Ride Hard: With a Vengeance!

Blacksburg, VA
Ride Hard: With a Vengance! Friday April 30, 2010
by: Steven Jones

Ride Hard: With a Vengeance! marked my first foray into the world of alley cats. I have ridden a fixie for the past year as a commuter, but the thought of racing one outside of a velodrome hadn’t been placed on my list of things to do. That was all before by friend Sprinks began organizing the Blacksburg Fixed Gear (BBFG) Spring alleycat contest.

This alleycat consisted of six events: skid comp (who can skid the furthest), foot down (who can stay on their bike the longest while others try to knock them off), track stand comp (who can hold a track stand the longest), drill-o-drome (race around the drill field at Virgina Tech), and the actual alleycat (messenger style race).

I opted to only compete in the foot down and drill-o-drome in order to save my legs for a race the next morning. In my usual state of mediocrity, I finished was pushed off my bike halfway through the foot down.

The drill-o-drome proved a little better. I started at the back of the pack for the one lap race and neatly overtook most of the riders in the first half of the race. A friend and I wound up sprinting the neck and neck for third from about 75 meters out. He took the drive side of a car and I made the mistake of trying to overtake the car on the passenger side. The driver saw the other racer and pulled over to the right, forcing me into the gutter. All in all, not the race I wanted, but a lot of fun with some great guys (and gals). I can’t wait to come out next year.