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| Two wheeled warriors |
The ally cat bike race is a bike messenger's kind of race, meaning, it's a race with no set route. There are 4 checkpoints that are scattered around the city of Boulder, and as the biker, it is your job to map out the best route to take to make it to all four destinations and back to the finish line within the one hour time limit. Because I am obviously
not a bike messenger, I decided to stick with some friends who were. I don't know the ins and outs of Boulder as well as they do so I would be doomed without them. There was about 35 bikers that showed up to the rainy starting line and even less finished (me). I don't want to say that I
quit the race, I'll just say that I realized my chances of actually finishing the race after being left in the dust by my bike buddies. Here's what went down, there were four of us in our little group (Alex, Kalin, Jake and I). Jake was borrowing a bike to use for the race. He was a bit surprised to find out that his brakes refused to work as we sped down the first of many rainy hills. He was gaining speed and losing control and I had never seen his eyes as wide or skin as pale as right then. He managed to slow down a little by dragging his feet on the slippery wet pavement and then aimed for a patch of grass to cushion his fall. I wanted to stop and check things out but Alex and Kalin kept pedaling so I followed suit.
The first checkpoint was the post office a couple miles up the road, we had to take a picture of the building with a cellphone to prove that we actually visited it. After a quick snapshot we were off again, this time to Chautuqua park. I was right behind Alex and Kalin and already feeling the burn of deep breathing and heavy biking. I went to brush the sweat from my brow when my hat flew off. Without hesitation I stopped, turned around, and retrieved the hat. By the time I was ready to bike again my guides were so far off in the distance that there was no way I would be able to catch up. But that doesn't mean that I didn't try. I stalked them for a couple miles as they made their way to the second checkpoint. I finally lost view of them after I hit a red light and it was about then when I decided to call it quits. Even if I had made it to the second stop, then what? I had no clue where the 3rd and 4th were. Fortunately I quit right when I was passing Alex and Kalin's house, so I went there, filled up on water and saw the lucky-to-be-alive-Jake relaxing on the couch. Alex ended up winning the 'fastest rookie' award. Jake and I met up with Kalin and Alex at the finish line and found out that neither of us ended up in last place. Apparently there was still some guy who was lost in the streets of Boulder and couldn't find his way back to the finish line. Lessons learned for next time: Ride a trustworthy bike, don't wear a hat, and know where you are going.
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| My 1st and only checkpoint |
The ally cat bike race is a bike messenger's kind of race, meaning, it's a race with no set route. There are 4 checkpoints that are scattered around the city of Boulder, and as the biker, it is your job to map out the best route to take to make it to all four destinations and back to the finish line within the one hour time limit. Because I am obviously not a bike messenger, I decided to stick with some friends who were. I don't know the ins and outs of Boulder as well as they do so I would be doomed without them. There was about 35 bikers that showed up to the rainy starting line and even less finished (me). I don't want to say that I quit the race, I'll just say that I realized my chances of actually finishing the race after being left in the dust by my bike buddies. Here's what went down, there were four of us in our little group (Alex, Kalin, Jake and I). Jake was borrowing a bike to use for the race. He was a bit surprised to find out that his brakes refused to work as we sped down the first of many rainy hills. He was gaining speed and losing control and I had never seen his eyes as wide or skin as pale as right then. He managed to slow down a little by dragging his feet on the slippery wet pavement and then aimed for a patch of grass to cushion his fall. I wanted to stop and check things out but Alex and Kalin kept pedaling so I followed suit.
The first checkpoint was the post office a couple miles up the road, we had to take a picture of the building with a cellphone to prove that we actually visited it. After a quick snapshot we were off again, this time to Chautuqua park. I was right behind Alex and Kalin and already feeling the burn of deep breathing and heavy biking. I went to brush the sweat from my brow when my hat flew off. Without hesitation I stopped, turned around, and retrieved the hat. By the time I was ready to bike again my guides were so far off in the distance that there was no way I would be able to catch up. But that doesn't mean that I didn't try. I stalked them for a couple miles as they made their way to the second checkpoint. I finally lost view of them after I hit a red light and it was about then when I decided to call it quits. Even if I had made it to the second stop, then what? I had no clue where the 3rd and 4th were. Fortunately I quit right when I was passing Alex and Kalin's house, so I went there, filled up on water and saw the lucky-to-be-alive-Jake relaxing on the couch. Alex ended up winning the 'fastest rookie' award. Jake and I met up with Kalin and Alex at the finish line and found out that neither of us ended up in last place. Apparently there was still some guy who was lost in the streets of Boulder and couldn't find his way back to the finish line. Lessons learned for next time: Ride a trustworthy bike, don't wear a hat, and know where you are going.
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