Get Mo v i ng ' Hundreds of cyclists will wheel out their best moves for two upcoming biking even ts: the Eighth Ann ual Bump and Gri nd mountain bike r ace at Oak Mountai n Stat e Park on Sunday, June 2, and the slower- pa ced Bik e Ac ros s Ma gn ific ent Ala ba ma (BAMA)taking place June 8 thr ough 15 . Tw o -time mountain bike Ol ympian Da vid 'TInker " Juar ez will ret urn this year to race for the Bump and Grind title aft er he "fl atte d out" last year and was unabl e to fi n - ish . "He 's one of the few people to ride in the only two mountain biki ng races in the Ol ympics in 1996 and 2000," says HardwickGregg, co -organiz erof Bump and Grind . "W e' ll also have one of t he top wom en p ro- fess ion als , Ma ry Grigs bn, who's the current solo worl d champion in the rel ati vely n ew Ad renal ine 24-Hour Solo event ." Though not yet confirmed, on e of the peop le cre dit ed wit h the invention of the mountain bike, Gar y Fi sher, ma y also make an appear anc e. In 19 74 , Fi sher, togetherwith other m ountain biking devotees, cre- ated the forefat her of t he contempor ar y mount ain bike, cal led "The Klunker "-a contrapt ion with a wide g ear range an d motorcycle brakes bui lt on a 1930s-era bike frame. "He and a bunch of other guys st arted racing o ld single s pe ed s, cruise rs, and stuff; and modify in g them for of f-road racing in Ma rin [County, Cali fornia 1 in the lat e '70s," says Gregg. More than 600 compet i- tors of all skil lleveIs and ages will compete in 45 di fferent race categories. "We started with a li t t le over 300 [ bik ers 1 , so [attendanc e 1 ha s approxi- mately doubled," sa ys Gregg. The race is on the UeI World Cup Calendar thi s yea r, mean- ing that the profess ional r ac- ers who place in the cross - country event will be awarded World Cup point s by the Union Cycl iste lnternationale. The entr y fee to com- pe te in the rac e is $30 before Saturda y, May 25, and r egistra- tion forms are avai lable at Cahaba Cyc les and Home- . wo od Cy cles . After Ma y 25 , online re gi stra ti on wi ll be availa ble at www:a cti ve .com for a $4 0 fee . All riders mu st pre sen t a NO~ A license. On e-day trial licenses are a va il- able for $5 and can be pu r- ch as ed the day of the r ace. For more information , call 592- BUM P orvisit www :bump.org. For bike rs who pr efer a more leisurely pa ce com bin ed wit h ple nty of sig hts eeing, Bike Across Magnificent Alabama will follow a route that cover s mo re than 400 miles, from Dauphi n Island to Ale xander City. 'We want to make people a ware of bicyc ling as a fe asibl e mode of tr ansport ation," sa ys execu- tive di rector of t he e ve nt Morton Archi bald , who star ted BAMAin 1995. ' 1\nyone who's gonna be on this ride should not expect to lose any weight , e ven though they 'll be ped- dling and using a lot of ene rgy The food is absolute ly fa bu lou s along the Gulf " The tour wil l stop at what was former- ly ca lled "Massacre Island," after a large pil e of hu ma n ske let on s was discovered there in 1699 by French explor er Pierre Le Moyne . The site was later renamed Dauphi n Island in honor of the heir to the French throne. The biking t o ur will then c o nt i nue to t he '!! 1 S Y haven of Fai rhop e, w"htChwas foun ded more than 100 years ago by a group of set tlers looki ng to create th eir own personal Utopia (it' s a town where even the trash cans double as pl anters). According to legend , one of t he settlers said the new colony had "a fairhope of s ucces s ," and thus the communi t y of Fair hope was born. After stops at Ever- green, wh ich is, accor ding to Archi ba ld, "the best k e pt secret in America," Greenvill e, and other to wns, the tr i p wil l conclude in Alexa nd erCit y. The tr i p cos ts $2 50 . To register, vis it ww w: bike bama.com, or call 256-658-518 9. -VB
