Alleycats

Image via Wikipedia

How to do this properly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv-ISen-UTQ

A long time ago, in a land far away, my good friend Dickie and I decided to ride 50 miles (on mountain bikes) from our school to NYC and get lunch. It was an absolutely great experience. I was most impressed with the mass of humanity and traffic we navigated as we rode 80+ blocks to Grand Central in Manhattan. (It took us almost as long to do that as to ride the 40 miles to the outskirts of the city).

It impressed me that bike messengers navigated these dangerous routes, as a career, as quickly as possible.

Later in life, I learned about Alleycat races, which are a races formatted to duplicates tasks a bike messenger does as a part of their 8-5.

I did my first Alleycat race last Friday. With luck on my side, I picked a good group to pace with coming out of the manifest pick up at our second point.

I found that an Alleycat is like combining bike racing, urban adventure racing, and orienteering. Lots of luck involved, a moderate dose of danger, and a necessary fitness prerequisite.

"No Brakes" hosted the event, celebrating their second anniversary in Atlanta. At start time, the race had 70+ signed up. Plenty of PBR was donated for all participants who requiring carbs or liquid courage.

It started with bikes locked up, and racers on the opposite side of the back lot. Just before starting, they told us where our manifests would be. Once we had our manifests, we could go to the rest of the points in any order, but had to reach all points.

Each point had its own little challenge and peculiarity. Certain time bonuses were offered for getting a tattoo, or having your pubes shaved off. There was a line when I reached each of these, so I opted out - seeking to set a better time.

Despite a split up, mass confusion, break up, and a flat tire, I stuck with the good group for most of the race, pulling my weight and contributing when I could. Mostly beginners luck, but I finished with the 3d fastest time. Others with time bonuses placed higher with time bonus credit, but I'm pleased with the outcome. Overall it was a great experience and I was glad to be able to ride away at the end of the evening.