Sloss

The weather was great for Sloss Cross. This is such a cool location for a race. The hipsters were out in force. The course was more technical on one area than I prefer, but that is cross.
You have to take it or leave it. In the rear of the SS Chris O (the Tattoo wonder) put a whoop'n on me this week, But Brent was the real surprise of the day.

Throw back of the month.

Ok... the rumor that I invented mountain biking is not true, But this was pretty darn close. The other guy in the pic is,you guessed it,My Bro G. I don't remember what year this was, but I do remember that it was in Swanee Tn. Notice the rigid forks and toe clips.

Anniston Cross

The single speed racing was pretty tight at Anniston. Chris and I exchanged places three or four times. I even made contact in one corner on an inside pass (my fault) leaving my right brake lever at a 45 degree angle and then eventually broken. I finally was lucky enough to pass him on the last hill and hold him off to the finish for 8th. Thank you Captain! It is still hard to get used to crappy canti's after being spoiled by the disc 29er.

This race was a rave! The heckling at the 30 yard sand pit was at an all time high. The beer,Bacon and waffle hand ups made for a lot of fun.

On to Sloss this weekend. I've never raced there, but hear good things.

This Might Be Fun!

You never know?

I know that the blogging world has been slow lately.But, I've Got four Bamacross Single speed thrashings under my belt for the season.I'm looking forward to Anniston. Maybe BF can make some mushroom soup out of Ccup this weekend?

I can only wish that Bamacross Single speeding will be like this one day. You never know?

Brookside,Tailgating, Bamacross

I can honestly say that I would have never seen Brookside if it were not for cyclocross. It is kind of a forgotten little town very close to the interstate. It has a Russian church and , you guessed it, a Brook. One thing that I can say is the Mayor is trying really hard to make it a place to visit. With this park, he has built a nice campground on a very pretty bend in Five mile creek.

We got there on Saturday evening and camped. We set up right on the track, in prime tailgating location for the next days event. It was a nice night.

CCC has a slow start this year, but at least we are racing. The SS class is insane and the masters are as brutal as ever.

The grilling,heckling and swimming were the best part of the Sunday to me. We were in the perfect location for Ccup to offer an Oscar Myer hand up. It would probably have gone pretty well with the PBR hand ups on the other side of the course.

This could have been me!

Good thing I saw the giant mountain goat at SLP ,a couple months ago, before he saw me.

Cyclocross

I think I saw this happen in practice at one of the local crosser's ranch a few years ago.


I'm still in shock from the speed that the SS class shot off the line Sunday, But maybe it will get better....... I doubt it though.

Black magic at Oak Mountain

We had to run to Bham for operation kid pick up on Sunday. I used this oppurtunity to do a full test run at Oak Mountain with my new Voodoo frame that I built up this week. It rode great! The weather was much more warm than I expected, but really just right in the woods.

New Generation Wheel Sucker

LEEborday Weekend

We started the weekend on Monta Santo camping. The temps were great and the campground was full of kids. E was constantly occupied with the kids from a group of four Nashville families that were all there together. It was a good time. Another great thing about M S is the mountain biking. The trails were wonderful and endless. All this and only 10 minutes from Five Points in Huntsvile made it a place on my list to visit again.

On Sunday, the threats of God knows what from the left overs from Tropical Storm Lee cleared the campground early. Being there alone, we picked up and headed home also. We dropped the camper and headed to Bham to S's M and D.

In Mobile we always had a tradition. When a hurricane or tropical storm was rolling in, we would always take an urban mountain bike ride at the very latest possible minute. We usually ended up soaked and fighting 60 mph winds before the end. On Monday, with TS Lee making her way North, Greg and I decided to do our own tropical Storm Leebor day ride. Actually, it was pretty calm on the first half of Oak Mountain, but by the time we got to Johnson Mtn. We hit a rain ban and were drenched. It was a really a very nice weekend all and all.

Greg cresting the Red Trail.

Arm warmers. Finally!

AYSO has been cramping our Tuesday and Thursday night SLP ritual. I have been sneaking in some lunch rides. This is the advantage of having a great trail 3 minutes from my work. Anyway, today at 11:15 a.m. , I don't know the the temp, but I found myself slipping on the arm warmers, but by the end of the ride, the sun came out and I peeled them. It was a nice change anyway.

Although the storm brought down a few trees across the trail, it was nice to see water in the creek again. The yellow leaves on the ground from the wind and drought combined with the pleasant temps, sure made it feel like fall.

Billy Goat?

Well, I had a schedule change and had to get my SLP workout in on Monday instead of the regular Tuesday or Thursday or both. I rode Solo today and was buried in my music when I almost had a head on with a creature. No, it wasn't another rider..... It was a giant billy goat. We have seen many things while riding SLP. We have seen deer, snakes,frogs, turtles and even a falcon, But I was most surprised to see the goat. It had a full rack which curled into a complete circle like a ram. He was not too spooked by me. He was even a little curious.

25th Infantry Bicycle corps and the original Bicycle blog 1897

It's amazing how much the rigid SS looks the same as the ones today. Especially mine! 1900 miles in 41 days is pretty amazing considering that they hardly had roads. Lt. Moss kept a very detailed day to day journal. The original Cycling Blog.

http://bicyclecorps.blogspot.com/

Better Idea

At some point on Mitchell, this looked like a lot better idea than cycling.

Long day in the saddle

We awoke early and grabbed some breakfast. I felt a sense of urgency because I was concerned that it would warm up fast and become miserable. We hit Town Mtn rd right out of downtown Asheville. You barely go over I 240 before the road goes steep. It was a hard start to a long day in the saddle.
The heat never came. The clouds across the parkway and trees kept the temps in the 70's. I was aware of two things going into this ride. 1. Greg has been riding a lot since Kentucky 2. I haven't ridden much at all. Bro G was pretty much on the gas from the beginning and kept a steady pace to Black Mtn. where he pulled the old switchback sneak and got a good 300 yds ahead of me. He waited up at the base of Mitchell but broke me again on the 5 mile climb to the summit. I reached the park to find him lounging on the Mt. Mitchell sign waiting on me.

At the peak I got a Coke and a Gatorade and found a bench to try to find my will to ride back. Greg got high jacked by some retired Dr. who talked to him forever. His Crimson tide kit always gets more attention that I would want.

When we left the summit, it had to be in the very low 60's and covered in clouds. My legs were toast. We flew down the mountain and suffered the uncomfortable cold. Somewhere between Mitchell and Craggy Mtn., I made a complete recovery and was able to have a good ride all the way home. In the end, the bottom did drop out somewhere just after Craggy Mtn. and the rain jacket had to come out.

With 6945' of climbing and 67 miles of Hell and bliss, I had a great time but was glad to see Asheville.

Here we go again

It was a good ride up to NC. We took the scenic route through the Ocoee valley and the Nantahalla gorge. We stopped for a minute on the Ocoee to watch quite a few rafters getting dumped into the drink. On a day like this, the river looked pretty refreshing.

This morning, in between all of the panic news about the nations credit downgrade, we caught a weather forecast that pretty much said that we are going to be drenched at some point today on Mt. Mitchell.

Bro GC to return to Mitchell

Ok, I have to admit it. Although I felt like hitching a ride back down Mt. Mitchell because of a little rain storm with 50 mph winds was very unCherry like, I had decided to let it go and cut my Bro a break. Life has been challenging for him in the past year. But after he published his funny video, (still have vomit in my mouth from M. Cyrus) BF laid into him like a Piranha on a ham hock.So, bro and I are heading back up to Mitchell Aug 6 to hit her again. This time it will be two wheels all the way and back regardless of what the big Bitch throws at us. Snow in August? I've heard that it can happen on Mitchell.

More on Mitchell

I can not condone the use of Miley Cyrus music in any grown mans video, but this pretty funny. Make sure you watch till the very end. I think if you know Bro G, you will appreciate it.

The Land Between the Lakes

This trail is literally on the land between two lakes. You start out going North along the shore of one lake, and then you cross over the parkway and go South along the shore of the other lake. The Eastern side is flat and fast and the Western side has lots of hard technical climbing. It makes three ascents from lake level up to the top of the cliff. GK and I had a melee of attacks, as is tradition, while Bro G was smart and brought up the rear. At the end.... we were all toast.

Brother Greg conquers Mitchell

After a spirited mtb ride at Land Between the Lakes on Monday and a Death march ride to Illinois on Tuesday. Brother G Went back for more. He drove all day yesterday across the state of Kentucky and Tennessee to Asheville. He got up this morning and assaulted Mt. Mitchell. True to legend, Mitchell's weather made a turn for the very worse. He found himself shivering in a horrific storm on the summit which read 61 Degrees. Good job Bro G. Now that we have both ridden the tallest mountnains in NC, TN,GA and AL, G and I are considering starting to pick away every states tallest peak. Just one state at a time. I guess next will be Woodall Mtn in Ms. It is only 2 hrs from Cullman and about 850'.

Big River Brew Company

Who was it that said Chattanooga doesn't have a local brew?

Riding the Noog

I guess hard habits are hard to break. Although I had the hotel curtains closed tight and made a point of turning off all of the alerts on my phone, I still awoke about 6 a.m. I managed to sneak out without disturbing the fam .

After a quick gulp of hotel coffee (ick), I hit the streets of Chattanooga on the road bike, headed down River road , along the river front and crossed over on one of the bridges to the Red Bank area. Downtown was quiet and bike routes were well marked. I rode around Red Bank a while and crossed over another bridge back into Chattanooga. This city seems to be very bike friendly.

One highlight on the ride was finding Firefighter Memorial Fountain. This is the site of a criterium that Wig, Ccup, and I raced back during our Pedros farm team days in 92'. The course had a 6% climb and remember it being quite difficult after a several laps. Curtis became a legend in my mind here for his famous attack on a prime lap for a case of Powerade. He tore the pack to pieces and then dropped out to leave the rest of us to suffer. So... one toast to nostalgia.

Looks like my kind of place in Red Bank

Off to play in the Noog the rest the day with the Fam. This evening we will hit the road to Ky and the Farm.

Chattanooga Sidetrack

On the way to the "The Farm" ,this weekend, we made a sidetrack to Chattanooga. Although I have been through here and ridden many routes around here, such as Racoon Mtn ect. I haven't made it downtown in about 18 years. A lot has changed since the Riverfront Criterium days. Downtown seems to have succeeded where so many other Southern city's have failed (i.e. Birmingham). There is a thriving loft, entertainment, restaurant and family culture. There are statues on the corners, beautiful buildings and bridges, cafes with alfresco dinning, Italian ice stands and live music everywhere. The most notable thing ,to me ,is the amount of families out playing in the open fountains, riding in the free pedal taxi's (tips only) and listening to live music after dark. It made for a good night and E had a blast.

The cat is out of the bag

The Dirt:

I was just going through some old pictures taken on one of my rides with GK and OC along the sunflower coated fields of Southern KY a year or two ago. In one of the pics, I noticed something funky in GK's rear pocket. This explains a lot. I have often wondered how a 55 year old man rides like a pro and his only training is moving plants in J's flower garden. Now I know. I see it only fitting that he be in the infamous USP kit.

Rules:

I see at least two CCC rule violations in this photo.

1. Seat pack (for which I am famous)with light to add insult to injury.

2.The A__ window.Come on GK .....you ain't broke!

3.At least a warning for a matching pro team kit.

New Bottle Holder

If we could get one of these to hold a bottle of Miller lite, we might be able to get The Master back on the bike!

Cool Paint Job

Do you think I could get Rodney to paint my 29r like this?

Still at the 30 A. Don't tell the big blue A. I went riding on the sea side MTB trail yesterday. It was pretty cool, but I will save that for another blog.

The Cruiser

Why do I not run into more cyclist like this as SLP?

Business as NOT so usual

We are working twelve hour days or more, seven days a week, trying to make plans to rebuild the backbone. We have designers from Miami and techs from the P'cola. We have taken over the parking lot across the street (with the owners permission) with a fleet of generators and line trucks. It's an difficult time and an exciting time.

I'm looking forward to sneaking in a late afternoon MTB ride at SLP. I'm missing that habitual medication of the steady crank , crank of my two wheeler. Although I am appreciative, It's not easy controlling the food intake with the 100's of pounds of junk food that the company has sent in to keep the Big A Army fed.

Hanging in There

Cycling seems to be on the low priority list at this time. Although I have heard rumor of BF sneaking out for a post Tornado ride. As most know, We took a direct hit from a Tornado last week. BF, SC, And B all took severe damage to their place of business. All three seemed to snap right back with an action plan and start to pick up the pieces. Of course, I'm completely snowed with the phone company. The Master took a hard hit on his house too.

need to caution the readers of a Bio Hazard. The grease is missing from the fryer at the Busy Bee. If encountered, one should use the proper hazmat equipment before making contact.

I'm looking forward to a celebration of survival ride soon, followed by some fine brews.

The Missing Man

Lately, the North Hanceville Peloton has been flying the missing man formation. The Master has been down with a knee injury. The rides are empty without the stories of Jacques, grand French tours and espresso with Derosa. I never thought I would miss them, But I do. Hang in there master and go easy on the ML. You know you don't have to just wait for your knee to get better. There are lots of stretches and exercise that can speed recovery. I know when your used to zooming down Skyball at 50 mph, that home workout can be a drag. I hate it too. This video seemed to keep my attention longer than most training videos. Try it. http://

Cool Site!

http//www.dromarti.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15_34&products_id=33