Birmingham Bike League 2012-2013

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2/9 Irondale Starbucks Last BBL with attack zones for the 2012-2013 winter training season. See you today at the Irondale Starbucks!

2/2 Back to Irondale Starbucks BBL BACK TO IRONDALE STARBUCKS 9AM – POST RIDE MEAL @ SILVERTRON

1/26 BBL BBC BBL from BBC this week at 9AM was awesome. Updated points

1/19 Cahaba Heights Happy Thursday… it may look miserable (or awesome depending on your perspective) out today but by Saturday promises LOTS OF SUN and temperatures in the 50’s for BBL. Get the arm and leg warmers and get out to CAHABA CYCLE IN CAHABA HEIGHTS for the 9AM roll out. Refreshments generously provided by CAHABA CYCLES. PLEASE CHECK YOUR TIRES, CHAINS, ETC. Since we have a different start location we have a modified route: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/166301944

1/12 BBL Bob’s Bikes Great turnout today for a fun, fast ride. Here is a link to the updated points.

1/12 BBL Bob’s Bikes Can it get any better than this weekend for January in Birmingham??? Rain Friday and Sunday but only a small 20% chance for Saturday and a high of 73F. Wait it can get better, BOB’s Bikes is hosting BBL so refreshemnts afterward and the great gang at Bob’s to help with any bike maintenance post-ride. Ride Details: We are returning to the BBL Camp Winnetaska Loop. Important note that there will be some roads closed in Homewood (mainly to the west of Bob’s) for the Red Nosed Run – so plan your route to Bob’s Bikes carefully … better yet, ride to the start! Park behind Bob’s Bikes on the side street and/or alleys behind the shop. Access to Downtown Homewood will be limited between 6:45am – 9:00am, but Hwy 31 should remain open so use Hwy 31 to get to Bob’s! Ride Details: We are returning to the BBL Camp Winnetaska Loop.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/164506704

1/5 Irondale Starbucks Small hardy group of riders turned out for the BBL Kelly Creek route today. I’ve updated the points with the attack zones from this week and last week as well as the KOM today. Here is a link to the updated points.

1/5 Irondale Starbucks We are back at the Irondale Starbucks this week. This Saturday we will be starting from the Irondale Starbucks at 9AM. The route is scheduled to be the Kelly Creek route from last week, but we may alter this depending on the weather. Based on the current weather forecast, we will be starting the ride at ~35F – 40F and finish the ride at 50F with a 30% chance of rain. SO get out your mid-temperature potentially wet weather gear, check your bike tires and chains, and let’s go. As always, you must be able to maintain a 17 – 20mph average for the total duration of 3 – 4 hours. If you need a push it will cost you $10 and $20 if you are Paul Tower : )

12/29 Homewood Cycles We are being hosted out of HOMEWOOD CYCLE 9AM. Remember that you need to be able to maintain a consistent 17-20mph average over the course of 3-4 hours. Refreshments provided at Homewood Cycle post ride. Please make an effort to start with us and finish at Homewood Cycle and thank the wonderful folks that are supporting the cycling community. New route – Kelly Creek, Mtn tunnel, Sterrett (70 mi). http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/155138355

12/22 Christmas Special We’re going to do a route similar to the Thanksgiving special route, except this one will be in the reverse direction using Goodner Mountain instead of Pine Mountain. See map below. There will be three “unofficial KOMs” on this route. No points will be awarded. There are no turns in any of the KOMs, and we will regroup at the top. I am planning on turning around at the top and riding back down to the last rider/group and climbing back up again while others are free to wait at the top or do the same. This will give people a chance to stretch their legs with a hard effort, allowing the rest of the ride to be a bit gentler paced.

12/15 Bob’s Bikes Great turn-out today and an even greater food spread after the ride … thanks Roger and everyone at Bob’s Bikes! John Adams put in an epic attack on Sterrett that almost worked. Boris ended up attacking at the perfect time in the final sprint to take the win with Brian Toone, Darrell O’Quinn, and Jim Brock coming around John in the final few meters of the attack zone. John held on for 5th. For the Vandiver KOM, Paul Tower set the early pace before Boris put in a surge that shattered the group. By the end it was Brian Toone, Payne Griffin and Boris taking the top 3 spots followed by Darrell O’Quinn in fourth. Fifth place was either David Gottlieb or Simon Prentice. Here is a link to the updated points.

12/8 KOM Kick-off We will have one regular attack zone (Sterrett) and one KOM (Vandiver) this week. The Sterrett Attack Zone starts at the turn onto Co Rd 55 and finishes at the “turn” yellow caution sign just past the church and just past the pond. The Vandiver KOM starts as soon as everybody turns onto AL-25 and finishes at the top of the mountain at the very small finish line painted on the ground just before the descent starts. We will again be doing the mountain-tunnel loop with the Sterrett addition, which will make for a total ride length of 65.5 miles.

12/1 Points Kick-off We had a great turn-out for a beautiful weather ride with the temps making it into the 70s. The Sterrett attack zone was FAST with a number of attacks at the beginning that came back together at the bottom of the hill. Brian Toone attacked about halfway up the final hill, but was quickly tailed by Doug Robinson and Will Hibberts. Darrell O’Quinn counter-attacked, but in the end Kevin Pawlik came out on top, followed closely by Will Hibberts, Brian Toone, Doug Robinson, and Kevin Vest. Click to see the current points. Please email me if you notice any mistakes. Thanks!

11/24 BBL Thanksgiving Special We had a great group of riders out to enjoy a new route out to Pine Mountain. A fun time was had by all, and lots of Thanksgiving calories were burned! Also, the complete schedule posted at the bottom of the page … or you can jump straight to it by clicking “View complete schedule” just above this paragraph where it says “View complete schedule” in red just under the heading that says Birmingham Bike League 2012-2013. Finally, we’ve updated the goals of this ride down on the bottom right of this page. Please read carefully!!!!

BBL 2012-2013 I’m working on getting the schedule updated for this year’s Birmingham Bike League, but the month of November will be our kick-off month with practice rides (no attack zones) for the entire month. Check out everything from last year here: BBL 2011-2012

Upcoming Ride: Irondale Starbucks

When:

2/9 @ 9:00AM

Where:

Irondale Starbucks

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Sponsors

• Birmingham Bicycle Company (BBC)
• Bob’s Bikes
• Cahaba Cycles/Homewood Cycles
• Tria Cycling Team
• DonohooAuto
• Infinity Med-I-Spa
• Danny Feldman from LFLM
• Gravlee Fitness
• ScottUSA Bicycles
• ZIPP – Speed Weaponry
• Red Bike Coffee
• Lead it out Cycling
• Dr. Terri Jones (Chiropractic Care)

Email Brian Toone to find out how to sponsor this series and see your business and logo listed here.

The Goal:
The goal of the BBL ride is to encourage participation from any and all cyclists capable of riding 3-4 hours at an average17-20 mph pace on rolling terrain. The “non-denominational” ride is open to everyone whether you wear a team kit or not. When the attack zone rides begin, there will be short portions of the route ridden at a very hard race-intensity pace. However, the group will reform to allow riders to rejoin. The ride leaders will work to control the pace outside of the attack zones so that all riders capable of maintaining the 17-20 mph rolling pace in a group can finish the ride with the group.

The ride route(s) will vary minimally throughout the season, so no one will be unfamiliar with the area or the road or the potential dog or vehicular threats. The route will have something for everyone, long hills, short hills, steep sections, flats… etc. The distance will fall between 50 – 70 miles. There will be at least one refueling break/bathroom stop. Outside the attack zones, the group will travel in a single or double pace line, traffic and road conditions permitting. Riders are encouraged to take short steady pulls and exit to their respective outside. Gapping the group off outside of attack zones is strictly discouraged. Please notify one of the ride leaders if you intend to take an alternative route or leave.
November, we will hold no-drop rides.

December thru February, we begin attack zones. The attack zone is for the individual that wants to “kill it” for a length of the ride. However, there will be a group of “non-attackers” that will ride steady behind and regrouping will occur. See below for descriptions of the attack zones and the calendar indicates the attack zones that will be held for that weekend.

Thanksgiving and Christmas special rides may offer route options different from the Mtn Tunnel Loop, Winnataska Loop, or Kelly Creek Loop.

Attack Zones:
Sterrett zone – begins at the left turn to stay on Co Rd 55 and finish at the “turn” yellow caution sign just past the church; regrouping at WHIT’s general store stop.
Vandiver KOM bottom of the climb after the motorcycle park and the top finish
Cemetery Hill zone – begins at the bottom of the climb at Bankhead Rd intersection and stops at the red light for Old Leeds Road
Other potential Attack zones may be added at the ride leader’s discretion and will be announced via mass media and before the ride. SAFETY FIRST and FOREMOST

THE PACE:
While a moderate pace for some is 20+ mph, this is not the case for everyone. Therefore, we would like to maintain 17 – 20 mph thru flatter sections of the course. The hills will be slower, obviously, depending on the length and the grade, but the goal is not to lose anyone.

BBL is an informal, unofficial, and noncompetitive event. Participation is voluntary, and at your own risk. Riders are strongly encouraged to obey all traffic laws and be courteous to drivers and pedestrians at all times. Riders will observe traffic signals and the yellow line, and will ride no more than two abreast. Riders will make every effort to not impede auto traffic and to be good citizens of the communities we pass through. Riders who ignore traffic laws, are rude or disrespectful to others (on or off the bike), or who otherwise put the group at risk will be asked to leave the ride and not return.

Complete Results and schedule

Click on the date to view results/recap when available. The start location will typically be the Irondale Starbucks, but watch this page for announcements if we change the start location to explore a new route that would be difficult to reach from the Irondale Starbucks with a large group.

Date	Time	Start Location	Details	Recap/Points
Nov 3	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain tunnel
Nov 10	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain tunnel
Nov 17	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain tunnel
Nov 24	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Thanksgiving special
Dec 1	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain tunnel + Sterrett
Dec 8	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain tunnel + Sterrett
Dec 15	9:00AM	Bob’s Bikes	Mountain tunnel + Sterrett
Dec 22	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Christmas Special
Dec 29	9:00AM	Homewood Cycles	Kelly Creek, Mtn tunnel, Sterrett (70 mi)
Jan 5	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Kelly Creek
Jan 12	9:00AM	Bob’s Bikes	Camp Winnataska Loop
Jan 19	9:00AM	Cahaba Cycles	Reverse loop
Jan 26	9:00AM	BBC	Modified reverse loop
Feb 2	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Mountain Top Loop
Feb 9	9:00AM	Irondale Starbucks	Reverse Vandy
Feb 16	9:00AM	TBD	TBD

We value your input and want to make this the best winter training series experience for everyone, so please leave us your comments and suggestions. Note: your comments will be moderated and potentially edited (spelling, etc…) so your post may not appear right away. Don’t despair, it will eventually get there!