Alley Cat racers are the cool big brothers of cycling

Recently, I discovered what Alley Cat racing is.

I’m embarrassed to admit it because it’s a type of riding I’ve always sorta revered: urban couriers. Urban riders are this curmudgeon group of jort-wearing, helmetless, chain-smoking core riders.

They don’t get hit by cars. They hit cars. They don’t get yelled at. They yell. They don’t yield to others. One way? Nah. Stop lights? Traffic signals? Nah. These dudes (and dudettes) don’t give a shite. They’re the cycling community’s big brother Buzz from Home Alone.

They’re cool. But they’re also very skilled bicycle riders. It takes skill to weave through traffic and pedestrians and those stupid scooter things and the bus up ahead and to know the quickest route to take for a client who needs thing delivered as quickly as possible. Oh, and to do that all on a fixie? That’s another thing that makes this type of riding something to revere.

Not only do you have to be skilled, but stupid strong.

So anyway, Alley Cat racing. If you’ve never heard of this, it’s probably because these races are unsanctioned and illegal. They occur in large metro areas, usually. I’ve never done one of these races, but here’s how it works, roughly. Everyone starts in the same spot by receiving a manifest with a list of addresses. Each address is known as a “checkpoint.” Racers can take whichever route they please to get to a checkpoint. Once there, they must get a signature or something from the person posted at the checkpoint.

The person who receives all the signatures from each checkpoint and gets back to the start of the race the fastest wins.

Here’s a video of this year’s MonsterTrack Alley Cat race in New York City. Terry B has a bunch of these videos. I could watch them for hours. Here ya go:

(If you’re short on time, fast forward to the 12:30 mark and watch for a minute or so. You won’t be disappointed.)

If any of you have experience with this type of riding or racing, let us know in the comments. Bonus points if you have video.

Cheers, cycopaths.