Alleycatting

Hey everyone, and thanks for a very cool weekend! We kicked off at Letna for a few hours of bike polo, where Koen is quickly emerging as the Eastern bloc’s secret polo weapon. Two mallets were busted, sadly, so next weekend we’ll have a mallet making session before the game – bring ski poles if you want to make your own!

The first annual Prague Halloween Alleycat race went smooth like chain oil and cocaine. I’d like to thank the unsuspecting servers at U Veverka pub and at Jama for putting up with 18 or so bicycles piled into their entry room without prior notice. Who had that last bacon cheeseburger? A big shout out to Luis, for bringing some cool prizes along to hand out and to Patrik for wrangling trophies at the last minute on Saturday morning!

The race started at 16:30, with the peleton “killing it” down korunovacni to the Russian embassy, where some of us split off to go through Stromovka and others continued up the hill. After the Vystavste checkpoint, there were still about 10 contenders hanging in the front, with Patrik taking the lead early and Rob saving it up for the long haul down the embankment bike path. Everyone took a different route through Holesovice and hit the bike path at Libensky most in good form. The long straightaway took a lot out of everyone, and emerging at Staromak was like landing on a different planet: planet Italy, where we had to track the next guy up by listening for the telltale sounds of angry tourists. The free for all really kicked in along the small streets through the old town, as we continued on to Karlovo namesti and the finish.We didn’t count the dead.

Rankings:

1st place: Rob, with the time: 24:45

2nd place: Patrik, with 25:02

3rd place: Micah, with 26:30

Everyone finished, even the 4 riders (including the  only girl in the race!) who came up from Pardubice! We offered them a map, but maybe they thought we were making fun? Anyway, we heard rumors of a race in Pardubice that will definitely beat the steeplechase… There were only two accidents: Luis got stuck by a tram track, but emerged unhurt, aside from a wicked bruise and a damaged grip on his beautiful Brick Lane fixie. Splinter and Dan ran full speed into a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon, but they shared later  at Jama, so fair play.

Huge thanks to Dave, Enthusiastic Steve, Toby and Ben for hanging out in the cold and collecting tickets from passing riders!

Clockwise from top left: Rob and prize girl, Rob, Patrik and prize girl, Osama bin bike courier

Clockwise from top left: Rob and prize girl, Rob, Patrik and prize girl, Osama bin bike courier