Come on up to Cullman and race...or don't.

Congrats BUMP

Putting us on the map once again. Many PRO's said B'ham was the best on the circuit last year...I'd agree.

2010 USA Cycling Pro Cross Country Mountain Bike Tour Schedule:

March 13: US Cup Bonelli Park - San Dimas, Calif.
March 27: US Cup Fontana – Fontana, Calif.
May 16: US Cup Big Bear – Big Bear, Calif.
June 5: Bump ‘N Grind – Birmingham, Ala.
June 26: Subaru Cup – Mt. Morris, Wis.
July 10: CTS International Classic – Colorado Springs, Colo.

Some Pitchers

...of me showing the juniors how to git it done.






Images by Keith/Beverly West

True Cross Weather

images by Alan Barton
What does that mean? I guess true as in true for what we typically experience the last two races of the year, or true for what we see all year long from the cross crazy regions of the world. I found out why a cross bike is used for cross yesterday by "racing" my mountain bike. It felt like I was pedalling on a slip and slide for 30 min.

We saw some impressive performances yesterday starting off with Sam Porter doin what he do on a single speed, as usual Clayton and Lee were there to keep him honest. Wait we didn't start off that way...we started off with Peter Dudle DESTROYING the masters field. Hardwick Gregg cruised to another win in the masters 45+. Will Faulk was back to his winning ways with Trevor West nipping at his heels in the Juniors. Savannah Meredith, LISTEN UP ALL YOU GIRLS WHO DIDN'T RACE , Savannah Meredith is your huckleberry! 10 yrs old and killing it in the cold, rain and mud - booyah!

Hardwick Gregg killed it in the 3/4 race throttling the younguns once again (he didn't touch the big ring - (hint, hint). Stacey Davis was unstoppable once again in the women's 1/2/3's while Lisa Trainor broke the tie in the 4's with an impressive win.

Peter Dudle flew out of the gates in the men's 1/2/3 race and held a 1:10 gap on Mike Lackey over halfway through the race. With 2 laps to go Mike Lackey finally figured out how to ride the mud while Peter started to feel the masters race in his legs. Lackey closed to gap down to :30 seconds in one lap and hit the turbo soloing in for his first elite cross victory.

Now we have two weeks to catch our breath, do the math and figure out what kind of superhuman effort it will take to get on the podium in Cullman.

Bah! - I'll handle this behind the scenes with an iron fist! results up in a minute.

#40, calling #40...

If I could just know who #40 is in the cx 4's I could wrap these ^%$&^#^ results up. Could someone please step out of the shadows? This is the only release form missing and this person finished 4th in the 4's. Can someone shed some light, pahlease?

and the circus rolls on

...next stop, Mungummry. Fain Park was the race that the mud gods finally shone on us last year, appeasing all of your photo op needs. It appears that we are on a collision course for much of the same this year with rain forecast for Saturday. The course was the best ever last year. No hills to speak of, but mucho technical off camber sections making use of the ditches onsite.

It's hard to believe that we only have two races left, aint it?

I'll have the results finalized and up tomorrow I'm bringing a camera rig to Mntgm. , done with the drama.

My head hurts?

I had a blast as usual, thanks Wig. There were a few of you who had questions/concerns on results (shocker) - email me, marshallbrent at gmail dot com

It looks like there were (3) lapped riders shown in the top finishing order (CX4). They were placed 6th, 8th and 9th - #'s 1574,1515 & 1567.

If Chuck Norris was going to be in Anniston Saturday he would drink his stuff in a red solo cup

...Just Sayin', because Chuck would respect the fact that it's a public park and stuff. Get there early enough to set up camp along the sandpit/finish straight as tent positioning battles will be fierce. The concession stand will be open and serving your typical baseball/softball concession stand fare. I believe there is still an after party planned at the Mellow Mushroom, is this right Wig? If you have never been to the Mellow Mushroom in Anniston you will be shocked at the cycling memorabilia on display, go there-often.

I have received 4-5 e-mails regarding the scoresheet, mostly team affiliation and points totalling. I think it was just a sorting error in the spreadsheet combined with some missing team info. I will keep the lifeline open through this afternoon so we only have to wake Christian from hibernation one time.

Rumor has it that I will be coming out of retirement and squeezing into my baby blue weenie suit for some competition. Just afford me a wide berth and all should be well, assuming I don't explode.

If you don't have a cowbell, bring a pot or something loud to bang on - it's Alabama after all.

Sloss Results

No, I did not go to art school...amazing, I know.

The results will be up today. There are a couple of things that I would like to point out before they are posted.

1- Learn to pin your number on correctly. If you are new to racing this is one of those things that you just have to learn, there is no step by step instruction manual...that I know of. If you have a new number make sure to wad it up first, this makes the paper more pliable and it will conform to your body better. Use more than four pins, at a minimum use six with two of them in the middle. Will Fyfe uses like 20 pins...don't go there, but you get the point. I like to bend the corners back so the pin goes through two layer of paper and is harder to tear. I've seen all manner of placement this year including - wrong side, upside down, horizontal up the back, down the back... When you do this it hinders scoring of not only yourself but the riders around you. Regardless of what you may think, we have a really good method of scoring these races. If you looked at the lap sheet for the 4 race and didn't know what you were looking at it may have seemed a bit confusing, but, there is a method to the madness and it's pretty clear when you run through the numbers where you were each lap. I can look at the sheet and see, say #40 was running in 3rd place on the first lap, 5th place on the 3rd lap, 10th place on the 5th lap and see a pattern to their race - starting strong and fading. I can tell if something is wrong if there is a big swing in the placement.

2- The way the schedule of races is setup is somewhat problematic in that there is not enough time between races for the officials to put numbers with names beyond what we need for podiums. That does not mean that we will not sort it out later and score you properly.

ok...3 points

3- We are running a series and points are recorded per the rules. If you are 16th place or below, you are essentially tied for 16th place as you all get 1 point, 2 points or 19 points depending on the race duration. So expect your results to be tied at 16. Don't like that? Be faster than 16th.Races that are not HUGE, we try to sort out exactly what place you finished.

The alternative to keeping up with lapped riders is to "pull" them when the get lapped. I do not wish to do this nor do any of you racing. I have travelled many hours to raced where midway through the race I found that I just didn't "have it" that day and got lapped. Being pulled in this scenario sucks. Everyone wants to race until the finish.

Several people have suggested using timing chips. Would you come out to race cross if entry cost you $40? I wouldn't.

Just keep in mind the system we use and how important it is for you to do your part and number up correctly. When the officials are yelling "1082, 1501,1099,....can't read it...crap, just missed the next rider because I couldn't read that #"

Being the "grassroots" type of series that this thing is, we are always open to you e-mailing and saying that your placement is wrong and we will help make it right, always. But, don't come up and say something like "those results are wrong, I know I finished waay higher than that. I finished behind some guy in a red shirt in 3rd place". Have some facts, grab the person in front and the person behind that you were battling with at the end...it helps.

Mitch Moses and Lee Neal, I believe both of you stated that you were left off of the results in the 3/4 race at Tuscaloosa, is this correct?

The results are being published now.

Anniston Night Race This Weekend

I'll need a driver, babysitter pahlease? Consider loading up in a motel as we are. Wig is bringing it for my favorite cycling party of the year, don't miss. Where is my BIG cooler?

PS. Wig says everyone runs the first hill this year (run up). This has been billed as the "border battle" by some, check the Georgia-cross schedule - Sunday's race is mega close to Anniston enabling the double up. Georgia wins the race...we win the party!!!!!

Venue-pass ; Beer Sponsor-Fail

Margot's Pics



Awesome day of racing at a truly unique venue. Just to clarify, Good People Brewing did not stand us up. Blackwell's Pub was who committed to not only show up and pour beer, but also provide gift certificates for winners...no show...great, thanks.

No problem, BBC and Everette Herring showed the class and patience to pull it off regardless.

New venues provide unknown problems and Sloss was a bear. Major difficulties from within. The success is that we pulled it off and learned a lot about the venue to correct for next year.

Be patient for the results and we will throw them up and take your feedback.

Sloss Cross details

"Fyfe" by EMLAY
From Everette:

We will have Good People beer for those of age.
Jamis is coming with a tent and some bikes on display and some swag and goodies.

We have a flat, fast, most likely dry course with some great obstacles and dismounts.
Great venue.

Setup will be at 12:00 on Saturday, come on if you want to help and pre ride.
...and, I just thought you'd like this one-

More T-town and SLOSS CROSS THIS WEEKEND!!

More photos from Carl Viars. The Tusc. News was out, so there should be a story today or tomorrow with some good pics. Jim sent me some pics of the 'cheerleader' getup -



I know a few of you who said you wanted hoodies got snubbed, sorry, they sold really quick. I printed up a few more in brown and red, so I'll have them for you. If you are out of town and want one (NY), paypal me - marshallbrent at gmail dot com $25 (the $5 is for shipping).

Hoping everything goes well for Sloss this weekend, it's a very unique venue and I'm not sure the powers that be there knows what to expect. I've been thinking of this venue for a long time and thankfully Everette Herring and BBC took the ball and ran with it on this one. We may be able to get out there and ride the course sometime this week, I'll keep you posted. I'm finishing up the results now and will have them off to the web monkey shortly.


This is a first draft of the course and will def. have some revisions when setup - esp. in the grass pkg lot area. Everette has some off camber sections and run up thrown in on the back side.

Cross Racin' & Cross Dressin'

...and I couldn't find a picture of the cheerleader, bummer. Thanks Gina, Mark and the Velocity Procycle crew for a great day of racing. Tailgating...is awesome, me thinks this should be part of cross racing from now on. Maybe we have a cookoff competition from now on. Brats? yeah you right-Thanks to Alan's dad? Should have the results updated this evening. Sloss Cross - this week is going to be special.