Dutch Bike Co Weblog

Dutch Bike Co. is sponsoring an Alleycat! The race is this Saturday, October 2^nd, organized by the UW student food cooperative.  Registration begins at 1:00 at Recycled Cycles, with racing to start at 2:00.  There is a $10 registration fee, and all proceeds from the race will benefit the UW Student Food Cooperative, a student run organization dedicated to bringing organic, affordable and healthy food to the UW campus, currently working to set up a food cart in red square.

 If you’re not familiar with Alleycat racing, it’s an informal style of bike race, originating within the bicycle messenger community in the late 1980’s.  Designed to test a racer’s geographic knowledge and traffic handling skills as much as their speed, the race is organized around a series of checkpoints rather than a set course, leaving it up to the rider to determine the fastest route.  The checkpoints are traditionally unknown until the start of the race, when the riders are given a “manifest” with the checkpoint addresses and any other pertinent information.  First person to make it through all the checkpoints and to the finishing destination wins!

 This particular Alleycat is set up “point to point” style, where at each checkpoint the subsequent checkpoint is revealed until the finish.  All in all, the course should be around 15 miles, depending on how polished your navigational skills are.  Prizes include $175 worth of gift certificates to bike shops around town, sweet swag from Chrome, and an afternoon on our very own Conference Bike.

So come out! All cyclists are more than welcome. Support a good cause and have a great time!