Saturday, July 27th Super-D

Festivities will start promptly at 9 AM Saturday morning at the Laurel Point Trailhead with bike demos from some of the best manufacturers in the business. This portion of the event is FREE to everyone. Lunch will be served at noon. Registered racers eat free, there will be a $5 charge for all others. Waiver signing for the Super-D and XC race will be available from 9 AM to 2 PM. At 3 PM we will congregate at the top of Grindstone for the Super-D race, with awards shortly after the finish back at Laurel Point. There will be three classes for the Super-D; Men’s Open Money, Junior’s Open Money, and Women’s Open Money. Awards immediately after at Laurel Point, then we’ll re-convene at The Crash Pad for beer and smack talk.

The Super-D course will start at the top of Grindstone Ridge, follow it down and turn right onto the road. Then down Six Flags and left on Megawatt to the lowest section of the trail. This course is approximately 2 miles long and 95% downhill or flat and technical. Please park at the Switchyard Parking lot and ride up to the start of the Super-D or ride from Laurel Point. There will be no parking at the Visitor’s Center as it is closed.

Sunday, July 28th Cross Country Race

Sunday morning signals the start of the XC race. Waiver signing starts at 0730 and the first wave goes off at 0900. Lunch will be served at noon. Registered riders eat free, $5 for all others. Raffles and awards ceremonies starting at 200 PM. Our same vendors will be there Sunday as well, so you get a chance to schmooze with Chattanooga’s cycling “elite”.

The XC course will start from the Laural Point Trailhead, up the road and turn right into the trail at Laurel Point and proceed counter clockwise towards the East Overlook. Participants will ride the trail above the East Overlook and cross at the road onto the South Rim trail until they reach the gravel road. You will turn right into the trail and continue on to the Switchyard Connector and bypass Small Intestine and follow around to Grindstone Ridge. From the top of Grindstone Ridge, participants will follow the Super-D course into Six Flags and Megawatt, then onto River Gorge and back into the Laurel Point Trailhead. The course will be visibly marked at all intersections. Each lap will consist of 10 miles and 1400 feet of climbing. There will be two sag stops along the course; one at the East Overlook and one near the Visitor’s Center. Thank you to Double Cola for sponsoring the sag stops.

Sponsors

We’ve lined up a slew of sponsors for this event: Lynskey Performance Designs, Double Cola, Cycle Sport Tennessee, Owen’s Cyclery, Trek Store Chattanooga, Hub Endurance, Suck Creek Cycles, East Ridge Biycles, River City Biycles, The Crash Pad , and the Velo Vixens have all pledged their support for the race. Please support our sponsors; without them this race would not be possible.

General Information

TVA rules require that there is no on-site registration. However, we will be doing registration the night before each event at The Crash Pad in downtown Chattanooga. Friday will be from 600 PM to 700 PM. Registration will be open on Saturday from 600 PM to 800 PM. We highly encourage you to Pre-register for the event. This will make it easier for all parties involved.  Custom event Growlers will go to the first 150 registered participants. Junior racers will receive free event T-shirts in lieu of Growlers. T-shirts will be available for purchase is you pre-register online until July 5th. We will have a limited number of these T-shirts available for $15 on-site. Lunch tickets can be purchased day of or online at pre-registration.

This race is being run by SORBA Chattanooga\Team SORBA Chattanooga and proceeds will benefit Chattanooga area trail projects. As a USAC sanctioned event, participants will be required to have a annual USAC license or purchase a one day license for each race; price is $5. If you pre-register, this is included in your registration fee. SORBA Chattanooga members get a $5 discount for each race they participate. Those that pre-register will be refunded on race day.

For those that want to be close to the party on Saturday night, we encourage you to stay at The Crash Pad. The CrashPad has “hostel-style” accommodations starting as low as $27 a night. Schedule early, as this place fills up fast.

Click Me To Pre-Register

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Click Me To Get Updates About The Race

National Park Service considers multi use trail conversion that will provide a vital bike corridor from downtown Chattanooga to Lookout Mountain trail systems.

Take Action! Submit the below suggested comments here

• Alternative C offers expanded access to bicycles and brings a unique combination of recreational opportunities to visitors formerly accessible only by foot or car.
• Mountain biking is a popular activity with children and youth bringing mountain bike access to the Lookout Mountain Battlefield will attract a younger demographic to the park. This will help to foster a love for the great outdoors and our National Parks.
• The Southern Off Road Bicycling Association-Chattanooga (SORBA-Chattanooga) has a long standing volunteer commitment to trail maintenance and education.

Multi-use trail conversion at Lookout Mountain Battlefield is a vital asset to the local trails community. Your comments in support of Alternate C specifically Jackson Gap and Jackson Spring trails are critical in securing mountain bikes access to the this trail.

Additional information:

Lookout Mountain Conservancy

Unlike years past, this race is run by mountain bikers, for mountain bikers. Since nothing but the best will do for our friends, we gathered up prizes from six of the best bike shops in Chattanooga especially for this event. Owen’s Cyclery, East Ridge Bicycles, Suck Creek Cycles, River City Cycles, Cycle Sport Concepts Tenn, and Hub Endurance all joined forces to help us put on an awesome event. We still don’t know who was more exited about this race; SORBA Chattanooga or our bike shop sponsors.

As a thank you to our SORBA-Chattanooga members and because we love you, all current SORBA Chattanooga members will get FREE entry into the event. If you don’t have a USAC license, you will be required to buy a one-day license onsite for $5. Not a SORBA Chattanooga member? Sign up to join SORBA Chattanooga onsite and get free entry into the race. All we ask is that you help get the word out about this event. If your not a SORBA Chattanooga member, preregistration can be found below. All racers, free entry or otherwise, will need to report the the registration tent before their race. Come on out for the race; singlespeed or geared; one, two, or three laps; just show up and heckle; go ahead and Pick Your Poison.

Click Me to Pre-Register

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Volunteer Information:

No experience is necessary to participate, all tools and instruction will be provided by the trail care crew leaders with SORBA-Chattanooga. Volunteers are requested to bring gloves, water, and to dress appropriately for the weather and working outdoors.

Lunch will be provided by SORBA-Chattanooga after the workday concludes at 12:30 pm.

After the workday many of the volunteers plan to go for a ride, so bring your bike if you’d like to join in.

http://www.facebook.com/events/470118216376143/

Where: 5-Points Ascalon Road Parking Area

Who: All are welcome

What: Hand building a section of trail on the newest phase of the 5-Points/CCCT trailsystem

Why: More miles for all area users to enjoy!

James Dean was born on February 8th, 1931. In celebration of the ultimate rebel’s birthday, we’re going to have a night ride that evening at Enterprise South Nature Park, 5:30-9:00 PM. Same rules as last time, $5 entry fee and you need to be an IMBA/SORBA member to participate. As always, you will be able to sign up or renew on-site. Owen’s Cyclery and Scott’s Bikes will be on hand to help out with those who don’t have lights. James Dean inspired costumes encouraged. Free entry if you were born before James Dean’s death on September 30th, 1955; or anyone to who owns a Porsche AND drives it to the ride with a bike rack attached.

Get Out Chattanooga Magazine – Team SORBA Takes Off

Keep an eye on the SORBA Facebook page and this post for updates. We are working on having some doors prizes and/or a small raffle to give away some schwag.

The overall purpose of Team SORBA-Chattanooga is two fold; marketing and development. By being a members of the team, riders will assist SORBA-Chattanooga in putting forth a positive image to the community. This is done mainly by wearing the team kit whenever possible, but also by being a good citizen while wearing that kit. Riders are also encouraged to be defacto liasons for SORBA-Chattanooga and will assist in promoting SORBA-Chattanooga events. Our marketing strategy calls for many different events to take place throughout the year. These include races, skills clinics, and group rides. Each one of these types of events is targeted to a certain type of rider with the hope that we hit all major riding groups.

Our primary development mission is to get more people interested in racing, but that is only one part of the strategy. Through events like skills clinics, we also hope to accelerate the development of beginners to skilled riders. Should those now skilled riders be interested in racing, they have the option of joining Team SORBA-Chattanooga. Should members of the team choose not to race, they will not be pressured into it as there is no race requirement. However, by joining the team these riders will have access to the expierence and advice of veteran racers. Team SORBA-Chattanooga will serve as a launching pad for those riders that may one day choose to join one of our more focused sub-teams. However, no one will be forced to leave Team SORBA-Chattnooga if they wish to continue riding for us.

Requirements

The requirements to remain an active member of Team SORBA-Chattanooga are minimal.

1. Be and active member of SORBA/IMBA; your yearly SORBA/IMBA dues will serve as the team dues.
2. Those planning on racing will be required to purchase a USAC license and list SORBA-Chattanooga as your team
3. Volunteer at 2 events throughout the year. These can include trail days, skills clinics, races, or other events.
4. Wear Team SORBA-Chattanooga kit/jersey at all team group rides and races.
5. Represent the team and SORBA-Chattanooga in a positive manner, especially when riding your bike.
6. There will be no minimum race requirement, but we do encourage you to participate in at least one local race.

 Benefits

Being that this is a first year team, our benefits for this year will be limited. These are subject to change as our sponsorships come into focus. This is what we hope to provide to our riders. We will NOT be working with a local shop to provide discounts as we don’t want to appear to favor one shop over another.

1. Purchase pro level kits/jerseys at a discounted rate, costs deferred by our sponsors.
2. Discounts to local businesses that volunteer as sponsors.
3. All money from our events and dues goes to building and maintaining Chattanooga area trails.
4. Access to experienced riders advice on racing, training, and skills.
5. Bi-weekly group rides designed to increase fitness and skill level.
6. A non-threatening atmoshpere focused on improving ALL mountain biking in Chattanooga.

“To promote SORBA-Chattanooga, Chattanooga area trails, and Chattanooga as a mountain biking and vacation destination through race participation, race promotion, and other events.”

That’s a fancy way of saying that we’re going to put on and participate in a ton of awesome events. It also gives us an excuse to get together and ride under the guise of “training”. Really what we’re going to do is get together, ride our bikes, then celebrate by drinking beer.

About this time you’re wondering, “So what do you want from me?” Simply put; we want YOU!!! If you’re a veteran racer tired of dealing with all those darn roadies and looking for a change of scene; we want you! If you’re greener then an award winning retirees lawn, but wanting test your mettle against other riders; WE want YOU! If you don’t give a lick about racing and would just as soon heckle those lycra-wearing weenies; WE WANT YOU!

More announcements and information will be filtering in over the next several weeks. Those interested in joining the Team SORBA-Chattanooga can email the Team Director at teamsorbachattanooga@gmail.com and will be instructed on the super secret handshake.