Forward, the Light Broom Brigade!

Alley Cat Bike Ride, this Sunday afternoon, 3pm.
Pass it on!

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All across the bridge of Death
Rode the street sweepers.
'Forward, the Light Broom Brigade!
Charge for the glass!’ he said:
Across the bridge of Death
Rode the street sweepers.
(with apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Solo Breakaway Wins!

The 7-Eleven Posse Poses

"Hey man, I'll trade you a Davis Phinney for your Bob Roll," one nostalgic hipster said to another under the glow of sodium lights. But before a response could be made, another voice jumped in,

"Bob Roll? The Bob Roll rode for 7-Eleven? I never knew that!!!"

Yup, and so did Chris Carmichael, (yes, that Chris Carmichael), John Tomac and Andy Hampsten. Both Davis Phinney and his wife Connie Carpenter rode for 7-Eleven, too, although Connie was on the women's team with Rebecca Twigg.

Straight outta my high school locker...
"Rebecca wears Protec, or she wears nothing at all."

Eleven guys showed up for the first-ever Re-Cycle 7-Eleven alley cat, and paired up into two-man squads, with the exception of Matt, the odd man out. Matt took it in stride though, and declined to ride in a threesome, instead opting to go solo.

Riders needed to visit 4 7-Elevens (any four), as well as 7 of 11 "recycled" Norfolk 7-Elevens. "Premiums," or time bonuses, were offered for bringing back receipts from more-distant 7-Elevens. And a 27 minutes time bonus was offered for photographic proof of a recycled 7-Eleven not listed on the manifest.

Matt scored by finding a "7 Brothers" convenience store that not only recycled a 7-Eleven store building, but also ripped off the 7-Eleven logo for their sign! Kudos to Matt for a long, solo ride in the dark!

Matt, winner of 7-Eleven Re-Cycles, 2009 Edition.

Next up:
An Alley Cat tribute to Andy Hampsten and the Gavia pass?
A 7-Eleven race sequel on Sunday, July 11th?
Wait & see...

Re-Cycle 7 Eleven

Alright, if you've ridden with me around Norfolk, you know one of my favorites quirks of this area is the abundance of "recycled" 7-Elevens: convenience stores put to new use.

So while I'm not going to reveal the checkpoints for this upcoming Alley Cat, I will confirm that there will be more than a few former 7-Elevens featured.

Come out & enjoy!

Rained Out Broom Brigade Alley Cat Race

Yup, it was just too darn wet to ride last week for either Critical Mass or the Broom Brigade alley cat race. Critical Mass comes around every month, but there's so much interest that a makeup date for the alley cat has been announced:



This time around the race will go off rain or shine. The finish will be at Cogan's Bar, and the start will still be at Blair Middle School on Colley Avenue.

Come on out!

Alley Cat Friday: The Broom Brigade

The Broom Brigade:




8pm, Friday March 27th.
Meet at Blair Middle School steps,
Spotswood & Colley, Ghent.

Entry Fee:
Dollar Store Dust Pan.
Dollar Store Hand Broom.
That's It.

The Fine Print:
2-Person Teams. Bike Lock, Brown Paper Bag & DigiCam recommended. Race for Bragging Rights. That's It.

Diagnosis- Success!

Over twenty people showed up for "The Bike Doctor's First Grandannual Lock U Up Alley Cat Classic," and raised enough money for 6 decent bike locks!

While I set up the course & checkpoints, Kurtz helped out with the start of the race by suggesting & directing a "Danger Start:" bikes were left at the top of the school stairs, and then there was a mass sprint to, up and down the stairs, bikes in hand.







I ran my checkpoint at "the Wall," where the Norfolk Catholic Worker serves breakfast three mornings a week, and the Bike Doctor repairs bikes one morning each week. I brought along my repair stand, and had folks sketch "the Bike Doctor's secret tool."



And no surprise, Chris Dinsmore was on the winning team...


Mike Park, who was on the second-place team, was wearing his GPS & posted our course online.


View Larger Map

Thanks again to everyone who made this event a success! I've got a couple of other alley cats in mind, including a urban cyclocross (cyclo-kitty!) and another food drive (hungry kitty!). Maybe we'll get another one going next month!

Wes

We're gonna lock U up!

So this past week while I've been riding around Norfolk, I've run into a few friends who've said,
"I just can't afford ten bucks for the entry fee!"

So for the record, let me explain a "free will" entry fee: it means pay what you can. If you can afford ten bucks, great! If you can only afford five bucks, that's great, too! And if you've only got a buck or two, then that will help out, too.

See, for about five years now I've been fixing up bikes and giving them away to folks who don't have any other transportation. I've got more time than cash though, and I just can't afford to give away a lock for each bike. Which means that someone's new beach cruiser gets ripped off before payday...

Then there's the fact that a $5 bike chain ain't worth five bucks...An industrious bike thief with a set of bolt cutters and a pickup truck can snap a chain and toss the bike in the back of the truck in thirty seconds flat. So the locks that most of my bike recipients can afford ain't worth it!

That's why Mike Shipp at East Coast Bikes is hooking me up with a deal on some decent U Locks. He's agreed to sell them to me at cost, $20 a piece.

Pay what you can, and come out this Saturday for some fun!

The Bike Doctor's First Grandannual Lock U Up Alley Cat Classic

Listen up, Boys & Girls-
Alley Cat, next Saturday afternoon!


Race starts at 3:30pm
Meet at the steps of Blair Middle School on Colley Avenue.

Free Will entry fee-
Pay what you can, but $10 suggested.

Race Proceeds will be used to purchase U Locks for the Working Poor.

Activity Checkpoints will include changing a tube.
(Changing tubes is not mandatory, but there will be a time penalty for skipping it.)

Special Huffy Class!

Prizes awarded for top finishers!

Another Norfolk Alley Cat