Cyclists from all over the state converged on Riverview Park on Sunday to try their luck in the fourth race of the Georgia state cyclocross racing circuit season.

The park in downtown Rome offered riders a grueling 2-mile course and a chance to compete for top prizes in the race for the series championship.

Click here to see a video slideshow about the cyclocross event.

Cyclocross isn’t about racing against each other, organizer Trey Smith said. The competition depends on how many laps a rider can complete in a set amount of time and how long each lap takes.

Smith, of Cycle Therapy, and racer Stephen Stewart teamed up with the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority to bring cyclocross to Rome. And 180 people, from first-time riders to professionals, came out Sunday to test their skills in different levels of competition.

“It requires kind of mastering several different abilities in cycling,” Smith said. “You have to have the ability to go really fast for short periods of time, and then be able to endure tough hills.”

Stewart said the racing, which is increasingly popular in Europe, is still in its infancy in the United States.

Since the race against the clock is the most important part of the event, organizers threw plenty of obstacles in the way to make things even for novice and professional riders.

The course has pavement like a road race but can go to bumpy turns after 100 feet — presenting all sorts of challenges to racers like Roman Ben Horst, who was racing for his third time Sunday.

“It was a challenging course,” Horst said. “It was a good mixture of technical skills and speed. An overall good rider would do well on this.”

Horst said cyclocross racers must be able to alternate between speed on flat terrain to skill on the switchbacks, which were defined at Heritage Park by stretches of caution tape forcing riders into a series of abrupt turns.

“Cyclocross is the hardest type of bike racing there is, because it’s all about your own fitness,” Horst said. “Your heart rate is maxed after the first couple of minutes, and it never goes back down. But it’s a fun exercise in the winter.”

Atlanta resident Lee Childers sat on a hill Sunday morning, trying to rest after his 30-minute race tested every muscle in his body.

“It hurts a lot when you race, but it’s great afterward,” he said. “It definitely beats watching television.”

original source article

(photo used on cover of this weeks newsletter appeared in this article)

Johnny Colt Rockstar Renaissance Man

by Phebe Wahl with Portrait by Chris Stanford

He has sold more than ten million records, graced the cover of Rolling Stone, and performed at some of the largest venues in the world. Atlanta’s own Johnny Colt is a one-man rock revolution. As the tattoos on each knuckle of his hard working hands proclaim, spelling out “self made,” Colt has worked hard for success, and powers each project with sheer determination and his trademark enthusiastic drive. He explains that his never-ending energy allows him to take on everything from screaming rock concert fans to serious business endeavors, and says that he long ago swapped the word “work” for “play,” regarding each activity in his life as a creative opportunity.

The former, and founding, bass player for The Black Crowes, Colt is currently the bassist for both Grammy-winning band Train and Rock Star Supernova, the reality-television-show-formed band consisting of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, and lead vocalist Lukas Rossi. With a myriad of job titles ranging from tattoo parlor owner to Father of two, Colt proclaims himself to be “most at rest while in motion.” We caught up with the rock star renaissance man during a rare quiet moment while he waited to board a flight in San Francisco, where he is at work on a new album with Train.

Colt thrives on creativity as an energy source. While touring with The Black Crowes, Colt reached out to the world-class photographers shooting the band tutorials for their craft. Over time, Colt honed his skills as a photojournalist and plans to release a book, Lessons Never Learned, which is a collaboration with legendary rock photographer Paul Natkin. It documents the behind-the-scenes world of a rock star on the road, capturing those spare stolen moments of a musician’s life offstage. “Music is my living but photography is a passion that feeds me,” admits Colt. “While touring it has been a great way to gather snapshots of places, things and people that have influenced me along the way.”

During that journey, he also became a member of Tommy Lee’s “ecorage” on The Discovery Network’s Planet Green show Battleground Earth. The show compelled Colt to make Earth-friendly changes in both his professional and personal life. While filming ten episodes this past Spring, he helped Lee compete in environmental challenges against fellow Atlanta resident Chris “Ludacris” Bridges for the ultimate rock-versus-rap “eco-smackdown.” As a result of his newfound eco-awareness, Colt then founded the E Group, an energy efficient consulting firm that works toward eco-friendly real estate development. His latest passion is his new bike team co-founded with partner, Dan McCauley, Triple 6 Cycling. They’re known as the punk pack of cycle cross, for their rough riding on all terrains and occasional lack of helmets (Colt even bikes like a rock star). Colt advocates for bike path activism in Atlanta, and is currently at work founding a cycle cross track on Glen Iris Drive, so that fellow cycle crossers can have a place to train in town.

As if his plate was not already full enough, Colt also tours the country as a DJ, and delves into other business interests ranging from real estate development to recording studios. Colt left home at age 16 to work his way through music school on the West Coast. Eventually returning home to Atlanta, Colt feels connected to the region and is proud to be a citizen of the New South. “I have never been to a place that has better people,” explains Colt. “It has a heart that is hard to beat.” He’s a frequent patron of local spots like San Francisco Coffee, and often scales the walls with his Daughter at Wall Crawler Climbing Gym on Dekalb Avenue. Johnny Colt is one rocker sure to keep reaching for the stars. When asked if he ever tires of life on the road or his crazy schedule, Colt replies, “sure I get tired,” but adds “We can all sleep when we’re dead.”