BBQ, Loose Rock, and KOM Rivals at the Mellow Johnny's Classic

Posted by Strava on March 6th, 2012

Strava headed to Austin, TX this past weekend to attend the Subaru of Georgetown Mellow Johnny’s Classic, the first PRO XCT and UCI Category 1 event of the year. The pro field was jacked with Olympic hopefuls battling it out on a new course at Flat Creek Crossing Ranch in an attempt to collect their first UCI points of 2012. The unfamiliar course made reconnaissance essential, and Jamis rider Jason Sager visited the site early and shared his Strava files so that we could begin setting up some new segments for our own unique competition.

The Strava KOM Hill and the MJ Classic Cat 1-3 Loop gave amateur riders an opportunity to compete among themselves and against the pros. While we ran into a hearty population of preexisting Strava users, we also recruited some new fans as they competed in age categories for the fastest lap. Early in the weekend the question that we heard again and again was, “So, what’s this Strava thing that I keep hearing about!?” and by the time things wrapped up we could easily describe Strava as “the fuel behind the fire.”

Pros and amateurs put down some impressive times on our KOM segment on Saturday and Sunday, but in the end it was local Cat 1 racer Joshua deBoisBlanc who edged out all of the pros by a mere two seconds! Joshua will receive a full Strava kit and one year of Strava Premium for his achievement. Winners in each of the Strava age groups for the Fastest Cat 1-3 Lap (excluding the pro field) will also receive a free year of Strava Premium in addition to a Strava Jersey. Congratulations to:

24 and under: Tyler Coplea

25 to 34: Tyruss Cramer, Sarah Ginsback

35 to 44: Manny Galegos, Jessica Hanover

45 to 54: Ty Kady

55 to 64: Jack Hicks, Janis Moreman

65 and over: Bill Moreman

All in all, our visit to Austin was a great success. The abundance of hard-core athletes, not to mention the incredible restaurants and authentic Texas BBQ, will certainly entice us to return. Special thanks to the wonderful folks at Mellow Johnny’s and Juan Pelota Cafe who kept us well fed and comfortably outfitted for the weekend. It’s not every day that sponsors are treated to smoked salmon, fresh-baked pastries and hand-filtered coffee at a mountain bike race. Luckily, we were also loaned an extra bike so that we could burn off some of those calories!