Thought I would keep it simple and classy on this one, high polished brass over buffed copper.

more info on the PI day race here.

I will be making another headbadge for this…this is going to be pie-riffic!

That’s right folks, save the date, March 14th, for the “Easy as Pi” Alleycat! Race details will be coming your way over the next week or so and I’ll be updating this post and the twitter feed as needed. A flyer is in the works and will be getting posted and distributed asap. Some awesome prizes have already started rolling in, so get pumped!

::DETAILS::
DATE – Sunday, 3.14 (March, 14th)
TIME – Registration will begin at 1:59PM, RACE WILL BEGIN AT 3:14 SHARP!
LOCATION – Cambridge Common, off of Harvard Square.
COST – $5 with a helmet, $7 without.
BRING – A bag, lock, and your biggest Pi eating grin!
AFTER PARTY – Otherside Cafe 5-7PM!

::SPONSORS::
Big thanks to our generous sponsors!
Open Bicycle
Superb Bicycle
International Bicycle
Hub Bicycle
Geekhouse
BostonBiker (thats me!)
Recluse
Swrve
Fabric Horse
Bullet Keychain
Yancopads
Laek House
Spoke Punchers
UrbanVelo
Psyclopath

And More to Come!

More info here.

That there was going to be a race after this years Bicycle Film Fest…Just saying if you were to have a film fest ticket in your hands it might be free, and it might start outside the Brattle after the last showing…Just saying…

This is going to be sick! I cut up a fun little Samhain themed headbadge as a prize for this…check it out.

More info here.

What do you do if you go through all the trouble of planning a race, getting prizes, getting cp workers, and all the rest and mother nature delivers a crap ton of rain…you race anyway! As the immortal Danny Rocks said “good luck y’all! Race it damnit, even if it is damp. wet racing builds character!” Boy was he right, a lot of character was built last Sunday.

A group of 20 or so damp (it hadn’t started pouring yet) riders assembled at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, ready to get racing. As soon as the manifests were handed out, the sky opened up in a show of anger. About an hour later and 25 miles later my manifest was a sloppy damp rag, with vague ink spots on it that were once signatures. But boy was it fun.

Drafting behind anyone without full fenders meant you got a face full of road water (with bonus road grit!), I nearly ate shit on several utility hole covers, and there was more than one frantic skid as the brakes failed to stop in the rain….but boy was it fun. I don’t think I have ever had so much fun riding around in the rain, and the fact that everyone was suffering together meant that everyone was having a good time.

After the race we went back to someones house, and a mass striping down to skivys followed by a mad dash for whatever dry cloths we could find. All of our shoes went into the dryer, along with all of our wet cloths (which by the way means that nothing got dry). When the dryer was turned on it sounded like a rock tumbler. As we sat drying off the room soon filled with a jungle like atmosphere as a bunch of very warm and very wet rider started to create a lot of water vapor.

The awards party was at The Otherside Cafe on the patio (in the rain) and a good time was had by all. You can find pictures of the after after after party here.

Overall this was a great event, no one got hurt, everyone got drenched, and it all ended in smiles! A+ would do again.

So I wasn’t really sure how this race was going to go. My expectations were that it would involve carrying stuff, perhaps even a lot of stuff. With that in mind I emptied my bag of all but the essentials, threw in a couple old tubes to use as tie downs, and even went so far as to attach a rack to the back of my bike. I was so not prepared for the epic amount of sheer awesome this race would turn into.

Let me say that again…EPIC. I know that people on the internet like to use terms like epic and awesome casually, but boy howdy this was a fantastic race.

Just ridding over to the starting point I was a dripping sweaty mess, it was about 90 degrees outside with about the same humidity, riding was more akin to swimming through hot water covered in a wool blanket. Before the race started I stopped at a gas station, got two frozen snickers bar ice cream things, and a giant Gatorade, the ice cream didn’t make it past the end of the parking lot, and the Gatorade disappeared shortly after…it was hot.

I got to the starting point early, and was disappointed to see so few actual racers (mostly check point workers), but that soon changed as I sat under a tree and though cool thoughts about 50 other racers showed up! A fantastic turnout for such a geeky themed alleycat, on such a devils nut sack kind of day.

Once everyone was collected we were given the following manifest:

(this is going to be a long post, click below to read the rest)
(more…)

First off congratulations to Christina Peck, who won the main race at this year! As far as I know the first lady to ever bring that title home, way to go!

Now that my legs are no longer shaking, my ears are no longer ringing, and my head has some semblance of a thought in it I feel qualified to write a recap.

If I wanted to be brief, I could just say “wow…” but I wont be brief.

The weekend was a blur of racing, riding, bike polo, parties, nakedness (don’t ask), and more fun than can safely be had in just three days.

Friday kicked it off with “bostonopoly” a zanny scramble around Boston picking up “ayyos” with each checkpoint resulting in more and more insane and fun side events. Bostonopoly was followed by a party, then an after party, then an after after party…no sleep till….Boston!

Getting up early Saturday I headed over to dry docks. Skid comps, track stands, sprints, car pull (yes a giant of a man pulled a car on his bike…I was very impressed), red bull’s, friendly cops (!! I know right), and general fun. I did pretty well in the track stand competition and made it to just before “one foot” before crapping out. This was followed by Bike Polo, and this was followed by the fast wheel alleycat. And fast it was, 20+ miles in less than an hour…I have never gone as far as fast before. Then it was to the after party at Harpers for Tetris comps, arm wrestling, and general good times on the dance floor. No sleep again.

Sunday had me waking up early again to go help run a check point, sweaty bikers stopping by all day picking up dropping off. From what I hear it got a little crazy near the end with different places sending bricks, pictures of male anatomy, relish sandwiches, and other fun items from checkpoint to checkpoint.

Between Friday morning and the end of the day Sunday I had put well over 200 miles on my legs, met a million amazing people from all over the place (Holla Atlanta!), saw more naked people than I thought I would see in a long time, and was utterly and totally exhausted. It was a fantastic weekend, big ups to all the planners, and to all the racers, and to all the cool people who made it happen. Can’t wait till next year!

find pictures here, and here, and here.

This is going to be in a word…epic.

This looks soooooo awesome!

REG: 1:00PM – $5 HERE
RACE: 2:00PM – 6:00PM spot TBA
BBQ: 6:00PM – 9:00PM – FREE for racers, $5 for everyone else. ALL YOU CAN EAT. we will be awarding the prizes for the winners of the race and also holding bicycle-specific games.
AFTERPARTY: TBD. 9:00PM – ???

Found this amazing bit of info thought I would share…Jacob has a reputation for throwing great events, I highly recommend checking it out.

——-

mark your calenders!

race format details coming soon – until then check out the sponsors:

cambridge bicycle
freight baggage
jacobs bicycles
the bbma

plus a few guests that like to stay unnamed!

the party/finish will be out of hand, promise!

this is a fundraiser for the 2009 NORTH AMERICAN CYCLE COURIER CHAMPIONSHIPS, which we’re throwing july 31st through august 2nd, this year. get amped!

Ohhhh man….this was epic. Great job to all the organizers, I went faster than I thought I could go, didn’t get hit by any cars, had a fantastic time, and saw a bunch of great people. A+ would do again.

Basic recap: Go to all the local elm streets as fast and as hard as you can…at each check point you had to do something. At one they made us run around the block (run around the f-ing block!). But it was still a blast. See below.

More amazing pictures from Natasha at Pedal Powered Photography here.

This looks like a good time…I might even race in this.

This is an alleycat/scavenger hunt that is open to cyclists of all
abilities. The race is pastry-themed and pageantry is encouraged. November
22. 1pm. MIT Stata Center (outdoor theater structure). No registration fee,
but be ready to spend around 5-7 dollars on baked goods. (You may have to
force down a Chinese bun.)

Thanks for your attention,

William Garre

Ohh this looks like it is going to be a lot of fun!

Are you man or monster, woman or wendigo? Or are you just fucking fast? Tap your inner demons this Halloween night. Cash to play, and cash for pay. Prizes for first overall, first lady, and first fat kid. Costumes get head start. I will not be announcing the course ahead of time, so don’t ask. Registration and start is at WM Eustis Playground, at Mass and Shirley. $5. Spread the word, yo, and come race! (via)

October 31st, 5$, bring your costume for a head start

BOSTON MASSIVE is coming – 5/17/08. This will be an all day/all night partying, racing, dancing, drinking, freestyling extravaganza. The BBMA in part with some generous help from sponsors is going to be giving away 5 round trip airline tickets to the 2008 NACCC in Chicago at this event! Top male and female from out of town, as well as in town get tickets (along with a rep from the BBMA)! No registration fee, just tons of fun. The TRICK FOR TREAT finals will also be held at the after party, where the best fixed gear freestyler will win $500 cold hard cash!

(be sure to check out the BBMA for more awesome events)

It’s racing for people who think that their clothes should be a whole lot dirtier after the race than they were before.

Saturday 4/12 – Sludgement Day: The Day of Wreckoning – Randall’s Island Cyclocrossterium Circuit Races. Rat Pack Hustle sprint competition. Side events like skid-hockey, mudsprints, grasstrackstands.
Tuesday 4/22 – Randall’s Island Tracklocross. Grasstrack racing.
Tuesday 4/29 – Randall’s Island Tracklocross. Grasstrack racing. Maybe your bruises have healed by now. Maybe not.
Saturday, 5/10 – Harlemegeddon Cyclocross Alleycatastrophe – The Uptown Beatdown. A full-length NYC alleycat featuring offroad checkpoints in Northern Manhattan. Come get tired.

more details and some bad words below the fold (you have been warned)

(more…)

Last night I watched the documentary “Red Light Go,” which highlights a few NYC bike messengers and Alleycat races.

Netflix link

My riding habits haven’t guided me full-on into many of the different bike subcultures like SCUL or messengering, so I don’t know much about what goes on within them. Much of what I have learned I have picked up from discrete observation or small conversation. Every club has their own rules, their own lingo, styles and presence. To learn more you generally need to be ‘in’. So I enjoyed the peek into part of one of these cultures that I know little about.

What I found great was some filling-in of informational gaps I’ve had. Some may scoff, but I only heard about Allycat races about two weeks ago. Before watching this documentary I thought the cards tacked in to the wheel spokes I see from time to time were just stylistic flair, not racing badges. I’ll have a closer look next time I see one, as my curiosity has been piqued.

This wouldn’t be a film I’d sit down with a budding young mind, it has adult themes beyond the occasional scenes of street riding in auto and pedestrian traffic. It’s a documentary, so it’s a catalog of a small piece of life with a lot of the child-filters removed. Partying, drinking, plenty of drug references, even some glorification of fighting. Nothing the average R-rated film wouldn’t have. I’d recommend it to most people I know.