Thanks for coming out to FM.24.09, and keeping the biggest FM.24 ever a positive, safe, and fun experience! Each year we learn a little bit more and get a few more things right. Some quick fun facts about this year:
- 1788 laps (21456 miles) by 358 riders on 90 teams. Wow!
- Serious competition in all categories from solo riders battling it out with 5 people riding over 300 miles each, to teams of 6 scouring the city to complete missions like "bring a photo back with you and 5 different College entrances," to small groups of riders meeting all over the city for sprint competitions, trick competitions, etc.
- We planned for 250 people, ended up with 350+, and the only capacity problem ended up being that we were short 2 porta-poties somehow. (There were supposed to be 4! Sorry about that!)
- We're not aware of any fire/police/medical emergencies related to FM.24 and even had insurance this year just in case something did go wrong.
- We couldn't have asked for or found a better venue than Elliott Street Pub and Deli. They kept the food cooking, the beer flowing, and morale high throughout the night.
- The tracking system continues to improve and the experience seemed smoother than last year aside from the "lap combining" issue for many teams first few laps. Hopefully we got all of that taken care of.
If you have any feedback, please post it here or feel free to privately email it to 24@fastermustache.org (We won't associate it with your name without your permission).
If you have any photos/video/etc, please post links to it here and tag it wherever you have it on the internet with "fm24" and "fm2409".
Thanks again for your participation, it wouldn't be FM24 without you! We'll have a more detailed writeup once everyone catches up on sleep.
Thanks to No Brakes, The Gear
Thanks to No Brakes, The Gear Revival, The Nook, and Outback Bikes for hosting the checkpoints!
I have Jonathan Wood's debit card - shoot me an email and I'll get it back to you: christopher AT fastermustache DOT org. Thanks.
also...
I also have a megaphone (thanks for letting me use it!), a saddle bag (recycled innertube material with tools), and a navy sweater with pink stripes.
check your email!
check your email!
"Atlanta has definitely got their shit sorted"
Blog post about the flyer before the race
Since we'll probably be collecting the online mentions in this thread... ;-)
Killer Event
This race gets better every year. FM does a great job of adjusting to things on the fly (race entrance/exit, Falcons crowd) with hardly a hitch. Yee-haw!!!
Damn Damn Damn.... You guys
Damn Damn Damn....
You guys put on an awesome event! The biggest problem (aside from the hills, Atlanta traffic and my lacking legs) was that there was too much fun at Elliot Street!
Rockin event. I had a blast.
Rockin event. I had a blast. I'll ask the obligatory question. Are there any T-shirts, Pint Glasses left(I know the spoke cards are all gone)? I totally spaced and didn't get a shirt. Thanks.
Elliott Street Pub Thanks FM24 and all the Riders and fans
I just wanted to say Thank you, Thank You, Thank you!!! That was by far the biggest sleepover we have had at our house(ESP). We appreciated your patience, your respect for our neighborhood and establishment and most of all your company. Great people, Great event, and a couple two three beers served. Here are a few of the pub stats: 10,000 lbs of ice,
almost 100lb of turkey,200 eggs, 250 hotdogs, 4000 cups, floated 4 kegs, over a thousand people served in 24 hours with a staff of 6. Not one fight or altercation, no arrests, no neighborhood complaints! Wow!! Can we do it again next week?? Thanks again folks!!!
Mike Jakob
Elliott Street Pub
masters of the art of the sandwich
I have never, in my entire life, enjoyed a sandwich more than I enjoyed the Elliott Street Ultimate Sandwich I wolfed down during the awards.
Yeah, the food was great, and
Yeah, the food was great, and the staff were some awesome, patient folks.
Thanks a ton for the use of the venue, everyone I was with had a fantastic time.
Thank you!!!
What a great event, wonderful organizers, and incredible participants! I had a goal of 200 miles (I'm nursing a bad knee that has a nasty habit of giving out at about 170 miles, usually when I'm miles away from my car, so this was ideal practice) and this made it great fun to try it out. Imagine how much fun it would have been if I had actually trained and been trying! :)
I can't wait for FM.24.10 -- I'll make sure to get a tee-shirt next year!
Leslie
Leslie you rocked!
Not only did Leslie race hard, she also stopped to help me when I flatted early in the race and my only CO2 cartrige was bad. It happened right in front of the CNN Center and I thought I was going to have to walk back to Elliott St in Speedplay cleats when she stopped to help me.
That was awesome! thanks! hope to see you again soon!
Ha! I blew my one chance to
Ha! I blew my one chance to stomp on the competition! Talk about nice guys finishing last... (As I said, you had a goal - I was just there for fun.)
OHhhhhhhhhh
Ahhhhhhh. Now didn't that feel good!! FM and all the sponsors did host by far the coolest bike event I have EVER been a part of. I'd also like to thank the "City". As a 7 month young inhabitant of ATL, I was told this was going to be my initiation, and it did not disapoint. From the line of bikers "flying down 10th" on the first lap, to the sun rising over Piedmont Park with low fog hanging in the meadow, not a car insight. From the fixie-no brake crowd, to the 6 year old racer doing a lap with the team. From the police not enforcing the laws (THAT WAS AWESOME), to the spectators lining the course and at each stop, especially Lil 5 points. From the fully kitted riders, to the cut off blue jeans/Tshirt cats. I might have even seen a mexican wrestler, but maybe that was the lack of sleep?? ATLANTA IS A GREAT BICYCLE TOWN, and am proud to call it home.
wrestler
Maybe we were sharing the same dream. I also saw a wrestler wandering around, and if I'm not mistaken, he was being followed by a referee and a dancing platypus for no explicable reason.
Urban1Cycle
Gonna be a writeup here soon from Urban Fixed Gear Online Magazine:
http://www.urban1cycle.com/2009/09/13/fm-24-09-coverage/
Dave Hall's ride
Dave Hall's ride report:
http://imdavehall.blogspot.com/2009/09/faster-mustache-24hr.html
Eddie O'Dea's report
http://networkedblogs.com/p11785958
Good Race Report
I know his pain from chasing Mohammed at FM.24.07 and getting within 10 minutes going into the last lap. (Of course I slept for 3 hours because I had reached a point where I could no longer remember how to operate my shift levers, so I had not actually ridden 24 hours as he had.) The physical fatigue is horrible but the mental is worse. Plus chasing two guys working in tandem? At least Mohammed was fasting part of our race!
I think you guys may to have to keep on eye on pacing and drafting by non-participants. There may come a time when the spirit of a solo race gets corrupted.
Sounds like ESP worked out well! Glad everybody had a good time! Solo should break 400 miles next year, with a reasonable course!
two guys working together
two guys working together both riding solo does meet the spirit of the rules, heck, they both rode 380+ miles! It's unfortunate that one of their RFID cards died and we didn't have any left to replace it so their laps didn't show up, but thats what happens when technology and racing combine. Another perhaps useful tidbit is that the two winners had the advantage of a manager and full-time support team that was there during the entire event while Eddie was relying on his 5-10 second interactions with me each lap at the table and occasional text messages.
It's not possibile for us to keep an eye on the entire course, so building the system to require no enforcement while being mostly fair is the way to go, as long as everyone has similar expectations before and during the event.
Wasn't who I was talking
Wasn't who I was talking about. They were both participants.
Yup. I read all the stories
Yup. I read all the stories :) We all continue to learn new things about how to design events and rules each year.
hey now
CK, FM24 is the best race in the southeast because it is grass-roots racing at its finest. Please, please don't feel you need to defend the racetracking system, which I think we can all agree is waaaay more advanced than you would expect for a 21 dollar race with no prize money.
This race is what it is. Dave and Nathan just found a different way to do the race, a way that ended up being faster for them. I am extremely impressed with what they did. I also want to say that they were real nice stand-up guys the handful of times I encountered them out on the course.
We all race with our own agendas and our own goals. Drafting off each other, even drafting behind a non-registered rider, hell, even motorpacing seems fine to me. I wouldn't have done it myself, because that's not the race I wanted to ride. But FM24 is grass-roots racing, a 24 hour alleycat-- its not official and it's not sanctioned. Thank god. I can't wait to see what racers do NEXT year.
(although... a real pit crew? really? I guess I didn't notice because I was too busy opening my own cans of red bull.)
I'm just thinking outloud :)
I'm just thinking outloud :) We really do learn a lot every year and some new things that we try out work better than others.
if anyone cares
here's my race report too
http://sheridesbikes.blogspot.com/2009/09/faster-mustache-24-hour-urban-...
Boy, did I dodge a bullet...
Just so you know, you rode 60 miles more than I did last year, so there is a chance I would have been chicked this year.
Rock on!
I just realized I rode behind
I just realized I rode behind you for a shot time in the race. I'm disappointed I didn't put more faces to screennames at the race, but now I know I got at least one!
I believe it was early morning. You passed me, then i drafted you for a while. Then I BELIEVE you asked me to return the favor. After about 10 seconds we hit a hill and you passed me again. Sorry I couldn't have been more help, this was my first race...
ha ha! Yes I do remember! I
ha ha! Yes I do remember! I remember sorta trying to have a conversation and pretty much not being able to communicate with each other, we were both so tired. Nice riding with you!
saw this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndAtndA4huE
wow
wow, i'm excited to see the full length version. there needs to be a viewing party somewhere! Who is going to organize that? Maybe get a few porta potties (fill them up), set up some tents, and watch the video!
replying to my own post
Seriously, though, when this thing comes out it would be fun to project it onto the side of Elliott Street and watch it with a bunch of people. Mike has already painted a huge white square for just such an occasion.
Done and done time and date
Done and done time and date for the Video Release party?
.
no, yes, yes.
should be cool but
it looks like it's going to be all about the solo men's race, a la "24 Solo."
i kinda wish he had focused on the teams, especially the points competition. I would have loved it if he'd tagged along for that stuff, some of those missions would be hilarious to watch.
+1
missions were awesome!
its three races
I came just to ride 24 hours. No manifests. Teams did their thing, some grabbing extra points. Some where there just for the challenges, minimal riding. ALL GOOD. It's not a true RACE though. Which is fine by me. I just came to ride 24 hours with cool people.
a few really cool photos
http://curtisbakerblog.com/?p=707