Bent Alley Cat Races Are Back

The fledging “competitive bicycle group ride” that mewled to life last summer returns bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready for meow-r.

Now entering its second season, The Bent Alley Cat Races — yup, “bent” as in “outta shape,” for example — will resume its fun and slightly chaotic checkpoint-structured competition on May 21.

The Bent Alley Cat series is an ode to the bicycle messenger races popularized in urban places like San Francisco, New York City and beyond. Competitors receive a manifest shortly before the race-start that lists required checkpoints, and racers must route themselves in the most efficient way possible. Often, winners aren’t necessarily the strongest but the savviest navigators. An alley cat simulates a typical day of messenger work.

Event organizer Sean Taylor, a former bicycle messenger and fixed-gear bicycle afficionado, began the Bent Alley Cat Races last August to “create a third place” for alternative cyclists — those who don’t wear spandex nor necessarily follow professional cycling, like himself. Bikes of all varieties — velodrome-ready fixed-gears, road bikes and mountain bikes — are welcome. Helmets and front and back lights, however, are non-negotiables — you must bring those.

Folks who heard about the race through friends or read about it in the Source, showed up each week last season, like kittens to a dinner chime.

Running weekly each Thursday evening, The Bent Alley Cat events grew from about a half dozen riders in its first week, culminating in about 30 folks who took part in a late-season, toy-drive-centered race that benefited the KIDS Center, raising about $700 in gifts, Taylor said.

“If 50 people show up for any alley cat this season, then I’m going to tattoo a black cat on my body,” Taylor said with a chuckle. “I don’t trust myself enough to tattoo anybody else.”

A rider arrives at a checkpoint at last year’s Bent Alley Cat Race Series. Credit: Adam Shapiro

This season, Taylor intends to add more structure and some new requirements; that teams can only compete in pairs, for example. Once a month, competitors will have an optional buy-in to vie for a fattened prize purse. Local sponsors also contribute prizes for first-place finishers, such as Second Wind Sports Bend, which kicked down a tandem bicycle.

Last year, checkpoints were often landmarks, such as public art or city park signage; riders would snap selfies to prove they’d been there. This year, Taylor says the races’ popularity has inspired volunteers to work these checkpoints, signing race manifests and cheering riders on their way.

Taylor, 39, said he’s still hammering out the details on some themed races, yet he hints at a river-themed one during the hottest parts of summer.

“We’re going to have checkpoints in the river,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re going to have to get in the water to pass through the checkpoint.”

The Bent Alley Cat Races
Each Thursday beginning May 21 through October, 7:30pm
Mirror Pond Plaza (in front of The Commons Café & Taproom)
instagram.com/bentalleycat
Free