My first waking thought on this Sunday morning was “Wait, the Moose doesn’t open till 4:00, I wonder if Dave knows that?” I got out of bed and went to the trusty interweb where discovered that Dave had indeed realized this reality and had moved the starting location to Thick Bikes. Since registration was at 12, and the race started at 1, this was a much more suitable starting location. It was what some would consider a perfect afternoon for a mountain bike alleycat. Mid-20’s, light snow and just enough puddles to make things messy. As always, Dave devised an excellent race course that traversed the local trail systems through both Schenley and Frick parks.

I was especially looking forward to this race since I had just picked up my new bike the day before. It is my first full suspension bike and I had only ridden it for about an hour on Saturday. It seemed to be dialed in, and I figured this race would be a good proving ground.  Sarah and I went to the Iggle to pick up ingredients to make some pesto pinwheels for the potluck afterparty. Using her extraordinary culinary prowess, Sarah worked on putting together the pinwheels while I wrote out the que sheet. Normally, I would expect to receive a manifest at the start of the race with all the important information, but I recalled the Pittsburgh Roubaix where we had no such luxury. I thought if it were a repeat situation, at least I would have the turns/trails written out. I rolled down the hill to Thick a little after 12:00 where there were already a few people gathering. Dave, as usual, was running a little late. Chris was doing his part keeping the crowds under control.

Dave arrived, with manifests, around 12:30 where the crowd had grown to well over 20 riders. The final rider count topped out at 27. Once we were all ready to roll, we headed over to the support car to drop off any potluck supplies that anyone may have been carrying. It was kind of like a weird mountain bike critical mass as we rolled through the southside and over the 10th street bridge to the actual start. The race’s official start was at the very begining of the “jail trail” behind PNC Firstside Center. We did a classic Le Mans style start with everyone placing their bikes in the circular area at the trail head. Dave casually told us “uh, go, i guess..”.

There was a good mix of mountain and cyclocross bikes and the differences quickly became apparent. The cycloscross riders accelerated immediately down the jail trail while those of us on mountain bikes slugged along the pavement. Once off the paved trail we rolled down into Panther hollow and onto a steep single track climb into the Schenley. Most of the riders were walking up this climb as the snow was making it difficult to hold traction. Once I got up into the park the pack had thinned out significantly. I rode solo on the fire roads through the park at a good pace and made my way out to the road behind the visitor center. From there it was an easy on-road ride along Darlington Ave. over to Frick Park.

I had never ridden in Frick before and wasn’t really sure where this section started. Fortunately, there were some other riders on the road with me that new there way to the entrance. As they were in Schenley, the trails were all snow covered and slick. I made my way through the park passing and being passes by various other riders. I ended up finding Chris and Carol about half way through the course and rode with them for the duration of the race. Before we knew it we were at the end of the course. We took to the road and headed for the finish line.

We arrived at Caitlin’s house and I went around back to lock up my bike. Chris wasn’t done riding so he headed straight back out to Frick to get some more trails in. Inside was warm and the beer was flowing. All three of the layers I was wearing were soaked in sweat. I shed as many as i could and headed to the kitchen to find beer. Pabst had provided the after party with four 30-packs and there was a bunch of delicious food. After a few beers discussion turned to the gyroscopic Powerball that Bob had at the bike shop. Since we didn’t have one of those, the next best thing was to do beer holding competitions. Rob has a good explanation of the rules and regulations of the sport here. In short, it involves holding a ‘pounder’ of beer at shoulder height to see who can hold it the longest. Its surprisingly difficult. I challenged the Champagne of Steves in the first heat. He cracked after a measly 5 mins 30 secs. Next up was Rob and Ted. Their competition was more more compelling lasting for over 18 minutes! Ted eventually cracked leaving Rob the winner. Steve and I then had a rematch with our opposite arms and once again I came out the victor. Its been said that this may become a staple in all post-alleycat parties. I think it has serious potential.

The party and race were both a huge success. Special thanks to Dave for planning this thing, and to Caitlin for housing a bunch of sweaty bikers for the after party. Till next time.