Cycling Adventures with Brian Toone – Page 5

Cycling Adventures with Brian Toone

Everesting Smyer

It may have taken over 25 miles longer than we had planned, but Luke Caldwell and I successfully completed an everesting of what may arguably be the most scenic and iconic climb in the Birmingham area – Smyer Road. Here’s a quick look at the numbers: Distance: 250.0 mi Total elevation gain: 30,102 ft Total…

September 6, 2020
“We ride at midnight” – TNGA and CRAAM 2020

One of my favorite songs on the Hamilton soundtrack is “Right Hand Man”, which introduces General George Washington. In that song it talks about the long odds the Americans face in revolution and how Washington needs someone to help him organize and strategize, which ends up being Hamilton. There is an off-beat line towards the…

August 1, 2020
Mini Tour of the Southeast

TLDR – quick stats and map Day 1: YELLOW – the Alabama Skyway – 273.51mi. (22,838ft) Day 2: BLUE – the Cohutta – 177.57mi. (19,836ft) Day 3: RED – the Memories – 177.20mi. (19,344ft) Day 4: ORANGE – the Counties – 256.04mi. (16,388ft) Day 5: PURPLE – the Home Sweet Home – 173.77mi. (14,639ft) Total:…

July 14, 2020
Cheaha Challenge 2020

This has been quite the year to remember. Coronavirus has changed up everybody’s lives and plans. And now we are seeing and hopefully participating in a movement to bring change to the systems of racial inequality that have lingered on for far too long. This year’s Cheaha Challenge got hit by the coronavirus with postponement…

June 21, 2020
Camp Sumatanga there and back again

The left picture is my 8 month old daughter Analise at the second 2005 Sumatanga training race. It has been framed on the window sill behind our kitchen sink for close to 15 years. This picture captures perfectly for me what cycling has always been about. The right picture is a similar one of my…

February 3, 2020
Adventure in the Bayou

Rouge Roubaix My first ride in the bayous of Louisiana was this amazing race in 2010. Before the race, I had dreams of winning. By the end of the race, I was happy just to have finished. My best shot at winning the race came in 2012 where I won the $100 KOM (you physically…

January 21, 2020
Essom Hill Rd

Recap This was my first cold ride of the season – 252 fast and cold miles from Birmingham, Alabama to Cave Spring, Georgia and back. The average temp for the ride was 39 degF, with a low hovering around 25-27 degF for several hours. I woke up at midnight and left the house by 1:15AM.…

November 5, 2019
TNGA 2019

Timer selife at the finish line – second try as I wasn’t quick enough to get back over and sit down the first time. Let’s start at the very end at the Alabama border where the Silver Comet becomes the Chief Ladiga trail if you are heading west, or vice versa if you are heading…

September 1, 2019
Skyway Epic 2019 and 2018

2019 skyway 300 finish 2018 skyway 280 finish I just realized I never finished the draft I had started of my race report from 2018. I’ve included that original draft at the end of this post after the 2019 race recap. Here is my finish line picture above that Brent took from both years. The…

April 10, 2019
Low to high point fat bike fun in Minnesota

Ice beard less than halfway through the ride. Fun adventure in the north woods of Northern Minnesota today. I rode from the lowest point in Minnesota (Lake Superior, 603′) to the highest point in Minnesota (Eagle Mountain, 2301′). It was a tough ride with lots of uncertainty. I had attempted this same ride in 2016,…

December 27, 2018