alleycat races
 

who has done em?
opinions?

im wanting to start racing in them, and could use training tips or any help really.

I've done a few (more than five, less than ten) and they are pretty fun. Just be sure that you know exactly what you and your bike are capable of, both as a unit and individually. Also, don't be too intimidated by the people with fancy bikes. I've beaten some of the most intense-looking hipster/messenger types with my incredibly humble steel conversion.

ride lots, and don't make stupid decisions in traffic to gain a few seconds

I see you're from TX, so be sure to hit up www.txfixed.com

I train by drinking beer and *****ing about the mistakes I made at the last one.

Have fun, ride like hell, but stay within your limits & abilities. A bag or some wheels aint worth risking your bike or life for. Alleycats are super fun, and the smaller more local ones are usually pretty chill. oh, and wear a ****ing helmet.

I did my first, and only, alleycat at the age of 44. It was in Oakland, a city I had hardly ever been to, let alone ridden a bike in. I got lost, almost ended up riding on a freeway, and were it not for one other person from Davis, I would have DFL'd.

All in all, I had a blast and it was one of the most fun/difficult things I ever did on a bike.

People win alleycats by avoiding risks, not taking risks. That being said, I've won 2. :D

My advice is as follows
1. Know the city your going to race in! This is the single biggest factor to riding a decent race
2. have a map in your pocket to iron out the details of a checkpoint your not completely sure of
3. Don't try to ride like a monster track youtube video you saw, calculate your risk and know your limits and don't change your comfort level just for a race it's just not worth it.
4. Don't be intimidated by the fancy bikes and flashy full kit riders that come, as sandwiches said, I too have beat them with a humble steel conversion.
5. When you get your rout take some time to quickly decide first off which checkpoint to go to first, and on your way to your first stop you should have your route planned in your head so you don't need to waste as much time thinking this out as you go just the details of how to get to the next spot.
6. Try it! it is a blast even if you don't do the best you will have fun

yeah its fun

Yep, you have to know the town pretty well. Or very well depending on the organizer. Take a map and/or have a friend who sits at home all night and can google stuff for you. You'll have fun no matter what, it seems kinda silly to train for an alley cat.

Pick someone to follow before the race starts, or within the first few minutes of riding. I'd say try to stay with people close to your ability. Trying to keep up with the sketchy fast kids generally leads to trouble.

i've got a love hate relationship with them. they're fun as hell but it sucks that one time you don't know where a checkpoint is / get lost. how to train? get really fast on a bike, be able to ride fast for a few hours, get your sprints up, and follow the dude that won the last alleycat :D also try to get through checkpoints as fast as you can, throw on the cyclocross style mounts and ****, a few seconds can make a lot of difference in how traffic conditions change and if you're ahead of the pack you can avoid risk and run through a green whereas guys 10 seconds behind you are negotiating getting through the now-red light.

I love em. Done three so far. Some advice...

-if you're in it to win it I feel that the beginning is key. So try and get ahead at fast as you can(but don't kill yourself or anything)because if you're in the middle or back a line usually forms at the first check point and that can really **** you over
- helmet
- practice quick mounting and dismounting, some bunny hops too for checkpoints.
- brake
-drink a **** load of water the night before and morning of

+1 on following the guy that one the last time. except when he wins for doing f@cking crazy ****. reading the map for a minute or two will save you half an hour lost going to the wrong checkpoints first. LOTS of water the day before and not getting drunk with everyone waiting to start.

This all depends on the type of race (helmet, water, practice, brake always good advice). If there is a mandatory 1st checkpoint or it is a race with a set order of checkpoints, you're better off in front the whole way. Getting stuck in the crowd waiting for a signature is really frustrating. If you are stuck in a line and have a chance of finishing high, don't be polite. Shove your way to the front. If you're not going to win anything, don't be an ass.

If the order you go to the checkpoints is up to you, You can rush to the obvious first checkpoints or you can look for a route that will take you away from the crowds. I like to start with the checkpoints farthest away and work back toward the finish.

If there is a tattoo involved (generally not mandatory), go there first! If you don't, you'll be waiting for half an hour.

Although it's in the city and it seems like you'll be doing a lot of stop/go, to do well you should be ready to do 2-3 hs of steady riding at a good pace. A lot of kids that can hammer the 3 mile ride to the coffee shop will be dying after 15 miles.

+1

A friend and myself do this before every race. Then, we come up with "the plan" to win. Once we have convinced ourselves that we've got it, the race ends up being different than we thought and we just end up doing more "training".

I like to ride around the morning of the race to get a feel for the weather, get warmed up, and see who else is riding around.

riding fastest + shortest route = winner

dont hit anyone.
dont hit a car
dont quit half way through
use your brake. its ALWAYS faster.

Follow a group of riders you can keep up with.

Pass on the left.

Anyone who tries to win ends up in the middle of the pack.

Anyone who tries to DFL ends up in the middle of the pack.

Don't assume that the pre-race map is correct. I've been known to get drunk the night before and randomly change the manifest just to screw with the people who already had their lines mapped out.

Pass on the left, stay hydrated, wear a helmet, and all of the same crap that you hear from everyone. Make sure you drink a water or 3 before you start drinking alcohol afterwards, or you'll end up on your ass halfway through the night.

Just go out, have fun, don't be stupid.

^-- Those are the 3 most important elements.
After that route planning is highly important to finishing well. Nothing kills more time than getting lost or pedaling extra mileage.
There is no specific training, just being a strong all around rider and being able to handle yourself in traffic. Oh and avoiding Police.

Just go enter a race. Dont take it too seriously, use it as a learning experience. Ride safe.

I got f*cked my last race. Got a bit lost. Then twice I found myself with a cop either right behind or in front of me and unable to go anywhere, so I was stuck in 6pm traffic. Bike prizes usually arent worth high chance of getting a traffic ticket.

Totally true. Most people can bust a hard sprint from the time the manifest is handed out to the first couple checkpoints, but being able to recover and find energy after an hour and a half of riding is a real deal maker. Also, not dying inside when you have to go up to the top of a hill for a checkpoint and then pedal back down when you're beat as **** from just climbing your ass off.

pass on the left, never stop riding, map a route.

Alleycats are fun. Just go out to get what you want out of it, and don't worry about what other people are doing. Chances are you'll run into a few d1cks, but you'll also meet plenty of nice people. Be careful, since you'll be riding in/with car traffic.
Don't worry about coming in last. There's a certain ironic glory in placing DFL, and hey: at least you finished. Plenty of other people won't. DFL is better than DNF!
There will probably be an afterparty, which is almost the whole point IMO. Meet a bunch of people, ride your ass off, do ridiculous, funny, and sometimes degrading things at the checkpoints, and then get tanked with a bunch of people who all just went through the same experience. Doesn't really get any better. :beer:

if you were in such bad traffic, why not just split the lanes and ditch the cop? if traffic was that bad there wouldn't be much of a chance they would either bother going after your or be able to if they wanted to.

Its pretty much hilarious I have to defend a position that I didnt do something illegal to try placing better in a race I entered to have a good time.

When I said couldnt go anywhere, it was not that traffic was totally stopped, it was just slow in the direction I was going. We were both in the left lane, and its illegal to take a left there (and taking a right was the wrong direction and full of stop signs). Had I split the center he may have been able to get in opposing traffic lane and caught up with me. Also the cop just got back in the lane after pulling someone over, I figured he was in a ticket writing mood. All and all it in the moment I decided it wasnt worth the risk. And I dont have a ticket right now, so Im happy.

It must be a lot easier sitting back and calling me on a decisions from behind a keyboard. ;)