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The Johnston Report
On the condition of Regional Racing
December 5th was the SE promoters meeting attended by BCC's Andy Johnston. The meeting, in Greenville, SC, saw 25 promoters come together from GA, FL, SC and NC. Several topics were discussed including the schedule, new points system, race promoting and sponsorship matters. The 2000 schedules are now out for the Southeast road and mountain bike season. They are still "tentative" but we have copies at the shop anyway. USAC reports to have their new points system ready, and claims of it giving a more accurate comparison region to region are skeptically awaited. Under the new system everyone will receive points for every race. Every race will have a different scale of value according to its' "ranking standards". Points are calculated for your best 3 races in 12 months anywhere in the country. Fewer points are given for better finishes such as in skiing and golf (it takes 3 pages to explain). On a better note Chuck Hodge (former racer) of Greenville special events gave a useful talk on how to make events run smoother. We should be able to put his knowledge to use in the future. Rich Hincapie (Heritage Tour/Michelin Classic) also shared his experiences in promoting big events. It seem seven the big races have the same problems as we do in promoting races. David Mayer-Oakes talked some about the USACs' junior development program. David gets paid to waste our money on well intended but misguided programs that aren't really doing much for the vast majority of juniors. I could not help but think how silly these programs are during his speech. Certainly no junior is being hurt by such programs as LAJORS or JOMBS but the sport would be better off if local clubs would play the part of developing juniors until they are ready to funnel into a national program. USAC is also bumping up its' insurance offerings. Members can now purchase health/dental care through USAC.

Club Mountain bike race Nov. 21,1999
Our first MTB race went extremely well. Promoter Andy Johnston used his years of experience in racing to put together a happy event. See www.oldbike.com for results. We would like to thank our volunteers for their help in making the race a success. Brady and Betsy Rogers, Mark Magarity, Rebecca, the Tillotsons, the Pairs, Andrew Mullen, Steve Sellen and the boys, W.K. Wings, COCA-COLA, The Sock Guy, Specialized and Newnan Cyclesport.
Plans are underway to promote 2 GAP races in 2000. We are trying to secure a location for a March race. We are also looking at holding 2 additional races.


Notes from Steve Brady
BCA’s CAT I USAC official
Steve Brady contributed some inside information from the perspective of an official for those curious about the scheduling of races and other screw-ups from our governing body. Unfortunately I lost the cocktail napkin he wrote on after an exceptional night of wassailing. I'll try to recall some of what he said.
After the Thursday night Avondale Pizza ride during the regular season, some heated debates occur after a few rounds of Red Brick Ale. This is a prime time to take notes for the newsletter on topics ranging from the latest squirelly group of riders to infiltrate our rides (South Americans) to the latest set of road wheels (Heliums).
This season's race scheduling seemed to conflict at every turn. Steve told about how the districts road races got bumped from the eternal September slot to late October well after the Greenville, S.C. Crits signaling the end of the regular season. The USAC approved the big ticket Kennesaw Eagle Cycling Classic without checking the schedule. Since a money making race takes priority over a race for state championships, the districts or State Championships had to move. This resulted in lower attendance and bad weather. This information is recalled third hand so I'm not sure if the conflict has been resolved for 2000. The tentative schedule shows no definite date for districts but Eagle Cycling has races tentatively scheduled for April 30 and May 6-7.
The schedule for our BCA club sponsored sanctioned races will be a Cyclocross race on January 23, 2000 at Lenora Park in Snellville and The Georgia State Cyclocross Championships on February 6, 2000 at Best Friend Park. Volunteers are needed.


24 Hours of Adrenaline
Dan Franklin
At noon on October 2nd, 1999 began the first 24-hour mountain bike race to be held in the Atlanta area. The name of the race was "24 Hours of Adrenaline Team Relay" and it was held at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia. The race continued until noon on October 3rd. Approximately 20 teams took part in the event. Although its name specified "Team Relay", there were also 10 solo riders that participated.
My team's name was "Team Grundle" (See me off-line for the definition of 'Grundle'.). There were five of us on the team: Bryan Holloway (Atlanta, GA), Shige Honjo (Atlanta, GA), Jim Campbell (Boston, MD), John Paffillo (Boston, MD), and myself Dan Franklin ( AtIanta , GA )
We completed 22 laps (8 miles per lap) and finished the race in 24 hours and 27 minutes. In our age division (age division were determined by summing the ages of all team members) we placed
third and a Bronze medal .
During the race we experienced one extreme case of chain suck (Bryan), two exploded rear derailluers (Dan), one bad crash with no injuries (John), one broken rear shifter (Dan on Shige's bike)
and a massive consumption of GU (Jim). We have the following advice for anyone who is thinking of riding in a 24-hour event such as this:
        1.Have no mechanical failures.
        2.If you refuse to follow Advice No. 1, have plenty of spare parts and tools.
        3.Forget about restful sleep, it's not gonna happen!
        4.Front suspension; "Don't leave home without it."
        5."Don't forget the Charmin. "
        6.If you refuse to follow Advice No. 1 and 2, have a spare bike or two.
        7.Do it, and have a blast!
"Team Grundle" would like to thank Buck, Lee and Challenge Schwinn for all their support and assistance: "Thank guys, Ride On!'


Winter Trainer Workouts!
USCF Coach John Kelly
BCA wind trainer and roller training sessions run Jan. 4 through March 2 every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. FREE to members. The location is Andy Pearson's Landscape shop, 1250 Richardson St., Stone Mtn., (770)879-8791. Bring your own equipment and share training with John, Andy, Steve and others. Pearson's Landscape warehouse is located off E. Ponce de Leon toward Stone Mountain about a mile past Mountain Ind. Blvd. Turn left onto Richardson St. and you will see Pearson Landscape at the end of the road. Call John Kelly at 404-588-1886 or Buck at 770-496-1908 for information or directions. Training sessions are open to all cyclists with a small fee to non-members of BCA.