Tax Man Cometh Alleycat Bike Race
(Lee Penn’s report)
I tried something new this past weekend…. Had a BLAST!!!!
Race: Tax Man Cometh Alleycat Bike Race
Host: BEAST (Bike Enthusiasts at St. Thomas)
Date: Friday, April 13, 2007
Result: 44th out of around 60 entrants – not bad for a commuter bike with
occupied trailer; winner of smelly markers for collaborative art by my son
and me; and two pairs (jacks and fives), which were not good enough to beat
three aces, unfortunately.
Ways to win: This race had three ways of “winning”, two of which did not
require sheer speed. So it wasn’t all about competition. Mainly, the race
was super fun!
Friday the thirteenth – what a great day for a race! I rode home from work
and picked up my commuter bike, trailer, and son. He and I then rode to St.
Thomas and registered for the race. This was my first ever alley cat race.
The average bike was a fixie or single gear, and I was the only person who
arrived with a child in a trailer. That was cool with me. I wasn’t in it
to win by way of speediness! On the way, I shed my outer layer because it
was so delightfully warm and sunny! There was a wide range of racers,
ranging from folks with their fixies to me with my trailer. I was NOT the
only one in spandex, although we numbered few!
Alley cat races are quite different than road races or criteriums (think
spandex, lots and lots of colorful spandex). These races typically have
around a dozen or so stops, and tasks must be completed or information must
be collected at each stop.
At 5:45p, the manifest was distributed. There were thirteen stops. We had
fifteen minutes to plan our route. At each stop, tasks had to be completed
(e.g., obtain stamp and poker card or create a piece of art) or information
collected (e.g., identify the flags at Shriner’s hospital). I was pretty
familiar with the locations of most stops and decided to plan the first five
and see where we were at that point. I didn’t know how my son would like
it, you see. I definitely wanted to make the required art stops and hit
Trotter’s café…
6:00p – we’re off! I was surprised that the race started on time –
delighted, actually. My son was anxious to get started. We had the trailer
open, and Tre (my five year old son) had his green flag a-wavin’. First, we
went to the Dunn Brothers at Lake St. and W. River Road (yes, this is in
Minneapolis – an odd choice of stop for a St. Paul race) to obtain the exact
address, which cannot be obtained from the building’s exterior nor from the
employees. Then, we were off to the Shriners, where the lack of wind made
it difficult to identify the Mexican flag (I really think it was indeed the
Mexican flag). After Shriners, we went to Trotters, where we purchased an
oatmeal raisen/craisen cookie (after a pretty long wait in line, sadly), and
a very yummy cookie it was! Then, we picked up our poker card and stamp and
continued on. Then, we started climbing Marshall in order to find out what
a sign on a fence just south of the intersection of Marshall and Albert
said…. Don’t drive on the XXXX (grass). Yes, going east on Marshall
qualifies as a climb when one is pulling an occupied trailer!
After this, the order of all the stops starts to get a little fuzzy.
Honestly, I might not quite have the order of the first few stops quite
right above.At one of the cafés, I did trade / share a little information
with a few other bikers… I also consulted with someone as to where exactly
a stop on St. Kate’s campus was. In the end, we accomplished 11 of the 13
stops although we obtained information for all 13 stops. Overall, I had a
super good time – I rode hard and got sweaty. Tre told me he loved the race
and says he wants to do it again.
Sadly, I could not attend the post-race party as the five-year old has a
bedtime that must be observed – or we pay the price the next day!
Next alley cat race for us?
Aprilween Race Medley, Short Race Series
Saturday, April 28th 2007, 3-7 PM
Bracket Park
Post Race Bonfire after dark.