We (Neal, Austin, X, Kurt, and I) rolled out of Atlanta Friday afternoon with X's Scion and Neal's Saab jam-packed with six bikes, five dudes, and all the stuff required for a weekend shredfest. We arrived at the Cotton Mill Preserve in Fayetteville, TN in the late evening and quickly set-up shop before the sun was completely gone. We didn't have enough light to pre-ride the course so we opted instead to have a couple beers (complements of Terrapin) and watch Klunkerz, a documentary on the beginnings of mountain biking.

The FM Race Team made it up to Fayetteville, Tennessee for Dirt Sweat and Gears, an annual 12 hour mountain bike race and festival. Located on private land, the trails are only open a precious few times a year and this weekend they were open to hundreds of racers competing in 2 man, 4 man, and solo categories. Faster Mustache fielded two 2-man teams: The Brobots and The Yallbros.

I have to say this is the most prepared I have ever been for a race. For starters, I had accompanied the rest of the FM MTB team to not one but two pre-ride sessions at Ft. Yargo in the past week or so. And we had this trail licked - we were pumpin' the turns, crestin' the burms, and mashin' the flats like it was our home course. The night before the race, we stayed in Athens with some generous friends, and got really pumped up watching the exemplary athletic display that was the Athens Twilight Criterium. If I ever hear a roadie tell me again that they don't ride mountain bikes because it's too dangerous, I'm just going to shake my head. I personally watched at least 10 racers go down hard, at speeds pushing 30 mph. The sounds of crackling plastic bicycles still rings in my ears. I was not surprised at all to learn that cycling Criteriums are a strictly American phenomenon. This was NASCAR on two wheels, and the Athens rednecks were out in full force to prove my point.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast prepared by Aaron and Elisa, we headed to the trail to learn that our start was at 11:30, not 9:30. No problem - more time to warm up, stretch, and set up our sweet FM Headquarters. Rumors were flying that the race course was shortened to 5 miles (from 11), of which we were to race only two laps. Now this might sounds counter-intuitive, but short races are really hard. This bothered me (I like long races where there are plenty of chances for my opponents to crash, have mechanicals, etc.). Crazy Legs Crenshaw, A. Ron Burgandy and I set out to pre-ride the 5 mile course at a nice easy pace, and learned after 11 miles of doing so that the rumors were false. Ok, maybe we were a bit too warmed up for our race.

The race start was sloppy, fast, and demoralizing (as usual). Aaron got jacked up by an overzealous rider right away, and I found myself chasing a 63 pound little kid..... and he was dropping me fast! The only way I could muster the conviction to keep pedaling was to reassure myself that he was not in my category (19-29 yr olds) and that he was doping.

The rest of the race is hard to remember because it was so hard. I really wanted to do better than I had done in the previous races, and I really pushed myself. On the second lap, I learned why we have teammates even in an individual sport like XC. Aaron found my back wheel and stayed there, motivating me to push it on the climbs (he was single-speeding it and needed to keep up his momentum) and somehow keeping up as I big-ring-mashed on the descents. We crossed the finish line together and joined our awesome race supporters: X-topher, Roger, Axe, Christy, Morgan, and Elisa.

The Faster Mustache Race Team needs YOU to help raise funds!

- Do you want to make a small contribution to help us pay registration fees and keep the team independent?
- Do you work for an Atlanta company that wants to support a progressive, fun and competitive race team?
- Do you have money burning a hole in your pocket?

Then please consider becoming a sponsor! Here are some suggested donations:

VELOCE - $25
Individual Donors - this means YOU!
Faster Mustache is a club built by and for individuals, not businesses. Help the team stay true to their roots while still paying registration fees. You are Faster Mustache. You will receive a random out-of-print FM T-shirt as a thank-you gift.

CHORUS - $250 or equivalent in new bike gear
Mid-level Sponsors
We want to rep all of the great bike shops and other businesses in our hometown of ATL that have kept us fed, kept our bikes working, and kept our language slurred. Your business will be recognized with your logo on the race team website, race banner, race tent, and the FM Race T-Shirt.

RECORD - $2000 (up to half new bike gear)
Major Sponsor
Help Faster Mustache pay the bills and equip ourselves with some great team gear like a race tent, race banner, etc. Your logo will get a primo spot on everything. Also, we will have custom embroidered patches of your logo sewn to our wool race team jerseys. You can also display your company’s banner in our race tent. And in an unprecedented offer, we will display your logo and link on the front page of Atlanta’s most popular cycling forum: http://fastermustache.org.

SUPER RECORD - $5000
Flagship Sponsor
If your company is ready to support Faster Mustache at the top level, you can be the title sponsor of our race team for 2008. We’re talking title spot, huge logo on everything: race tent, banners, T-shirts, website, the works. We will even sew a big ass logo on our jerseys. And finally, a high-value ad spot on Atlanta’s favorite bike-blog, http://fastermustache.org. And we’ll also name our fund-raiser party after you (trust me, this party is going to be huge).

Stop buy NoBrakes to pick up your very own completely custom, luxury merino wool cycling jersey. These jerseys were designed by the FM community, and proceeds benefit the FM cycling team. If you already pre-ordered your jersey, you can pick it up at NoBrakes. If you would like to purchase one, it will cost $115 and you can try on a short sleeve or long sleeve in many sizes at NoBrakes.

If you are on the FM race team, you can pick up your jersey at the race team meeting on Saturday (your jersey is now at NoBrakes).

On Saturday Feb 2, the Mountain-Goat division of the FM Race Team completed the second of a three-race series at Pinhoti Trails, the NWGA Snake Creek Gap Time Trial Series. The four-person squadron of Austin, Aaron, Kurt, and Christopher finished 1,2,3,4 in their category, firming up a stranglehold on the top six times overall for the series. The trail was a bit sloppy but the day was absolutely beautiful, and our early finish allowed us to empty a few sports beverages while watching the rest of our field, and the entire 34-mile group, finish up.

After the race, we met the like-minded Yazoo Squad out of Fayetteville, TN. and they shared a couple of the brews that are their team's namesake. They also told us about a 12 hour race they are putting together on May 3rd called Dirt Sweat and Gears, which we added to our race calendar.

In other news, rumors are starting to brew about the 3 year birthday party for Faster Mustache. It will most likely be set up as a fund-raiser for the race team (these "real" races are way more expensive than our in-town alleycats). I hope to put together more details about it this week.

If you are around Tuesday day-time, and want to go mountain stomping, Aaron and I will be hitting Conyers Horse Park in the morning. Give us a ring.