# Cranksgiving: L.A. alley cat race report...



## Hollywood (Dec 30, 2003)

or "****** Goes Downtown".

Thanks to Nat aka 'Partially Hydrogenated' for the tip to the Wed. night alley cat race in downtown L.A. With only a days notice I prepped for chaos; racing through the city streets the night before Thanksgiving with at least 30 riders, most of them messengers.

I lubed up the Surly fixie, installed my Down Low Glow  neon and hopped on the Red Line subway towards downtown. I made a new friend on the train - a young fellow who apparently is very in to the "hop-hip" lifestyle that the kids love so much. The first words out of his mouth to me, as I minded my own business, were "Yo, how much that bike cost?". I shrugged and gave him my standard it's-not-worth-stealing answer of "about $200-300". That was a nice warm up for what was to come.

I showed up at 4th & Flower for the start. Lots of riders already hanging out, waiting for the fun to begin. We all received our manifest with the instructions for the race: Visit 5 specific markets around L.A. and purchase specific Thanksgiving-related items such as canned yams & peas, canned ham, dinner rolls, pies, etc. Receipts from each of the 5 stores were needed at the end of the race for proof. Once the race was over, all of the collected food would be delivered by the racers to a mission and donated to the homeless. That was the good news. The bad news was that Valley Boy (that's me) didn't recognize ANY of the market locations on the manifest. "Crap - I have no idea where to begin or which direction to head" I silently worried, observing all the savvy couriers mapping out their routes.

Luckily I met up with Nat and a courier named Jim who I know and mentioned that I might tag along, as not to end up riding down a very wrong street somewhere. "No problem".

The race organizer had us lay our bikes on the sidewalk and walk away from them for the running grab-n-go start. Lots of fixed gear bikes around - many without brakes. "GO!" I then panicked as Nat and Jim hauled ass in opposite directions, leaving me to chase one of them (Nat) and try not get lost 2 blocks from the start. Nice.

Unfortunately after the first successful market raid, I was on my own. On the list was everything from a sketchy Food4Less to a hipster Trader Joes. Last minute shoppers watched in total confusion as cyclists ran into the stores, some with helmets, some without, and scouted for the items. The Express Lanes moved excruciatingly slow. "I just need to buy this one can of peas lady, and you just put your 16th item on the conveyor in a 15 Items or Less lane....MOVE IT!". Grab the receipt and out the door to the next stop, riding only in a general direction of where I thought that may be, with Metro busses playing games of "Brush the Cyclist". Neat! At one market I gobbled down a candy bar followed by some "vitamin water" for a much needed energy boost. Next stop: the wrong way. I was asking pedestrians if they knew of a Trader Joes nearby. "Que?"

"_Donde esta el Trader Joes? How about a nice Starbucks? I could really use a gingerbread latte - it's one of the holiday flavors. For an added treat I put a little cinnamon on top"_ Blank stares. Never mind. Lost in my own city, how pathetic.

The Food4Less was my last stop and I'm sure I was the only English speaking Angelino in the joint. I walked the Surly with me up and down the aisles until my list was complete, then cruised back to the start to complete my erratic loop and finish the race. I came in about 10 minutes behind the guy who was last. 

As promised, we all rode en-masse to the Midnight Mission to deliver the goods. Some of the bolder messengers would block traffic at intersections to let us all pass through the red light, then continue on once the last rider went through. Like having our own personal police escort, just without the badges and guns (as far as I know...).There was some sort of disagreement with the mission employees - not sure what - but we ended up handing food out to the homeless that were living on the sidewalk outside the mission. "Hey man - wake up, I've got a pumpkin pie for you" I said as I walked down the sidewalk. It was all very much appreciated and felt great to connect one-on-one and really make someone's night.

If you're reading this, then you are already ahead of the game by having a computer, a bike or three, a house or apartment, good friends, a refrigerator, etc. We are all very, very fortunate. As I rode off towards the post-ride party for a cold one, I told myself "Man you are so lucky". That may sound cheesy but I spent the whole night around LOTS of people with much less than I have.

A great night with a great finish. I met some good people and came away with a t-shirt and a spoke card (race souvenir) all free of charge - the only costs being the groceries (and the PBR afterwards  )

Big thanks to the Bicycle Kitchen.

Some pics:

the Cross Check glows in anticipation









messengers hydrating pre-ride









Fixie Chicks









Tunnel racin'









arriving at the Mission


















The End!









hope y'all are having a nice holiday as well -
HW


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## Andy aka Rut (Jan 12, 2004)

*Inspiring!*

Way to help out the less fortunate Hollywood. You always have a way to inspire during the holidays! Great write up.

thanks for the invite!!!!


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## DSR (Dec 30, 2003)

Awesome passion! Well done! S


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## gpsser (Jan 5, 2004)

Nice job man, nice job. That was a great write up and great photos.


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## 1FG rider (Jul 9, 2004)

Good job as usual Hollywood! Very inspiring writing and the photos really add to the story.


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## partially hydrogenated (Sep 8, 2004)

*A great nite.*

Nat here.

Good to finally met ya Hollywood and glad you made it down to the alley cat.

What a fun night that was man! I had a great time riding in the company of messengers.

Since it's an alley cat scramble, riders took which ever route they wanted. At the start of the race there was a split and it seemed like half went towards the uphill section first and other half decided to hit up the flat locations first. There were about 40 riders, most were messengers and only about a handful of us non messengers.

I decided to hit the flats first and hills later. I lost sight of Jeff on the way to the first market. Jose, a 12 year old kid riding a 42/13t fixie with a front brake, road with me part of the way until we got separated at Liborio's Market.

It was a good race. Starting point was the messenger hangout spot on 4th and Flower, aka the Bridge. Checkpoints were scattered from the working class neighborhoods outside of downtown to the fancy hipster Silverlake part of the city. Race ended at the Bridge were the winner was annouced. Then we all rode off to the mission.

The confusion at the Midnight Mission that Jeff mentioned had to do with management. When all 40 something of us rode up, we dropped off the food to a less than enthusiastic security staff. Some of the homeless then gathered and asked us for the food, so we gave it to them. The staff at the Mission got cranky and shooo'd away the homeless people. Ironic I thought. Wasn't this food for them? Upon seeing this, many of the riders got mad and started yelling at the shelter staff to leave the homeless alone and that to give them the food. I then took my food bag and walked over to a homeless and just gave it to him.

I was going to ride my Bianchi Pista, but I couldn't find a 42t chainring to replace my 48t. I knew I would bonk running the bigger chainring so I left the fixie at home and rode my beater camouflaged duct taped wrapped 1x9 bike (you can see the camo tape and red bars in Jeff's photos of the two messengers drinking).

Lots of brakeless fixie riders. True skills and guts.

Here's a shot of me walking pass some bikes locked up in front of the bar where the post ride gathering was held. There's a nice old fixie on top of that bike tree. Jeff's Surly is in there somewhere:









Me and Jeff:


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