Road – 9/14 I Am Love Fitness Cycling Club Ride, Irondale, 10/26 3rd Annual Trek Bicycle Auburn CRANKSGIVING

I don’t normally post weekly’s, but I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time when I saw Team I Am Love’s ride. When I met him he was a kid in casual clothes with a clunker bike we picked up at a rest stop on the 2016? WC Handy century ride. We had a great time with him in our pace line and averaged 18ish. Proud to see him again opening a new gym in town and hosting a club ride on Saturdays, check them out.

Road – 9/14 Redemptive Cycles Field Trip Alley Cat, Birmingham, 9/28 Shoals 3 State Century Ride, Florence, 9/28 The Plains Peanut Festival Ride, Plains, GA, 10/5 3rd Annual Pedaling for Pups, Ellaville, GA, 10/19 Carter Butts Memorial Ride, Lumpkin, GA, 11/9 Redemptive Cycles Tall Bike Joust XII, Birmingham

MTB – 9/28 Mountain Goat Adventures Blankets Creek 3 and 6 Hour, Canton, GA, 10/11-13 HAMR Fall Fest, Monte Sano State Park, 1/18/25 6th Annual Shred for Sloan, McClellan Trails, Anniston

Backpacking – 10/5 Singletrack Samurai Tally Tango, Tallahassee, FL

There’s a little bit for everyone, and we’re back up to two pages!

MTB – 10/5 BUMP Ladies Level 1 and 2 Skill Clinics, BUMP Fall Festival, 10/25-27 Info link added for Coldwater Mountain Fat Tire Festival, Anniston,

Road – 10/27 7th Annual Witches Ride, Northport, AL

Cross – Alabama Cyclocross Series 10/13 Sloss Cross, 10/27 Bailey Cross, 11/10 Brookside, 11/24 Gobble Cross, 12/8 Series Finale at Bailey

Gravel – 9/14 Pre-Ride for the Georgia Gravel Grinduro, Helen, GA, 10/12 Dirty Sheet Gravel Grind, Chattahoochee Hills, GA

Bikepacking – New color, Orange! 11/8 River to Sea Loop, Seville, FL. While this does not sound near Alabama, it’s the closest organized event that I know of, other than the other event Singletrack Samurai has on the calendar already, 3/1/25 The Florida Divide. I have done Singletrack Samurai’s Tally Tango and can vouch for amazing routes.

Gravel – 8/24 Peach West Relocated Chicken 63/46/35mi Gravel Ride, Clanton, AL, 9/21 updated date for Gravel Roll Bird Dog 100, 10/26 updated date for Gravel Roll The Holler in Walhalla, 3/1/2025 The Florida Divide Backpacking Challenge, starting at either Pond, AL or Fargo, GA

Road – 9/28 AL Randonneurs Revised Black Belt 600K, Tuscaloosa, AL

Cyclocross – 9/14-10/27 Ridgeland Cyclocross Cup Series, 9/29-12/8 GACX Series

Gravel – 8/10 40mi route added to Autaugaville 88/79/70/57/40mi Gravel Ride, Autaugaville, AL

MTB – 8/17 Assault on Sunset Hill Pre Ride, Fort McLellan, AL, 9/20-21 Jaguarundi Jubilee MtB Fest, Equality, AL, 10/12 Duathlon 2024 p/b Friends of the Falls, 11/9 Treadhoofalon 2024, Anniston, AL, Go Nuts XC Fall Racing Series, 10/11 Wildside, Pigeon Forge, TN, 9/14 Ride BHM, Birmingham, AL, 10/5 Coldwater Mountain, Anniston, AL, 10/19 Raccoon Mountain, Chattanooga, TN, 11/9 Oak Mountain, Pelham, AL, 12/7 Jarrod’s Place Regional Championship, Summerville, GA

Gravel – 8/10 Autaugaville 88/79/70/57mi Gravel Ride, Autaugaville, AL

MTB – 2024-2025 Chainbuster Endurance Series 8/17 The Bear at Yonah, Cleveland, GA, 10/12 Big Ring Challenge, Hayesville, NC, 11/2 Battle for Paynes Creek, Hartwell, GA, 1/25 The Gobbler at Georgia International Horse Park, Conyers, 2/22 Oak Mountain 6 and 3 Hour MTB Races, Pelham, AL, and one more TBA for March

Road – 8/3 Alabama Randonneurs Horse Pens and a Leeds Legend, Leeds, AL, 10/26 Fenner Ride 2024, Milton, FL, 4/26/25 Farm to Fork Ride or Run, Hattiesburg, MS

This morning I headed to Autaugaville and finished marking off 90% of the dirt roads in Autauga county on the gravel maps I use to make new routes. It was raining on the way out, and from the last excursion I made to map out the Mulberry Creek routes, I knew it could get dicey. It didn’t stop raining until I was about 5 miles in, but the roads were great.

I saw no mud, and was able to drive 30-40mph on all of the dirt roads. There are some long remote stretches, but I was able to work in a couple of water stops that don’t require much more than 30mi to get to a church or store.

The majority of these roads are hard pack orange clay with some sand mixed in, very reminiscent of Clanton dirt. It drains incredibly well, so this is a good new route for when it has been raining. There is some sand here and there, and some tiny river pebbles consistently scattered about. If it has not rained for a week, these roads might get a little sandy in spots.

This route only shares about 5% of it’s roads with the other shared routes. Each time I map one out, I try to make it as new as possible. Some of you may have ridden all these roads, but I hope you all enjoy the new routes. At some point I plan to come back over these areas after having mapped all the roads, and make new routes that are more condensed and have even more dirt.

I will be hosting the first group ride on these routes on Saturday, August 10, 2024. Hope you can join. Either way, enjoy!

Gravel – 8/3 Cancellation of Mulberry Mayhem

MTB – 8/17 BUMP Intermediate No Drop Group Ride, Oak Mtn

Road – 11/16 Le Tour De Foley

Reminder, the live calendar is always up to date here, https://alabamacyclingcalendar.com/calendar/

You can also find my routes and adventure stories on my site too.

Routes Page has been updated, Peach Eatin’ Chicken was updated to include the short stop to feed Sampson. The 54mi no creek crossing alternate route was also added to the sheet.

Gravel – 7/13 Border Wars 31mi Fun Fun Gravel Ride, Franklin, GA, 7/28 Tower House Brewery Gravel Ride and Social, Gay GA, 10/19 Registration is open for Standard Deluxe

MTB – 9/15 Mulberry Gap Bear Creek P2, P3 Downhill Special Shuttle Event, Ellijay, GA

Road – 8/31 Highland Rim Bicycle Club 51st Annual Elk River Valley 100, Tullahoma, TN