an hour in hell

how's the water?...and more

some more pics-send me yours

as blurry as me

i had this crazy dream last night that we had this cross course that went through a lake and it was like 29* outside...

holy cowbell! cullman trophies are SICK!

points, part 2

i need to clear up a couple of points mistakes before we head into cullman.
1) stephen erickson placed 11th at the first race in homewood. the score sheets confirm this, but he was scored as a dnf for some reason. he should have 20 points which has him with 206 points overall and staying in the same position.
2) jonathan payne finished 8th at avondale, but his points didn't make it on the spreadsheet. this would give him 13 points bringing his total points to 82 and moving him up a couple of places to 6th overall.

sorry for the confusion, it happens. the points will be critical heading into sunday, with double points placings can change dramatically and move you up or down by as many as 10 places.

man, it looks like it's gonna be nice and sloppy on sunday...great cross weather...maybe we should start the season in december from now on...

Points

They should be updated today. I know a few of you had issues with points getting funkered at a race or two (jonathan,stephen...?) If you had a request and I dropped the ball, shoot me an e-mail - marshallbrent at gmail dot com . It looks like the weather may be just right this weekend (rain on saturday and a high in the 40's on sunday. Hopefully, some of the Ga. racers will make the trip to Cullman for a beat down...

Cullman Cross

DOUBLE POINTS!!!

I can't believe the season is almost done. Seems like yesterday we were lining up in near 90* temps at west oxmoor. It's always good to save the best for last and Cullman is a good bet for that. BSJ and crew will have 1st class trophies for the winners of each category on Dec. 16th. We will award series finalists and present trophies and prizes as well. The first 100 entries get one of these:



SIZE WARS WILL BE FIERCE. GET THERE EARLY, UNLESS YOU LIKE SMALL.

NY Times article

Cyclocross: Mud, Sweat and Gears
T. C. Worley for The New York Times
UP AND OVER Mark Weispfenning, one of 160 competitors at the Grumpy’s cyclocross race in Blaine, Minn., leaps a barrier as he holds his cross bike.



By STEPHEN REGENOLD
Published: November 30, 2007
ABOVE the pool of filth, but still within the shadow of the ditch, my bike skidded sideways in muck. “Heads up!” yelled a fellow racer, elbow out, body a blur.


T. C. Worley for The New York Times
THE DIRT A cyclocross race in Blaine, Minn., covered grass, gravel and mud.
It was lap No. 5 at Grumpy’s CX, a cyclocross bike race in Blaine, Minn., and I was fighting for position in a deep gulch of mud.

“On your left!” a rider yelled, tires squishing through the ooze.

The race had kicked off 20 minutes before, a crush of cyclists squeezing through a start gate to the two-kilometer course beyond. What would come included a gravel track, pavement, grass, switchback climbs and multiple knee-high barriers that forced riders to dismount, shoulder their rigs and hurdle on foot before hopping back on their bikes to race away.

Cyclocross, a growing off-road discipline, appears at first to be an amalgam of BMX bike racing and road riding. The sport’s short, looped courses include obstacles, ramps, bumps, sand pits, sharp turns and lots of the aforementioned mud — all navigated on a road-bike-like cycle that has drop-bar handles, skinny tires and no suspension.

Cyclocross, invented nearly 100 years ago in Europe as an off-season training regimen for road-bike racers, has a storied tradition and a worldwide following. Internationally, professional competition is administered by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the Swiss organization that also oversees the Tour de France.

And in the United States, a longtime dead zone for cyclocross, the sport has recently caught fire.

“We’re seeing a cyclocross phenomenon of sorts in this country,” said Stuart Thorne, a former professional cyclocross rider from Wenham, Mass., who now runs the online publication CyclocrossWorld.com. “A race in Oregon last month drew nearly 1,000 cyclocross racers, which was one of the biggest showings ever.”

About 40,000 cyclists registered to race in a cyclocross event last year, according to USA Cycling, a Colorado Springs organization that sanctions competitions. That’s up from 17,000 registered racers in 2004.

Cyclocross is a fall sport, with races starting in September and continuing every weekend past Thanksgiving. Hundreds of races are held each year nationwide, many organized into regional series, from Maine to Colorado to California. USA Cycling’s season-ending Cyclocross National Championships this year are in Kansas City, Kan., Dec. 13 to 16.

“Cyclocross caters to the abilities of both road cyclists and mountain bikers,” said Andy Lee, director of communications for USA Cycling. “Thus, it draws from both worlds.”

Mountain bikers, Mr. Lee said, excel at the technical off-road terrain. Road cyclists bank on power and speed honed from pedaling on pavement. Cyclocross’s idiosyncrasies — from sand traps and standing water to the get-off-your-bike-and-leap barriers — necessitate technique specific to the sport.

“There’s an art to popping off, shouldering your bike, then getting back on without losing speed,” said Mark Mettler, a 45-year-old road cyclist from Minnetonka, Minn. Mr. Mettler spins through 36 road races a year, starting in the spring and pedaling through the end of August. Then he moves on to cross, as its riders tend to call it. “You build a base all summer road racing,” he said, “then you’re fit and ready when cyclocross season starts.”

At Grumpy’s CX — a race held earlier this month in Blaine, Minn., that drew 160 competitors — Mr. Mettler and dozens of road riders, almost all men, tried to hold their own against a smaller crowd of mountain bikers. Most rode cyclocross-specific bikes, which — unlike mountain bikes — have stiff forks and thin, knobby tires, trading shock absorption and some traction for a cross bike’s bigger gears, lighter weight and inherent speed.

Other riders pedaled pared-down single-speed bikes. There were track bikers and road specialists who came to try the sport for the first time. A contingent of urban bike messengers with tattoos, nose rings and knickers rounded out the field. “There’s a wide demographic in this sport,” said Robert Danneker, a Grumpy’s CX organizer.

I rode in the first race of the day, a half-hour-long lap event open to neophytes on up to intermediate riders.

Our heat began at the shout of an official: “Racers ready, and go!” Wheels started to turn. Pedals clicked. Riders leaned in to fight for position.

“Come on! Come on!” yelled a racer in the back.

The course, set on the grounds of the National Sports Center athletics campus, twisted and turned on grass at first, with little orange flags and police tape strung to sequester the lanes. It climbed a hill and then dropped on a carpeted ramp into a velodrome track-bike stadium — the first of many oddities encountered on the course.

A crowd cheered from bleachers above the track. “Go Mike!” someone shouted. “Let’s hit it, guys!”

Three barriers — stout 16-inch-high wooden walls — blocked the lane inside the stadium. Brakes squeaked in abrupt goose honks as the pedaling procession slowed to dismount and jump.

I swung a leg over my bike’s frame before slowing, coasting on one pedal for five feet. Then it was: unclip from the pedal; hit the grass running; grab the bike; hoist it; gallop; and leap.

Ozzy Osbourne blared on the stadium speakers: “I’m going off the rails on a crazy train ...”

The mud pits came next. The first one — a sulfur-smelling mess — was a dis-aster, with riders flipping, feet flying over handlebars, as a fist of riders again collectively slammed on the brakes.

“Look out!” one downed competitor screamed.

The course swung east on a straightaway. It dived down a ditch to a long channel of mud. Grit crunched in gears. Brakes chattered through tight turns.

A race official shouted as I flew by the start area: “Rider 275,” he piped, noting the number on my bib. A tally of each rider’s laps would determine race standings.

And so I started on lap No. 2, a few minutes into the race, pedaling somewhere in the middle of the pack. Mud was already matted on my legs. Sweat dribbled off my nose.

I cranked up a hill and leaned into a turn, straining to see ahead. Tires searched for grip. Dirt flew. Fans screamed. Riders whizzed by, pedaling to hurdles and ramps and mud pits beyond.

It was a strange show, and I was happy to be a part of the act.

medals

Master 35+
1.will hibberts
2.scott staubach
3.stephen erickson

Masters 45+
1.jim brock
2.miro novak
3.jeff dorminey

CX 4
1.bill andrews
2.matt holdbrooks
3.geoff leonard

CX 3/4
1.everette herring
2.dave mcneal
3.dusty davis

JRS
1.justin bynum
2.austin oliver
3.trevor west

WM 4
1. lila bowers
2.alex miller
3.elizabeth st. john

WM 1/2/3
1.ursula sandefeur
2.heather ladd
3.kelly bownes

MN 1/2/3
1.mike hurley
2.will fyfe
3.brandon curtis

State Champs

.... well, I dont have the list yet... but here are some pics!

George Ward Park

This may be the best cross venue in bham when this happens. There is already a smokin' cross course spray painted through the park if you happen to go out there. This is a course that I'm planning to do next year. The added paved trails will be great for tempo sections. I think some of the proposed paved areas are already in place, but are broken cobblestone. George Ward is a big enough park to host a national event as well.

charlemagne's got sumthin' in his sweatpants

Fain Park this weekend, awesome power course. Unforgettable battles to ensue. ESPN will be onhand with live coverage...

soweeeet!

fearsome four

the four week stretch of racing is over. we've seen some great action in all categories with lead changes in every category. the team race should be interesting in the final stretch as ERA-Oxford Realty and BOO-KOO BBC seem to be locked and loaded for battle. Hurley took another impressive win with Will Fyfe showing some stunning power with his bridge to 10 sec. after a flat. Hurley thought he had it in the bag until he looked back and saw this:


He jumped like a scalded dog after seeing a possessed chaser and pushed the gap back to :30 sec.

Ursula Sandefuer killed it again proving that there may be a battle for cross queen in Bama.
Willie and Jimi domo'd the masters field. Everette and Dmac...need I say anymore? The men's 4 field saw a guest from Ga. who shook it up and gave the regulars a new carrot to chase. I think Heather Ladd won the women's 4 race again.

Thanks to the Wig's Wheels/Mellow Mushroom crew for a great race, which I thought was like a 2 mile mtn. bike race loop. Others felt like it suited the road set, either way it was killa'. I mean where else do you get a set of barriers through a hay barn?

Next up is the biggie- The Alabama State Championship race at Fain Park in Montgomery, Al!! We don't have jersey this year, but we will have a special race # printed for the winners to wear for the remainder of the season through next years race.

After Montgomery there's only one left-Sportsman's lake park in Cullman where the masterminds of the CCC will no doubt be trying to show that they hold the torch on course design and venue again for '07... they'll have to work pretty hard to reach the bar this year though!

If you haven't made it out to one of the races yet this year, bring it. It doesn't matter how your bent-knobbie or skinny, short tracks or crits, 24's or road races. Racing cross in the fall and winter makes you a better bike racer, period, Whether it's the top end that you maintain or the fluid bike handling skills that you develop, you will be a better bike racer in the summer by racing cross in the fall and winter.

it's here

cx mag!
and who knew this existed?

This weekend is Anniston...got me to thinking, Anniston is the race last year where Jrod proved that Hurley COULD be beat... think he can do it again? I'm just sayin'

i'm excited to race again this weekend, just hope the jammin' legs don't get in the way of the racin' legs as one of my favorite bands, The Hold Steady are playing the Bottltree saturday night.


and don't forget-montgomery is the state championship race on dec. 2nd and...well, the infamous montgomery mini mall playa' is gonna perform before the hold steady:

Wigtime!

It's time for the crowd favorite Anniston race. Wig is reported to have some crazy course setup at camp lee. Igloo cups will be in order. I believe the contact info. is wrong on the flyer, if you have questions, contact Wig's Wheels in Anniston @ 256-237-9447. I'll have the updated standings up...soon, still fighting through the haze of Avondale and Chico's finest.

Law and Order have been restored

Mike Hurley broke out the night stick and set the record straight yesterday. Wow, that was impressive. Brandon Curtis backed up last weeks win with a 2nd to prove he's no fluke. Everette and Dmac ran their weekly clinic in 3/4 race and then Dmac goes on to take 5th in the 1/2/3 race ahead of Mr. Eric Murphy...What's the old saying?-been baggin' long?
ERA-Oxford realty guys along with TRIA Market pulled together to really pull this show off at Avondale park, nice work. I was astounded with the amount of people that pulled together to help us with this race. So many showed up Sat. to set up, I didn't have enough tools for all the hands! AWESOME!!! Thanks B'ham bicycle community.
I want to say a special thanks to Jerry Griffies and Stephen Erickson who seemed to possess as much or more passion than myself for this race.

Ted Bowling took some truly amazing pictures of the races, I mean these are some of the most captivating shots I've seen of any sporting event. If you want to sell your shots to athletes this is what they should look like : http://tedbowling.smugmug.com/Sports/410359

sidetrackedmag.com was also onsite to cover our sport with some quality shots as well. Bert says they should have video of the past 2 races up soon, so keep a lookie on their site!

Jeff Dorminey got some great shots as well that are here.

Team Competition

IS HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Era-Oxford Realty and BBC-Boo Koo are neck and neck with The Mellow Mushroom boys faking in the draft and waiting to pounce. Keep your eyes on the amount of racers doubling up this weekend.

Sponsors for the Avondale race this weekend-AND A COUPLE OF WORDS ABOUT THIS WEEKEND

If you are running a bottle cage on your bike, take it off! This weekend you will be shouldering your bike. You can have someone in the feed zone to hook you up each lap or carry a bottle in your jersey pocket. If you are using a full squish mtb, try to practice being creative with shouldering your rig. Is anyone else's right elbow aching like mine? I think we should call it crossbow. If you've got pit wheels, bring em.




Couldn't get some of them on the flyer and couldn't do it without them. Please support the people that support us.

Mid-week buzz

I'm probably not supposed to be posting here, cuz I ain't Brent and I didn't get permission. Alas, I'm the web dude that does the behind the scenes glory work here, so I figure I can get away with it this one time.

This video has no doubt been making the rounds, especially since being mentioned in VeloNews a couple weeks back (with the wrong URL). How many of us ran to that URL only to find it didn't exist? Bummer!

Get some of those run ups. They're killing those barriers. And maybe -2:42 to go, there's a start for the men's pro race. Ouch, they're RAILING it. And who out there isn't a sucker for some old school Van "Lee Roth" Halen?

some more pitchers

Are Here.

Everyone coming to Avondale Park this weekend please park on 40th street as opposed to the park's small pkg lot. 40th Street is where registration and most of the action will be anyway. Please go to this link for a google map to avondale park.

I expect to see the biggest slugfest yet in the 1,2,3 race this weekend as Brandon Curtis stepped up to prove that he's not a pretender in Prattville. The race between Brandon and Hurley on Sunday was a nailbiter, they swapped licks for the full 60 min. which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Will Fyfe has had a string of bad luck with mechanicals when he was showing winning form. Jerrod Dorminey will strike again and Avondale may suit his stealthy skills. Will Hibberts has the skill and fitness to make everyone look silly, but will he focus soley on the 1,2,3 race this weekend instead of racing masters 1st? Avondale will seperate conteders from pretenders for all to see.

Bring it.

Fried

Don't know about you all, but I'm fried from cooter efforts yesterday. Dave Hiott and crew really did a great job yesterday with a great park, layout and support. Jeff Haines was on hand for the officiating and did a flawless job as usual. I really got the feeling yesterday that cross is taking hold in Alabama. I thought it would take 3 years to really see the fruit grow. But Prattville and Tuscaloosa proved to me that we can sustain a truly competitive season with just alabama racers. I think the next step is to work with Tenn. and Ga. to stagger weekends where we have a regional battlefest and then the big one- Crank Bros. visits the Dirty South! and regional riders destroy the national field!!!

The series standings are posted. There are some problems I'm working on-the masters 45+ were given points based on a 60 min race instead of a 45 min race for tuscaloosa... and the team standings are a work in progress, should have them up today or tomorrow.

This weekend is one I've been dreaming of for years, Avondale Park Cyclocross, As far as I know this will be the first cyclocross race ever held in B'ham proper...so it's a history making weekend. Avondale park just has what, in my mind, are all the key ingredients for classic euro cross. It's rich history and urban feel are classic. The best part is that I can stroll 1 block from my house and I'm there. We have held several practice sessions there this year which helps to iron out kinks and helps with course design.

I know over the past two years I've heard and read people spewing about "cross should be this" and "cross should be that". I'll admit that I've prolly been guilty as well. My opinion has gotten much more streamlined with regards to what I want BAMACROSS to be: 1.HARD, 2.FUN and that's it! our courses and venues have had similarities and differences but those 2 things have remained constant.

There are a few photo options posted in the comments section.

pictures from cooter's pond

http://community.webshots.com/album/561325739fDNPqa

cooter raffle!

that's right, we'll be raffling off cooters this weekend! wait, i messed that up. there will be a raffle at this weekend's race with some sweet stuff from maxxis,hammer,tifosi and others. this will be worth sticking around for. the raffle will conclude during the kid's race... for some reason this race makes me think of jessica simpson, go figure.
just for clarification:
Cooter is also sometimes used as southeastern US slang as a term for "snapping turtles." Inverness, Florida sparked controversy by founding a "cooter festival" in celebration of their local turtles. (The controversy was detailed on The Daily Show on December 2, 2004.)

photos from ttown

are HERE

YEE-HAW!

Bamacross is storming Cooter Pond this weekend!!! I couldn't be more excited, maybe just to say that I've been to Cooters Pond. Dave and the ICS-Chain Reaction crew will no doubt have a top notch set up for all you crossniacs to get yer fix on. MAXXIS has supplied them with megaswag to get you all orange. Now, if some of you could get together and buy me one of THESE,Bamacross will be around for at least 4 more years while I wait on it!

results from tuscaloosa

Here's the short list while I tally series standings:
(OH, AND LISTEN TO JOHN THIS MORNING ON KEXP.ORG - RUMOR HAS IT THAT BAMACROSS WILL GET A SHOUTOUT DURING THE PLEDGE DRIVE THIS MORNING (WHILE YOUR THERE, SUPPORT LISTENER SUPPORTED RADIO!!!)

Masters 35+
1 will hibberts
2 everette herring
3 scott staubach
4 david hiott
5 wael amara
6 patrick wigley
7 edward duke
8 david todd
9 curtis cupp
10 terry phillips

Masters 45+
1 jim brock
2 hardwick gregg
3 bill st. john
4 fred smith
5 john mcgeel
6 john dorminey

Juniors
1 logan haskew
2 justin bynum
3 austin oliver
4 trevor west
5 will faulk
6 cary steele
7 hunter headley
8 campbell holley
9 zach roberts

men 4
1 harri haikala
2 geoff leonard
3 matt holdbrooks
4 hugh smith
5 f brockson
6 j payne
7 scott pierson
8 g kitchen
9 billy faulk
10 k west
11 mike miller
12 ?? ss mtb e-mail me!bib#219
13 carl viars
14 k sanders
15 daniel rumbarger
16 ray fernandez
17 tim haskew
18 c meyer

women 1/2/3
1 maaike everts
2 lisa geyer

women 4
1 Alex miller
2 sally gonder
3 jane gillespie

men 3/4
1 everette herring
2 david mcneal
3 mark simpson
4 jonathan robbins
5 phillip thompson
6 marcus campbell
7 hardwick gregg
8 m enervold
9 chris boothe
10 ?? nice... e-mail me bib #433
11 jacob tubbs
12 larry stanley
13 j dorminey
14 bart davidson
15 patrick wigley
16 brent marshall

men 1/2/3
1 mike hurley
2 jim brock
3 will fyfe
4 brandon curtis
5 matt johnson
6 david mcneal

velocity rocks

The folks in Tuscaloosa put on another quality event bookending the year. Tour de Tuscaloosa was a well run quality event with beauty weather to start the year and the cx event yesterday was a mirror image - nice job. There were a few snags as usual, but nothing that couldn't be overcome. There are very few people out there with the guts to stick their neck out and host one of the events that make up our little subculture, make sure to say thanks to the people who do.

There was some intense action on tap on the smokin fast course yesterday. ERA Oxford realty put on a clinic with Will Hibberts taking the 35+, Jim Brock taking the 45+ and Mike Hurley dominating the 1,2,3 race. Brandon Curtis was rumored to have put in an impressive move in the 1,2,3 just before his r. der. exploded into a million pieces, he may be one to watch with the big dogs next week. BBC ran a clinic of their own with Everette Herring grabbing 2nd in the 35+ race after an untimely r. flat and then winning the 3/4 race. Maaike Everts shows the women her dutch heritage by winning the 1,2,3 race. Local boy Logan Haskew gets r dun for the t'town crowd in the juniors race and finally Harry Haikala tops a huge 4 field.

Thanks to all who volunteered and raced. Stay tuned, I will upload the series standing spreadsheet shortly. If you have pics, email them to me at marshallbrent at gmail dot com
KEEP YOUR RACE NUMBER!!!!!!!!!

munny sokol

it's time for cyclocross to invade munny sokol park in t'town for the first time eva! this is a park that is near and dear to me ol' heart as i helped build and maintain the singletrack during my learnin days down south. many a classic mountain bike party/race was held here as the black warrior challenge (miss it). if you're thinking of camping, there's none better in bama than lake lurleen state park-the weather will be perfect, that's where me and mine will lay our heads sat night fer sure. dollar primes will be in full effect!

cross in a nutshell

SHOULD THIS BECOME A BAMACROSS TRADITION?-


“The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature’s payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. ‘Good for you’. Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately.”

YOU DID REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR RACE #'S...RIGHT?

out of town

the nashville series kicks off this weekend with a double header.this is a cool series with exceptional course designs to test the riders. ga cross starts next weekend as well. these races should keep all you cx addicts in check until the next bamacross event in t'town!

halfasst

in an attempt to please the results seekers and my boss all at the same time...please view scans of the results sheets until thursday when my workload decreases about 1%. click em and print em.

wow

nice turnout and big props to everette herring and the BBC crew for a great event. it was brung today.

PICTURES