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