Palmarés Updated, 1993-2006

1993 – After my first mountain bike race – the 1993 Cumberland Classic at Sewanee, TN. 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (there were 100 people in the race!)

I started this post earlier in the year when I decided to update my racing results dating all the way back to my first mountain bike race in 1993. My latest foray into mountain bike racing (winning the Chain Buster Battle at Oak Mountain 9 hour race on Saturday) has had me reminiscing into how I first got into mountain biking back in high school in 1993 so I thought I would go ahead and wrap up this post. Most of it centers around Oak Mountain. In fact, if you go back even earlier to the late 80s, my dad and I used to do road biking on a 10 speed (eventually 12 speed) with down tube shifters at Oak Mountain. We’d park outside the park at the info center and then ride in through the front entrance. I’d always start out fast and ride off ahead of him and his work friends, but then even before we made it to the golf course I’d be tired so my dad had to ride with me slowly the rest of the way to the spillway in the back of the park and then back to the car. Probably a couple hours for the 15 mile ride.

Fast forward to 1993 – my junior year of high school, and two of my friends on the math team (Steve Montgomery and Jeff King) were into mountain biking. Steve said his dad had a mountain bike I could borrow, so the three of us set off to Oak Mountain one day after school in two cars. We parked Steve’s Bronco II at the picnic area parking lot and then piled into Jeff’s jeep and hauled ass up the Peavine Falls road (seriously don’t know how we didn’t roll that jeep) up to the overlook area near the end of the red trail. We took off up the red trail and then turned left into the BUMP downhill. I don’t remember my first experience with blood rock, but I assume we walked it. We flew down the trail past what is now the berm (I don’t think there was a berm back then) to the twisty section of the downhill, popped out onto Peavine Road followed it for a tenth of a mile or so to reach the Johnson’s Mountain climb. It started out with a tricky entrance with a short log bridge over a small creek crossing, and then the super steep trail with the rubber run-off protectors across the trail every few feet. I eventually could clear all that on a good day, but I definitely walked it that first time up.

From the top of the steep section, you had a nice pine-straw covered straight gradual climb until a couple twists at the steeper section near the very top of Johnson’s Mountain (super fast coming back the other way) at the park boundary. Then you came down through some tight small trees, small logs turns entering the rocky bumpy section (where I would sheer a seatpost off in a ride the next year) that is now the opening climb for Johnson’s Mountain (when coming from picnic area parking lot). My first big wreck was on the downhill after the giant log (the log is long gone and replaced with some rock steps now) where there are some wood trail run-off protectors now. There were no wood steps back then (unless we were going so fast through there I forgot about them), just a fast downhill with me going right off the side of the steep hill falling halfway down to the creek at a high rate of speed.

Then it was up the shallow switchbacks and the fast straight section (now called Foreplay) across the horse trail intersection into the long set of twisty turns (now called Mr. Toads) through the picnic area parking lot down to Steve’s Bronco II for the shuttle back up to the top. I think that was it that first day out, but eventually we got into good enough shape to not need the shuttle any more, and we would just start out in the parking lot head up the climb to the red trail, turn around at the top and then come all the way back down adding on the lower section of singletrack by the paddleboats. This section was an out/back trail that wasn’t finished. We would ride it through to the end and then just keep riding a ways through the woods before turning around and heading back up. After buying my first mountain bike from James at River Oaks Cycles in Hoover (the Mongoose Alta shown in the top pic), I made this trip pretty much an every day after school experience. The lower section of trail was finished shortly after all this began so eventually I started to park at the old boy scout road just past the golf course where the lower trail section ended. I would ride from there all the way up to the Bump trail, turn around and ride back.

By April of 1993, I raced my first mountain bike race — the Cumberland Classic in Sewanee, TN — where I finished 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (our fields were combined). There was more than 100 people in the race (IT WAS HUGE!!!) and I still remember starting and climbing out of a gravel parking lot area, racing across some huge field by a barn or something, and then a double track road before making the left into the singletrack. Whenever I think of “hole shot”, I still have this mental image of the gravel hill, followed by a wide open field leading to a double track leading to a lefthand turn onto singletrack overlooking a valley far below that made me think I was in an airplane (which I had never been in before). Later in the year, during the start of my senior year I would see a flyer for the Bull’s Gap time trial and race that as my second race (see pic below), following that up with two more mountain bike races (the Maddog Mountain Bike Race in Springville, Alabama and the Suck Creek Classic up in Chattanooga, TN).

Brian Toone – Bull’s Gap Time Trial 1993

Eventually, I’m going to link these pictures onto my results page, but in the interim, I’ve included a gallery of pictures that I scanned in from 1993-1998. If you are wondering how I could remember these results from way back then, I still have my “bike racing photo journal” (see pic below) that I kept which included a description of the race, the number of people in the race, my result in the race, as well as two or three 35mm snapshots. When I started college at Clemson, I kept track of everything in a Microsoft Access database (see other pic below).

Photo journal of bike racing I started my freshman year of college
Screenshot highlighting some 1997 entries from my microsoft access database of racing and training

1993 – After my first mountain bike race – the 1993 Cumberland Classic at Sewanee, TN. 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (there were 100 people in the race!)

1993 – Cumberland Classic – finishing up in 6th place – it was just one lap

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginners field strings out heading towards the singletrack

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginner

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginner

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – lined up with other NORBA Beginners

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – I remember telling my dad as I passed by that I needed to get clipless pedals after this race

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – creek crossing

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – triple down arrow section shortly after the hole shot

1994 – Jackson, MS – AL/MS state road race championship juniors field

1994 – Clemson collegiate mountain bike race

1994 – the Cow Chip Classic

1994 – the Cow Chip Classic, sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL – I stop for a pic with my mom before the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL – the sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the juniors field lined up for the start of the mall criterium

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the mall criterium

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the mall criterium

1994 – the juniors field just before the start of the road race at the Natchez Cycling Classic

1994 – the juniors field during the road race at the Natchez Cycling Classic

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – my first view of the Mississippi River

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – Hunstville, AL – the sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – shown is my Schwinn Series 70 mountain bike, which I raced on until 1999 and then kept as a commuter bike until it was stolen in 2004 at UC Davis

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – Hunstville, AL

1994 – I lapped the field with Dan Hubbard from UTK in my first collegiate race (Cat B, Michellin Classic) – I ended up taking 2nd even though I had Bert and Pat to help lead me out – my sprint was awful – no power

1994 – the Natchez Cycling Classic time trial – aerospoke front wheel – very flat 2 miles out and back on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River

1994 – my first and only cat 5 race. I upgraded to cat 4 based on my collegiate results

1995 – finishing 21st in my first assault on mt mitchell. i probably only weighed 125 pounds in this pic.

1995 – Coming out of the chicane in the Augusta criterium – cat 4

1995 – Augusta criterium cat 4 – my clemson teammate Pat just behind. He was a great sprinter – probably won this race

1995 – Clemson Collegiate Road Race – off the front

1995 – Clemson Collegiate Road Race – off the front

1996 – Clemson dirt criterium – precursor to today’s cyclocross mania. I lapped everybody except for the 2nd place rider. In retrospect, I probably should not have been racing the B category. My teammate Bert Hull did pretty much the same thing in the A category lapping everyone and winning by a long way.

1996 – Life College parking lot crit in the rain

1996 – Auburn collegiate criterium – 5th place, my best finish in a collegiate A criterium. I attacked on the hill on the last lap taking two riders with me who both passed me at the line for 3rd and 4th. Up ahead, GSU teammates Dave Martin and Shannon Hughes lapped the field taking 1st and 2nd.

1996 – Cleveland Park on the back stretch – is that Travis Sherman in the Auburn kit?

1996 – Cleveland Park start finish area – somebody in the pit

1996 – Tour de Bloom, winning a prime in the Cat 4 race

Tour de Bloom criterium – I made it into the winning break in the Cat 4s, which gave me enough points to cat up to Cat 3 at the race and then double-up to race the Cat 3 race where I believe I just finished in the pack

1996 – Virginia commonwealth games – Blue Ridge Parkway outside of Roanoke

1996 – Cleveland Park race during the Michellin Classic weekend – rounding the final corner in the collegiate race

1996 – Cleveland Park race during the Michellin Classic weekend – Cat 3

1997 South Carolina Road Race – 1st place, Cat 1/2/3 state championship. I didn’t have a camera with me so when I made it back to Clemson I snapped this pic of my bike and my car. The race was at the Donaldson Center in Greenville and I won on a solo breakaway but finished same time as the field sprint won by my roommate Bert Hull who earned the state championship medal by winning the field sprint since I was out of state.

1997 – McMinnville road race finish – this was the Cat 3 finish. I had been away solo for 15 miles. Note the field approaching very quickly. I barely held on to win.

1997 – McMinnville road race – happy to have won the cat 3 race on a long solo break

1997 – McMinnville time trial – shortly before the start, note the litespeed bike and the Lemond time trial bars

1997 – McMinnville Criterium around the high school – I tried to race aggressively (here I am attacking) and my finish in the crit was good enough to keep me in 3rd overall for the weekend

1997 – Augusta downtown criterium Pro/1/2

1997 – Augusta downtown criterium Pro/1/2 – in break early (shown here). Post-race analysis: “So close, so close, so close. Attacked hard with 3 to go and caught the National Junior Champ (Eric Walters) with 2 to go, but we got caught with 1/2 lap to go. I still finished 15th in the sprint.”

1997 – Clemson Collegiate A criterium – how did this break not stick with UF, GSU, Clemson, and UGA all represented? Answer: it looks like it was my fault … post-race analysis: “Did not place in any primes. Was in a four up break with 5 to go, but I could not pull through and we got caught. Felt pretty good, but heart rate not quite as high today.”

1997 – Georgia Tech Collegiate A criterium – “I felt pretty good. I did not seem to be working nearly as hard on the climb as everybody else. I also took the corners much faster than everybody. I tried a solo break on a prime lap and made it to the top of the hill before getting caught. On the last lap I went hard b/c Bert was in good position. I was too tired to attack on the hill as I had planned.”

1997 – James Madison stage race – my Clemson teammate Bert Hull and I drove up to Charlottesville and stayed with my grandparents for the two day race. I flatted out of the road race but was allowed to start the time trial. Bert won the overall after passing six or seven people during the hillclimb timetrial up to Skyline Dr.

1997 – Pro 1/2 Crit for Kids in Columbia, SC – does anyone recognize who the national champ is? Wikipedia says it was Jonas Carney that year. Is that him? Or is that Eric Walters?

1997 – PeeDee road race – national champ present again. This was the only race my Grandma on my dad’s side of the family ever got to see me race.

1997 – Tour de Pocono pro-am field

1997 – Tour de Pocono pro-am field strung out (this was pretty much the entire race … single file through the motorcycle infield and then half a lap around the Nascar track)

1997 – Tour de Appalachia in West Virginia and Ohio – I always looked like a chipmunk

1997 – Athens twilight Sunday race in Conyers, GA. I had placed 2nd to George Hincapie the day before at the Assault on Mt Mitchell

1997 – Assault on Mt Mitchell – me with my parents shortly after finishing 2nd to George Hincapie

1998 – me and Daniel road tripping to Jacksonville for one of the first collegiate races of the year. We played follow-the-leader / tag through a car dealership until midnight shortly after arriving the day before the races. Tied my best collegiate A criterium finish (5th place) during the race the next day.

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – me warming up before a cold rainy collegiate criterium

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – Daniel before the start of his juniors race on Sunday

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – me before the start of the USCF pro/1/2 race on Sunday

1998 – Georgia Southern collegiate A road race start – I finished well in this surprisingly hilly course. I think Travis won it on a solo break.

1998 – Collegiate National Road Race near Ceasar’s Head, SC – I flatted out, but my teammate Bert Hull (middle) was in the day-long break before it got reeled back in towards the end of the race

1998 – Collegiate National Criterium in downtown Greenville, SC – I won a points prime fairly early in the race and then finished towards the front of the field sprint

1998 – flowers for Carol, our SECCC coordinating official, during the nationals award ceremony banquet

1998 – Athens Twilight – first of three races of the day, this was the amateur 2/3 race qualifier.

1998 – Athens Twilight – first of three races of the day, this was the amateur 2/3 race qualifier. Travis Sherman and I started a two-man break that eventually became a ten man break which stayed away … good enough to qualify for the finals race setting up an attempt at “epic triple”

1998 – Athens Twilight – me resting before the start of the amateur finals race. I would finish near the back.

1998 – Athens Twilight – neither of these is me, but I think one rider is Jesse Lawler from UGA, which means that I was just out of the frame to the right as we got popped and pulled together fairly early in the race.

1998 – McMinnville, TN pro/1/2 road race – lining up at the start. The red team would win … literally, the whole team.

1998 – McMinnville, TN road race – I won this race the year before as a Cat 3, this pro team swept the top four positions the next year in the Pro/1/2 field. I finished with the pack.

1998 – McMinnville, TN high school criterium – lined up at the front before it started to rain … post-race analysis: “Lots of rain. Didn’t corner very well and got stuck at back of pack. Had to chase out of every corner. Got dropped and pulled with 5 laps to go”

1998 – Columbia, SC crit for kids

1998 – NC/SC time trial – two things stand out in my memory about this race for me … I just barely missed breaking an hour in the 40K tt (by a few seconds) and I had just gotten a ticket for speeding on the way to the race

1998 – NC/SC time trial – my teammate Bert Hull on his homemade drop bars (probably winning or podiuming)

1998 – NC/SC time trial – my teammate Scott McDowell and his wife Rachel before the start

1998 – Espoirs (U23) national road race – Cincinatti, OH. This course would be perfect for me now, but back then it was basically a giant 10 mile crit course spanning two states with a couple of big climbs from the river. I only lasted a couple laps before getting dropped and then rode a couple more laps before getting pulled. There’s a very good chance I could win a national race on a course like this today!

1998 – Espoirs (U23) national road race – Cincinatti, OH. We rode up onto an interstate as part of the course. Loved it.

1998 – Roanoke stage race – road trip with Daniel and his friend from Brazil whose name I can’t remember but who once biked with me from Clemson to Greenville to the start of one of the training races. He didn’t speak any English, and I didn’t speak any Portuguese so we settled on Spanish … izquierda, derecho, en frente de

1998 – Roanoke stage race – Saturn pro rider Tina Pic (I think) everybody at Clemson had a crush on her

1998 – Roanoke stage race – me right before the start of the Pro/1/2 hillclimb time trial up the old road to the zoo. Oh if I could only race that again… I probably finished near the back of the pack.

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – flying out from Greenville, SC on my third plane trip ever, first time flying with a bike

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – driving from the airport through Boston to Fitchburg

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – view of Wachusett Mountain with its hilltop finish for Saturday’s road race

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – view of one of the glacial rocks sitting in the middle of town near Sunday’s crit course

1998 – Tour de Toona – before the opening prologue

1998 – Tour de Toona – one of my all-time favorite features on a road race course – gravel hill climbing through a corn field heading into a double track section through the woods … all at 25+ mph

1998 – Tour de Toona – one of my all-time favorite features on a road race course – gravel hill climbing through a corn field heading into a double track section through the woods … all at 25+ mph

1998 – Tour de Toona – either before or after the last day’s downtown Altoona criterium

1998 – UTK Knoxville rolled a tubular on easy ride around Knoxville, fell and ripped my cycling shorts … had to race in “holey” shorts the whole weekend. The road race picture shows my normal rear training wheel paired with my American Classic racing front wheel

1998 – UTK Knoxville Collegiate A road race – right after winning the race

1998 – UTK Knoxville Collegiate A road race results – 1st place!

2001 – Reno, NV – shortly after winning the Cat B collegiate road race. I was fascinated by the snow on the mountains … my first time biking anywhere remotely near snow.

2001 – Reno, NV – Cat A field strung out climbing the hill on the crit course. I had finished 2nd in the Cat B race earlier with my teammate taking the win. My other teammate, Jeff, won this Cat A race solo. UC Davis had a very strong team and would go onto win nationals (without me) either that year or the year after

2002 – Davis, CA – after another year of no racing and only riding 20-30 miles a week (on my mtb to/from the lab), I catted down to C’s and placed third as part of a 1-2-3 podium sweep of the Cat C road race

2005 – Camp Sumataunga, AL – with my beautiful wife and newborn baby (8 months old) I started back into bike racing in 2005 making it into the break in the A training race in the spring. Later in the year, I would race in the Mad Potter’s stage race placing 3rd in the Pro/1/2 road race in Biloxi, MS only two weeks before Hurricane Katrina would completely wipe out the town.

2005 – Camp Sumataunga, AL – me in the break during the A training race. I believe that is Mark Simpson pulling at the front and me hanging on at the back

2007 – Greenville, SC – my best result up to that time and my last race as a Cat 2 was placing 3rd in the Greenville Cycling Classic just behind Geri Mewett and Bobby Sweeting. I would place 2nd the next day ahead of Geri.

Photo journal of bike racing I started my freshman year of college

Screenshot highlighting some 1997 entries from my microsoft access database of racing and training

A look back at the past six years

For the past six years, I have raced and trained with my awesome teammates at Tria Cycling p/b DonohooAuto.com and Infinity Med-i-spa. The Tour de Cullman coming up this Saturday will be my last ride/race flying the Tria colors. Before I announce my new team, I want to publicly thank all of my teammates and all of my sponsors for six amazing years. Here are some of the highlights from six awesome years:

2007 Tria Cycling team celebrating at Dreamland BBQ after our first big race as a team — the Tour de Tuscaloosa. The ins picture is the podium picture from a major regional race at the end of the year – the 2007 Greenville Cycling Classic, where I placed third behind Geri Mewett (Hincapie) and Bobby Sweeting (Kenda).

What a year our inaugural 2007 year was! Jacob Tubbs, Danny Parker, and Darryl Seelhorst had put together the team in 2006 and asked me to join in 2007. We had everybody over to our house for a spaghetti dinner the night before our first race as a team – the GSMR training race at Camp Sumataunga in February. At the time, I was the only Cat 2 on the team. Philip Thompson was the only Cat 3. And the rest of the guys were a highly motivated group of Cat 4s — Jacob Tubbs, Darryl Seelhorst, Danny Parker, Matt Lavoy, Brent Marshall, Lennie Moon, Kevin White, Jonathan Robbins, and Faris Malki. Our lead sponsors were Tria Market – an innovative grocery store in Homewood owned by Andy Virciglio – and Two Men and a Truck – a national moving company with a franchise based out of Birmingham owned by Richard McBee. Highlights for me that season included a 3rd place at the Tour de Tuscaloosa road race, 17th place in a stacked field of 100 riders at the Edgar Soto Stage Race placing a few spots behind a very young Andrew Talansky who is now racing on the Pro Tour with Garmin-Sharp, and finally my 3rd place finish at the Greenville Cycling classic at the end of the season – a race that had pro tour rider Craig Lewis (Columbia/Highroad) in it with his then teammate George Hincapie spectating because of a cold/flu.

2008 Tria Cycling team on the last day of our winter training camp at sponsor Dan Taylor’s house atop Lookout Mountain next to Alabama’s only ski resort (Mentone). The inset picture is from the Tria Cycling podium sweep of the Cat 3 race at Pepper Place at the end of the season. Left to right: Wes Douglas, Jacob Tubbs, Philip Thompson, Lennie Moon, Mike Lackey, Brent Marshall, Brian Toone (me), Daniel Taylor, and Darryl Seelhorst. Dan Taylor was taking the picture. In the inset from left to right – Sammy Flores, Philip Thompson, and Jacob Tubbs.

New teammate additions for the 2008 season included one of our competitors on GSMR who had been dominating the Cat 3s during 2007 – Mike Lackey – joining most of our team that would be upgrading to Cat 3 early in the 2008 season, plus the “new to racing but strong as an ox” Wes Douglas and the “super fast former velodrome racer” Sammy Flores as well as college-bound Daniel Taylor. Stuart Lamp (USA Cycling southeast regional director) joined our team late in the season just in time to make the podium in the Pepper Place criterium. Our lead sponsors were still the same, but Dan Taylor came on board both as a sponsor (Infinity Med-i-spa) and as a training teammate with his son Daniel racing for us as he headed off to college, which pretty much mirrored my situation as a bike racing junior back in 1994 as I joined AWV right as I was heading off to college at Clemson.

The 2008 season was one of the best ever, not necessarily in terms of results, but rather in terms of team camaraderie. Perhaps it was our EPIC, EPIC, EPIC training camp in January of 2008 that kicked things off for the year. We arrived Thursday afternoon and rode for 2.5 hours in temps that never got out of the mid 20s degF!!! The house was warmed by a fireplace and space heaters in individual rooms so when we arrived the air temp inside the house was also in the 20s. The next morning our water bottles in the kitchen were frozen solid. Time spent between epic rides was spent taking turns going outside to get more firewood and huddled around the fire drinking beer and swapping bike racing stories. One of those epic rides was an 85 miler, three state ride with multiple climbs up Lookout Mountain ending an hour after dark in the fog with a couple long gravel sections including one where we approached at 25mph and didn’t slow down once we hit the gravel. It was so Paris-Roubaix like that it made me absolutely giddy with excitement. Lennie Moon and I did an extra climb down into Trenton and then back up Lookout Mountain near Cloudland Canyon state park. We did a race simulation that was like a big mountain climb where he would pace me, then I would attack for a couple minutes, then back off the pace, and then repeat the process. We eventually caught back up to everyone who had taken the shortcut bypassing the extra climb by riding across the top of the mountain. The group was shattered. Best.team.training.ride.ever!

Personally, I had a mixed season of results which started out really well with a win at the opening training race at Camp Sumataunga outsprinting my breakaway companions Mike Olheiser (Competitive Cyclist) and Brent Bookwalker (BMC Pro Racing). I looked back on the first lap and saw Mike and Brent on my wheel and decided that it was the perfect time to attack. We eventually extended our gap to maybe close to 10 minutes with Mike driving the break and Brent and I just pulling through. Then with about 1 mile to go, we all joked how none of us were sprinters and that it should be an interesting finish. Mike got things started with a hard attack. I was able to bridge up to him with Brent falling behind. There was no way I could pull though so I sat Mike’s wheel and he said “Brian, we’ve got Brent on the ropes!” But I wasn’t going to pull so Brent rode back up to us, and we slowed down to a crawl before Mike attacked again with maybe 300 meters left. Brent closed the gap to Mike with me on his wheel and then I was able to come around both of them right at the finish. Darryl Seelhorst won the field sprint behind us for 4th place. It was probably the most exciting finish of all time at the Camp Sumataunga training race in Gallant, Alabama. I ended up winning the training race again the next weekend, and then later in the season guest rode for Mike’s team at the Fitchburg-Longsjo classic exactly 10 years after having raced the Pro/1/2 race in college. It was cool to actually ride at the front of the race in 2008 instead of hanging on for dear life at the back of the race in 1998. Earlier in the summer I had been time-cut from the Nature Valley Grand Prix during the time trial so that was a major disappointment.

But the highlight of the 2008 season was the end of the season Pepper Place criterium in Birmingham. I was elated to watch my teammate Philip Thompson ride away from the Cat 3 field, win all the primes, and eventually win the race solo. Behind him, my teammate Jacob Tubbs won the field sprint followed by another teammate Sammy Flores in 3rd. So it was a podium sweep by Tria – I believe this was our first podium sweep. Later, in the Pro/1/2 race, new teammate Stuart Lamp made the winning break and made the podium in 3rd place. What a night for Tria!

2009 team photo by {t}photographic. Left to right: Sammy Flores, Jacob Tubbs, Brian Toone (me), Lennie Moon, Darryl Seelhorst, Mike Lackey, Philip Thompson, Wes Douglas, Justin Gilmore, and Stuart Lamp. In the inset picture, I’m happy to have taken third place pictured to the left of Joe Eldridge (Team Type I) and Darrell O’Quinn at the Barber’s Pro/1/2 circuit race.

2009 saw the addition of Justin Gilmore to the Pro/1/2 team – Justin was a natural fit to the team having raced with Stuart Lamp on the Zaxby’s pro team for a while in the early 2000s. Also, we brought on board Ivan Leonard Chevrolet at a co-title sponsor after losing Two Men and a Truck. Dan Taylor also stepped up his involvement with the team, helping us along with Terry Duran to organize the inaugural Birmingham Bike League winter training series modeled after the more famous Athens Winter Bike League. Turn-out was amazing with an average of about 50 riders per week over the 3 month long series in November, December, and January. After 3 months of Saturday morning rides and attack zones, the overall series was separated by a single point going into the last sprint of the last ride. I ended up coming out on top for that sprint followed by Terry Duran and my teammate Darryl Seelhorst, which then became our overall order for the series. Amy and Lee Gravlee hosted us at their gym as our team had Taziki’s deliver a nice celebration meal for the entire cycling community. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with Tazikis and about 10 people (including myself) came down with bad food poisoning including one hospitalization. Who would have thought that in that inaugural series, the only hospitalization would not be from a nasty bike wreck but instead food poisoning!!!

I spent a lot of the season chasing points in the inaugural Georgia Cycling Gran Prix points series. I came out just shy of winning that series with Eric Murphy edging me out at the end even though I had led for most of the series. I won the Dahlonega road race as part of that series – my first non-training race road race win since college. The highlight of the season for me, however, was the four day / seven stage Tour of Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend. There was a strong field highlighted by a stacked Fly V Australia team including the current Australia crit champion Bernie Schulzberger and the super fast sprinter Jonathan Cantwell. I made it into the break on the first stage and ended up taking 2nd or 3rd in all the MAR (green jersey) intermediate sprints. I had a pretty big lead in that competition that I had a blast trying to defend against Jonathan Cantwell and Oneal Samuels. During one stage in the pouring down rain, I was able to attack before the last corner and come around the entire Fly V leadout train as they tried to get Jonathan the sprint points. I was so happy to have won the sprint that I let out a whoop and Jonathan joked with me saying “what? did I miss the bell for the last lap?”

2010 Tria Cycling team with multi-time masters national champion Terry Duran. The inset photos are the podium ceremonies from Terry Duran winning his Masters national championship race and me placing 5th in my Masters national champion race. Left to right: Sammy Flores, Paul Tower, Darryl Seelhorst, Brian Toone (me), Craig Armstrong, Katherine Herring, Timo Stark, Philip Thompson, Nichole Tower, Mike Lackey, Wes Douglas, Lennie Moon, Stuart Lamp, Jacob Tubbs, and Terry Duran.

2010 saw a major change in title sponsorship as Dan Taylor’s Infinity Med-i-spa and DonohooAuto.com stepped up in a big way to help us bring on board a women’s team — including Terri Jones, Katherine Herring, Nichole Tower, Amy Gravlee, and Jill Lott — as well as two very strong Cat 1 riders — Paul Tower (former Kelly Benefits rider) and multi-time national champion Terry Duran. The Cat 3 team saw the addition of two more riders from Huntsville — Timo Stark and Craig Armstrong. 2010 also saw our BEST results ever as a team including Terry Duran’s masters national championship in the Masters 45+ road race and my 5th place in the Masters 30+ national championship in Louisville, Kentucky. I spent the season traveling the country racing in the USA Crits series where I placed in the top 20 in a number of races — eventually finishing 9th overall in the series. I also narrowly missed the podium in another major race – the Tour of America’s Dairyland – where I just barely got outsprinted by Johnny Sundt (Kenda Pro Cycling) for the last spot on the podium in the Road America circuit race. One other highlight for the season was racing the US 100K at the end of the season with teammates Stuart Lamp and Terry Duran. The field was very strong, but we were in just about every move. I’d cover a move or attack, and then as soon as that move came back I would see Stuart or Terry flying up the side of the road to go with the next move. This was perfect teamwork, but luck was not on our side that day. Stuart was helping me move up perfectly to the front of the field for the final sprint when we flew around the last corner swinging a bit wide into the far lanes of the 7 lane road putting us into the 10K course. The people finishing their 10K “run” two and a half hours after starting were all rather large (kudos to them for getting out and finishing a 10K), and it was somewhat comical to slalom around them to get back into the sprint train. By this point, we had lost our position and I could only manage 25th, but it was still a highlight of the season for me because it was great teamwork between the three of us.

2011 Tria Cycling team meeting at Barbers with subsequent podium pic after the race. Left to right: Chris Allison, Darryl Seelhorst, Brian Toone (me), Terry Duran, Stuart Lamp (arm and helmet visible), Darryl Seelhorst, Sammy Flores, Pat Allison (tip of helmet visible in background), Wes Douglas, Timo Stark (tip of helmet visible behind Wes), and Justin Bynum.

2011 saw the addition of Pat Allison, a strong Cat 1, and his brother Chris Allison who upgraded from Cat 3 to Cat 2 by the end of the season. We also added another strong Cat 3, Justin Bynum, who also upgraded to Cat 2 by the end of the season. Our season started out strong with me winning taking gold in the Alabama State road race championship at the Tour de Tuscaloosa. I was outsprinted by Daniel Holt (Team Type 1), but since he is from Georgia I got the gold medal. Pat Allison took the field sprint to claim the bronze medal. In the 3′s, Philip Thompson took the silver medal. A major early season highlight was how we did in the Barber’s race pictured above (1st and 3rd). Pat and I bridged up to the winning break together and then worked together perfectly to take the win. I attacked on the last hill forcing strongman Travis Sherman to chase with Pat getting the free ride back up to me. Pat was then able to easily take the sprint for the win with me able to hold on for 3rd against the rest of the breakaway. Travis took a well-earned second after he had won the Masters 30+ race earlier in the day.

The rest of the 2011 season was defined by three things: Strava, Sandy Springs, and Stage racing. Strava put on a monthly and year-long KOM climbing competition, which I ended up winning a few months as well as the overall for the year. I was obsessed with climbing from even before they announced the competition, but it really changed my training as I sought out the most climbing efficient, hilliest courses I could find, leading to more hours on the bike at a reduced intensity to try to keep my legs fresh for racing on the weekends. I was worried that the huge increase in volume would have the opposite effect on my racing as I would struggle to find the snap. Instead, I was doing better than I ever had before at races – finishing 26th at Athens Twilight after winning a $100 late race prime coming around the entire UHC leadout train for Jake Keough and Karl Menzies (who were setting up for the finish and not interested in the prime) and spending half a lap off the front of the race. I would end up racing 5 out of the 7 USA Crits races that week during speedweek, and it was on the second to last lap of the last race of the series at Sandy Springs that did me in … I had a nasty crash slamming straight into the barriers at 32mph documented here:

My injuries out of this wreck included my first ever broken bone (broken toe) at the ripe old age of 35, a separated shoulder, and a torn pectoral muscle. I was off the bike for a total of two days before riding laps in my neighborhood with one arm in a sling. I didn’t want to risk re-injuring my shoulder by racing, so I had to miss races in the middle of May but was back by the end of the month racing the road race at the Tour of Atlanta.

I was all recovered just in time for 11 days of racing at the Tour of America’s Dairyland up in Wisconsin. I stayed with an amazing host family while Kristine took the kids to visit her parents at the other end of the state. This was the most consecutive days of racing I had ever done. Shortly after getting back, I raced for three days up in Huntsville, followed by a 5 day race in Georgia, followed by another 5 day race in North Carolina. This was thirteen days of racing, spread out over just three weeks (21 days). A month later, I had my best result ever nearly winning an NRC circuit race at the Anderson omnium, followed a couple weeks later by a stage race in Florida. By the end of 2011, I had raced 52 days. Unfortunately, with my injury in the middle of the spring racing season and with so much traveling over the summer, I wasn’t able to do many races with the team. Still, we had an awesome end of the season together as a team at the Pensacola Cycling Classic stage race culminating with the last day’s race where Pat Allison took the win, Sammy Flores took the field sprint for 3rd, and I was only a couple spots behind for 5th.

2012 Tria Cycling photos, Tour de Tuscaloosa road race and Pensacola stage race. We weren’t quite as organized this year and never could get everyone together for a team photo (although we tried early in the year).

2012 saw the addition of two more strong Cat 3 riders — Kevin Pawlik and Boris Simmonds — pictured in time trial gear in the photo inset above. We again started out strong claiming the road race state championship with me winning the Tour de Tuscaloosa road race from a strong breakaway including Andy Crater (Cleveland Clinic) and Emile Abraham (Rosetti) with my teammate Pat Allison covering the chase group led by Frank Travieso (Team Coco’s). Pat eventually took the bronze medal by winning the sprint out of that group. Also, our new teammate Kevin Pawlik took the gold medal in the Cat 3 road race. Kevin and Boris both rode super strong a few weeks later in the Cat 3 Mississippi Gran Prix stage race with Kevin dominating the Cat 3 race and Boris making the final overall podium as well in 3rd place. Pat and I worked well together in the 1/2/3 race making the split on the final day to score a couple top 10s in the stage race overall.

The highlight of my season was definitely winning the Alabama state road race championship at the Tour de Tuscaloosa, but there were definitely lots of other highlights along the way — including qualifying for the Leadville 100 MTB race by placing 4th overall in the Barn Burner 104 MTB race out in Flagstaff, AZ. On the way home, I raced Tulsa Tough with its awesome Crybaby Hill criterium. A few weeks later, I placed 11th in the Elite national road race in Augusta. A month later, Kristine and I drove out to Colorado where I got to experience racing in the high Colorado mountains for the first time placing 39th in the Leadville 100. I’ll write up more about 2012 in a later post – but I just wanted to hit all the highlights of racing with the Tria Cycling team for the past six years. There is still one more race left — the Tour de Cullman on Saturday.

Thanks Tria for a wonderful six years, thanks teammates for being awesome guys and gals, thanks sponsors for making it all possible. A huge shout out and thank you to Dan Taylor of Infinity Med-i-spa along with DonohooAuto.com and sponsors who have stuck with us throughout the years: Danny Feldman and his law firm, Tony Robbins and his mortgage company, Terri Jones, Central Steel. Many bike shops have helped us individually, but Cahaba Cycles got us started with great sponsorship in 2007 and 2008. Bob’s Bikes helped us out a lot in 2011 and 2012. Personally, the guys at Bob’s and BBC carried me through a tumultuous year equipment-wise in 2010 and 2011. Craig Tamburello has helped me tons this year in his new bike shop, Brick Alley bikes, only three miles from my house! Thank you everyone, and I hope to see you all out on the road soon!