Alleycats, birthday partys and Pro riders take on Iceland

Shayne rocking the Jordan

Mitch hates riding his bike

Justin's tri-suit comes in handy once again. Andrew in background

Group Shot at King George Terrace

We watched Macaframa at the shop after the race.

A group of us went out for an alleycat/birthday party on Friday. The Alleycat started from Capital City Cycles where the birthday boy works as well as owning the shop. Me, Justin, Mitch, Shayne(still recovering from injuries) and Andrew (still recovering from injuries) showed up for the race. We decided to race as a team and enjoy each others company while riding between points and so off we went. The race was a lot of fun as always, and just about the right length. It took us about 48min to ride the course if memory serves me right, and we came in 8th place as a group. Which is alright I suppose, especially given the broken wings on the team, not that they had much trouble keeping up, but it's an excuse anyway. Here's a rough map of the course, although we took a slightly different course.



View Larger Map

Also Check out Matt Hunter's Blog, he's been riding in Iceland lately with, Andrew Shandro, Joe Schwartz, photographer Sterling Lorence, and writer Mitchell Scott. Their Guide in Iceland is an acquaintance of mine Magne Kvam. I've been seeing Facebook updates from him and he seems super stoked on the riding they've been getting in.
http://www.i-am-specialized.com/gravity/rider/matt-hunter/398/#/blog

Mitch on Switchbacks

Rigid singlespeeds make things interesting

Not much of a challenge for Nic

We had a good group ride on Tuesday. I've been riding solo for much of the summer on the supposed group rides since people are busy and have other engagements. This is to be expected in the summertime and not an issue at all. However, I will be out there every Tuesday as long as I'm healthy, and in town. So if you ever feel like going for a ride or get introduced to the Dump, I'll be there at 7pm. Last Tuesday, Mitch, Justin, Colin and myself showed up for the ride, along with Nic and Mitch's better half, Claire. That's the biggest ride we've had in a long time and it was good to have more people out. We Picked up Al from Cycle BC, on the trails and did a pretty standard loop. We rode to the top of Twister via Switchbacks and then came down Old payoff and Snakes and ladders. No spectacular crashes although Justin had another battle with his rockgarden nemesis on Little Face, and Colin took a bit of a spill on old payoff. Neiter one was fantastic enough to take the crash trophy but in all honesty I can't remember who is the current trophy holder. Andrews crash on his road bike was pretty fantastic though so I have to say that he must still clench the trophy with his one good arm.

In other news... there is an alleycat tomorrow in Victoria. Meet at the Chain 7:30pm, mash the pedals and empty the cans.

Viking Cat Video and list of finishers

After much frustration I finally figured out how to convert a VOD file to a Mpeg/Avi and was able to download Mitch's excellent video of the Viking cat 2009 into one of the video sharing sites:

Viking Cat 2009 - Click here for this week’s top video clips

Here's the official list of finishers:

1 Tegan 1:04
2 Scotty (one second behind)
3 Ben/Kevin/Jeff
4 Simon
5 Jenny (the only lady to race in this years Viking Cat)

6 Rick (The honorable provincial coach of Alberta)
7 Justin (horns)
8 Shayne (beericorn)
9 Andrew (fastest full suspension racer...well there was only one)
10 Mitch (Cinematographer extraordinaire)
11 Angus
12 Cristoph
13 Adrian/Jaimie (out of towner winner of "dead fucking last")

Kevin Bacon, alleycats, bike rider's ball...

Great race last night, kudos to Nate (a former Rider's employee) and Henry(?) for laying out the race. Below is Justin's manifest for the race, note that he has had all stops signed for...very good Justin. The alley cat was mostly disaster free. No big crashes or anything although both me and Justin managed to puncture one of our beers and soak our bags, a shame in it self but better than eating pavement.
We placed somewhere in the middle of the pack and could have done a bit better if the guy at our last stop would have been there when we arrived. We had a lot of fun and I have to say that the highpoint of the race for me was to see Justin do a Flintstones brake in the underground parking lot at Mayfair, sparks flying everywhere from his cleats.


The race took just over an hour to complete and afterwards we went to the art show and enjoyed some refreshments, and reveled in the bike culture. The good folks of the Bike prom had some bike videos playing on the screen including the cult classic Quicksilver:


Tonight is the Bike Rider's Ball at White Eagle hall in James Bay (90 Dock St.). Doors open at nine and there is an $8 cover. there will be a performance by the Velo Vixens, costumes, awards for the alley cat race, and live music. Should be good.
And to clear the cobwebs out of your head on Sunday, it would be perfect to go and see "Bike porn 2, bikexplotation." See flier below.

Viking Cat Tonight!!!

Check out this kick ass video from the Flight of the Conchords.

And now that you've laughed a little bit, it's time to get serious: The Viking Cat is on tonight...that's right people, and it's going to be cold. they're calling for ZERO degrees and clear skies...so wear your long-johns and pucker up. It's perfect conditions for the Viking Cat and once you get moving it'll feel fine (unless you're a sissy) , just remember that they do winter alley cats in Minneapolis so this should be a cake walk. I've reserved tables for us upstairs at the Bent Mast so once you finish the race you can warm up with a hot toddy, or cool down with a cold brew or a cold glass of milk whichever works for you. Then when everybody makes their way to the Mast we'll have a little awards ceremony and then people can hang out for a few or call it a night. It should be good.
See you tonight and good luck!
PS: Bring a pencil and a lock! you'll need 'em....

google petition for bike friendly maps...

There's currently a petition going on the intranet pushing for google to add "bike there" to their "drive there" and "take public transport" options on google maps. To sign the petition follow this link. This option would offer cyclist the fastest route and also take into account other options such as the safest route, or most bike friendly route where bike routes and bike lanes would be utilized.

this is a really interesting petition and would be great for cyclists visiting other cities. I for one have always wanted to take my bike on the train down to Portland for the pedalpalooza. That bike festival is huge and Portland is supposed to be one of the bike friendliest city in North America. But even with that distinction, I think that having everything mapped out on google before I got there would make things a lot easier. So check out the petition, sign it if you feel so inclined and hopefully google will add this feature.

On a side note I'd like all you facebook users to sign up for the alleycat on facebook. Either as attending or maybe, or not attending... this will give me a better idea of how many people are going to show up and then I can take that number to the pubs and see if we can get a Viking Cat special on beers.

GET READY FOR VIKING CAT!!!

The Viking Cat has been mapped out for the most part. I have a few changes to make here and there, but it's pretty much set up. I rode the course last night and it took me just over 42 minutes. That's not stopping too much but not riding super fast either. I did however, kind of know where I was going and did not have to look for clues. So I think that fast riders should be able to finish the race in about an hour or so, and the less speedy ones about an hour and 20-30 min. The cat will be almost entirely based on clues, that is, you'll have to find the answer to a question in any given place, find an object etc. This is because I want all of my bike people to ride instead of standing around and making people do the "running man" all night or any other chore that is only achievable with a warm jacket and copious amount of a fermented alcoholic beverage.
That said, (or written) There might be one stop, where I will personally present you with a skill testing question, or punish you in any way I feel is appropriate. The focus is primarily on the fun factor though and there will be beers to quench the thirst of weary racers. I'm currently in negotiations with a couple of respectable proprietors supplying us with a secure area for sweaty cyclists so we should be able to stretch our legs and put the liver to work in a bike friendly atmosphere.
As is customary in alley cat races, there will be an award for: First place and DFL (Dead Fucking Last) as well as the oddball "Geoffrey award" for best costume or best spill, or something that Geoffrey deems worthy of reward.The Race will take place on Wednesday the 11th of March at 7:30pm, so get your commuters/beer bikes/road bikes/bikes ready. Costumes are encouraged but not necessary. The excuse: "I don't have a bike for the race" will not be accepted as valid, and keep in mind that the Geoffrey award (and probably the DFL) may go to a person that rides their 7 inch fully in the race wearing a tutu.
check out the Facebook group as well: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5096454443&ref=ts#/event.php?eid=53468706913

Shayne gets a Valentine's Day card

Shayne could not participate in the lovely annual Velo Vixens' Alley Cat fundraiser so aptly described by Mitch in the last post. Shayne claims he could not make it because of excessive horizontal gymnastics the previous night and on the day before the race. That of course, is a very lame excuse, but I suppose there are worse ones out there. However, some of us suspect that he was off fighting cougars again, which may or may not be exactly what he's talking about. Chevy had an illumination at the party after the race and went ahead and bought Shayne a very special Velotines valentine's card, to be specially delivered by the Velo Vixens themselves. This was a part of the Vixens' fund raising efforts and a fine idea at that. So all of us were waiting sort of anxiously on Saturday for the Vixens to show up. Once they did, there would be no disappointments. The store was exceptionally busy at the moment they arrived and even though Shayne looked a bit perplexed by the Vixens' wardrobe, (which was very stylish by the way) he did not realize they were there for him. I had to inform Shayne that these fine looking ladies were actually there to see him... What followed was an exciting dance routine by the Vixens and a professional delivery of the valentine card. In all the commotion I almost forgot to grab a camera and take a shot of the spectacle but I just managed to get of a shot before it was all over. You can see Shayne's rosy cheeks, if you look closely, and the crank set he's holding suggest that he was caught totally by surprise. An entertaining scene to say the least.

Odd Underpants, Excitable Vikings and Metalic Mammals...

The Velo Vixens Alley Cat race / Variety show went down last night on the streets of Victoria. The epicenter for all the bedlam was the Camus book store in Quadra st. village. The Race consisted of five checkpoints throughout the city. The checkpoints were spread out all the way from Recyclistas to Clover Point to the Delta hotel. At each checkpoint there was a Vixen or two ready with a fun game or challenge to be completed before you could leave for the next stop. After visiting each checkpoint, in any order you saw fit, we were to return to the bookstore/finishline for the afterparty show.

Our intrepid team of adventurers, consisting of Haldor (viking cat), Justin (steel wolf) and Mitch (magnanimous), left the start line with the rest of the riders at 7:30ish. Imediately there was mass confusion off the line as all the riders took off at full speed through an intersection. And since the checkpoints could be visited in any order, all the riders were going in different directions as fast as they could. I nearly careened in to two or three other riders within the first twelve feet of the race.

<-The Riders team... impressive.

Once we emerged from the initial melee, our trio rode incedent free for at least, oh, say a block, Until Viking Cat got confused and must have thought he was pillaging a small village 300 years ago. He charged into traffic with reckless abandon, hurling Norse insults at any driver who dared venture near him. "Eulalia!!" he kept screaming. "Eulalia!!"... if any one knows what that means, let me know. Steel Wolf and I were so taken back by Viking Cat's agressive style, that we became confused and imediately lost each other down side streets. the race had been on for two and a half minutes now and we had nearly had several collisions and had lost sight of each other completely. I was already delerious with joy. What fun. We rendezvoused at Recycalistas and continued on reunited from there.

Steel 'effin Wolf ->

There is perhaps too much detail for a short "Blog" story, but the rest of the night was filled with bike-joy, laughter, sore legs and Soda pops. Some highlights include; running around Clover point with bags on our heads trying to find Buns to accomodate our weiners, being wary of Haldor as we ride in close proximity down a steep hill because he is spinning his fixie so fast that I'm sure he'll explode at any second and kill all three of us in some horrible fixie death crash, hearing the name "Steel Wolf" spoken aloud, realizing that the 'velo-vixen' underpants I'd purchased for the race are actually 'womens XL', post race pasta and pops, etc. The list could go on.

After returning to the book store in a respectable 10'th place... outof,cougheleven,cough. We took in the atmosphere of the afterparty. In all seriousness, I must say that the energy surrounding bike folk is always excellent. A mix of joy and eccentricity.

I would say that the event was well organized, the Vixens are a great bunch of fun-loving girls and everyone who took part in the race or the post-race show had a great time. This was my first 'alley-cat' style race and i must say that it was sooo much fun. I can't wait for the upcoming 'Viking-Cat' race.

Two large thank-you's are in order: To the owner of Camus Bookstore for letting a bunch of weird bikers use the space. And to Chevy who carted around our, uh... rehydration liquid.

"Eulaila!!!" -Viking Cat

alley cat and party...

Just a reminder, Velo Vixens' fundraiser alleycat and Variety show is on tonight. Race starts at 7 from the Camus bookstore on Quadra, next to Cafe Fantastico. Entry fee is $5. The variety show/party including performances and bike videos and whatnot's starts at 8, and is by donation. I'm sure there will be some refreshments as well.

"Today (Thursday!) is the day! Come out to Camas for our annual Velotines fundraiser. Come at 7 for the race, and 8ish for the party. Anyone can race, you don't have to be super speedy- it's more about the fun of it all. And speed isn't everything in a Velovixen race - it's more about your style...it's going to be fun... and there's a sweet lineup of performers and entertainment.
See you there!!!"

Check out the Velotines event here

This will be a nice warm-up for upcoming events and a good way to kick start the new year which will be filled with exciting cycling related events. For those of you who don't feel like racing, there is no shame in just showing up for the party, check out the bikes and the entertainment and enjoy the community of cyclists.

Also coming up tomorrow (Friday) is Rev. Will's Moonlight Mystery ride. Which is a monthly casual ride through the streets of Victoria. Meet at 10pm on Centennial Square, ride leaves at 11.