Jimmie Johnson is known for racing cars, fast, and winning. 

​The 7x NASCAR Cup series champion, Jimmie Johnson has announced that he will be representing a growing group of competitive cyclists within the auto racing community by racing his bicycle at the Cedar Hill Criterium, a local bike race held in nearby Madison, Tennessee, located just 10 minutes North of downtown Nashville.

​Based off his 2021 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix experience, it's no surprise he's coming back to Nashville as he announced that he's looking for some measure of payback to prove to his legion of fans that he can race an oval road course without crashing out. 

​Johnson struggled in the 2021 Music City Grand Prix, wrecking twice in the practice sessions. His introduction to Nashville speed only got worse from there as he was disqualified on lap 18 after his team worked on Johnson's car under a red flag (his car was damaged during a major crash involving several cars on that lap). 

The announcement landed softly in the media but is now starting to catch on and spread quickly. Coming back to Nashville, Johnson stated he need to clean up some unfinished business at this year's 2022 Big Machine Music City Gran Prix, and that as part of his Nashville revenge tour, he also announced that he was bringing a special race rig, his Trek Madone SLR9. 

The dude is no stranger to big bike events. 

And so naturally it makes perfect sense that he would want to re-capture glory on our oval-esque crit courses,  bending his cranks at the Max Gander Memorial and Cedar Hill Crit.

​

We're humbled that he's registered with the Men's category 4/5 fields and optimistic he can keep his machine clean and out of the turn 3 crape myrtles. 
​
Race Flyer below

Registration is now open!
​
Sat. May 7th Max Gander Memorial Criterium
Sun. May 8th Cedar Hill Crit
​#LordsofSprint 

Registration is now open!
​

Big Willie is getting the band back together! Who doesn't love a fire breathing dragon (hot chicken) and crit racing? 


Hello: 2022 Cedar Hill Criterium p/d Hattie B's Hot Chicken

1. $45 pre-registration fees? Sorry, Mate. We're not going to raise our registration fees. There's a whole 'other diatribe here, but given I blew that time up eating donuts let's just keep it short: $35 gets you a kick ass fun bike race -10$ gets you a second kick ass fun bike race. Done.
2. We also have this thing called PAYOUTS. We're going to award some of you with CASH if you win or place. Same for the ladies, LARGE & EQUAL. The rest of you, might get a donut, some might get a beer (get there before I do). ALL will have hard fast, safe, crit racing. 
3. Our highly technical bike race research tells us: that's low-end reg fees and high end EQUAL payouts. *don't believe us, do your own darn google. 
4. Men's & Women's Masters categories. EQUAL RACE TIME & EQUAL P/Os
5. Juniors always race FREE
6. NOON ANKLE BITERS RACE: FREE, BYOB (bikes, parents, bikes, bring yown ankle biter's BIKES). 

A little more

• Nashville Speed Weekend: We continue to share the weekend with the crank benders at Red Kite. We're stoked they're keeping young Maxey's spirit alive returning with the Max Gander Memorial Criterium, on Sat. May 7th, a classic 4 corner that's smoking fast and super fun. The race is held smack dab in the middle of Nashville's hip 12 South area Sevier Park festival. All the trimmings of a good time are there for you after you blow the doors off your besties. 
• On Sunday, we are also sharing the Cedar Hill Park with our fat tire friends at SORBA, where we will host, simultaneously, the Cedar Hill MTB Time Trial. Yup, same day. We'll have more details on this soon, but bring your fatty if you wanna shred some sweet Tennessee chirt or launch into the duck pond. 
• Lastly, it's possible (not likely), but possible (2% chance), that we identify a small cohort of beer milers (like 4-6, max). Unquestionably the dumbest thing we've done at Cedar Hill. So naturally it's something we thought we should pilot, first. Interested? Look for your golden ticket when you open the candy bar, otherwise, email us, we'll send you a coded message #Drinkmoreovaltine. *barfing results in disqualification and mandatory second lap but also likely equals cedar hill YouTube fame. 

The rest is pretty standard, boorish Cedar Hill stuff:

• Lumpy, fast furious course - SAFE confines of a police protected crit course. 
• Big fields. Large Payouts. Did we mention low reg fees? 
• Same course different year(duh).
• Sometimes Beer. Sometimes Not. Sometimes Tipsy Volunteers. 
• Clean Portolets. No peep holes. Maybe Bon Jovi, maybe Wham IYKYK
• Did we mention EQUAL? Equal race time. Equal race categories. Equal Payouts. 

Registration is on the way. Tell your Momma and them. 
Sat. May 7th Max Gander Memorial Criterium
Sun. May 8th Cedar Hill Criterium
#LORDSOFSPRINT

​Stay Puft race promoter: (((YAWN))), what year is it?
{frown face} Mrs. Claus: "Better get yer big ass in motion if you're gonna do it"
{frown face back} Poofty: "dahek?"

Spent some time this holiday break thinking about bike racing. There's still a lot going on in the world that is more important. In spite of it all, important to have goals, for the body and mind. Time to think about the good times and work towards making new memories.

Memories of hard, fast bike racing, the fury watt goblins and your ridiculous speed. The joy of seeing smiling kids, as they fly for the first time in the kids race. Equalled only by the look of terror on their chasing parents. We miss our friends from afar. We miss those sweaty champagne showers.

Back to the morning's coffee, pulling on my heartstrings
Mrs. C: "Remember that year you locked Buck in the portolet?"
....Poofty: (((grinch smile)))) 

It has definitely been too long since we've locked a dear friend and teammate in the crapper.

Someone wake-up the gimp. We have a race to promote!  

​Details forthcoming on a full race weekend, but for now, please pencil Cedar Hill Crit down for Sun. May 8th. 

Two important considerations:
1. We will be following guidance from Davidson County Metro Parks, their process for permit approval is fluid. *Covid is still very real. We're not going to host cedar hill if it poses a risk to anyone's health. We are trying to plan, however, and are very optimistic we will have an opportunity to play Lord of Sprint again this Spring.

2. Working on details for a full race weekend. Stay tuned. 

Until then, enjoy a few photos from the vault. Memory lane. 
T-minus 125 days.

KOO KOO KOO KOO KOO KOOOOOOO. Miss you, Hosers. 

CHAMPAGNE SHOWERS 

It's hard to keep a fire breathing chicken down.
Steeped in Nashville's best hot chicken (we're biased), the dudes at Hattie B's Racing are stoked to return for the 8th annual Cedar Hill Criterium. We're honored to continue sharing the weekend with our friends over at the Max Gander Memorial Crit which is hosted by the Sevier Park festival.
That's a solid weekend bar nibbling-Nashville Speed. 

We're also humbled to have the generous support of our returning sponsors, Hattie B's, HallMark VW of Cool Springs, Little Harpeth Brewing, as well as RB's Cyclery and Biker's Choice.
 Rb's Cyclery  is a real big part of our event, they provide race equipment, swag and race day wrenching.
They are also the muscle behind the success that is the Tennessee Interscholastic Cycling League. Getting more kids out there on bikes, that's what they are all about.

Biker's Choice out of Hendersonville, they drag their giant sound system out each year so y'all can enjoy the golden hits of the super 70's while Golden Throat, Dahron Johnson, rattles off race commentary and interviews folks throughout the day. 

The men in blue -Sgt James Viverette and the  Nashville Metro Police, SEO Unit, help keep our event safe. 

And last but not least, our  Volunteers, and lot's of them. 
We can't do this crazy fun event without them.  

A few new things this year.
​Last year, SORBA, opened a small section of new single track at Cedar Hill park.
​Naturally we want all the bikes to come out to the park on Sun. May 3rd, so we figured we'd sprinkle some hero dirt around for our fat tire friends. 
There will be short track races sprinkled throughout the day, simple M/F A-D format.

*We're waiving entry fee for any crit racers who double down on the road crit and want to get heckled and showered with beer for a third race. 

Another new thing. 
Our friends at Tennessee Donor Services ride bikes too. They also do really important work to help save lives. 
DYK - 20 people die every day waiting for a life-saving transplant.
​#BeTheGift is an initiative to get more folks to sign-up as organ and tissue donors.
You can't take'm with you, Folks. 
Register to be a Donor
​
Lastly, 
Total random.
Maybe it'll happen, probably it won't.
We've bandied around for years now, how a beer mile around the duck pond would go over.  We're considering inviting a very select group of 6-8 elite milers (elite in the eyes of the beer holder), and two painfully slow fat dudes, for this epic challenge.
Zero entry fee.
Fame and glory for the overall M/F winners (maybe a chicken sammy for the Clydesdales).
We have run a beta of this, it wasn't awful…..we'll letcha know.
If you think you want to get down, email us. 

More details to come, but for now:
​
Sat. May 2nd - Max Gander memorial criterium, Sevier Park festival, Nashville, TN

Sun. May 3rd - Cedar Hill Crit 
Cedar Hill Park, Madison, TN

​
Kthxbi
Cedar Hill Donut Lord 

Thanks a bunch if you're speaking Giro d 'italia  
Another fun year in the books and plenty of smiles around the park for our 7th year. 
From the crew at Cedar Hill, thanks to those that came out - you are what makes this event special. 

A few  super kudos  to send out: 
The Men in Blue - our Madison Police Officers - who volunteered their time and are always at the park on race day to make sure you watt goblins have a safe venue. I think I speak for every single person at the park when I say - thank you for all you do. Thank you for making our event incident free for 8 years now. 

The Hattie B's Racing dudes- every year they just bring it. Crack of dawn, they're up and at the park helping set the course up. They're helping with the kids race, driving race vehicles, organizing awards and payouts and doing podium presentations. They're taking and editing photos and wrenching bikes and bandaging owies, and absolutely they are not drinking the awesome beer sponsor handouts! These shitbirds are the reason we have this race. 

David Hardin from Biker's Choice - another local bike shop dude who really cares about this event and all bike events really. The tunes and fun color commentary that you hear every year, you hear this because of David's 80k watt sound system that he drags out at the crack of dawn every year. Thank you, David, and please click thru here if you're shopping for bike stuff around the North side of Nashville, please do check out their shop!

Last but not least. This last person need no introduction. ​

​He has the golden voice and we are certain he has spoken with every person at Cedar Hill.

Dahron Johnson has this special talent for breathing life into the day's races. He's our beloved version of Phil Liggett, rife with his own lexicon for Cedar Hill that he weaves masterfully throughout the day's races. ​

To extend our gratitude, we're supporting an event that holds special meaning to Dahron and his son Rohan. On behalf of the Cedar Hill Criterium, and those that have enjoyed our race, we're pleased to share a contribution of $500 to Rohan's Camp Lakely Gap-an amazing camp for autistic children, teenagers, & adults-in 2019.  

We can't think of a better way to support someone whose been so generous with his time and voice - please click thru here if you would like to offer your own support. 

That's all for now folks, thanks again for another great year at the Cedar Hill Crit.
#LordsofSprint #CedarHillCrit #HattieBsHotChicken #HattieBsRacing #RBsCyclery #LittleHarpethBrewing #BikersChoice 
#ChampagneShowers
​

It's race week! Lot's happening, but first, another segment of
Strong Women Who Race Bikes!

Sticking to our 5 questions format, we hope you enjoy this short take with one of our favorite crit crazy social media divas. Some of you know may also know her as The Fastest Clark, others as a multi-national champion from Indiana. We're proud to call her a ​Queen of Cedar Hill. We hope you enjoy the read as we sit down with, Indiana’s Bri Clark. 


Cedar Hill Donut Lord -
Hey Bri - what's happening! (rhetorical question, not one of the five lol). We've noticed that you're pretty busy on USA Crit circuit this year #CrittyCritCritTime. What the heck's a Gray Goat (is that code for Harry's chin hair? rhetorical). Care to give us a little peek into this new SQUAD and what ya'll all about.

Bri Clark - "YES!  Gray Goat Sports is an INCREDIBLE bike shop (actually TWO shops) in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Owned by Brian Gootee (get it, Goat, Goatee, it all makes sense now, eh?) who we love not just because he has embraced and supported the team, but also because he knows more about bourbon than we do (a high bar!) and makes us bicycle, goat, and bullseye shaped pancakes! In all seriousness, our team has always been driven by Chris Richter who from day one has been our biggest supporter and 100% committed to furthering women’s cycling in the Midwest.  In the last couple of years the women’s team has grown into a force of its own with respect to results and sponsor commitments, and we decided to take things up a notch and really let the squad shine.  The timing was perfect, as Richter and Gootee are teaming up to kick off Gray Goat Mobile, a mobile repair shop, who has become one of our two title sponsors for the season, in conjunction with Bullseye Total Media – a digital media company out of Ohio/West Virginia who has also been absolutely incredible!"

Cedar Hill Donut Lord -  You can check out their shop here - https://graygoatsports.com

Bri Clark - "We are STOKED to have a national calendar this year – the USA Crits Series will take us ALL OVER THE PLACE.  Oklahoma City, Arkansas, Harlem, and Atlantic City just to name a few!  Plus the big crit weekends like Tulsa.  It’s already been amazing with some incredible results at Joe Martin and Speedweek.  We honestly are on cloud 9 and can’t wait for the rest of the season.  The team is made up of Rachel Langdon, Betsy Kieffer (, Jenette Williams, Faith Montreuil, and myself."

Cedar Hill Donut Lord - that's some serious firepower from Indiana, Bri! 

The interwebs tell us you stay pretty busy off the bike as well. We managed to do some interwebs snooping (between bear claws), and discovered that in another world, you're a pretty busy professional.  Would you mind sharing a little more about what you do when you're not on two wheels, and most important for many of our readers,  how you find the time to train and race!

Bri Clark -"Yeaaaa, so about that whole day job getting in the way of bike fun thing…. Off the bike I’m a partner at Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP, a law firm in Indianapolis, and I do commercial litigation.  The bad news is basically I’m the lawyer you never want to have to call because it means something has gone really, really wrong.  The good (?) news is I’m usually just dealing with money, not jail time.  In a really nerdy way though, my career is a lot like bike racing – tons and tons and tons of preparation for one big race (trial).  Though I’d trade my heels in for specialized shoes any day of the week.
 Cedar Hill Donut Lord - Very cool. We may start referring to you as Counselor, Bri. Also -Specialized shoes for the court room…could be a thing!

Bri Clark - 
Finding the time to train and race is a constant struggle and usually means forfeiting sleep.  The number of trainer rides that I have that start past 10 pm is embarrassing.  And time is a premium, so I don’t get to do nearly as many long rides as I’d like and am much, much more focused on intensity."
 
Cedar Hill Donut Lord: We're sensing a trend here, as other guests have shared similar responses. We're thinking late night koms should be a segment (and feeling a little guilty for asking for time to complete this interview!). Speaking of koms- let's keep this going, (3)What's one local ride back home (Carmel, IN) that our readers should know about?
There is only one ride you need to know about.  The (In)Famous Chicane Loop.  It is a 3 mile loop in the middle of/just off of one of our group rides that starts with a fun and fast downhill chicane.  The Chicane Loop KOM is a HOTLY contested segment that I held for a solid couple of months before our team director Chris Richter stole it from me last fall (jerk!).  We have lots of team goals this year but our A+ race is absolutely going to be a TTT to get the Chicane Loop KOM back.
 
Other than that, we are SO lucky in Carmel – we have group ride options literally every day of the week that will have between 30 and 100 people that show up, with 50-60 mile rides on the weekend that will have up to 200 riders!  Anybody that is traveling to or though Indy should definitely reach out – we’ll find you some great rides!

Cedar Hill Donut Lord***ATTN ALL STRAVA FREAKS: lol =Segment for those Internet OCD bike people, who are suddenly compelled to road trip for a some internet hardware! 

Cedar Hill Donut Lord: Strava has to be one of the best things that happened to cycling in the last 10 years (or worst, depending on who you ask!). A little more for our 3 readers. Seems like the cycling scene in general is growing. Around Nashville, we're seeing more bikes out on the greenways, around town, and absolutely our weekly training rides have larger groups. One great organization that Cedar Hill does shamelessly plug is our NICA league, the Tennessee Interscholastic Cycling League (TN High School & Middle School Cycling League) -4th or 5th season now, Bri, lotta kids, lotsa lotsa kids… kids dropping little nuggets of watts all over the place. So we pose this question to you Bri - would you be so kind to share a little advice for any of our next gen hammers, could be a young fella or girl, just getting into the sport, 
4. what would you like to share with this person (look directly into the camera, Bri)….

Bri Clark -  "You know what the greatest thing about cycling is – I’m more inspired by the juniors getting into the sport than I could ever inspire them.  One of our strongest teammates is Faith Montreuil – who is just 15 years old!  And she is more in tune with what is going on in races, comfortable in huge packs, and has better race intuition than most riders I know that have been racing for decades.  I learn more listening to her post-race than anything!"
 
"I think if I had to offer one bit of advice it would be to play bikes with your friends and really embrace the team aspect of the sport.  Winning bike races solo is great, but the teammate bonds that are formed on the bike when you have riders who truly care about each other and will absolutely turn themselves inside out for each other… it is such an incredible feeling I can’t even put it into words.  So play bikes with your buddies.  And don’t take yourself too seriously.  That is the best advice I can give."

Cedar Hill Donut Lord - Fabulous advice (adults, open your ears).

​You are a true steward of the sport, Bri.

Okay. We're nearly out of time. Last question - a very serious question for you. 

We've given this a lot of thought, and tbh, we do have some reservations in asking...

But we know you're mature and adult in such things. Even so, we would prefer you to think about this for a moment, really give it some consideration...

….

Ruminate on it. 
…...

Because our readers really wanna know….
…...

…..

​Cedar Hill Donut Lord - Whaaaaaaaaa in all that is holy….is Rachel wearing here????!

Bri Clark - DUDE, I can’t even with this.  From the arm coolers, to the tanktop, to the NO SHOW SOCKS?!?!  SHAME, Langdon, Shame.

Cedar Hill Donut Lord - HAHAHAHA, Good God that was fun.  We love you too, Rachel!

That's a wrap! We certainly want to thank Bri Clark for being such a fun sit down (and Rachel).  

You can keep up with Bri and her teammates by following them at
https://www.facebook.com/graygoatbullseye/
and on Instagram 
https://www.instagram.com/graygoatbullseye/

​We look forward to watching the fireworks on Sunday at this year's 2018 Cedar Hill Criterium. 

Equal Race Time 

Equal Race Payouts

Women Masters Categories

2018 Cedar Hill Crit
​
#LordsofSprint

Thank you to all our great sponsors that make this exciting event happen
#LPBuildingProducts #HallmarkVWofCoolSprings
#RbsCyclery #FSEWheels #Giro
#BikersChoice #LittleHarpethBrewing
#HattieBs #HattieBsRacing 

Weekend of Crits
in SMASHVILLE
Fri. May 4th - Nashville twilight crit - Nashville Speedway
Sat. May 5th - Max Gander Memorial crit - Sevier Park festival, Nashville
Sun. May 6th - Ye 'Ole Leg Burner at Cedar Hill Park

T-minus 5 Days!
Registration Is Open
#Musiccitycycling #MaxGanderMemorialCrit
#CedarHillCrit 
#LordsofSprint

​That's a pretty cool gig - sending your whip off some jungle sub-floor launching pads.
I mean, who wouldn't want to partner with an organization like this?!

We're stoked to announce that LP Building Products is our Title Sponsor for this year.

As a Nashville cyclist that's been around awhile, some of my fondest cycling memories were of cutting my crit teeth at those super-fast and ultra-smooth Wednesday night crits around the Tennessee Titans football facility, sponsored at the time by none other than LP Building Product.
Oh sweet baby Jesus those Nashville Cyclist Crits were the cats meow.

That was over ten years ago. Who would know that we'd come full circle and forge an exciting partnership at the Cedar Hill Criterium.

We're stoked that at this year's Cedar Hill Criterium, following the kids race at noon- together, with LP Building Products, and in an effort to keep our tiny planet happy, we’ll be planting some trees with kids and parents at Cedar Hill park.

Because, there's only one planet that has tacos, and we gotta take care of her.

LP Building Products has a rich history of success garnering awards for customer service, quality and community involvement:

• Won David Weekley Homes Partner of Choice Award (2011, 2014, 2015), earning the highest “A,A” ranking in both service and quality
• Won 2011 “Community Service In Contracting” Award from the National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies (NASCLA) for our positive impact on communities through fundraising efforts, contributions of time, labor and materials, and generous donations to charities
• Won 2016 Golden Cone Award for Sustainability, honoring our Park(let) in association with Nashville Park(ing) Day

Some lucky bugger is gonna take home some serious speed. ​
How fast? 
Fast enough for former American Hour Record holder,  Norm Alvis
(Still has some spanking left in those legs, Norm!)
​ ​
Dan Kellerby, managing partner from FSE Wheels, dropped a note on the wheels that are up for raffle: 
​"The FSE 45/55CD (pictured above) covers all the bases.  They come equipped with our FSE 420 hubs that are convertible from quick release to 12mm thru axle to 15mm thru axle.  The rims have not only our laser etched ghost logos, but will also have our laser etched rim brake treatment.  
 
So no matter if they have rim brake now and/or plan to go to disc, or are disc now these will cover all the bases.  Additionally, they have our “no rim bed spoke holes” system to allow for no rim tape to be used with clinchers and can also be used as tubeless setups with no seal tape needed. 
The rims are 45mm deep front and 55mm deep in the rear.  They are 26.65mm wide."

Cedar Hill Donut Lord: Weapons of mass destruction - for your glorious soul-crushing quads.

A little more about FSE - 

(From their website)……"It all started with a beer at a bike show…then a strong friendship connection…a working partnership…now a family.
FSE.bike is a brand of a our main corporation that started in 2006 to provide “original equipment manufacturing” (OEM) to respected cycling brands around the world.  We have been very successful and have strong partnerships with the world’s leading brands.
We never ever stop trying to improve our product, our performance, and quality control.
This is what inspired our search for a better way to make carbon fiber wheels.
Our solution is FSE – Filament Spin Evolution carbon fiber wheels. We knew immediately we were onto something ground breaking. Yet we did not rush the process.  This has been in development for three years. We have been lab and road testing them for over a year. Interbike 2016 was our official launch.
10 years later, best friends are still also partners.  We are now doing the best work of our lives and are tremendously honored and excited to present them to the people we love most…bike riders."

Cedar Hill Donut Lord:
Tremendous story - Tremendous dudes.

​Proceeds from the FSE Wheel Raffle will go directly to the Tennessee Interscholastic Cycling League, the next generation of crank-benders, those who will assuredly drop the hammer on you at some point in your esteemed bike racing career, because, you know... 

Not familiar w/the Tennessee Interscholastic Cycling League? - take a ride in our blog time machine
Some serious good kids (not too mention talent) coming out of the NICA leagues, and the Tennessee league has BLOWN UP, YA'LL. ​

Raffle tickets can be purchased when you register online and will also be sold at the registration tent & throughout the day.

Weekend of Crits
in SMASHVILLE
Fri. May 4th - Nashville twilight crit - Nashville Speedway
Sat. May 5th - Max Gander Memorial crit - Sevier Park festival, Nashville
Sun. May 6th - Ye 'Ole Leg Burner at Cedar Hill Park

T-minus 14 Days!
Registration Is Open
#Musiccitycycling #MaxGanderMemorialCrit
#CedarHillCrit 
#LordsofSprint
Big Equal Payouts
Women's Masters
Juniors Race - FREE
 Kids Race at noon - FREE

Emily Magli
Wife. Mother. Bike Racer. Lingerie Designer & returning sponsor of the Women's 123 Race at Cedar Hill
Some of ya'll may recognize Emily from her time of indentured servitude as Cedar Hill's Queen of Race Registration. What most of ya'll won't recognize (sans the Nashville orbit of cool peeps) is that over the years, Emily has been so very generous, not only with her time, but with her business. 

In keeping with this series of strong women in the sport interviews, we decided to check-in with the Miranda Priestly-Good Witch of the North a.k.a. bike-mom/fashion designer….to drink some tequila with and talk smack about her worthless sandbagging husband
 


​5 questions w/Emly Magli: fashion designer, bike racer, NICA mom

Cedar Hill Donut Lord:
1. Hey Em! First we'd like to publicly thank you for all the work that you do at the Cedar Hill Criterium -working the registration table can be challenging, but every year you own it and somehow keep the TBRA registration czar, Bill, Parson, running smoothly and on time. More importantly, for the past 4 years, or so, you've donated a beautiful garment to be awarded as a in race prime, to the women's P123 event, Unless they've won, most ladies probably aren't aware of this. But every year, one special winner takes home a custom piece of amazing fabric - beyond generous of you. Thank you for helping make our race special that way.
 
To that point - as we prepared for our discussion today, we dug around your website and found this excerpt from you, "I specialize in making lingerie and other garments from high quality fabrics sewn with care and thought for the wearer. I use many couture techniques that add an heirloom quality and beauty to it. "  - So we're really curious, does your sandbagging husband have silk pajamas?!
No, please, don't answer that..but on a serious note about you, 1. Can you tell our readers a little more about your inspiration & what makes your work here so rewarding?
 
EM - "Thank you for the kind words and your support, Don!
 
It is rewarding to take a square piece of fabric and turn it into a finished garment that brings joy to the person wearing it. I am inspired by the unique clothing designs of the 1930’s. Women progressed from wearing restrictive corsets and bustles at the turn of the century to draped, body-skimming bias dresses.
 
It took me awhile to attempt to cut and sew a bias silk gown similar to the ones I had long admired by my favorite designer, Madeleine Vionnet. Technically speaking, it was was like going from frying an egg to making a souffle. However, once I got the hang of it, sewing with silk and on the bias became my favorite thing to do.
 
I am also enamoured with vintage Japanese kimonos. The kimono is a relatively simple garment. It is literally several rectangles pieced together. However, even the non-formal everyday kimonos are beautifully sewn with tiny uniform stitches all by hand. The craftsmanship is amazing. I try to incorporate some element of hand sewing in all of my garments, whether it is appliquing the lace or creating the very narrow straps for the night gowns. I find sewing by hand calming, almost meditative. With so much busyness in our lives, it is nice to take some things slowly.
 
The garments I make are an alternative to the mass produced garments currently available in the lingerie market. I offer clothing/lingerie that is made from high quality 100% silk fabric. I give care and thought for the person wearing it. I want women to be comfortable and feel beautiful when wearing one of my garments."

Cedar Hill Donut Lord - Very cool. We checked-out your ETSY  and Facebook pages, that's some serious talent, Em, beautiful work! 

• ETSY Page - Emily Magli Clothing
• FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/EmilyMagliClothing/

Cedar Hill Donut Lord - 
​4. Favorite bike memory you'd like to share with our three readers?
EM - "It’s hard to pick one. My best moments have been with my husband. Generally, I am cursing him for taking me up some long mountain climb in a foreign place, where I feel I’ve been left for dead. Then we crest the climb, and I think, wow, that was incredible. Can we do it again?"
Cedar Hill Donut Lord -  
5.Rumor has it your doing something crazy-epic on a mtb later this Summer - What's this all about?
EM -  "It is another opportunity for me to curse my husband and then realize how great he is, I hope! We are doing the Breck-Epic mountain bike race together in Breckenridge, Colorado. We will take turns mountain biking 30-40 miles a day for six days. Luckily, we will have some pretty wonderful friends with whom we will get to share this adventure. "
​
Cedar Hill Donut Lord -
WHOA - the stuff legends are made of right there! {"hahahaha, you big dummies!"}

We hoped you enjoyed the spotlight with Emily, she's such a cool lady. If you do happen to see Emily at the Cedar Hill registration table, be sure and thank her for her generosity and for helping grow the sport - and you're interested in some custom garments below

• ETSY Page - Emily Magli Clothing
• FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/EmilyMagliClothing/

Weekend of Crits
in SMASHVILLE
Fri. May 4th - Nashville twilight crit - Nashville Speedway
Sat. May 5th - Max Gander Memorial crit - Sevier Park festival, Nashville
Sun. May 6th - Ye 'Ole Leg Burner at Cedar Hill Park

T-minus 20 Days!
Registration Is Open
#Musiccitycycling #MaxGanderMemorialCrit
#CedarHillCrit 
#LordsofSprint

Cedar Hill has always supported women's cycling, equal time equal payouts. Last month we announced we were partnering with the Tennessee Women's Cycling Project to kick-off the 2018 Tennessee Women's Masters Series. 

We're gonna keep this going and over the next 4 weeks, share some cool stories in hopes that more women are inspired to ride and perhaps one day race their bike. 

5. Obviously you're really talented when it comes to drinking beer and painting frames. What else keeps you busy?  Where can folks find your stuff or contact you for custom work?
​" I stay busy doing all sorts of various painting projects. Murals, portraits, set painting. You can see some of the things I've worked on at www.jenacook.com "

 

Dang. That's some serious range, Sister.

Big thanks to Jena for sharing some of her cool work, we can't wait to see the donkey kong frame she's been mumbling about.
If you're interested in getting your whip did, shoot her a message. 

Friendly reminder:
Weekend of Crits
Fri. May 4th - Nashville twilight crit - Nashville Speedway
Sat. May 5th - Max Gander Memorial crit - Sevier Park festival, Nashville
Sun. May 6th - Ye 'Ole Leg Burner at Cedar Hill Park

T-minus 34 Days!
Registration Is Open

We interrupt your Monday morning to offer this important race update.
MOAR CRITS.
Friday, May 4th - Nashville Speedway twilight crit, hosted by Music City Crits
Saturday, May 5th - 3rd annual Max Gander Memorial Criterium - honoring young Maximillion with a furiously fast four corner race dropped right into the center of maddening 12-south Sevier park festival. This is some serious get down wedged in-between Friday night speed way wiggles and yours truly, ye old leg burner.  
Sunday, May 6th, Cedar Hill Criterium 
*more deets as we get them & race flyers should be up this week
#MusicCityCrits #MaxGanderCrit #CedarHillCrit
 #LordsofSprint

​

Race registration(s) will be separate -  Tennessee Bike Racing Association website 

Super Bowl LII  - amazing game!
Halftime show w/Justin Timberlake - whaaaaa? LIT!
Justin Timberlake selfie w/kid on phone - ummm, ok. 
Kid google search - #LordsofSprint??? YEAAAYUH! 

….ok ok, we'll stop, just had to - keep reading. lol 

Congrats on getting this going - tell the 5 people who read this blog how you started working on this.
"Thank you! The series came together quickly once we came up with a plan, but we’ve been working on this for years.

I think it was 2011 when the conversations started about masters-aged racing. Women racers from various teams across the state believe there’s a gap in women’s racing that isn’t being met: We want to be able to race with our age-group peers, like the guys can--for road, they have four age-group series competitions.

We’ve crunched the numbers, we’ve sent surveys, and we believe that we can attract women who are new to road racing. We also think we can help retain women who would otherwise leave for disciplines or sports that have age-group competitions.

We have made great strides over the years: In 2015, a women’s masters state championship time trial jersey was awarded through our local USA Cycling association. And in 2017, road race and criterium jerseys were added.  

This year, the BF actually had the idea of just starting our own series. He suggested we use existing races, like Ryan Trebon did with USCUP. That got me thinking about the SEW Series from several years back. It may very well have been the catalyst for women getting separate category races, instead of all racing together. So I came up with a plan, asked a few friends for help, and here we are! This series definitely would not have been possible without their help and without title sponsorship from Empower Electric."

(Trebon story:  http://www.velonews.com/2017/06/news/ryan-trebon-launches-new-national-cx-series-sho-air_440236).

Very nice initial lineup - how’d you decide on these?

"I mostly asked promoters who were already highly supportive of women’s racing: either they had offered women’s masters races at their event or events last year or they provided equal payout. Cedar Hill offers equal payout and equal race time to the women’s category fields. Plus we always tell our teammates that Cedar Hill is a great first crit experience, because of the wide roads, not to mention that it’s a very well-managed event. Plus beer."

Massage Envy and Kendra Scott? What’s the connection?
 
"Massage Envy has been a sponsor of our team since our first year! They’ve provided us with massage gift cards to give out as prizes at the races and clinics we have promoted. For the Empower Her series, we have massage primes for each race! Kendra Scott is a more recent sponsor of the team. You’ll often see TWCP gals adorned with their jewelry, if you catch us off the bike. For the series, Kendra Scott is offering jewelry pieces as primes!"

Next steps for this - long-term vision, maybe a Watopia Masters?
"Have you done a Watopia race yet? They are hard! And I got DQ’d from the only one I did—leave it to me to get DQ’d from a virtual race!
We hope that this series is wildly successful and that we can grow it each year. Perhaps adding an omnium or some road races to the list of crits. We’d also love to grow our sponsorship to do things like adding age group bonuses to each race and have more age groups in the overall series."

Favorite beer & brewery in Nashville?  
"Jackalope, of course! They are a new sponsor for us in 2018! It’s a good time of year for a Snowman Stout. But Little Harpeth Brewery is a close second, what, with me having German blood and all. Love their High Water. Prost! "

We'd like to thank Marsha and others, for continuing to be a driving force for equality in sport. For more details on the Women's Masters Series click thru any of the links listed here! 
https://www.facebook.com/EmpowerHerRacing/
https://tnwomenscycling.com/empower-her-masters-series/
https://www.empower-electric.com/

Cedar Hill Criterium has always been an #Equal event so it really made sense to us to support this cool initiative that Marsha and other women have been asking for. We look forward to seeing everyone at Cedar Hill on  Sunday, May 6th! 
#CedarHillCrit #LordsofSprint #Equal #HallmarkVWofCoolSprings #HattieB's #HattieBsRacing #RBsCyclery #Shimano #LilHarpethBrewing #BikersChoice ​

After a successful run of nearly a decade, our friends and race weekend partners over at HoS have made the difficult decision to throw in the towel. Sadly, the donut-lord reached his zenith too soon, the flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long kind of thing, he now fashions only the finest  of velvet lounge pants w/elastic band. 
There's a lot of love that has been shared over the years from Hell of the South, a litmus of early season form, for some a cruel reminder that it's time to stop eating cheeseburgers for breakfast.  Hell of the South is about as epic as your gonna find around these parts. A road race shat out in deep nasty middle-Tennessee, on gravel and chipped roads with  lumpy sections that would fry your legs and hair-raising bombs that would stain your chamois. We'd be lying if we didn't admit it's been a hell of a race weekend line-up having both HoS & Cedar Hill, and it's honestly, it's gonna be difficult to replace something like that, but keep reading, we're working on that.
We're gonna miss you, sweet nasty Hell of the South (wipes tear from face, continues eating bear claw). 
Thanks for everything, Marshall, Chapeau, 'ol dumpybutt. 

So where's that leave the #LordsofSprint? Obviously a full race weekend is a big attraction for folks and since we're not ready to turn out the lights we figured we'd better get our fannie in motion and work on a suitable replacement. Intense research included speaking with a sports marketing agency who specializes in event management (read: we drank a lot of beer with friends who know people, who work at an agency) as well as doing some regional market research (translation: we called and hung out with peeps who raced Cedar Hill, that lived in other cities, and then we drank beer with them too). The results? Dump the outliers, and things were fairly consistent...

Pretty straight-forward here. Folks like to race their bikes and get on with their respective bidness, and it's no surprise that folks were really into a weekend of crits versus the hot yoga/time trial combo that we were pitching. As a side-note, we were hell bent on the yoga thing, but someone said "where will we put our bikes?" and well, that ended that fantasy. 

Cliff notes:
Typical caffeine induced search for new venues/dates and a not so random call from Bicycle Jesus who inspired us to meet with the brains behind Red Kite Bicycle Studio. Massive portions of Hattie B's Hot Chicken were consumed & flames retarded with Little Harpeth Brewing mosaic india pale kolsch (shameless sponsor plugs). To the point, finally. 

We're stoked to announce we're sharing a race weekend with the Max Gander Memorial criterium. The dudes at Red Kite Bicycle Studio have been hosting the Max Gander memorial criterium, for a couple of years now. A local kid with grit and determination, young Max would settle right into the middle of a large pack and then rocket forward during a field sprint, that kid had some gusto. Years beyond his age, sadly,  he left us too soon. 
The Max Gander Criterium happens within the safe confines of the Sevier Park festival, which happens every year in a hip little area of Nashville called 12 South, lot's of fancy boutiques, eateries, live music and of course, beer.  The dudes at Red Kite have memorialized their 4 corner watt bomb exhibition in honor of young Max. They've partnered with the 12 South Festival and have been successfully promoting this event for a few years now and it's one heckuva race and  good time. Click thru for race details, 2018 Max Gander Memorial Criterium 

Additionally, there is a small chance the fat man in the red suit drops an open track date down the chimney in hopes of adding a Nashville Speedway twilight crit on Friday, May 4th. We've had some chats with our friends over at the Music City Crits  and we'll know sometime next month. 

Until then -  from everyone at the Cedar Hill Criterium, we do hope your holidays are full of all the things you dream of,  beer and cookies and puppies and unicorns, and pizza and snuggles.
Merry Christmas, Ya'll. 

...it's so bright, you're gonna need shades!
​
One of the things we're most proud of here at the Cedar Hill Criterium, is that every year we send a little nugget of race proceeds to Kat Williams & the very cool people over at the Tennessee High School Cycling League. Build it and they will come, as they say. 
We're humbled by the great work that people like Katherine and the folks who make-up the Tennessee NICA league do - they encourage kids to play on their bikes! They teach them how to train,  and yes, how to race, but more than anything, they get kids outside to have fun on bikes! These activities help to build high character & fellowship and an appreciation our sport and is very rewarding to see so many families embrace the opportunity for outdoor activity with their kids. 

​So it has always been a no-brainer (kind of like #EQUALPAYOUTS) for Cedar Hill Criterium to donate a portion of the race proceeds in support of the Tennessee High School Cycling League; over the last 4 years, Cedar Hill Criterium & Treehouse Racing have made modest donations to the Tennessee High School Cycling League - not a budget busting amount mind you, but something we're proud of nonetheless - helping those who help kids to play on bikes!

 Important to note this happened because of the great community support from folks at the Madison-Rivergate Chamber of Commerce, also from our local bike shops that support Cedar Hill Criterium, RB's Cyclerly of Cool Springs, and Biker's Choice in Hendersonville.  As well as from the likes of our title sponsors from Hallmark VW of Cool Springs, Bailey's Wrecker Service, and Little Harpeth Brewing - each year these companies help make  your Cedar Hill Criterium possible, and by default, these companies are also helping to support the growth and development of the Tennessee High School Cycling League.

*A race update for this year's Cedar Hill Criterium: we're stoked to announce that The Picnic Tap will be pouring Little Harpteth Brewing beer in our beer garden at the big tent.
Stop by during the day's races and enjoy some of these tasty suds: (1)Bison Bock, (2)Chicken Scratch Pilsner, and (3)the delicious new IPK, mosaic infused india pale kolsch. *Little Harepth Brewing  will be donating proceeds from the sale of Little Harpeth Brewing beer to the Tennessee High School Cycling League. Cedar Hill Criterium is happy to announce that we'll match this donation as well!

Little Harpeth Brewing has always provided growler fills for the 10 Cedar Hill Criterium Champions each year! They're cool like that - If ya'll haven't been over to their taproom, Address: 30 Oldham St, Nashville, TN 37213 -please check them out, they have weekend brewery tours, special brewery events & live music, ping pong and of course, AMAZING BEAH! 

​As we head into the final stretch, two weeks to race weekend, with Hell of the South and Cedar Hill Criterium. Over the next two weeks, we'll be taking a moment to recognize some great partnerships that really make your race weekend at Hell of the South and Cedar Hill Criterium an exciting race community event. The trick, composing something worthy of our partners and sponsors, that, is meaningful to you (i.e. you'll read), and something that we can get away with creatively (note our editor and creative are the same beer drinker).
For the sake of time, and fading interest, we'll jump right into this, take the epic 1970 comedy- Stir Crazy and attached scene (click me) this particular scene might identify with the hilarious lives of the race promoters from @HelloftheSouth and @CedarHillCrit. We're having a lot of fun with the event planning this year, but it's always a comedy of errors as we steam towards race day. 

Back to the salt mines, see you soon 
Hell of the South on Saturday, April 1st
&
 Cedar Hill Criterium on Sunday April 2nd!

2 time Olympian
2 time World ParaCyclist winner
Multi-National Championships
so many amazing accomplishments we can't list them all, but they are listed here

What's this all aboot, eh? (in our best hillbilly canadian accent...) 

Introducing: Lynne Bessette - MOAR CANADIANS!
Not that often you get the chance to announce that there will be  a 4-time Olympiad visiting your community and race! We're beyond stoked to announce that Lynne will be shepherding Team Lowest Rates as their new DS! 

We'll have more details soon, but until then, please check out the Press Release from Team Lowest Rates: 

CANADIAN CYCLING LEGEND LYNE BESSETTE JOINS TEAM LOWESTRATES.CA
PRESS RELEASE
Gatineau, Quebec, March 8th, 2017
Team owner, Frederick Gates is honoured to announce that Lyne Bessette, one of the most decorated cyclists in Canadian history will join the Lowestrates.ca Cycling Team as the new Director Sportif.
The Lac-Brome, Quebec native will bring her wealth of knowledge and passion for the team’s 3rd season on the UCI racing scene. “I’ve always admired Lyne’s determination and outspoken personality. She’s had enormous success while facing multiple challenges on and off the bike during most of her career, and still accomplished all of it while keeping her integrity intact. My goal was to find someone with character, passion and lots of experience. I could not think of a better person than Lyne to lead the way,” said Frédérick Gates - Team Owner and Manager
After her dream of going to the Olympics as a runner was put on hold due to injuries, Bessette began to cycle, reviving her Olympic dream. Following her first podium at the 1995 Quebec Provincial Championships, Bessette’s cycling career grew in success. The two-time Olympian’s resume includes Gold (1998) and Bronze (2002) medals at the Commonwealth Games, multiple National Championships, twice winner of the mythical Tour de Laude in France, podiums at the Flèche Wallonne & Montreal World Cups, obtaining Top-15 finishes at both the road and cyclo-cross World Championships.
After retiring from the Pro Peloton in 2006, Lyne joined the Canadian National Para-Cycling program as a pilot for Robbi Weldon, a gifted visually impaired Canadian athlete. Together they formed one of the best duos in the world, clinching World titles in 2010 and in 2011. The two achieved their ultimate goal and became Olympic Champions at the 2012 London Games.
The lifetime athlete is very excited about the new role and the adventure coming ahead. “I’ve never directed a team before. I have been asked multiple times but it was never a good timing with my calendar and what I was doing. I think now that the opportunity has come again, I really wanted to try to give back and try a new challenge,” Lyne Bessette – Director Sportif, Team LowestRates.ca
“I want to be close to development, I really think that’s the base that we need to work on to help grow the sport. I also like the goals and what the team has done before in supporting other countries,” Lyne Bessette – Director Sportif, Team LowestRates.ca
Bessette will meet the team during its 3rd annual ‘Music City’ training camp in Nashville, Tennessee on April 1st and you will find her rallying the guys from the team car at the team’s first UCI America Tour race of the season from June 8th to the 11th in Saguenay, Quebec.
Lyne is still a very active athlete. She will balance her time between directing the team in key races and pursuing her own athletic endeavors. These include riding the Rasputitsa Spring Classic in Vermont, an event partnered with Les a 100B7, the “Cyclosportive” she will be organizing for the 5th year in a row on October 1st. She also intends to take part in an adventure race in China and will be on the start line of the first ever “Haute Route” event held in North America. The race features a total of 815 kilometers of riding and 15,000 meters of climbing in the spectacular setting of the Rocky Mountains.
The team is very excited about the new addition and welcomes their new mentor into its cycling family.

Some of her crazy adventures captured here, in her blog 


LowestRates.ca Biemme · Essence of Cycling Biemme America Tower International Centre du vélo La Shop Santé Universelle xactnutrition Brix rechargé par la nature Easton Cycling Bell Bike Helmets Opus BikeSwiftwick Socks
http://lowestratescycling.com/…/canadian-cycling-hall-of-f…/

• Cedar Hill Crit - Registration is now OPEN 
  Sunday, April 2nd, Cedar Hill Park 

​

• Hell of the South RR - Registration now OPEN

Saturday, April 1st, Lewisburg, TN

Quick hits this morning. 

• 2016 was a great year for our sport with more than 60 TBRA races (road)
• ​Working feverishly (okay, not entirely  true) on your early 2017 race smash:
  • Sat. April 1st - Hell of the South
  • Sun. April 2nd - Cedar Hill Criterium 
• Cedar Hill Criterium is made possible thru great community and sponsor support 
• Proceeds from Cedar Hill Criterium support the Tennessee High School Cycling League
• Treehouse Racing update: Our band of beer drinkers, er bike racers, landed new team sponsorship. Same Treehouse Racing dudes, now officially representing Hattie B's Racing. For our out of town racing folks, Hattie B's is Nashville's own and critically acclaimed hot fried chicken restaurant. We love to eat this stuff and think you will too, just make sure your chamois is fire retardant if you go for Shut the Cluck Up, and, mind the dragon, um, fire breathing chicken. 

If you're still reading, then obviously you are not working, so, maybe wipe the powdered sugar off your shirt, put down the donut, and get to cracking. We'll be back soon with more exciting deets. 
@cedarhillcrit  @hellofthesouth