AUSTIN -- I first heard of this place in the early 1990's when I raced BMX in Connecticut. I read an article about some guy named Marty Christman and how he and some other guys piled up dirt in the woods someplace. They carried dirt for the jumps in wheelbarrows, built with shovels. They waited for it to rain to build so the brutal Texas sun could harden the earth into concrete, launching the riders into the trees above.

At the time, the magazines pretended the only place…

AUSTIN, Texas -- Bike messengers from all over the country gathered in the south-west corner of Austin for the 2011 North American Cycle Courier World Championships.

The race was the end of a week-long series of events and races starting with track races at the velodrome Houston the weekend before and finishing with the weekend of chaos in Austin -- including a ride…