#BAMACROSS

[philiciousness]

Some BamaCross guys getting decent air time on Behind the Barriers.

[portella]

[bicicoopracing]

Just when you thought we were done, Bamacross returns to Brookside.

Due to a scheduling mix up Bamacross 9 saw us back in Brookside for the 5th time this season. No worries, with Brent at the helm there was no problem completely flipping the course upside down and all around. The course had features that we had seen before but throw in a lot more turns and a ton of mud you've got yourself a completely new course. The turnout was pretty low with road/mtn/lame season coming up and people transitioning into those disciplines but it was a good time none the less. In the first heat Kate lined up for the women's race while Sam and Zach were all in for the Singlespeed race. 

Kate crushing through the mud. Photo Carol Roark York

Sam soloing for the win. Photo Carol Roark York

Zach in the bog. Photo Carol Roark York

Kate had a great ride for another 2nd place finish while Sam rode away from the Singlespeed race with over a minute gap when all was said and done. Great job!

For the Men's 4 race we had Daniel and Matthew rep the blue and brown. Daniel had a hard fought race, looking really strong through out and was able to net a 4th place finish. 

Matthew was able to take off work to get a nice muddy ride in.

Daniel and Kyle in an epic battle for 3rd. 

In the final race of the day Jonathan was the sole Cat 2 representative while Alan raced the Cat 3's. Sam and Zach also lined up in the 'here for the beer' category, rocking heavy metal shirts, vests, jeans, and BMX bikes. They were definitely crowd favorites. 

Jonathan had a solid ride for 5th in the Elite race. Photo Carol Roark York

Alan on his way to 4th in the Men's 3 race. Photo Alan Laytham

Zach and Sam getting down. Photo Tommy Honeycutt

Only one race to go in the Bamacross series but don't worry we've got some races on the books during the non cross months that should keep everybody busy. 

Until next time. 

[alanbarton]

No pressure.

I got to the race Sunday not really caring how it turned out. I had heard the day before that my competition for 3rd in the series, Stewart, wasn't able to make it to the race and it really bummed me out. I had been stressing all week looking at the numbers for the series and making sure I had my math right with how many spots I could give up and still be in the money for the series. Having been off the bike Monday and Tuesday after attending the Park Tool Summit in Atlanta and only a couple hours on the trainer during the week had me really freaking out. So there I was Sunday stuck in my position for the series. It didn't matter how I did; I was third. No pressure right? Right. I did my usual pre race thing as much as I could. Chill spin then work Saturday. Have a good carb and protein rich dinner with Kate that night. Sunday was the regular routine as well. Coffee, drive, eat, pre ride, trainer and race. Nothing changed except the pressure. I didn't really care abot the result for the day I was just stoked to have the season locked up. 

So I lined up on the front row for the start. Countdown. Go. Hole shot. Got it. I held the lead for the first half of the first lap felt pretty good. Jimmy passed me on the one small climb up by some tennis courts. I rode with him on the pavement and passed him in the barriers. As we came through the start/finish I dropped the hammer. I saw that we had a big gap to third place and I wanted to test Jimmy to see if he could match the effort. He didn't and I was gone. 

The rest of the race was a weird mind game. How hard could I go and still have decent lines through the mud? How hard could I go without exploding with 3 laps to go and get caught? Beer up? It came down to the interval training I had been doing. Full gas for 2 minutes let up for a bit then go again. I found that balance for the first time this season and it was rad. I dabbed a couple of times through out the race but overall it was the smoothest race I've ever had and it felt good. 

Photo from Pete Foret

I really couldn't think of a better way to end the season. I was planning on moving up to Cat 2 anyway but to cap it off with a win was really special. And all the support from everyone in the Bamacross family made it even better. 

[itssadbutdrew-blog]

SOUTH EAST CYCLOCROSS SERIES PLS? K, THX!

What’s up blawg?

You can’t front on the fact that Cyclocross in the US is getting HUGE for a relatively obscure sport. I think all cycling cultures embrace it in one way or another… we have “alleycross” from the urban crowd, and “ultracross” coming from the endurance MTB crowd. There are other spinoffs too from different walks of cyclists, but I bring these up for a reason with a specific gravity. These exist in a rare consistency in the South Eastern states. The South East has a lot of State CX races, but why don’t we have a regional series? How about something cohesive to develop our racers, a series that could develop into a future UCI series.

Down here we have a lot of enthusiasm for bike racing. We have professional teams, lots of criteriums, and a good chunk of the bike industry located here. There are some very well attended State CX series. These State series’ often share participants across state borders; why not share points from one race from each series to raise the level of competition here in the South East? Sure it’s great to win your category in your local series, but what do we have for those who want to be their categories best in the region? How can we get our region to the levels New England, the Mid West and the Pacific North west have gotten? NC will be hosting Nationals in 2016 after all. Lets step up to the plate.

www.http://nccyclocross.com/ let’s start here, my home state series. A high level of competition exists here in ALL categories, and we have a UCI c2 race. The UCI race is a great, professionally hosted event, sure it could use a little bit of new life breathed into it after these past few years but it still draws some big names and all the lower categories fill up.

http://www.msgcross.com/wordpress/ This series is a fun one, these races are in eastern Tennessee, draw a crowd from western NC and northern VA. These guys are developing some serious juniors right now. They have a mix of parks and rec and private venues for the beer induced heckling even though the series is clearly catered to a family oriented group of racers. MSG hosted a UCI cross race in Kingsport TN for a couple of years. I feel this race could return to the calendar with better participation from the region, I do not think the race’s regular participants were enough to justify the work and cost of UCI sanctioning.

Tennessee also has Knoxie Cross in the mid-state and Memphis TN hosts one of the longest running CX races in the USA: http://www.cxmagazine.com/memphis-celebrates-longest-running-cyclocross-race-nation

http://www.bamacross.com/ you may have seen these folk’s race series tee-shirt featured on www.allhailtheblackmarket.com because it is bad ass. The shirt alone lets you know they get it. A few of us from Asheville made it down to Anniston AL for their Double Down race weekend, fricken awesome course. You guys know I HATE parks and rec races. They are typically watered down “make the most of it” courses because the parks can handle the crowd. This course had a little bit of everything that make a great cross course, long laps fun crowds, good competition and one of the two races was at night under the lights.

I could go on and on about the Anniston race, but they have an entire series.

http://flcx.org/ we are all aware that Florida has a lot LOT of cyclists, and it seems as if they are embracing cyclocross. This series seems to run a little later in the season than most do, which is RAD. I doubt any one would complain about heading to Florida in mid January for a race escaping the winter’s cold.

So, there are four states with healthy, sustaining cyclocross series’ that’s a start! That is enough for each series to dedicate one race to the South East CX series, perhaps crown a South East CX champion per category based on points? Just an idea…

Georgia has a great cycling scene road cyclists and mountain bikers are all across the state but notably Athens GA, a college town in the foot hills that is home for a lot of US pro cyclists and a good portion of bicycle industry employees.

South Carolina, also home to a lot of South East cyclists has hosted some high-quality cyclocross races but with minimal patrons. The courses I have raced in Spartanburg SC, as well as Greenville SC have been amongst my favorites.

I believe participation in a regional series attracting out of state racers could invigorate the locals to participate in greater numbers benefiting the promoters.

There is also Virginia, a state with strong ties to the world of cycling especially with Richmond VA hosting the 2015 Road Worlds. The question I have about VA is weather they are considered South East or Mid-Atlantic.

I truly believe we have the makings of a perfect storm down here in our redneck states between racers, races, bike industry and other sponsors. It’ll be up to us to make this real though. This is more work than one person can handle and would require a lot of communication, coordination and transparency between promoters.

I don’t always have the most time to give, but I believe in this and will be glad to help with getting people in contact with others.

Peace, Love, and Quality Embrocation.

~Drew

[bicicoopracing]

Bamacross #4: A banner day for Bici Coop Racing.

Yesterday was the 4th race of the Bamacross season and the third time we raced in Brookside. Brent did a great job setting up the course so that it was almost a completely different course than previous editions. TONS of running, a lot of twists and turns and a little more running. The way the course was laid out if one you tried to recover you were going to get gapped. If it was a flat or fast section you better had been full gas. In the first race of the day we had Lee and Zach rolling the single speeds. And Brooke rode as our lone lady taking her first win of the season. Great job Brooke. 

Brooke on her way to her first win. Photo : Carol Roark York

Taylor, Daniel, Jonathan, Thomas and Travis repped us in the Men's 4 race. Thomas had a great start coming through the barriers in the first lap in second position before fading back. Jonathan didn't have his best start but was stoked to finish after a string of mechanicals and flats knocked him out previous races. Travis decided to take a different approach today and just ride his race and stay upright. It paid off with him coming from the back of the field in the start to finish 9th. Taylor and Daniel both had their best days to date, riding together for most of the race with Taylor finishing 5th and Daniel 6th. 

Jonathan making the pass out of the sand. Photo : Carol Roark York

Travis chasing. Photo : Carol Roark York

Daniel after the sand. Photo : Carol Roark York

Taylor hitting the hardest of the run ups. Photo : Carol Roark York

The Men's 3 race was up next. Sam decided to skip the singlespeed race early to see how he could roll with fresh legs for the hour long 3 race. He CRUSHED it. He attacked in the first lap and stayed away the whole time. Behind Sam, Boris was battling Brad Hood (Mellow Mushroom) for much of the race with Jonathan Robbins just behind. Alan was sitting 5th much of the race but was eventually gapped by Hardwick Gregg and Ed Merritt. Ross was having a great race before a blowout just past the pit ended his race. Boris eventually dropped Brad but was caught by Jonathan in the last lap. Bici finished 1, 2, 3. 

Sam didn't look back. Photo : Carol Roark York

Jonathan on his way to his 2nd place finish. Photo : Carol Roark York

Boris rounded out the podium. Photo : Carol Roark York

Next week is an off week for Bamacross but Bici will be repped in the USGP of Louisville, Georgia Cross in Marietta, and the Chainbuster 9 hour race. Look for updates here. 

Cheers!

[bicicoopracing]

Look at all that Baby Blue!

[bicicoopracing]

That's a wrap for Bamacross for now.

What a fantastic season. We had a truly fantastic group of people ride with us this year and can't wait to see the bigger and better things we can do for next year. With 31 podium appearances, 3rd place overall in the team competition and 4 podium positions for individuals in the series Bici brought it this season. None of this would have been possible without our family of riders, friends and fantastic sponsors. Not to forget the madman behind it all, Brent Marshall, making cyclocross THE cycling discipline of Alabama. 

This blog won't be going completely silent though. We have a large contingent racing Southern Cross next month as well as a road and mountain bike team racing through the summer. Lee and John are doing their thing with Trans Iowa and Dirty Kanza and I'm sure they will have some stories to tell. Thanks for following and stick around. 

-Vive Bici

Alan

[philiciousness]

The definition of BamaCross.

[alanbarton]

Bamacross #3. Return to Brookside.

After racing in 80 degrees the week before, the frost on the ground Sunday was a welcome sight. Finally a true fall cross race. Kate and I got to Bensko park early enough for her to get a few laps in to check tire pressure and gear and for me to walk Maggie around a bit before the races got going. The course was a lot different than years past. Super flow with several fast technical sections, a long sandy run up and a super steep paved climb were some of the highlights. It was hard enough to break up the race but still super fun to rip when you're not racing for the podium. Kate had a solid race for third and Sam was in an awesome battle for the Single Speed race to finish second behind Randy Kerr. There were tight races all day which made it a lot of fun to watch. Fast forward to the A race. We were short some of the heavy hitters of Bama CX. Jerry was off at Cincy 3 getting points for his run at Nats, Omar was out from an injury and Dabbs, Edmunds and Reid weren't in attendance. That moved everyone a little closer to a top 3 but also meant we only had 7 elite racers. At the start line Lackey suggested we combine fields with the 25 man B field. I was down with the idea considering I had been racing most of the B racers throughout the season. Matt obliged and started the B's second row. I made an effort to slot in as opposed to go directly for the hole shot. The course wasn't as bad for bottle necking that some of the others had been and I didn't want to go too hard too early. I was in the lead group for the bulk of the first lap but gaps started to open on the backside of the course. When JD started to get gapped by Marcus and I knew I had to get up there or it was game over. The only problem was there wasn't a ton of room to pass on that section. I decided to take JD going on the inside of a quick 90 degree turn. It was kind of a shitty move but rubbin's racin. JD said 'thanks Alan' as I chopped him and accelerated out of the corner. The gap to Marcus stayed steady at about 15 seconds for the next couple of laps. I was able to bridge up to 5 seconds at the start finish line only to have it stretch back out in the sand. With 3 laps to go I bobbled in the sand and was caught and passed by JD. I chased for a lap and when I saw him foot down in a tricky u turn I thoughtI may have a chance but I was already anaerobic. I decided to just ride smooth and maybe he would bobble again. No dice. I came in 7/7 but was able to survive Jonathan Crain who won the B's. It was a fantastic day of racing and a great event put on by the Bamacross crew. Even without a result I was still amped on my race. Reminded me of why I do this.

[philiciousness]

BamaCross race under the lights.

I have never raced at night. I am pretty sure it adds to the chances of me crashing by 50%. The good news is that I won't feel sac religious for taking a beer-up because it won't be 10:30 on a Sunday morning.

[bicicoopracing]

Well that was fun.

Bamacross #1 of the 2011-12 season is in the books. Well, kind of. We'll see where the final results end up after all of the protests are all sorted out. Anyway, this was our sponsored race this season in the Bamacross series and it went off amazingly. We had a strong crew come out Saturday to lay out an amazing course. Fast sections, slow sections, technical, and smooth sections all in one course. Some truly Belgian style features including a couple downhills that if had been muddy would have been ran instead of ridden, and a sandpit that had it's fair share of casualties (including one from me). 

When Sunday came, there was no doubt it was cross season in Alabama, typical dry and sunny conditions but the air was crisp and that was nice. The first race saw 8 Bici racers spread out through the Masters 35+, Singlespeed, Women's 4 and Women's Elite fields. Boy oh boy did people notice. The new baby blue kits were easy to spot. Brandon held down 5th in the Masters race while Sam and John grabbed 1st and 3rd in the Singlespeed race. Brooke finished 2nd in the Women's 4 at her first race and Kate got 3rd in the Women's Elite. Not a bad start to the day.

Next up was the Men's 4 race with Travis, Daniel, Taylor, Jonathan, Nathan, Thomas, Dan and Matthew. Travis grabbed the hole shot and looked good at the front of the back with Daniel was sitting firmly in the top 10. Through the race there was a battle at the front between Travis and Kyle from NSAT but after a crash in the fore mentioned downhill Travis got separated from the front group and finished 4th. The rest of the results for the 4s were a little sketchy so we'll wait until they are published to fill in the rest of the spots. 

The last race of the day was the Men's Elite and the Men's 3 race. Joshua "Die off the Front" Driskell was our loan representative in the Elite field while our 3's crew was Boris, Jonathan, Ross, Sam, Zach and I (Alan). I can only speak from my experiences in this one which are still a little blurry. I was in the top 10 with Ross for a while, then I 'scorpioned' in the sandpit losing 5-7 positions. That's when Sam passed me. Then Boris caught me, then I passed Ross, then Jonathan caught me. I had a little battle with Jacob Tubbs from Tria. I gapped him out of the sand and caught a couple more guys before finishing 13th. Sam got 11th, Jonathan 7th, and Boris 3rd. Joshua finished a solid 5th in the Elite Race behind the Triplet's of BBCville and Omar. With Boris's performance and Brent's aggressive mandatory cat up rule we may see Boris helping out Joshua in the A group in a few weeks. 

It was great weekend but I'm glad it's over. More photos and reports as they become available. 

Cheers.

[bicicoopracing]

A couple of the Bici guys made it out to last weekend's training race. Taylor got 3rd in the C race and Jonathan got 5th in the A race on his Single Speed. But this video is the real winner from this weekend. 1:34 is pure magic.