AtomFest - Sunday - Day 4+ - the Aftermath

[Alec]

I arrived home in Liverpool about an hour ago and I've still got a big grin on my face.

As everyone has already said, this was an amazing event and I'm definitely glad that I didn't miss it.

It was really good to meet everyone and to chat face to face like old friends. Also, to see, touch, ride in and drive the Brammo Atoms. Brilliant!

I have to say 'Thank You' to Randy for making this all possible.

Despite his jokes about his small stature, in my eyes he is a BIG man. 

[McFred]

After a caravan from Hallett to Albuquerque with Shinoo and DarthChicken I got home yesterday at about 4ish in the afternoon.  We hit a cold front shortly after Amarillo and the air temperture dropped a good 20˚F.  By the time we got to Moriarty there were 50 mph gusting crosswinds.  My neck's a little sore.  But we made good time.  As chance had it we ran into RyanD in Tucumcari on his way to El Paso.

Banged out 660 miles in less than 12 hours.

In Amarillo we were getting gas and a policeman rolled up and with a big smile and wide eyes he asked the questions regular people usually ask at gas stations. He didn't ask for our licenses, registration or insurance.  Shinoo was still not displaying his temp tags and didn't pique the officer's interests.  All in all the best experience with the Law I've had yet.

I am quite happy to have met all of the gents from the UK, the Ariel guys and all you stateside folks.  Putting a face and voice to an enigmatic screen name was rewarding.  The best 1700 mile trip I've had. 

Atomfest was a total blast.  The first day I got 14 laps and that alone made the drive worth it.  Thanks for all the hard work Randy and crew!  Looking forward to another trip.  If next one's in the UK I'll be interested in shipping the car 'cross the pond.

[Bruce Fielding]

Oh, no... you'll put up with the shifter in the wrong hand like we had to!


Actually, if we do have a EuroAtomFest, it'll probably be in France so there'll be left hand drive cars there too.

[Driver]

Randy is "The Man" no doubt about it. I think he should win the "Atom Man of the Year" award. Jim Sharp (SharpAtom2) of Synergy and his business partner would be in the running as well for his extreme genrosity for sharing his 2 atoms with MANY people that otherwise would not have had a chance to drive an Atom while there. Including him donating parts off them (after one had 3rd gear go and the other had a shifter cable issue) to keep other atoms running. He gave suspension components off the EcoTec to keep Eddie Hills car on track. He's OK by me.

Left Okie about 9:30 and pulled into Austin about 7:30 PM yesterday. Dropped the trailer at the brothers house and drove another 35 minutes to my home in time to unload unpack and get a load of laundry done before crashing Didn't even realive I was sleeping on a coat hanger until this AM.

Man what a Event! Posting here from work as it's wet, rainy and cold here today. At least work is dead today so maybe I'll recuperate a little.

[Bottoz]

Whew... I made it into my parents house in Florida at about 1:30am this morning. For the last 2 hours of my trip, I got rained on... HARD. Folks were pulling along side of me, rolling down their windows and taking pictures (with Flash) as I was driving in the rain. Who knew that you could get more attention in the dark, in the rain than driving an Atom under clear blue skies?! Google Maps says 957 Miles. My ears hurt.

Ah Randy. What an AMAZING man. We can't thank you enough.

As Bruce said... I'm now putting voices and accents with user names as I read their posts. That's freakn cool!

It was said at the Banquet dinner, it seems as though we've all been friends for ages. In my eyes, I can't agree more! The friends I've made at AtomFest will last a lifetime.

[Jamin]

Is nobody stopping through Vegas?  Sounds like you're all pretty worn out, LOL.  I love that feeling, though - no better way to completely drain yourself than lots of fantastic driving. 

[Bogey]

The weather we had at Atomfest was terrific! A bit windy, but hey, it's OK...
...as in Oklahoma. You gotta expect the wind.

When we arrived on Wednesday evening at the Rib Crib in Tulsa, there was a bank of clouds on the horizon and within 1/2 hour it was raining sideways. This passed before we finished eating and not a drop fell on the event.

Prior to setting out for Hallett, I had programmed my iPhone for Tulsa weather. When I woke today back in Austin, it was raining and windy. Fall has fallen. So I switched over to the weather on my iPhone which launched with the Tulsa conditions. Here's what I saw...



Talk about great timing. We were able to drive both to and from Atomfest with nearly ideal weather conditions.

Randy organized a great event. This will be a hard act to follow.

[EZBuilder]

1965cobra427,

[quote="Bottoz"]
Ah Randy. What an AMAZING man. We can't thank you enough.
[/quote]
[quote="Driver"]
Randy is "The Man" no doubt about it. I think he should win the "Atom Man of the Year" award.
[/quote]
[quote="Bottoz"]
Ah Randy. What an AMAZING man. We can't thank you enough.
[/quote]
[quote="McFred"]
.  Thanks for all the hard work Randy and crew!  .
[/quote]
[quote="Alec"]
[quote="John Lloyd"]
Randy you're the man!!  What a fantasticlly well organised and fun packed event.
[/quote]
[quote="John Lloyd"]
Randy you're the man!!  What a fantasticlly well organised and fun packed event.
[/quote]
[quote="bolus"] 
Randy really did a great job putting everything together.    I truely thank him for such a great event. 
[/quote]
[quote="shinoo"]
What a great time!  It was great to meet many of you.  Randy and team really did an amazing job.  We all had a blast. 
[/quote]

When you told me about this event a year ago, I knew if you were involved it could only be a total success.
Then again that's just the way you've always been.
Congratulations on what sounds to be a TOTAL SUCCESS.

3

[mobilerobbie]

I'm back in Holland (the Netherlands)

After arriving home I directly pulled my Atom out and went for a 4 hour blast around here with 10 degrees celcius, brrr....

Lots has been said about Randy and the whole organisation!

The trackorganisation was perfect, the total hospitality was TOP!

But: also a lot of thanks to all of you who participated!
Without you all, the fest would not be as good as it was!

It is good to know a face and voice and sometimes the real names of you all!

SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR AT THIS SIDE OF THE OCEAN!

[rfmarz@frontiernet]

I'm very happy to see so many of my "new" friends have arrived at their destinations safely! I took off at 5 a.m. Tulsa time and arrived at my home in Georgia at 11:50 p.m. Georgia time for a total of about 17 hours of drive time (thanks to the 70-80 mph "draft" I received from semi trucks!). It was a looooooong drive by myself after a little partying and 5 hours of sleep on Saturday night.

I called THE man- Randy, of course, after I rolled over to Georgia to thank him and his hard working crew once again for an absolutely FANTASTIC time!!!!!!!!!

I appreciated, so much, meeting so many of my forum buddies and affirming my "old" friendships! Driver, I hope I didn't scare you $h!tle$$ with the wild ride on the ES100's! Shinoo, you're the hotshoe with 1:28's out of a 205 HP model! Great car control! Spaz was taking great lines in the corners- hard to keep up with him.  :o

Brammo showed very good support (Thanks, Tom!) and will likely help future owners with slightly modified engineering- Tom's not an engineer, right Tom? I appreciate the rapid deployment of the new flex pipe!

I really had a great time! It was Soooooo welcome and healing for me. Names to go with faces now! Yeah! Thanks to all you guys for a super time!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Driver]

[quote="rfmarz"]
I'm very happy to see so many of my "new" friends have arrived at their destinations safely!

Driver, I hope I didn't scare you $h!tle$$ with the wild ride on the ES100's! [/quote]

I concur. Great to see people checking back in. Even if they're stealing a little time from work (me).  Richard, your fighting your tires did not concern me in the least. I was marveling at your obviously great skill in controlling a car that wanted to get away from you on tires that obvioously were not suited to the tasks or the track at hand. Your karting experience obviously shows. Now my brother who also went out with you also said it was similar. A little hairy. I think he liked the ride with Spaz a little better as those tires afforded a smoother experience. I rode with Spaz late Saturday in the last session and he is super smooth, hitting every corner just right. Great ride with both of you, regardless of the posted times.

Should I be concerned I wasn't scared?

[jon b]

Totally amazing us guys that didn't go but were watching from a distance 

Simply cannot believe you guys are doing 1,000 mile + journies in an Atom after an event like this.  I mean really - i know what the Atom is like for 100 miles, track day then 100 miles back - that is crazy and hard for most people.  Just cannot get my head around it - but i take my hat off too you all

Who actually drove their Atom the furthest to get their back and what distance?

[Driver]

Likely DarthChicken (Adam) or Terry from Jersey City.

[1965Cobra427]

[quote="jon b"]
Totally amazing us guys that didn't go but were watching from a distance 

Simply cannot believe you guys are doing 1,000 mile + journies in an Atom after an event like this.  I mean really - i know what the Atom is like for 100 miles, track day then 100 miles back - that is crazy and hard for most people.  Just cannot get my head around it - but i take my hat off too you all

Who actually drove their Atom the furthest to get their back and what distance?
[/quote]

How amazing the car that does this! Drive 1,000 - 1,700 miles, run the absolute crap put of it HARD on three consecutive days, (maybe with mild peripheral repairs), drive it home another 1,000 - 1,700 miles. Change the oil and wash it, check torques and brake pads, ready to go again. Three cheers for Simon, Ariel Motor Company and Brammo!

[Driver]

hIP , HIP HOORAY!