Jason from Chainbuster Racing contacted us after BNG and invited us to participate in 24 hours of Iron Maiden this year.  I haven’t raced or cared about racing in quite some time, but I took him up for some reason.  With my fitness limitations in mind, I knew team selections would be critical so I reached out to four really fun guys (none of which own spandex or XC bikes) and challenged them to an all-day party on the hottest day of the century.  We spent the next two weeks intensely preparing for race day, creating shopping lists, gathering supplies for our Pit area, and challenging the other Alabama Chapters to a dance-off.  My competitive streak made an unexpected appearance right about the time we lined up to start the first lap, but the format of riding one lap and then hanging out with your friends for 4 hours before doing another lap was a really laid-back and fun way to spend the day.  We spent the whole day hanging out in front of the fans, listening to music, grilling kabobs, and cheering on or talking trash to our friends.  Our team called it quits when the weather delay started and we ended up being the fastest team to quit early, there’s no trophy for that in case you’re wondering, but we had a ton of fun and are already planning on doing it again next year.  My goals for next year’s race are to be slightly faster, throw a much bigger party, and get the rest of the Alabama Sorba chapters to take me up on my party challenge.

Chase

Thanks to everyone that made it out to the volunteer appreciation ride Saturday.  We got a few miles in before moving to our VIP beach setup  provided by Shelby County.  Our volunteer crew has been amazing this year.  Thanks guys

The past few months have been an absolute flurry of activity for our club. First, we have to mention that our membership is the largest ever in our existence! With the support and growth of our membership we have been able to tackle some long overdue projects.

The maintenance of Blood Rock was eating into our precious volunteer time with near monthly attempts to curb erosion and other issues. Our renovation will help sustain that section of trail well into the future and allow us to focus on other areas in need of maintenance. We have to say it looks pretty great as well! Speaking of Blood Rock, our first ever UPduro took place there a few weeks ago. Riders of all ages made attempts to climb up Blood Rock to get the farthest with the fastest time. For just a casual Sunday afternoon the turnout was great and the crowd was an absolute blast. Big thanks to Eric Hagan and Bike Link for putting some prizes up for grabs. Free events like these, along with shuttle days are just a few ways we are looking to add value to your membership on and off the trails and we hope you take advantage of them when you can.

Tails and Lightning have settled in quite nicely since their construction/renovation. Having these two trails side by side has made our Shuttle Days even more exciting, so if you haven’t had a chance to make it out for one, get after it! Shuttle Days are the 1st Tuesday of every month and a good way to get your lines dialed in before the BUMP N’ GRIND.

Can’t forget about Tannehill! We recently were able to re-route a problematic section of trail at Tannehill State Park in a single day thanks to some dedicated volunteers. We still have a few more projects in the development stage there, and we hope to share more information on that soon.

And of course, double check that the 29th Annual BUMP N GRIND is on your calendar: June 9th-11th. This will be an action packed weekend starting with pre-ride shuttles and on-site technicians on Friday provided by FOX Factory. Rich Drew and The Ride Series crew will be out helping fine tune those skills Friday and Saturday. You can register for one of The Ride Series clinics on Bikereg.com. Saturday will be the 1st ever BUMP N ‘DURO, followed by the super exciting Short Track race. Sunday of course will feature all the XC racing and Omnium winners will be announced then as well. If racing isn’t your thing, then we are always happy to have volunteers. It takes a village to put this event on!

A fresh round of BUMP swag will be hitting the scene soon as well, including fresh hats, shirts, and fenders. You can stock up at BUMP N GRIND or your favorite local bike shop.

Xterra is returning to Oak Mountain this year with the addition of the Ales and Trails Bike Festival.  Join us Thursday evening for races, shuttles, food, and music.  Details can be found here.

Fox Factory did a feature in the Trail Trust Journal about Tails.  Get the details here

We are working with Cognative MTB to have some cool new BUMP jerseys made. You can preorder until Oct 21 using this link. The jerseys feature our new branding and are $59.95. Men’s and women’s sizes are available (XS – 3XL).

Once the presale is over Cognative will print the jerseys and ship them directly to everyone who orders one. Get them while you can!