
Dick Lane Velodrome Certification Class
From the DLV
Learn to ride and race on the Dick Lane Velodrome!
Between March and August, we offer track certification classes for all riders 17 years old and over to learn the fundamentals of track riding. Riders younger than 17 will begin in Youth Cycling League. Classes are scheduled intermittently according to demand and the instructor’s schedule. Once certified, you will be ready to race in the “D” category on Tuesday nights! You do not need your own track bike to do the class.The next class is May 21-22. See the Dick Lane Velodrome website for all of the information.
News for 5-10-2022
From Spin for Special Ops:
May 28th is around the corner and the new Spin for Special Ops charity event volunteers are looking forward to hosting cyclists for a great ride and post-ride lunch and festivities. The event will start at 8:00 am at 100 Busch Drive, NE (the Budweiser Plant)in Cartersville, GA, and offers 30, 63 and 100 mile options with SAG support and rest stops. Ride with GPS routes are being finalized, so please check back on the website for details. Proceeds will benefit Operation One Voice which helps wounded Special Ops soldiers and the families of fallen soldiers.
News for 5-9-2022
Hurricane Shoals/Maysville Gravel Parking Pass
Starting April 1, there is a $5/day fee for parking on Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays at Hurricane Shoals Park in Maysville, GA. This is a popular starting point for gravel riding in the area. Even if you park in the lot that is outside the main park by the disc golf course, you will still need to pay. Currently, payment is made to the attendant at the gate. It is CASH ONLY!!! They cannot take credit cards or digital payments CASH ONLY! They will turn you away if you don’t have CASH.. $5 is valid for the entire day if you wanted to swim in the river afterwards–it’s great on a really hot day! I can tell you that they are collecting the fee. A number of us rode from there this weekend and had to pay. I have no problem with that because they have several buildings with clean real bathrooms!
VOODOO ALL-A Toona MTB Race
Press Release
Cobb County P.A.R.K.S. and MTB Atlanta (SORBA Atlanta) invite you to the Annual VOODOO ALL-A-Toona 40 Mile Mountain Bike Race at Allatoona Creek Park! This one lap event will feature every trail the park has to offer. The race will be held Saturday, June 25th, 2022 and start at 8:00 am. 100% of proceeds will be used to build and maintain trails at the park.
We have a NEW course for this year and all trails will be raced counter-clockwise and will be ridden in the following order: Start/finish in field to Turtle Back, Turtle Back to Red Barron, Red Baron back to Turtle Back, Turtle Back to Mumbo Jumbo, Mumbo Jumbo to Voodoo, Voodoo to Hocus Pocus, Back to Voodoo, back to Mumbo Jumbo. Mumbo Jumbo to Love Shack, through the Pit Zone and then on to Rusty Bucket. Rusty Bucket to Mason’s connector, Masons Connector to Masons Bridge, Masons Bridge to Masons Bluff, back to Masons Bridge, then we’ll cross County Line Road and onto the old hunting access. This double track will take you to Fern Gully, then to Wildcat, Driftwood, and Little Badger. Then back to start/finish in field. *The HALF-a Toona follows the same course but skips Mumbo Jumbo, Voodoo, and Hocus Pocus and totals about 25 miles. The trails are generally fast, flowy and relatively flat. Red Barron, Voodoo, Hocus Pocus and Fern Gully offer more challenging sections including steep rocky/rooty climbs and man-made features. Participants are strongly encouraged to pre-ride the course and to ride within their limits – dismounting when necessary. Pre-ride days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Deadlines: $50.00 (plus fees) using online registration by midnight on June 23rd, 2022 Race day registration $75. In order to guarantee a race t-shirt, you must register by 11:59 pm on Sunday, June 8th, 2022. All proceeds from this race will be used to build and maintain trails at Allatoona Creek Park.
$100,000 in Grants For Southside Trail Improvement
From MTB Atlanta
MTB Atlanta has been awarded $110,000 in grant awards for the “Southside Improvement Project” at Southside Park in the City of Atlanta. This award was gifted from three donors and based around improving the trails at Southside Park to increase diversity in the sport of mountain biking and developing more progressive urban trails to grow mountain biking and passive outdoor recreation in communities of color. MTB Atlanta partnered with the Georgia Cycling Association and was awarded a $30,000 Fox Trail Trust Grant for the project. Georgia Cycling Association then added to that award by donating another $20,000. Bearings Bike Works partnered with MTB Atlanta and was awarded a $60,000 grant from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to build a skills loop and new trails at the park.
“We are beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to improve the trails at Southside Park by bringing more progression and accessibility to mountain biking in the City of Atlanta Parks system inside of I 285. With the recent addition of the Trust for Public Land funded Thrive Outside stable of bikes housed at the park and the corresponding programming and with three different Georgia Cycling Association teams including the Bearings Bike Works SWAT Composite Team using the trails for practice, we have the perfect place to grow diversity in our sport at Southside by expanding the opportunity to ride in communities of color,” says Brett Davidson Executive Director of MTB Atlanta.” We thank our great partners and grantees for the gift and our MTB Atlanta Pro Trails team is on the ground getting this project started.” The Southside Improvement Project was approved by City of Atlanta Parks Design in January and work is underway at the park.
News for 5-6-2022
Piedmont College looking for an Assistant Cycling Coach for Men’s and Women’s Cycling
Piedmont College in Demorest, GA (north of Gainesville) is looking for an Assistant Cycling Coach to help Head Coach Jame Carney. You can find the full job description, desired qualifications, and application here. You can also apply at that link. “Founded in 1897, Piedmont University is a private, comprehensive liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,500 students at campuses in Demorest and Athens, Georgia. The Assistant Coach for men’s and women’s cycling is a member of the Piedmont University Athletic Department reports to the Head Cycling Coach. This position encompasses assisting with all aspects of the cycling team (coaching, racing, training, recruiting, driving vehicles with trailers, maintenance/organization of bikes, facility and vehicles, fundraising, etc.) and with all the cycling disciplines (road, track, mountain biking, gravel and cyclocross). It involves a certain degree of flexibility and travel. Most events are on weekends and can require overnight stays.”
News for 5-4-2022
Tucker Main Street Closed on Saturday!
From the Tucker Day Organizers: Main Street Tucker will be CLOSED to ALL traffic (bikes & cars) this coming Saturday, May 7th from 6am – 7pm for the Tucker Day festival. If you ride from Tucker on Saturday mornings, please make alternate plans for this Saturday as there will be no/limited parking available and you will not be able to ride down Main Street. Police will be issuing tickets for non-compliance to the street closure.
Beltline Funding
From an article on Reporter Newspapers
The James M. Cox Foundation has donated $30 million to the Atlanta BeltLine. Combined with the $80 million secured late last year from The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, BeltLine officials say they now have the philanthropic funding needed to finish the 22-mile trail corridor by 2030. “I’m so excited that this gift will let us finish constructing that big, beautiful circle around Atlanta,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in an announcement.
According to a BeltLine spokesperson, the donation from the Cox Foundation will specifically fund the construction of the BeltLine’s Northwest Trail, which is currently in design in partnership with the PATH Foundation. The roughly 4.5-mile trail will run from the Huff Road and Marietta Boulevard area (in West Midtown) to the existing Northside Trail (at Tanyard Creek and Atlanta Memorial parks), extending east to the future Northeast Trail (near the Armour/Ottley district).
News for 5-3-2022
Twilight Results
The Red and Black, an Athens website, has a nice article on the results from Athens Twilight. Bryan Gomez (Best Buddies Racing) won the men’s crit while Kendall Ryan (L39ION) on the women’s crit.
News for 5-1-2022
Rides Page Updated
The Southeastern Cycling Atlanta Group Rides page has been updated for 2022! It was a monumental effort given how many rides are no longer happening, new rides added, and not being able to find information on some rides. Rides are included if they are open to all, weekly, have readily available information to find online (aka the information isn’t behind a paywall or so obscure that I had to spend an hour trying to find it), free (except the 2 crits that require police for the corner), require helmets, and so forth. There are some rides that I know are happening that I could not find information on. Check out the Rides page for all of the fun this summer!
News for 4-27-2022
Speedweek Continues
Speedweek wraps up this weekend with races in Athens on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night’s races are “On the Stage” on stationary bikes/trainers. Riders will be competing for start positions in the Pro Men and Women’s races for Saturday night. Saturday night is the main event in Athens, the Athens Orthopedic Criterium. It is the oldest Twilight Crit in the country. Sunday moves to College Park, which is near the Atlanta airport. I hear the course is brutal including a huge climb. There are tons of other events surrounding both crits. Click on these links for information: Athens, College Park/Spin the District.
News for 4-26-2022
Maysville Gravel Mayhem Date Change
From Topview Sports There has been a change to the TopView Sports Gravel Calendar. Due to a schedule conflict with another gravel series on May 7th combined with an underwhelming response to our Clayton Gravel launch we have moved the Maysville Gravel Mayhem to Saturday, June 18th and have removed Clayton from our gravel calendar. We hate moving dates and changing events but we also want to bring you the best events possible and when a second event came onto Mothers Day weekend and was only 60 miles away it hurt us both so we made the move. The Courses in Maysville are GREAT and we will still offer 3 distance options. There will be SAG stops on all routes and 2 stops on the long route. There will be a meal served after the event so plan to stick around and eat and enjoy one of the most beautiful parks in the area. There are real restrooms and nice pavilions for the after event fun. Please plan to join us on Saturday June 18th in Maysville.
Van Purser Foundation Domestique Leadership Class
From the Van Purser Foundation To see cyclists positively impact those we ride with and the communities we ride in.
Our Mission To equip and deploy effective leaders, into the cycling community by providing, training opportunities and a community of supporting leaders.
“Transforming The Cycling Experience Through Domestique Leadership”
WHEN: Sunday, May 15, 3-5:30PM
WHERE: Alpharetta City Hall Community Room
WHAT: Domestique Leadership Training
Several ride leaders from our community will be sharing the Domestique Leadership values and principles upon which Van Purser based this training. After each talk, discussion at each table will be encouraged; this will be a time to share and learn from the experiences of others and to discuss specific skills and ride leader best practices. Whether you are an experienced, new, or aspiring ride leader, you will find this event beneficial for you and for those you lead. Register here. Trish’s Note: The ride leader training is free, but you must register.
News for 4-23-2022
Speedweek is This Week!
As the entire world knows, this week is Speedweek! Today is Hapeville, and tomorrow is Lagrange. I won’t be at either of the races taking photos this weekend although I may stop by. I’m still dealing with a 4 week sinus infection that came roaring back a few days ago, so I’ll be taking it easy. Next Saturday is the ATHENS ORTHOPEDIC CRITERIUMS, THE original evening criterium. It’s always so much fun to go and cheer on the racers with 10,000 other people in downtown Athens. Sunday will be the finale in College Park, which also has an artist market, a block party, and other events! They have a full week of events that started last night–bike rides, brews, racing at the Dick Lane Velodrome, and parties in the ATL Airport District! Tuesday is the new Soul City Criterium in Augusta, and Wednesday is the returning race in Walterboro, SC. Don’t forget that many of these crits–especially the weekend races–have a full slate of amateur, masters, and women’s category cycling as well! Good luck to all of the racers!
