Get it over with already

Ok, I've got to get through this recap already... I'm starting to feel like The Mutt with this slow roll of info.

So where was I?  Ah yes, the promise of beer.  We rolled through NoDa, which probably wasn't too strange of a site for people to see around 100 cyclist passing by, and got to our final destination.  Where there was beer!

We were in an open park with a cyclocross course taped off.  I didn't ride the course, but from watching the riders it was tough!  They came through flying on the first lap, and by the second it looked like EVERYONE was dying.  The park itself is basically the side of a hill, so there was just a little elevation in the course.

Just a reminder of how much riding there is so close to uptown... even if it is a hijacked cyclocross course

And not to be outdone by the other stages - riders still had a little fun through the air on this one.

The "Beer Me" interlude

And the grande finale

Nik was out there doing his thing all day

One last quick meeting before things get really crazy... it's about time to party!

Beer was flowing freely at the party. 

Ties were broken

Underwear shown for drinking speed

Yes, he does have underwear on his hands

And winners were crowned

Like last year, trophies were kickass

3st - Thirst

And I even came out with some schwag

Everyone got a pint glass - SWEET!

I got some Maxxis love for the Meuse

To quickly recap - the Tour de Charlotte was bikes, beer, and fun. 

Why weren't you there?

I'm not dead

Last week illness completely kicked my ass!!  Annie had been sick the week before and I thought I made it through unscathed.  Just as she was getting better, my ass was handed to me.  Monday night it hit me, and I was out for the count all week.  I tried to get up for the 8 count on Friday, but just as I got to work I realized that wasn't going to happen so I left after half the day.

I'm finally getting my legs back under me, so I'll pick up where I left off... heading to stage there of the Tour de Charlotte.  We rolled through some neighborhoods on our way to our next stage at a city park.  As we were exiting the neighborhood someone realized where we were - Hidden Valley.  We had no issues rolling through en mass, and I noticed more than a few people seemingly enjoying our group as they held up their phones to take video of us passing through.  But, this is not a section of town that you would normally want to wander through.

Racers held up for a meeting and the party people took the trails to get to a good viewing spot.  The trails were a bit greasy and as we got close to our stopping spot we hit a nice little downhill which caused hesitation in more than a few riders.  It was a fun little run with a built in rock launch - I choose to keep my tires on the dirt as I rolled down.  I grabbed a spot to catch the action as the racers came through.  Most of the racers bypassed the jump, but every now and we had riders catching air.

Dicky was sweeping, but that didn't stop him from getting rad!

FM photographer Nik got rad himself

Irish Luke was at home in the mud and rocks

Then things picked up with rider after rider hitting the jump back to back

As the racers came through on their last lap the partiers jumped on the back and we all headed out of the park and hit the streets.  Beer was running low at this point so plans were starting to hatch to find a refill station on the way when we heard the most glorious thing that could ever be announced during a race - there would be a keg at the final stage!!  

One stage to go - and I will continue to stretch this out since I've done nothing but lay on the couch and watch crappy movie after crappy movie for the past week.  April is right around the corner and I'm motivated to jump on board the whole 30 Days of Biking shindig.  I'll talk about my plans for that on Wednesday I suppose.

Getting to round two

As the first race was coming to an end a rider came limping through with a flat tire. I followed him to the finish to lend a hand as he needed a pump. Accountabilibro for the second time.  I had to jump off the trail to let racers by so by the time I caught up with him he had gotten a pump from someone else, although I was able to lend a tire lever.

He made quick order of the change with time to spare before it was time to roll out to stage two. We got to ride a little of the new trail before dumping out into a dead end. As the group began to roll to stage two I spotted a rider pulling off to the side. He was alone so I stopped to see if he needed anything - he was all set, but I stayed to get directions from the sweeper as he changed tubes. This guy fixed his flat in record time and we caught up to the group quickly as they made their way down some train tracks.

This was one of my favorite aspects of the Tour de Charlotte this year - more riding to the stages on trail (or trail like) routes.  We rode the gravel of the train tracks for a short distance (the Meuse had no issue with the bigger rocks of the train track gravel) and then hit up some sewer line trail.  We eventually poured out into neighborhood and made our way up to Tryon... where the hell were they taking us??

Somewhere glorious, that's where!!

Abandoned go kart tracks!!  I'd have to say this was a very creative stage, and way to pull it off!!  I asked some of the FM crew how they managed to get this location and the answer was: we just showed up.  Nice!  There was even pizza waiting for us at our arrival!!

They ran heats for elimination with the final battle coming down to a lap eliminator where the last person on each lap was dropped until there were three racers left, at which point there was a non eliminating lap and then a final lap for the win.

The competition was great throughout the heats, with some very close battles.  There were even a couple of winners crossing in style.

Women's winner - jumping for joy!

Sprint to the finish for the Men

This was a great stage.  Fun for the racers, and a great spectating stage for the partiers.  I don't know where you go from a go kart track, but there were two more stages left so we all got moving once again to see what else the FM crew had in store for us.

too much fun?

This weekend was looking like I'd have two great days of riding.  Saturday was the Tour de Charlotte, and Sunday was the 49er ride - which was modified to a 51 miler due to a scheduled controlled burn.

I attended the tour last year and it was a BLAST, so coming back again this year was a no brainer.  This year's event, in my opinion, blew last year out of the water!  That is not to diminish last year's event in any way.  Instead it is praise to how much the Faster Mustache crew stepped things up this year in terms of bringing the new, the creative, and the fun to the riding and racing.

After the ride the fun continued... and for me continued on a little too long.  The end of the night is just a tad foggy, but let's just say too much fun meant I wasn't getting down to Augusta to ride the next day...

I've got tons of pictures to go through, so I'll likely string this out stage by stage.  But if you didn't make it out for the tour this year, then you best start planning for next year!!

plans... kinda backwards

So I've started planning... for August.  I've started sketchy out my roadtrip up to the very tip of Michigan for SSUSA.

What I haven't been paying attention to is this weekend... and my conflict, rather perceived conflict.

I've know that the Tour de Charlotte has been coming up - and I've been off and on looking forward to it.  Overall - I've been looking forward to it as it was a BLAST last year - even though I did end the day with helmet strips burned into the top of my dome...  Nonetheless, great event to which I instantly knew I would attend again.  Something about this year has been dragging - so when the date was first there I was down, without a thought - and there lies the problem.  I never paid attention to when it was.  It's this weekend.

Then I committed to a 49 miles ride down in South Carolina.... or Georgia... somewhere... trails and pavement(less) roads.  Sounds... "fun."  It's something Dustin is organizing, so I know it will be great.  Plus (something I think is a GREAT idea... Trailblazers pay attention) is that the ride benefits the local club!  $25 for a big ride with some support, to benefit a bike club - worth it.  This event is also this weekend.

So last night it dawned on me that there might be a conflict... jumped on the facebook to check the dates... Tour de Charlotte is Saturday... crap.  I think the 49er is Saturday as well.  Travel or stay local... local prevails.  So I let Dustin know the bad news....

And then he let me know some good news - 49er ride is on Sunday.  YAY... ugh... yay?  So mess around on Saturday with the Tour (party pace, beers, pictures, general shenanigans) and then an EARLY morning to get down for the 49er ride?  Or drive down Saturday night so my morning isn't so early as I am NOT a morning person...  Yup, calls for more planning.  And as we all know, planning is my JAM!

Try not to fall off the edge of your seat as you wait to see how this all pans out.

Learned

Old dog.  New tricks.  All that jazz.

Saturday my buddy Sean came down to Charlotte and we snuck in a little ride before he had to "conduct some business."  He really did have some business to attend to... quotes just felt right.

Anyway, months back Sean and I partook in the Tour De Charlotte (I in the mass of riders, Sean as a racer) and he got a brief taste of BYT.  I figured it was time that he got a proper tour of the joy that is BYT.  Since the Glow Worm was getting some brake love at my LBS, it was time to pull out the HiFi.  I had to rinse off a nice thick layer of concrete dust from the bathroom remodel and throw on a saddle and some pedals... but soon it was looking ready to ride.  Let me tell you, forks that move are WEIRD!!  Even in the parking lot I was like "woah, this things dips and dives!!"  I got over it.

Armed with our cameras, we hit up the trails.  We were just messing around, filming briefly here and there, enjoying the trail and all the recent improvements (crazy big drop/launches right off the start now).  Unfortunately, our ride got cut short as one of Sean's cleat bolts decided to abandon ship making clipping in/out impossible.  As BYT has been known to inflict pain from time to time we decided we better bail before he snapped an ankle or tore a ligament.  

What Sean did see, he loved!  We got through about half of the trail, so it wasn't a bad introduction.  He went ape shit over the poo tracks - imagine that...  We'll get out there again, for sure.  Maybe next time we'll be able to compile enough footage to do something with. 

Oh, I almost forgot to talk about the new trick.  So... there has always been one boulder that I haven't been able to conquer.  You know the one... it's after the tight squeeze through two rocks into a quick up, pass by the run-off drop, around the bend and BLAM, there it is!  Anyway, I've always stalled out on it, no matter what line I attempted to take.  Sean set me straight.  And on my first try with the new vision in my head I killed it.  No longer will I have to dread the boulder and put a foot down.  

Rockin!

Learned

Not only was the Tour de Charlotte fun, but it was educational too!

During the ride we hit up some greenway that I hadn't ridden before.  To be honest, I haven't really hit up any greenway in Charlotte yet... I typically just stuck to the streets.  While on the road bike I'll probably always stick with the streets, but on those rides where I'm riding to the trail the greenways might be helpful.  We did hit a section that I could likely incorporate into my ride out to Renni, and also out to Trailblazer meetings, so that is cool!

No, I'm not a Michigan fan.....

I need a cycling hat.

Being out all day on such a beautiful sunny day I definitely got some sun.  Red arms, nose... and "speed stripes" on the head.  Time to get myself a cycling cap for under the helmet!

On Sunday, I did a little trail work.  I've got to say that I'm pretty psyched about what's been going on out in the woods!  I'll fill you in on that tomorrow... it's raining, so I'll need something to talk about since there will probably not be a night ride tonight - BOO!

Party Pacing Charlotte

Saturday was the very first Tour de Charlotte and it was a blast!  The event was masterminded by the Faster Mustache guys.  Having little/no contact with these guys before the event I wasn't exactly sure what I was in for.  I certainly knew there would be riding, racing, and beer... and of course, there were all three of those.  But the greatest thing about this event was that is was totally and completely inclusive (all types of bikes, levels of riding abilities, etc.).  There were no egos, no attitudes, there was just a it really great vibe right from the get-go.

I'd have to say that this event was a great success.  There were about 91 participants riding through Charlotte together... it must have been a sight to see for those out enjoying the beautiful weather on Saturday.  Numerous times I'd pass families trying to count all the riders going by.  A lot of friendly waving, and we even got a train conductor to blow his horn!

This year the FM guys let us know that this was totally underground and was a big fun group ride/scavenger hunt "non-race."  Next year the red tape will be tackled to make it a more "proper" and permanent fixture.  And, I am very excited for that.  If this year's event is to serve as the baseline for all those to come, then this is an event that you do not want to miss.

I passed on racing this year as I really didn't want my legs failing at the end of the ride after putting in various stages of effort into them throughout the day.  For me, I think that was a fine decision.  Next year?  I'll probably be racing as well.  They had some great little courses out there and mixed up the formats throughout the day.  From a straight up singletrack race, to stages with multiple laps, to the grande finale "death crit" (it was held in the cemetery)

Milling around waiting for the "pre-race" meeting.

The trophies

Rules and regulations

More info... thanks Tim for letting us hang out at your house!

waiting to go.

Soon after the FM guys announced the start a loud bang went off.  Did someone really bring a starter pistol??  Nope, someones tire blew off!!  Quick fix, and we were all ready to roll

Riders in the front

Riders in the rear...  stretching back as far as you can see

Spectating the finish at BYT

Pit stop at the Spoke Easy for some pizza and beer

mmm beer

The fun doesn't stop during the break!

the Death Crit

Post ride fire, food, and beers.

I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all those involved in making this happen.  It was a really great event and I for one and looking forward to next year!