The Event

Saturday I wanted to go to the mountains.  I was planning on going to the mountains.

Best laid plans and all that.

Talking to Kurt on the phone Friday night, reality poked its head in and said, "wake up."  With just over a month to go before our Faster Mustache: Charlotte event, the loose ends were too many to count.  No one one was in a hurry to get counting.  The route still had not been ridden in its entirety, save for some finger tracing on a map, a couple attempts at the route that ended in near misses, and some mental lappage.  We needed to get out and do it if this thing is going to come together.

We decided to ride the route in its complete entirety.

The vision will become a reality and reality must not stand in the way of a vision.

Yes, the original artwork had the race being on March 10th (Sunday).  The calendar reading committee did not get the right information to the marketing team and the marketing team forwarded said bad information on to the art department.  The real flyer will say March 9th (Saturday) before it's generally available to the general public.

What is the Tour de (quite possibly "duh" when the artwork is fixed) Clt about?

All the official information will be up very soon in an official place where it will command a certain amount of respect, but here are the basics:

We will meet at a fixed location at a fixed time.  That location will be where you leave your car and personal effects that you do not wish to carry all day long.  If you did not drive a car, and in fact rode your bike to the venue, you would want to keep that with you.  It will come in handy.  This will also be the location where you will take care of all the paperwork that frees us (FM:CLT) from all liability, receive pertinent information you will need throughout the day, and from whence we will leave at approximately that predetermined fixed time I mentioned earlier.

There will be a fee to enter this event.  It will hopefully cover our expenses, maybe even net enough profit that we can order that patch kit we (the collective and royal) had our eyes on at Bike Source.

From there (above said location), we will ride at a pleasant pace to a yet another location... where racing will ensue. 

Then we will regroup, move on, and repeat the experience over and over.  There will be as many as five racing stages.

Racers will be scored in a manner that reflects finish order, so as to reward the faster riders for their diligence, bravery, quickness, and perseverance.

Slower riders will be scored to reflect their lack of speed, but will receive pats on their respective backs for overall tenacity and sportsmanship.  Pats will be lighter but just as enthusiastic the further back you place.

Racing sections will be primarily, but not entirely, dirt focused.  A road bike would not be good... but they never are.

A cross bike might be okay, but we will see some actual trail that will put you at a disadvantage.

There will be a food stop, where food may be provided at our cost, but will certainly be available at yours.  I might add they have an excellent beer selection.

We will eventually end up back where we started.  This will make for a long day.  Some twenty five or so miles BETWEEN timed stages as a group, and as much as an hour of racing.  We could be out for anywhere between five to seven hours (food stop included).  This is a very social pace, no man left behind, unless that man wasn't paying close attention or decided to just head back due to being over his head.  Prepare for a long day; water, nibbly bits, tubes, tools, and whatnot.  Skinny jeans with empty pockets would be a poor choice.

After the race, there will be refreshments.

Results will be tabulated by our tabulatory committee and prizes from our sponsors will be distributed based on those results by our prize distributory committee.

Music will happen.  Could be a band (probably not), possibly a boom box with 80's metal tapes (more probable), or Timmy might just pull his drums out into the yard and we can all take turns.

The party will go on well into the night.  Prepare for that as well.

I took very few photos on our pre-ride that will help give you any idea as to how the racing action will play out.

You will not have to do this:

You might possibly end up feeling like this:

More information once our information is more public in nature which should be the end of this week or the beginning of the next or shortly thereafter.

For now, just mark your calendars for March... ummm... 9th and prepare your legs and liver.