All City Championship Alleycat Photos

All City Championship Alleycat Photos

Kick back cause this is going to be a long one filled with tons of stellar photos by Kevin Sparrow. 

The 11th running of the All City Championship (and brand namesake) alleycat took place under alternating rainy / blindingly sunny skies on August 20th. Due to the poor weather only 75 or so showed up to race what is traditionally one of the hardest alleycats of the year. 

You see, I'm a bike racer. And specifically, for a long time, I was an alleycat racer. I firmly believe that there is no greater test of a cyclist than these open streets, real world conditions, no-holds-barred affairs. You have to deal with routing, traffic, pedestrians, police, pothole filled streets and the weather all the while trying to rip your competitors legs off. It's simply the best, and a unique and singular experience.

If your'e sitting at home reading this and going "but I'm a Cat 1, blah blah blah." Well sweetheart, don't sing it, bring it. We've destroyed many so called "real racers" time and again when they try to step to the streets. It's about your head and your heart as much as it is your legs. And believe me, we've got fast legs too! So I created this race with one goal in mind, to make sure that whoever won it would be worthy of the title of All City Champ!

This years race was a 40 mile affair criss crossing the entire city of Minneapolis. With the high points (ha!) being the tallest hills in each of the city's sectors. There were multiple picks and drops (messenger work simulation), the legendary Crosstown Hustle (where your manifest is sealed in an envelope for a breakneck run across the length of the city), and a few bar stops thrown in for those just out to have a good time.

As ever, it was a glorious affair and champions were crowned. For the first time ever, we also had an Omnium competition which added up points from all three nights of competition. (those events have been covered in previous blog posts)

While I dwelled a bit on the competion angle in the above paragraphs, that's only one aspect of this bike party weekend and it's certainly not the most important. Getting the extended community and family from across the continent together is. The rivalries never outweigh the positive vibes and friendships and as always, making it home safe and happy is the ultimate accomplishment. It was a wonderful gathering of the tribe and we hope that you'll do your best to make it next year.

Now let's look at some of the action that went down.

All-City Brand Manager Jeff laying out the details for the racers 

Nikki and Andy working the route, some use paper maps, others rely on their smartphones

Party!

The next generation plot their route

 
As at any bike event, it's often a family affair

The spoils of road rash from the Match Sprints the night before

Lining up for the Le Mans style start

At the word "Go" the skies opened up

SK and his mount

Stephen Regenold of Gear Junkie, fighting traffic on the way to a checkpoint with manifest in mouth

Checkpoint workers stamp a manifest

WTF Omnium Champ Tiana on her Mr. Pink

Dem Boiyz

Afterparty at Modist Brewing

The Trash Messenger Bag made Champ bag that would go to one of the overall winners

The Seagull Bags made Champ Bag and Nature Boy 853 prize frameset

Tandem winners Nikki and Andy

Completed manifests

The WTF podium

 
Open Podium

Getting ready to give the Overall winners their goodies

Overall winners Tiana and Jon

Can't wait for year 12, hope to see  you there!

To see the full gallery from the event Click Here