Wow – could the weather get any worse??? Light drizzle all day with temps hovering in the lower 40s for the first part of the ride and dropping into the 30s for the latter part of the ride. About 25 riders braved the mess and came out stronger on the other side. Congrats to all who came out today – you are all winners in my book! Here are the results and summary of the attack zones. Please fill in / correct as necessary by emailing me. Thanks!

Five riders contested this attack zone. With the cold temps, the pace was moderate up until the very end when John Adams launched out taking it ahead of Jennifer Schuble and the other three riders. Somebody please update me with the order for 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Thanks.
TNT
1st – John Adams
2nd – Jennifer Schuble
3rd – Tony Robbins
4th – Katherine Herring
5th – Travis Yost

After the TNT zone, we had about 25 miles of moderate paced, bitterly cold riding before the next action with the first of two “double-doubles”. Darryl started things off at the base of the climb with a strong attack. I attacked to join him, but the two of us couldn’t stay away. Will Hibberts brought us back with a steady hard effort. Then there was a few attacks that each got reeled in and a group of 5 made it to start of the KOM sprint. Pat caught us by surprised with 300 meters to go and held it to the line with me coming in second and then I’m not sure of the order after that … was it Wes, Darryl, Will or Darryl, Wes, Will, or Will, Wes, Darryl or Will, Darryl, Wes? Somebody update me!

Vandiver KOM
1st – Pat Allison
2nd – Brian Toone
3rd – Wes Douglas
4th – Darryl Seelhorst
5th – Will Hibberts

Immediately after the KOM, we started the Mimosa sprint and a group of 4 separated itself down the mountain and onto Mimosa Rd. With 3 Tria riders against Pat, it was attack, counter-attack. But Pat was strong enough to cover each move. Miro Novak kept a steady hard effort and made it up to us. Tria decided to let him roll off the front to force Pat to chase, but after some miscommunication that didn’t work out and it ended up being me leading out the sprint with Darryl able to come off Pat’s wheel to take the sprint. Wes and Miro both came around me and I rolled in for 5th a few seconds later.

Mimosa AZ
1st – Darryl Seelhorst (5+1hbp)
2nd – Pat Allison (4 + 0hbp)
3rd – Wes Douglas (3+ 1hbp)
4th – Miro Novak (2 + 2hbp)
5th – Brian Toone (1 + 0hbp)

For the start of the next “double-double”, it was Tria launching the attacks in this zone. After one or two attacks, Darryl got a good gap and built up a solid lead to take the sprint solo. Jacob Tubbs led out the sprint for second edging out Jim Brock with Pat Allison and me close behind. I launched a counter to try to bridge up to Darryl while Pat was recovering, but Pat was able to jump my wheel so I shut it down to let Darryl push the pace out front to stay away. Pat pushed the pace hard toward the mid part of the climb and caught Darryl by the I-459 bridge. Terry put in an immediate counter attack, but Pat was able to cover. About 10 seconds later, Darryl put in another hard attack – but again Pat was able to cover it. Finally, I launched an immediate counter-attack, and was able to hold it to the line with Pat taking the sprint for second followed by Darryl, Wes, and Terry. Again – I’m not sure about the specific order – somebody please update. Thanks!

Irondale City Limits AZ
1st – Darryl Seelhorst (5 + 1hbp)
2nd – Jacob Tubbs (4 + 2hbp)
3rd – Ed (3 + 2hbp)
4th – Pat Allison (2 + 0hbp)
5th – Brian Toone (1 + 0hbp)

Cemetery Hill AZ
1st – Brian Toone (5 + 0hbp)
2nd – Pat Allison (4 + 0hbp)
3rd – Terry Duran (3 + 0hbp)
4th – Wes Douglas (2 + 1hbp)
5th – Darryl Seelhorst (1 + 1hbp)

I have started updating the points, but I am going to wait until I have gotten more clarification on the order of the finishes before I finish updating the points for today.

Today’s ride was crazy hard (and awesome). Great turnout and much colder than expected weather. We had a couple issues I need to address:

1 – DON’T CROSS THE YELLOW LINE … EVER (capitalized for emphasis). We had a few riders crossing the yellow line today. Don’t do it. Just a warning today to EVERYONE, but future infractions will result in immediate punishment.

2 – Deanna fell hard near the Cahaba River bridge on 78 because there was some trash/debris in the road. PLEASE everyone call out a warning if you see something on the road (holes, trash, plastic water bottles, etc) so that this doesn’t happen again. She had to be taken away in an ambulance, so please pray/think/well-wish that she is OK and somebody email me so I can update the group with how she is doing.

The ride today must have been hard because sitting at my computer a few hours after the ride I can’t remember the placings very well at all. So please email me with corrections and fill in the blank so I can update this recap and the points. Thanks!!!

First attack zone – a large group of maybe 15 riders contested this sprint. Omar absolutely crushed the competition when he started the uphill sprint. Taking second was John Adams followed by Jennifer Schuble – beyond that is anybody’s guess as I couldn’t see. Somebody please update me!

Cat 5 / Women TNT Fireworks
1st – Omar Fraser
2nd – John Adams
3rd – Jennifer Schuble
4th – Tony Robbins
5th – Norm Hagan

Camp Winnie was much better this week without the rain. Faster, harder, and strategic all at the same time. So hard in fact I don’t remember much about it except the end. The pace was pretty high so there wasn’t very many long-lived attacks early in the zone. Terry Duran, Jimmy, and Adam were in a late move that got a few seconds on the field. But when the sprint started in earnest we swarmed them with Jim Brock leading it out followed by me followed closely by Mike Powell. I came around Jim as we approached the finish, and Pat Allison inched by me on the right and then Sammy came flying by us both to win it at the line.

Camp Winnie Attack Zone
1st – Sammy Flores
2nd – Pat Allison
3rd – Brian Toone
4th – Mike Powell
5th – Jacob Tubbs

The Sterrett attack zone sneaks up on you pretty quick after the Camp Winnie one so about half the group got caught off guard when a large group including a number of heavy hitters – Will Hibberts, Darryl Seelhorst, Jacob Tubbs, and a bunch of other people rolled up the road. Adam Goldwebber, Gavin, Jimmy, Omar, me and maybe one or two other riders were in the middle. After we made the turn on Hwy 55 there was still a good separation of the three groups, but Omar laid it down hard to finish closing the gap to the front group making it two groups out on the road. Right as we started the sprint at the end, Pat Allison and Sammy finished pulling the second group up to us. Terry got things started with the first attack. Then it bunched up again and Jim Brock and Darryl attacked. I was in perfect position behind Jim and was able to come around him to take the sprint. I believe Darryl was second, followed by Jim and Pat in nearly a dead heat with Terry Duran hanging on for 5th. Somebody please confirm that!

Sterrett Attack Zone
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Darryl Seelhorst?
3rd -Jim Brock?
4th – Pat Allison?
5th – Joseph Greenway?

This was already a hard ride by this point, but it was only to get even better after the store stop. When we turned onto 25 and approached the base of the climb, a rider surged forward and got a good gap on the group going into the steep part of the climb. Does anybody know what that rider’s name was? We caught him towards the top of the steep bottom part of the climb and Terry put in a hard effort separating himself from the group. I looked around to see if anybody was going to chase. I didn’t see anybody making a move so I shifted into the big chainring waited a second or two and then attacked hard (23mph) so that I didn’t pull anybody up to Terry and yet could still separate myself from the group. It worked and the group split up behind with Gavin surging off the front and a number of people chasing. I was able to stay away to the top, with Gavin closing in near the top for second, and the group behind them coalescing for the KOM sprint for 3rd place. Pat Allison came out on top for that with Darryl and ? coming in for fourth and fifth.

Vandiver KOM
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Gavin
3rd – Pat Allison
4th – Darryl Seelhorst
5th – Terry Duran

Mike Powell and Joseph Greenway got things started on the last attack zone – easily getting a 20 second gap on the field after their initial attack. We worked on the downhill slowly bringing it back until we crossed the Cahaba River bridge and a small surge saw a group of about 5 separate from the chase and put a few seconds on the group. As we passed the Irondale city limits sign we eased up the pace on the front, but Gavin wasn’t having any of that. He came to front and pushed it hard up the hill bringing back the remains of the front group quickly with only Terry still left in front. Terry was pushing it hard and Gavin ever so slowly clawed it back until we were within 25 meters of Terry with about 300 meters until the line. Jim Brock saw that we weren’t going to catch Terry so he started the sprint. Pat saw Jim start to sprint and started his own sprint. I saw Pat start his sprint and so I started mine and hopped on Pat’s wheel for a few seconds. With 150 meters to go, I pulled out to come around and we were both sprinting as hard as we could side-by-side with neither of us able to pull ahead. Fortunately (for me) I had about 5 pedal strokes more than Pat left in the tank and I was able to just barely pull ahead at the sign. Pat was inches behind for second. Darryl and Jim came in for 3rd and 4th with I believe Terry (???) coming around Gavin for 5th. But for his incredible efforts on the KOM and also for his monster pull all the way up Cemetery Hill, I believe Gavin gets the most aggressive rider of the day award.

Cemetery Hill Attack Zone
1st – Brian Toone
2nd – Pat Allison
3rd – Darryl Seelhorst
4th – Jim Brock
5th – Terry?

Riders survive epic Homewood Cycle & Fitness BBL 1/16 Red Bike Coffee was at the start with hot coffee before the ride, and the weather started out decent with overcast skies and temps in the upper 40s – but by the time the action heated up the temps plummeted and a hardy crew finished a BBL to go down in the record books. Big props go to Faris at Homewood Cycle & Fitness for hosting the ride and welcoming us into the shop for a post-ride meal catered by Zoe’s and paid for by Darryl (Thanks!!!) Recap | Points

13 riders contested the Cat 5 / Women attack zone. I believe the placings were:
1st – Brad McGibboney
2nd – John Adams
3rd – Jennifer Schuble
4th – ?
5th – ?

The rain had picked up pretty good by the start of the Camp Winnie attack zone. Darryl made an initial move closely followed by Jim Brock and me. Then Stuart Lamp came to the front and drilled it hard and eventually got away on his own with Adam Goldwebber. The two of them worked up a pretty good gap, but it started to come down as we came into the final stretch. Then Mike Lackey put in a hard attack followed closely by Ed from Velocity Pro Cycles and Sammy Flores they quickly closed down the gap and Sammy counter attacked – but the remnants of the chasing peloton were close behind and it all came back together at the end with the following order:
1st – Pat Allison
2nd – Terry Duran
3rd – Darryl Seelhorst
4th – Brian Toone
5th – Jacob Tubbs
6th – Mike Lackey

After regrouping at the Vandiver store and rolling out, the general consensus was that it was too cold and everyone was too spread out to contest the Vandiver KOM. But we had enough of a group back together for the cemetery hill attack zone. Terry Duran got things started, but Will Hibberts and Mike Lackey were able to reel him back in. Then it was a pretty fast pace with people rotating all the way into the climb when Wes Douglas put in a strong attack. Terry jumped to close it down and Will Hibberts finished it off as we came close to the line. I came around Will to start the sprint with Pat on my wheel. Pat was just able to come around me at the line to take an elusive sweep of the attack zones. I was 2nd with Terry, Will and Wes behind us.

Hopefully next week’s weather will cooperate with us!

Riders survive epic Homewood Cycle & Fitness BBL 1/16 Red Bike Coffee was at the start with hot coffee before the ride, and the weather started out decent with overcast skies and temps in the upper 40s – but by the time the action heated up the temps plummeted and a hardy crew finished a BBL to go down in the record books. Big props go to Faris at Homewood Cycle & Fitness for hosting the ride and welcoming us into the shop for a post-ride meal catered by Zoe’s and paid for by Darryl (Thanks!!!) Recap | Points

Update from Faris at Homewood Cycle & Fitness for this Saturday 1/16 We have demo road bikes available! If you are a potential buyer and are interested in riding a demo Cervelo S1, S2, RS or a Trek Madone, or a Gary Fisher Cronus (road bike)….let me know. We will be more than happy to set one up for you. Please send me your name, size, height, and phone number to faris@cahabacycles.com. See yall Saturday! Raffle Prizes: Trek hats, Bontrager RXL tires, Gary Fisher hats, Bontrager cycling caps, Cervelo jerseys, socks, and more! – Faris Malki, Cahaba Cycles/Homewood Cycles, faris@cahabacycles.com

Update! Homewood Cycles clothing drive BBL this Saturday The clothing drive BBL is ON for this Saturday leaving from behind HOMEWOOD CYCLES. Please bring any clothes you would like to donate to the start of the ride. Please email me if you have any questions. Thanks!!!

1/2 Coldest BBL ever Surely this was the coldest BBL ever with the thermometer just barely making it back up to the freezing point. Some brave hearty souls endured the cold and were rewarded with points galore! I’ve posted a ride recap and updated the points. Please email me with any mistakes or let me know if anything is missing. Thanks!!!

1/2 This week’s ride details updated I have updated the ride details below, but they are tentative – please check with Darryl, Terry, or Brian before the start of the ride for the finalized details.

12/26 Points posted I posted the points a few days ago for this, but forgot to update the main page. Check out the points available here, and as always please email me with any mistakes or let me know if anything is missing. Thanks!!!

12/26 Yes, we are riding! The tentative ride details are posted below. The points may or may not count depending on how many people make it out to the ride. Please arrive early and pay attention to last minute instructions from Darryl who will be leading the ride solo as Terry and I are both still out of town.

12/19 Finally, some points! We had a great turnout for our first ride where the weather held off for us to count the points! Please look through the points available here, and let me know if there are any mistakes. Please email me with any mistakes or anything that is missing. Thanks!!!

12/19 This week’s ride details posted below. We are going to stick with the same route, the same attack zones, and hopefully this week the weather will cooperate and we’ll be able to finally tally up some points!!!

12/12 Rain, rain go away! With a significant threat of heavy rain and generally miserable conditions, we had to cancel the ride again this past week. The forecast for this week’s ride is 20% rain, so let’s hope it holds off and we can finally kick off the points!

12/6 Brrrrr – 25 riders survive cold BBL. Our postponed BBL went off without a hitch other than it being colder than Saturday at the start. Temps and the speed warmed up as we practiced the attack zones. Check out the full ride recap. I have included the points that people would have earned, but the points didn’t actually count because of the last minute schedule change. This week’s ride will use the SAME route and SAME attack zones, but this time the points will actually count!

12/3 Points system explained. I have posted an explanation of the new points system for this year. Check it out! We’ll also have a brief tutorial before our snowy ride on Saturday!

12/1 Points kick-off this Saturday! The first few weeks have flown by, and now it’s time for the first ride with attack zones. We are trying two new things this year: separate women/cat 5/non-cat attack zones and a new handicapped point system.

11/28 BBL Kelly Creek Cook Springs Ride Recap. Wow – what a great turnout today. The points kick-off is coming up next week. Details and a description of our revised points system will be posted soon. In the meantime, read the ride recap (w/ pics courtesy of Jacob Tubbs) from today’s ride.

11/26 BBL goes high-tech. You can now download a GPX file of the route compatible with the Garmin Edge 705 (and possibly other GPS devices) to give you turn-by-turn directions on your GPS unit during the ride. Check out the map and instructions at the bottom of the Upcoming Ride section below.

11/23 Danny Feldman from LHLM has laid down some serious cash for the overall BBL prize money. Thank you Danny!!! Check out the link to his website in the list of sponsors below. And be sure to thank and do business with these sponsors who help make our winter training series possible.

The weather outside was cold – but the action was HOT with multiple attack zones and KOM points at the top of Vandiver. We had a small, hearty group of riders battling for the points. Here’s how it all played out:

AZ #1 – the cat 5 / women AZ only had four people sprinting it out for points. I was too far back to see exactly who placed where – but here is my best guess: 1st – amy gravlee, 2nd – mike reeves, 3rd – katherine herring, 4th – tony robbins

AZ #2 – we extended the normal sterrett attack zone, by starting as soon as we crossed the bridge into shelby county on hwy 43 and then finishing at the normal spot. Darryl (Tria team 1) started things off with a strong attack, covered by Mike Lackey (Tria team 2). Jimmy Prentice, Joseph Greenway, and Talty Shannon from Red Mountain Wheelmen worked hard and brought the early break back at which point Wes Douglas (Tria team 2) and Jacob Tubbs (Tria team 1) counter attacked and got a good 20+ second gap. Again, Red Mountain Wheelmen got to the front and brought it back. Darryl attacked HARD at the base of the kicker hill to start the sprint. Wes and Jacob were quickly swallowed up at this point with me (Tria team 2) and Sammy (Tria team 1) riding Darryl’s wheel. As soon as Darryl let off the gas, I attacked hoping to hold it to the line, but Sammy came around me like a freight train taking 1st with me in 2nd, Darryl holding on for 3rd, Wes holding on for 4th, and Terry coming in for 5th place. [edit – actually it was Will Hibberts chasing down that first break even with an out of true wheel from a broken spoke!]

KOM – Jacob animated things early with Joseph bridging up to him. The two of them extended their lead to maybe 10 seconds, but were swallowed up on the steep bottom slopes of the Vandiver climb. I then went to the front and set a hard tempo with only Wes and Darryl able to follow. I set the pace all the way up the climb. Darryl ended up edging me for the points at the top with Wes coming in 3rd and Sammy and Mike behind for 4th and 5th.

AZ #3 – Terry launched an early move with Mike bridging up to him. Jacob, Joseph, and Wes also bridged up. Behind in the group, Timo Stark set the pace keeping us rolling and within striking distance of the front group. Mike and Wes attacked and counter attacked Terry but he was able to respond to each move and eventually took the sprint solo with Mike and Wes coming in behind. As the front five whittled down to four, I set a hard tempo at the base of the hill with Darryl and Sammy following. Then after I got a short breather behind them, I attacked hard to attempt to bridge catching Jacob – but Joseph stayed just ahead for 4th with me coming in 5th.