Tuesday, February 10, 2009

First Friday Alley Cat - February '09

February’s race almost didn’t happen to me given that a few weeks previously I put the tooth of a cog through my thumb and messed it up pretty good. I hadn’t ridden a bike outdoors afterwards until the Thursday before the race, as a test run. Upon finding that I didn’t have any problems with gripping the bar or pulling the brake lever anymore I was set to race. This was a good thing since Friday brought the start of unseasonably ‘warm’ weather to town.

With the temperature in the balmy upper 30’s, expected to increase into the low 40’s through out the evening and night, I drastically changed my attire to suit the warmer weather. My top layer consisted of a cycling hat with a head band over my ears, a long sleeve shirt with a t-shirt over and gloves. The bottom layers were shorts with thin long johns underneath. Even with this set up I was still sweating during the race.

I was excited for a for reasons, the weather being one, my thumb health being another and the return of an old racing friend, Matt for the event. I parked my car, loaded up and took off among the crowded Friday night traffic, past milling basketball fans and on to the bar. I arrived just as Gallagher did and found Eric outside. I had run into him earlier in the day while he was delivering a package to my work and showed me his new wheels. Cog had been given a pair of brand new wheels from high end manufacturer HED to test out for 6 months. Eric had them for the first two months. Nice wheels, meant for the velodrome, but what better way to test their strength and abilities then on the streets underneath a veteran messenger. It was actually pretty funny to see them on his bike as they probably cost 3 times as much as the frame.

I locked my bike up and contemplated using my new cyclo computer during the race. The last one I owned I had lost in a race because it was not housed in its bracket securely and I was having problems with this one staying put. I decided against using it for the race and pocketed the computer. I headed in side for a beer and to talk with some people. As I milled around with a small group of other racers more people streamed in. I went outside to do something to my bike and Danny showed up. He locked up next to me and we went back into the bar. Soon afterwards Matt showed up, introductions were made and plans were hatched. We all registered and waited for the start of the race.

It was close to quarter to eight before we pilled outside for the manifest and start. The race was small but filled with strong bikers. It was a bit surprising that it was such a small field given the relatively warm conditions. Upon reviewing the manifest errors were found by the pack. There was some playful ribbing at first over the wording and spelling but then it came down to errors with the addresses. The main one was our first stop, National. The answer asked for the business at 530 West, but we were told the correct answer was 540 West, dully noted. Matt came by Danny and I and we discussed which way to head. We decided to hit south first then cut out to the furthest west then back to the north side. We positioned ourselves to go through the alley next to the bar. The guy putting on the race casually called start and we took off.

All three of us crowded through the alley way. Matt pulled out front and was able to get onto Clybourne before oncoming traffic. He yelled back to let us know there were cars going. I pulled out and hung a sharp left, warning Danny about the cars, which slowed down when they saw us. I slowed down to let them pass so I could cut over to turn south on Water but the cars slowed even more. Frustratingly they finally passed and we crossed over, Matt was already half a block ahead of us. As I pulled onto Water another racer came up from behind and passed. I stalled for a second at the red on St. Paul as he and Matt pulled ahead of me. I took off once I was sure the intersection was clear, glancing back to see where Danny was.

I pounded down Water, through the Third Ward, catching up to the other racer, dreading going over the wet grating of the bridge out of the Ward. I tensed up crossing it and felt my rear tire slip like it always did. I tried hard to not cross the grating sideways and safely made it into Walkers Point. I rode the wheel of the other racer for a while, resting, drafting all while contemplating when to pass. He was moving slower then I was but the race had just begun, it might not be bad to conserve my energy. I was a bit worried following him as my view of the street was cut short and I couldn’t see hidden dangers in the road, all I could do was trust him and follow his path. We all pulled onto National, swinging wide, mindful of the wet paint lines. I signaled our turn to Danny who was a bit behind. As we rolled through 2nd street I pulled into the driving lane and passed both the other racer and Matt. As I rode past Matt I confirmed the address we were looking for. At 5th I ran into a red light, slowed slightly making sure the coast was clear and mounted the sidewalk. I rode down the sidewalk, passing a pedestrian, scanning the addresses. Matt pulled past me on the street and stopped at the corner. The other racer casually rounded the corner and kept going. We stopped, got off our bikes and began to search for our address. Danny showed up and we all began debating what to write down. We crossed the street to see if by some fluke it was on that side. I wondered if it might have been the empty lot that was an old restaurant that had collapsed last spring, but doubted it. The final address on the block was 538, and was a restaurant. The name of the restaurant didn’t totally jive with the theme of the race so I doubted that. I rode down to see what 530 was, the original address on the manifest and noticed it was Mr. P’s Tires, a familiar cheap used car tire service. I shrugged and figured that made more sense. We agreed and went over a quick route to the next stop then took off again.

Our next stop was on Vliet Street, deep in the hood. We biked down National uneventfully until we got to 16th. From there we turned north and crossed the viaduct. On the viaduct I opened up and went full bore, not being concerned with loosing either Matt or Danny. Matt knew the city pretty well and Danny was keeping pace with him, so I wasn’t concerned with loosing Danny. I had to stop at a red light halfway through the viaduct, as traffic from Potawatomi pulled onto the street. Once the coast as clear I took off again, but with less gusto as before I stopped. I had expelled a lot of instant energy and needed to wait for the stocks to replenish themselves before I could sprint off again. I didn’t have my computer mounted so I couldn’t begin to guess what my cruising speed was. At the other end of the viaduct, at Clybourne, I stalled at a red light, even though there was no traffic. Danny and Matt were pretty far behind at this point and I didn’t want them to lose sight of me. The light turned green and I was satisfied with their distance and took off again, sprinting up a short incline to Wisconsin. I slowed down again once I crossed Wells, wanting them to catch up more. Once we merged into 17th I took off again, confident in their ability to see me. I sprinted up the 3 blocks to Vliet, slowed before the light, signaled long and turned onto Vliet, sprinting again.

Riding down the one street I ride the most I began thinking about how I was riding the same path 3 hours previously. I also thought about how close home was to the next stop, how tired I was getting how much I needed to hang on and keep pedaling. As I neared 27th I pulled out the manifest to double check the address. I pulled off my right glove to do so and held that with my left hand on the bars. I flipped through the small folded sheet and found the stop. As we rolled down National I was trying to visualize the stop, I had originally thought it was a small bodega on 28th, even though I knew the stop said it was in the 30’s, street wise. Then I had realized I was wrong and tried to think of what there was. I checked to make sure I still had the right address in mind, 37th street was my target. Right before the intersection with 27th I spotted a racer heading towards me. I pointed at him and as he passed I realized it was Eric, I grinned and wondered how many stops had he completed all ready, as he took the northern route. He might already by heading to the final stop, as the northern stops were all relatively close. I tucked down and kept going. I knew that Danny and Mat were behind and wouldn’t loose me but I didn’t know how far behind they had fallen. I crossed 35th and sped up the last two blocks to the next stop. The other racer I had passed on National was at the stop. He was busy stripping off his top layer of clothing and stuffing it in his bag. As I waited for the other guys to show up I scanned the question and tried to figure out the answer. Soon Danny and Matt showed up and we worked on the answer, debating what it was and finally deciding on something. Before we took off another racer showed up and a bum wandering around was having fun asking us weird questions. It must have been an odd sight to see 5 or 6 white guys on bikes standing around a closed/derelict business in the middle of the hood.

We picked our next stop, discussed the first part of the route and took off, back down Vliet. Danny and Matt were able to cross to the right side of the street before traffic arrived, but I wasn’t as lucky. I rode against the flow and remembered how I hated being in that situation on that street but had no choice. I traveled that way for about a block until I was able to cross over. I caught up with them as we crossed 35th and started to go over what might be the cross street for the next spot. Matt and I thought the address of the next stop was 2300 N MJK (3rd street). I wasn’t thinking to clear so it took a minute for me to realize that 2300 was North Avenue. I spotted the racer who I had passed before a few blocks ahead of me so I picked up the pace. I caught up with him after 27th and passed. At 17th I stalled as the light turned red, he pulled around to the far left of the road and was able to skirt traffic while I had to wait for it to pass. Once the coast was clear I took off again, but decided to rest behind him this time. At 12th I turned north, making sure that Danny and Matt saw me, even though Matt knew where to go and the other racer headed down the steep hill into downtown.

As I turned the corner I saw the unmistakable flashing lights of cop cars at my target intersection. Luckily I was legally turning that spot and wouldn’t have to sit through a red light with the authorities nearby. As I neared the turn onto Cherry I glanced back to see how far back Danny and Matt were. I signaled long and turned right. In front of me was a horrid sounding 80’s compact that pathetically lurched across the bridge spanning the freeway. I was afraid to kick it into high gear and pass him, since he might suddenly decide to turn into me. I waited for it to limp around a corner then I took off. At 6th street I glanced back to see were they were and decided to turn north, to try and avoid the slight incline at 3rd. I was originally intending to turn down 4th, but jumped the gun and didn’t realize I was on 6th until it was too late. I slowed down before I headed east on the next block so as not to loose them. If they continued to go north on 6th they would actually be run into 8th and have to deal with a number of messy intersections coming back down North to get to MLK. At the next street I slowed and pulled onto it, somewhat shocking the pedestrians that were also wandering the road with my squealing front brake. I slowed to a near stop to make sure they turned the corner and could see where I was headed then took off towards 3rd.

Matt and Danny caught up with me as we hit 3rd and we all pulled onto it, heading north bound, ahead of traffic. As we rolled down the street I pulled out the manifest again to double check the address. It was actually 2700, Center street. I shouted back to them that it was on Center and pushed on, through North. As we neared the intersection I saw another of the riders leaving. I noted the business name and turned onto Center, not stopping. I could write down the answer at the next stop. Again I passed Eric and started laughing to myself. I pulled out the manifest again to check the next address, which was a few blocks east on Center. It occurred to me to check the question from the stop I just passed. Upon reading it I noticed it wasn’t asking for the businesses name, but the 3 things the business specialized in, written on the side of the building. After I climbed the hill into Riverwest I slowed down, circled around and caught waited for Matt to show up. I told him I made a mistake, that we needed info off of the side of the building. Not knowing what to do I gritted my teach and turned back east and continued to head to the next stop. Along the way I debated what the three services were, I could think of two but had trouble thinking of the third one. I was planning to head back and have the guys head to the next stop and then we would all meet up at the last one.

I pulled up to the next stop, a bar on the corner of Humboldt and Center as the racer I passed earlier and another racer were taking off. I parked my bike and waited for Matt and Danny to show up so we could figure out what to do. Matt had a slow leak in his rear tube and needed to use my CO2 cartridge pump to fill it back up. As he worked on that we debated the last stop and what to do with it. We figured out what the 3 things might be and decided to jot them all down. We headed into the bar but were uncertain of what to do. The question told us to get something from a guy, yet upon looking around there was no one who immediately stood out as a messenger, or someone who would take part in an alley cat. We went back out to search for the address and decided to go back in, Matt asked the bartender if he was our man and he produced matchbooks with his name signed on them. As we were leaving I told him we needed another one but when he hesitated I yelled out the door for Danny to come in and get his matches. As we waited for him we planned the next step of the route. Our stop was on the far northern end of Water street, but there was a good chance the bridge on Humboldt, directly before Water was still under construction, yet none of us knew. If we couldn’t take the bridge we could always hop on the small bike path extension nearby and cross the Marsupial foot bridge over to the street, as opposed to going all the way around on Commerce and having to climb a nice sized hill. We took off down Humboldt.

As we rode I saw a car with its reverse lights on in the parking lane, I feared it would pull out or turn out quickly and shouted back to them about it, Matt echoed my warning just before a city bus honked at me to announce its presence. The street was small so I had to slow down between parked cars to let the bus pass, once it did I sprinted past it, thinking about how much I hated dealing with buses while biking. As I crested the small incline to the intersection with North I shouted out that the bridge was out. Matt caught up and we descended the steep hill together. I pulled ahead and slowed down to turn before Commerce, he questioned what I was doing and I told him to trust me. As we turned in he realized where we were headed. We rode down the alleyway to the entrance to the bike path and I wondered if the path was clear. About 30 feet before hand I saw it was anything but clear as I hit the brakes, swore and hopped off before my front tire contacted uneven ice. I hopped off, swore again, shouldered my bike and started running along the ice/snow filled pathway. I ran about two blocks worth of path and slowed to a fast walk, looking down on Commerce with envy but stuck with the path as there was no safe way to descend to the road. I moved to the shoulder to try and get out of the ice but feared that my cleat would get too much snow build up and moved to the edge of the path instead. Half way though I paused to put on my gloves and talked with the others as we trudged through the path. As I started complaining about the quality of service the city provides for cleaning streets/paths/walkways I thought to check for my manifest. After not finding it in either right side pocket I paused and turned back. Danny asked what the matter was and told both of them to keep going, I would catch up with them.

I quickly walked back, scouring the dark ice and snow for my folded up manifest. Just as I was about to give up hope, thinking I had gone past were it might have fallen out I spotted it. With glee I placed it in my shoulder bag and jogged to catch up with Matt. Danny was in the lead and had stopped to wait for us at the bridge. I shouted at him to mount up and take off. When we got to him we all mounted and rode the bridge. I explained to Danny what it was and as Matt sprinted off I warned him and Danny that the path ended sharply at the end of the bridge. Matt must not have heard me in at first or not remembered but as he neared the end of the bridge he saw how it turned to gravel 10 or 15 feet after the end. He slowed down, warned Danny to do the same and they cut the 90 degree turn onto the rest of the path out to the street. I caught up and we crossed the street. In front of Trocadero we checked the address and compared it with out manifests. We headed north down the street, scanning buildings. At the end of the block we came to the last business and the address was wrong, way off. A quick check of the next block told us it was the next number set and we decided to go with the answer we found on the last building, which has the wrong address number. I leaned against a car to both write my answer and provide room for oncoming traffic. Once I was done I looked at the other guys and told them we were headed down Water, to Juneau and 3rd, then took off, muttering to myself the name of the target building and trying to remember anything that would help with the question.

I pulled onto the curve at where Brady turns into Water ahead of traffic and pulled into the bike lane. I realized this was a really bad idea for a few things, traffic was coming up quick, I don’t trust this turn on dry wheel, let alone wet ones and the bike lane had a nice edge running right in the middle of it. Whoever thought that was a brilliant was to set it up needs to be shot. I tried my hardest to keep my tires out of the edge, while maintaining a safe speed in the sharp turn and steering clear of the cars passing me an the parked cars. After I rounded curve and pulled onto the straightaway I still wasn’t safe. Just past the intersection with Cherry the road went to one lane due to construction. I had to wait for the car next to me to pull ahead and I pulled over after a quick glance over my shoulder to see if any traffic was coming. I kicked it into high gear again and tried to pass this stretch as quickly as possible. About halfway to downtown proper I started to let my pedals take me, relaxing my legs, allowing them to follow the flow smoothly, to rest a little bit. I glanced back to see how far Matt and Danny were, but was confident they knew were to go. I slowed down slightly at the first red light into down town, checked for cross traffic and cops and headed to the next light. At is I turned right onto Juneau and cursed the fact I would have to cross another grated bridge. As I did so I tensed up and tried to keep as parallel with the grating as possible all while marveling at how odd the bridges under lighting was as I rode across. I quickly crossed 3rd and soon discovered the answer I needed. I waited and saw Matt soon after. I told him the answer and asked him were Danny was. He thought he was right behind him and didn’t know. I called Danny after a few moments out of concern for his safety and direction. As I called him again Matt realized the answer we wrote down first was incorrect and pointed out a clue in the question. We changed our answers, complained of the riddles sometimes and decided to head back to Water to try and find Danny. I hated crossing the bridge again but did so safely.

At the intersection with Water I hoped off my bike and leaned it against a shrinking snow bank. Matt had hit a pot hole right before the bridge and thought he had trashed his bad tire. I was ready to give him my spare tube when he checked the tire and found it to still be holding. I called Danny again and we decided to head to the next stop not knowing where he was. Our next stop was Water and Wisconsin and there were two possibilities. We had to hit a time machine and print out our statement or get some repair number if we didn’t have a debit card. Matt thought it was Well’s Fargo but I vaguely remember the numbering on that block to be a bit weird and cautioned it might be the Associated across the street. As we debated this we crossed Kilbourn and a horse attached to a wagon began to try to take off, with its handler telling it to stop. Matt commented how that seemed like a situation out of a bad Christmas movie, we laughed and continue don our course. A few blocks up and we reached Wisconsin. I pulled up to the intersection and stopped to begin scanning for addresses, luckily I was stopping here as a cop was stopped at the light as well. I pulled my bike onto the sidewalk and began walking down the block, searching for the buildings address. Found it and tried to get in from the south door. Matt said we would have to go back to the east door but he wasn’t sure were the ATM was, that it might be up. He stayed outside and I went in to ask the guard directions. He told me it was on the second floor but that I would have to take the service elevators instead of the main ones. As I rushed off down the hall he shouted directions to me about where to go.

I quickly found the elevators and chanced a set of stairs being nearby; stairs are much faster than an elevator. I quickly raced up them; stopping at the first landing to test the knob only to find out it was a guard room. I kept going and ended up on the 2nd floor. I walked hurried past the elevator banks, trying to remember the guard’s instructions. At the same time I started remembering reading about the major alley cat races and how they try to emulate more conditions of the job of the messenger, such as building security giving you the run around and other such hassles. I took a wrong turn and ended up in the landing of the main bank of elevators and quickly turned back around. I wondered what the guard thought if he was watching me on the monitors. I headed back to the freight bank and took the other way, rounded a corner, passed through another set of doors and was about turn around when I saw the atm. I scoured the device, looking for some 800 number, but when I couldn’t find one I decided to take some deposit envelopes instead, hoping that would work. I checked a second time, didn’t find anything and grabbed 3 envelopes, wondering what the security footage looked like. I quickly headed back to the 1st floor, wished the bored guard a good night and ran outside to find Danny talking with Matt. I passed out the envelopes explaining I couldn’t find any number; we mounted up and took off.

Two blocks later we were at the bar locking up. We shouted at Danny as it looked like he was going to keep heading south, but instead he was skirting traffic. Ass he approached he cracked an insult at us, saying he knew where he was going. We headed in and found most of the racers already returned. Matt handed in first; I handed in second but pulled it back to write my name on it. People were telling Danny to hurry up, that he might get in before me, but I turned it back in before he was able to. I handed in my envelope and told him I couldn’t find the service number. Matt handed in his matches, which made me remember mine. Danny couldn’t find his right away and we joked telling him to ride back to the bar. As he gave up and headed to a table he found them and we were all set. As we waited for the announcements we had a few rounds of beers and talked about races, bikes and what not. In the end the guy I passed twice won, he was the only one to have all the right answers, Eric got second, Matt got 6th, I got 7th and Danny got 8th. The race was done, everyone complained about the screwed up manifest. We all took off to warmer air; hopefully March would be just as nice, if not better.

Socialist Milwaukee Race - January '09

January’s First Friday Alley cat race actually took place on the second Friday of the month due to the majority of the people who would be racing being in Madison for a bike polo tourney. The race was titled Milwaukee Sewer Socialism and according to the hints on MySpace dealt with the socialist history of the city. I was able to get Danny out for the race even though he hadn’t ridden in the cold and we have received about 2 inches of snow earlier in the day.

I drove downtown and parked a block from the bar. Grabbed my bike and locked it up at the usual spot and went it. The place was packed, Danny was sitting by the door and I greeted everyone I knew. After grabbing a beer I sat down at the table and passed the time. Soon registration was collected and more people showed up. The field was large and daunting. There were prizes to be won and I at least wanted to get something out of the race. Around quarter to eight we all pilled outside for the manifests and the start of the race. I unlocked my bike and headed for the pack, grabbing one of the photo copied sheets. Someone commented on the handwriting and we made sure everyone could read the instructions clearly. The manifest had 10 stops and a map marking each stop, nice and convenient. The race was going to be long and a few people grumbled about that. Other complained about one of the stops, on Jones Island, and shared horror stories about the condition of the road. I overheard two other racers talk about how there was a fence you could climb through on the island to get into Bay View instead of going all the way around. It would be nice to know where that shortcut was.

I went over to Danny and told him to follow me. When he asked which was we were heading I faltered and told him east. I figured we would cut around to Clybourne and get onto Water from there. Go was called and we took off down the sidewalk. At the street I saw cross traffic and thought to send out a warning to those heading the same way on the road but had to be concerned with my own safety as I dealt with getting off the sidewalk and onto Broadway. The other bikers headed the cars with out my warning and Danny and I made it safely onto the road, headed southbound. I didn’t look behind, I just pushed forward. At the intersection with Clybourne we ran into a red, but looking at another set of light I could see that was about to change. I stalled just long enough to make sure the traffic coming off of the freeway didn’t get the green then took off around the corner. As we headed west to Water two cars came up behind us. The first one passed with no problem, the second one didn’t seem to be able to make up its mind about its course of action and caused me to slow down and wait for it to go. It turned onto Water and we followed suit.

Three blocks into the Third Ward a police car had pulled someone over. By this time also another racer had caught up with us. Just as we reached the squad its suspect pulled out and as we passed by the cop he yelled out at us asking us where our lights were. I didn’t have time to think of anything and kept going. Before I hit the bridge out of the ward the other cyclist passed me. I way leery of the bridge due to the wet conditions and hated that my rear tire always slipped around a bit while crossing. This time was no different and I was happy to be on the other side. I chased after the other racer as we pulled into Walkers Point. The roads were a mess from the snow so we took to the right lane aggressively, not wanting to run into anything in the shoulder that could throw us off our bikes. We passed under the narrows train bridge to honking horns behind us and picked up the pace once we hit the open stretch of 1st street. Just before the McDonalds north of National I saw the other racers manifest hit the ground. I shouted out to him that he dropped his manifest and he instantly went into a skid to slow down. As he did he started slipping around a bit and I feared he would wipeout in front of me. I quickly passed him and kept going. Danny caught up to me at National and I ended up in the shoulder as I crossed the road. Unknown to me the pavement had a large hole in it that tried to swallow my tire. I got caught for a second, slipped in the snow but fought it and kept my bike upright and forward. Danny commented on that and I told him I hit a crack. We barreled on towards Bay View.

The wind picked up significantly as we passed by Allen Bradley. I put my head down, went down into my drops and pushed ahead. The coast was clear all the way to our first stop. As I neared the stop I ran into a sunken manhole and feared that I had pinched a tube like I did in November’s race. I figured if I did I would find out soon enough and kept going. I reached the bridge on KK that leads into Bay View first trying to scan for a historical marker. I stopped and waited for Danny while I looked. He showed up shortly afterward and I pointed to a small bronze plague on the east side of the river. We quickly biked over to it and hoped onto the sidewalk. It was only a weight limit plaque and as we began to search for the real thing the other racer arrived. He hopped on the sidewalk and we headed to the south end of the bridge were we found the plaque we were looking for in a control station. We scoured the plaque, got our answer and I plotted the next stop. I walked my bike out to the street, decided to stay in the north bound lane and took off, with Danny not far behind.

A bit past the bridge the road became much smaller as construction moved it to one tight lane on either side. From my view of the intersection beyond the construction I could see that traffic was stopped but I didn’t know for how long and feared it might start up again before Danny could make it through. That fear was squashed as we pulled off of KK and into oncoming traffic on Bay Street. Once clear of the median we gingerly pulled over to the east bound side and pushed into the wind. Due to the conditions I took wide birth of the right hand lane, but as we neared the bend that ran the road parallel to the freeway I pulled into the left hand lane. Luckily traffic was non existent. The next patch of road was rough and I feared running into a hidden pothole. Once through that section the road got a bit better and I was able to pull back into the right hand lane. A set of headlights illuminated part of the road as a vehicle came up behind us. Danny shouted something at me and I shouted back at him that they can go around. The vehicle never did go around and eventually turned off. Danny pulled up beside me and said that it was an ambulance. I gruffly stated that it had a lane and I didn’t see any lights so fuck them. Danny pulled into the left hand lane as we neared the end of the road. I told him we would be taking a left and it was an uncontrolled intersection. A car neared us and I pulled into the left hand lane as well.

We reached the end of Bay and pulled onto Russell. I knew the next stop was Russell and Superior and I had an idea of where it was, but was still uncertain until the block before the stop. I remembered that there was a park in that intersection that was dedicated to workers that were killed during labor strikes in the 1880’s. At the park we pulled across the intersection hopped off our bikes and walked to the marker. I planted mine in the snow, with it threatening to fall over but staying up right. I’m actually surprised it didn’t fall over and Danny thought it was pretty funny. We clomped through the snow and began scouring the large marker telling the history of the park. As we began scouring the board for both answers we needed at this stop the other racer showed up. I plastered my manifest to the wood sign as best as possible to write as clearly as possible. Once done we headed back to our bikes and I plotted the next stop.

The next location was only a few blocks south of where we were just off of Superior. We mounted up and took off. As I crossed the intersection two drunken guys went back from their car into the bar and one of them, an older guy, shouted out at me something about being from Milwaukee. I smiled and kept going. I wasn’t sure exactly where the next intersection was but knew it was close by. The first cross street was a bust but the second one was the correct one. I took a left onto the street with Danny following to find out when we hit the end of the block that it was the wrong way. The other biker had pulled onto the street as we turned around and turned around his self. We quickly followed and when I spotted the stop I shouted out to him. This stop was a large stone block that apparently is a well of some sort. You could hear the water still bubbling through it and Danny asked if that was what he was hearing. I found the answer and told everyone else.

As I came back to the road we all started discussed were to go next. There was only one stop left on the south side and it was one I had not completely decided to do. The stop was the one on Jones Island. I asked the other racer if he knew of a shortcut from that stop but he didn’t and told us that the road was filled with hidden train tracks, including one what had slippery wood. We decided to work together and took off. We went back down to Superior and Russell, turned east on Russell and headed towards Carferry Drive. We approached the intersection near the freeway onramp and I paused to look for sign that marked the Car Ferry entrance, the other racer told me to take a left so I did. He had been down here before and I trusted his judgment. As we passed the freeway I heard the unmistakable sound of a bike hitting the ground. I looked back to see Danny on the ground. I slowed down, thanking the fact I had a fixed gear bike since my rim brake was not working to well and swung around to assist Danny. I pulled up, asked him if he was ok and if the bike was ok. He said he was and I turned back around, knowing he would catch up eventually.

I took off like a bat out of hell fearing the unknown that lay ahead of me. Once I got onto the ‘island’ I paused and waited for the other racer and Danny to catch up. I wasn’t exactly sure which road to take out of the two presented to me. The other biker headed off on the left path and we followed. He warned us about the tracks and told us about a recent group bike ride were a bunch of people bit it. We gingerly road down the desolate and snow covered stretch, passing by sinister looking industrial sites. I almost wondered if we were really allowed to be on the road. As we cut across the first train track a car came towards us and a young woman yelled out of her window at me how to get back to a normal road. I told to keep going the way she was and she would get out. We continued on, complaining of the horrible conditions. Further along the other biker lost control of his bike and hit the ground. I was thinking he must have hit a patch of ice and counted myself lucky for not falling yet when my bike lost control. In panic mode I unclipped my left foot, wrenched my right foot out and jumped off of my bike. It hit the ground as it cleared the hidden train track and I stayed upright. I turned around and yelled at Danny to stop, which he did. He safely crossed the tracks and we all continued on, shaken.

As we continued on down the desolate stretch we began to wonder where our stop was. We came across one open field and I figured that had to be it but I couldn’t see anything aside from a now trespassing sign. Just then the other biker shouted out that he spotted a wooden park sign further down the road. We had our stop and we took off. The other guy was already there when I showed up and had put his bike against the sign. I dumped mine in the snow bank and met him at a large plaque. I pulled out the manifest and found the question. We had to write down the date stamped on the large anchor in the park. I looked at the anchor and swore when it was full of ice. I scrapped some off and began walking around it, shinning my flashlight on it. As I came around to the other side I found the date stamp, had the other biker confirm it and we all jotted it down. We were now done with the south side stops and had to get back downtown and complete the rest of those. The biggest and more immediate problem was back tracking through the dangerous road. It had to be done and we all mounted up and gingerly went back.

Halfway through it we crossed a group of three bikers and they asked if the park was down that way. The other racer said no, I said it was back that way. After they took off Danny joked with me about my sense of competitive spirit. Once we reached the horrid tracks I hoped off of my bike and walked it across. Soon afterwards we were back on open and safe road and I took off, feeling the heat now that a group of bikers that had hit the north portion first were already this close to us. The wind pushed me further and I got ahead of the other two by some blocks. As I got back into Bay View proper I stopped at an intersection to wait for the other two to catch up. At the intersection was a bar a friend was supposed to be hanging out at. I entertained the idea of stopping in for a second or calling but soon squashed it as they caught up quickly. Once they were close I took off again, making sure Danny saw where I was going.

We pulled back onto Bay and pounded hard. From Bay we turned back on to KK. The second time through the construction sight proved a bit more daunting as the left side of the lane was ruble strewn. I considered pulling onto the sidewalk to cross the bridge, hating to deal with my back tire slipping but didn’t and dealt with the discomfort. I pounded faster down 1st street and glanced back to see how far behind the other two were. I wasn’t concerned with loosing Danny as it was a straight shot back downtown and didn’t worry when I couldn’t clearly see him. I pushed ahead and tried to make it back into downtown as fast as possible. The rest of the ride up to Michigan Street was uneventful and grueling. My feet were still warm but I was exhausted and there was still much of the race to be biked. At Michigan I wished I was actually turned to finish the race and have a beer but knew that time would come.

At Wisconsin I pulled ahead of traffic at a red light and took over the right lane until I reached Well’s at which point I stopped and waited for Danny to catch up. He wasn’t too far behind and it gave me time to scan the manifest and realize we had more stops that I remembered to take care of. I was starting to lose faith in placing well but knew I had to finish the race, which only had one long distance stop left and one trouble spot left to deal with.

When he caught up the other biker was no where to be seen, he was on his own again. We crossed Wells on a red and pulled up to the dais in front of the newly restored city hall. We had to jot down the date the city was founded. After that we pulled out to head west to the next stop when the other racer turned ahead of us. He was going to the next stop before hitting city hall. We quickly followed and I warned Danny we were about to swim upstream as we went against traffic on Wells. We rode past Pabst and I followed the other biker on the sidewalk and we all stopped in front of a large historical marker. This stop was the most troublesome of the stops. The wording on the manifest didn’t exactly fit the wording we were finding on the marker and we debated for a minute or two exactly what to mark down. Wanted to get to the next stops I wrote down what I best thought was the correct answer and took off, with Danny following. I wished the other biker well and told Danny the next path.

We pulled onto Water and headed north. Our next stop was a bridge on the outskirts of down town. As we travelled to it I continued to second guess which road we were actually heading for but I continued on. Danny fell behind by a few blocks as I pulled through red lights and lulls in cross traffic while he had to wait. He caught up again as I reached the correct cross road. I pulled over into the left turn lane ahead of a car so as not to have to wait and turned west onto Cherry. I stayed in the east bound lane and stopped at the bridge to wait for Danny, which caused one of the cars heading towards me to panic and honk at me. I ignored them and pulled out the manifest. When Danny showed up I took off and yelled at him to find this answer and that I was going to the next one and would be back shortly.

I took off up Cherry, not exactly knowing where the next street was I needed to find. I knew the name, Galena, and knew it was close by but couldn’t think of where. When I hit 2nd I headed north and climbed half a block up a steep hill before doubting that it was up the hill and turning around. As I did some young hipster chick was walking her dog and stared at me in wonder. I cringed going down the hill as my rim brake was being ineffective and traffic was picking up. I stood up and worked as best as I could to lock up my rear tire, much to my knees displeasure. I made it safely to the bottom and cut across the street when traffic had cleared. As I rolled south by the Assurant building I wondered if Galena at this point wasn’t really a road and if the building that is next to Libiamo’s was that one I wanted. I continued on to the next intersection only to find that on incorrect as well. I headed west to 3rd and headed north to Cherry. I turned back onto to Cherry and decided to follow tire tracks in-between Assurant’s parking lot and the high school on the corner. As I did I could see a blinking tail light that undoubtedly had to be another racer. I quickly closed the gap and found him crossing the snow to the building that I thought might be the one earlier. We traded some small talk about the difficulty of this stop and both began to scan the building for the date stamped on it. We found it; I wished him good luck and pulled into the parking lot after two bewildered frat boys on my way back to Danny.

I can up to him and found him off of his bike on the phone. I asked him what the answer was, and told him my answer. We both wrote them down and I ran through the next leg of the race. We had to shoot out to the water tower next to St. Mary’s hospital at the eastern terminus of North Ave. It was going to be a long trek but we had to do it. We pulled onto Water on a red light and I warned him about conditions on the bend to Brady Street being tricky. Cars were stopped at a red light at Van Buren and we got in line. They took off and so did we, taking up the drive lane as there was no where else to go. At Humboldt I cut around the traffic as it was waiting to turn and pounded down the street only to be caught at a red light at Farwell. The light turned green and I followed 2 cars up to Downer with Danny close behind. We pulled ahead of the cars and onto Downer on a red as traffic was virtually no existent. From this point I kicked it into high gear again, took the right lane and pounded towards North Avenue. I thought to my self how I appreciated the fact that the bridge over the bike path was done and fully open now. I glanced back and saw Danny back a few blocks but kept going. I had given him rough directions and would wait a bit at North to make sure he saw where I was going.

I stalled at the red light on North then turned east, following 2 cars. They moved slowly and a block down the road became tight with construction. A car that was parking pulled widely out into the lane causing me to yell hey at them in shock and pull into the oncoming lane to make room. I crossed the last intersection and pulled up to the water tower, dumping my bike in the snow. I ran to the plaque as Danny caught up and I told him we needed to find out what the tower was made out of, he said it looked like limestone to him. After scanning the marker I found out he was right. Now we had one spot left to get to and the trip to this one had me worried. From this point we had to get down to Lincoln Memorial Drive. I told Danny we were going down and to make sure his brakes worked well.

I pulled out of the roundabout and headed tentatively to the steep winding road that led us to the lakeshore. I rode cautiously and slowly, continuously holding the brake down and holding back on the pedals. Around the first bend I noticed a good group of people standing on the hill top and watching the dark lake. I chanced a glace at the view and it was mildly impressive, maybe my look was too quick to take it all in but I just saw a vast dark horizon, pretty forbidding. About half way down the hill a motor vehicle of some sort came behind us but was kind enough to hold steady and not pass us. I couldn’t tell what it was from the sound of the engine but I kept thinking it sounded like a scooter. I made it down the hill safely, released the brake and took off for the intersection. I slowed down to make sure I survived the 90 degree turn and was finally on Lincoln memorial. The road was open, clear of snow and wet. The wind was behind me and I opened up harder then I had in the race. A short while later the car that sounded like a sick scooter passed me by. I kept going, faster and faster, not worrying where Danny was. The next stop was farther than I thought from our entrance to the road and after a while I began to lose my steam, but the bike didn’t want to slow down, it kept going full bore. This was one of the few times since switching to a fixed gear that I wished I still could coast. I even contemplated unclipping my feet and letting the pedals go, but remembered that my rim brake had not been working too well. I endured the exhaustion and help going. The road was very wet and I soon tasted road salt on my lips and my glasses began to get sprayed. My feet also began to get very cold as my shoes and socks socked up the water rapidly. Eventually I reached the final stop Alterra Coffee on Lincoln Memorial. I pulled onto the sidewalk, pulled out the manifest to read the question and waited a few seconds for Danny to show up. As he did I headed around the building trying to find what I was looking for. As we debated what to do I noticed a worker taking out the trash, I yelled out to her where the room was located we had to find and she told us what the answer was. I thanked her, doubted the accuracy of the answer she gave, jotted it down and told Danny that it was time for a beer.

I told him the route back to the bar and took off. Again I opened up and sped down the street until my legs ached and I had to slow down. I glanced back as I neared the art museum, regretting my directions to him and kept going…he would get back to the bar soon. I pulled onto Michigan and dashed the last few blocks to the bar. I pulled onto the sidewalk and balked at the large number of bikes parked out front. I was pretty late apparently. I laid the bike down and ran into the overflowing bar to turn in my manifest. I went back outside, locked up and waited for Danny to show up. When he finally arrived we both headed back in and he turned in his manifest. I talked to some people, moved to the back side of the bar and ordered a beer while waiting for the results. It took a while for others to finish and for the questions to be checked. The three racers that we passed on Jones Island had been stopped while crossing the Hoan Bridge. They were given warnings but decided to cut their lose and headed back to the bar. Eric hadn’t even left the bar, even though he had paid his registration. When the results were finally announced Danny had gotten 7th place and I had gotten 8th. For some reason I had three wrong answers and Danny had two. I was ok with that because I ended up getting a new chain, which I needed after the beating I had just put my bike through. It was time to go home and shower.

Roxy's Race - December '08

Once again the racing conditions for December is snow filled as the metro area received a few inches of the white stuff over the week of the race. On top of that the temperatures plummeted, freezing much of the snow in place, which made for hazardous side streets to bikes. With the temperature around 12 degrees or so I was nice and bundled up, which affected my peripheral vision and hearing…prices to pay for keeping body parts warm. There had been a flurry of activity on MySpace leading up to the race. At one point Eric, who was hosting it, sent out a hint saying it was the Roxy Race, which made no sense to me. Another post talked about how the winner was going to get a free Eighth Inch frame and fork courtesy of Cog Magazine. Eighth Inch is a small brand that my part time employer started a few months earlier as a way to tap into the fixed gar road bike popularity. I wasn’t interested in the frame, I could get one relatively cheap any time I wanted, but I always want to take first place. I figured if I won I could give 2nd place the frame.

I drove my bike downtown and parked in the usual spot. I readied my outerwear and began riding to the bar. Downtown was bustling with activity on this brisk late fall evening as all of the winter events were in full swing. As I rode past the Bradley Center a family was cutting across the street to go watch a basketball game. The father yelled out to his young son to watch out for cars. The group proceeded to dodge out of my way while the son retorted that it wasn’t a car, it was a biker.

The rest of the trip into the bar was uneventful. I had to stop briefly at Water Street as cross traffic was quite heavy. Once I could I broke across the street and up to the bar. At first I couldn’t see any bikes but as I got closer the first thing that caught my eye was a ‘bike tree’ made up around one of the poles. Someone must have done it for entertainment purposes as there was plenty of parking room. There were also a number of bikes locked to them selves leaning up against the front of the building. I hoped off on the street and walked my bike through the slush and onto the sidewalk, taking my normal parking spot. I walked into the bar and greeted Eric and the others that were already there. I was greeted as the guy who didn’t need to win the frame. As I sat down I handed in my registration fee of which I was handed an Eighth Inch brand sticker. I thought that it was a bonus for the race but I think I was the only one to get one, interesting, thanks man. I ordered a dark beer and began chatting to pass the time. As time went no one really showed up, for a while I was the only one even racing, everyone else was just there to hang out. I didn’t care; I would race even if it was only me and another person. I knew that at least one other person would be showing up, Jordan, my co-worker from the bike shop. Before he arrived a few other people showed up, including a fresh face to the First Friday Alley Cat’s. This was his second alley cat race, the first having been 2 weeks earlier called Cranksgiving, which was collecting donations for the Hunger Task Force. I found out about this race after it happened and kicked myself for not knowing about it sooner.

As 7:30 drew near a few more racers, including Jordan showed up. Eric announced that it was almost time to race and went to try and convince a few people there who were on the fence to race. I had Jordan help me finish off my second beer and we went outside to get ready. Eric was standing near the street as were two of the racers. As Jordan and I headed towards our bikes he yelled at us to leave them locked up and take our time. Everyone was soon gathered outside and the instructions began. We were quickly eluded to the Roxy Race hint from earlier in the week; Eric’s friend Roxy was having a baby shower that night. He wanted all of us to take the money we put in for the race and go buy her baby shower presents. Once we dropped off the presents at the shower, in Riverwest, we would get our manifest in a sealed FedEx box. The person back at the bar the fastest and with the most correct answers would win the frame.

With that we took off. Jordan and I unlocked out bikes. I told him we would hit TJ Max, located in Grand Avenue mall around 2nd and Wisconsin. I walked my bike out to the street and mounted, heading west on Michigan. At Water we ran into a red a light, I hit the intersection right as the light changed and was able to get ahead of traffic. I slowed down at the turn, not wanting to lose traction and headed towards Wisconsin. Half way down the block I glanced back through my ski goggles to get a view of the traffic and to see were Jordan was. I took a small break in the cars and pulled over to the left hand lane, signaling that I was taking a left at Wisconsin. The light turned red as I began to slow down, I signaled to Jordan and gingerly got onto the sidewalk at the intersection. As I crossed the bridge over the river I began to doubt the intelligence of riding the sidewalk which was covered with ice and snow.

At the intersection with Plankinton I slowed down, not wanting to loose it heading onto the street and visioning another cyclist coming around the blind corner. Neither happened and we both crossed safely onto the next block. I hopped off at a bike post nearest the entrance to the store. I locked up as Jordan arrived and ran to the door. The door unfortunately was locked and had a polite sign directing us to the mall entrance a little further down the block. I shouted this information at Jordan and headed inside.

Once inside I began searching the foyer for a friend of mine who works with the Downtown Ambassadors. This is the staging area for the Jingle Bus that tours some of downtowns decorations and my friend was working there when my family went. I thought it would be funny to run into him during a race, as I had a habit of running into him on my bike all the time. He wasn’t working though.

I headed to the entrance to the store and glanced back. Jordan was still outside so I headed back, to make sure I didn’t lose him. Right as I got to the entrance he came in saying something about trouble with his lock. We headed into the store. I began scanning the area, trying to find any kind of baby shower present. I thought I had seen some in the back corner near were we parked our bikes. Jordan got the bright idea to ask a passing clerk and we were directed to the back corner. As we navigated the isles and display tables I saw another racer already heading for the check out lane. Jordan and I wove our ways to the back of the store and began searching for a baby shower gift that was within the five dollar budget. While looking I remembered that I had forgot to put on the neon green t-shirt I had with me over my hoodie, for safety. I grabbed a funny looking bib and headed towards the cash register. On the way I swung around my bag and was about to pull out the t-shirt when I realized I would have to take my helmet off first. Not wanting to disturb the layers on my head I said to hell with it and swung the bag back into place.

I got to the check out lane to find one cashier working with a slow customer. Just what I needed, held up in line by a stereotypical customer. I only waited for a few seconds and heard a page over the intercom system that I could be helped at the next counter. The cashier caught my attention, waved me to her and I gladly obliged. I tossed the merchandise on the counter, handed her my five, contemplated telling her to keep the change and braced for the question as to why bikers are buying bibs all of a sudden. She handed me back my receipt and change which I pocketed and thank her. I hurried out of the store, Jordan next in line with the woman and contemplated what to do with the bib.

Once I got outside I put my goggles back in place, stuffed the bib in my cargo pocket and unlocked my bike, waiting for Jordan to come out. He came out shortly after and I told him the plan of action. We would head down to Water, head north and take that until it ended. As he unlocked his bike I mounted mine and began heading down the sidewalk. The light at Plankinton turned green and I crossed onto the street its self, not wanting to revisit the treacherous sidewalk. As I crossed the grating on the bridge I braced for slippery conditions and envisioned myself slipping over and spilling out into traffic. At Water the light was red; I pulled into the left hand lane, paused to make sure the coast was clear and turned left, making sure Jordan saw me. I pulled over to the right lane, wanting to make sure I had some safe road to travel over. The traffic behind me would have to go around because the shoulder/parking lane was pretty ugly with snow and ice that had not been plowed thoroughly.

The trip north on Water was uneventful and quick. I only crossed through one red light and was able to keep up with traffic. Near Juneau I glanced back, which is hard to do well with my ski goggles, to try and find Jordan. I couldn’t see his headlight behind me and figured he might have gotten caught at some more red lights. I kept going, confident in my directions. As I neared Pleasant I glanced back harder and still did not see any sign of him. I crossed Pleasant on a red but doubled back half way down the following block. I was now facing on coming traffic, which was still stalled at the red, scanning the multi-block expanse before me, searching for Jordan’s blinking light. I caught site of it a few blocks away just as the light turned green. I headed back down the block towards him and once I crossed back over Pleasant he caught up with me. I turned back around and waved him up Pleasant and we both humped up the short hill to Van Buren. From there we crossed in a lull in traffic and headed north. We made the green light at Brady and continued north across the bridge that connects Holton and van Buren. From there the next pause in our speed was a short red at North Avenue then it was hard tempo to Center Street. At North I told him we would be taking a right at Center.

Once I hit Center I glanced back to see where Jordan was and noticed he was a block or so behind. I was confident in the instructions and that he could see me turn right. I headed down center, slowing my pace up a little, glancing back about once a block to see when Jordan turned onto the street. When I reached Humboldt I paused and turned around to meet up with him, I told him we were taking a left on Humboldt and took off through the red light at that intersection, which was empty of traffic. As we rode the block to the building the shower was being held another racer passed us heading south bound and we saw one pulling out of the parking lot. I was getting discouraged that we were this far behind in such a small field.

I slowed down significantly while pulling into the parking lot of the pavilion due to the pile of snow in it. Slowly we crossed the lot and got onto the sidewalk leading up to the entrance of the pavilion. There were a number of people in the entrance way, one of them being the messenger we had to meet with to get our manifest. We both rode up to the entrance and leaned our bikes against the foyers pillars and headed into the lobby. The mood was festive but I wondered at why they were all standing there without coats on when it was obviously cold in the lobby. I pulled out my bib and exchanged it for a sealed FedEx box and thanked the woman. I headed outside ahead of Jordan and just as another racer was pulling up. I heard the messenger say that we could go over the manifest inside as I tore open the envelope and began to pour over the sheet of paper.

It was a daunting list and as always I couldn’t focus right away on the information, my brain was too overwhelmed and I started to franticly scan the paper. After a bit I decided to focus solely on the addresses to try and build a mental picture of the stops. Jordan came out and I changed my logic to finding the closest stop then going from there so we could get moving ahead of the other racer. I scanned the manifest again and found our first stop. I told Jordan about were we were heading and we mounted up, ahead of the other racer, which was probably the last one at the stop. We pulled out of the parking lot and onto Humboldt, heading back downtown. From the looks of it most if not all of the stops on the manifest are located downtown. The trip down Humboldt was uneventful. I asked Jordan if he had his brake attached to his bike, as he doesn’t use it much and sometimes removes it. He said he did and I warned him that we had a steep hill we would have to deal with coming up. Once I hit the hill I didn’t take a look back and turned onto Commerce once it was safe. Passing through Commerce I turned left onto Cherry and looked back, I could not see Jordan’s had light anywhere. I rode down to the bridge over the river and decided to turn back. As I turned around I still could not see his headlight but as I pulled back onto Commerce I saw him about 2 blocks down. I quickly caught up with him and turned around to ride next to him. He didn’t look good at all. I asked if he was ok, thinking that he had thrown up. He said he felt like shit but not to worry about it. I said ok and we pulled onto Cherry.

From Cherry we turned south onto Water and pounded down the street into downtown. I waited for Jordan at the light with Highland and we rode down the next 2 blocks to our first stop. At the PAC I flagged him into the left turn lane at Kilbourn. We cut across the street and mounted the sidewalk in front of Red Arrow Park. I pulled out the manifest and began to scan for the instructions on this first stop. We walked out bikes down the sidewalk looking for the answer. Once we got it I studied the manifest for the next closest question. The next stop was across the street. We quickly ran across to the building next to eh park and began searching through the windows for their display. When we reached the northern limits of the entrance we figured we had to go to the other side and turned back. We found our answer and mounted up to hit the next stop.

The next location brought us to Cathedral Square. We rode against traffic on State and pulled along the park on its north end. We circled the park searching for any signage that would tell us who sponsored the decorations. Fearing that we had gone the wrong way around, I was relieved when we found the answer on the south east corner. I hoped off of my bike to run up the snow and ice covered sidewalk to the sign as a small group of sight seers were wandering by, I wondered what insanity they thought we were up to as we hastily began writing down the answers. Checking the manifest again led us to the US Bank building. We had to count the number of decorations in the windows. We stopped a block down and counted them from afar, not wanting to waste unnecessary time. Once we decided on our answer we headed west on Wisconsin to the next stop.

As we shot down the street a strong gust of wind took my breath away and I struggled into the gale, it quickly let up and I could breathe again, but was momentarily chilled from it. We rolled past our next stop, which was at the Wells Fargo building on Water and I shouted back to Jordan that the displays in the windows looked incredibly creepy. This question was more or less subjective; all it asked was if you thought the display was creepy. We continued on, crossing the river, headed towards Zeidler Park. We turned south on 4th street and headed the block down to the park. We paused at the intersection for traffic and quick glimpses to try and find the next sponsorship sign. As we approached the sidewalk I saw two other racers huddled in a nearby bus stop, I wondered if they were sharing answers and grinned as I passed and one of them joked with us. Travelling along the sidewalk was slow going and treacherous as the slush and ice threatened to dump us over. As I rounded the corner slowly, hoping to stay vertical, I spotted the sign and headed to it. As we wrote our answers I scoured the increasingly crowded manifest for the next stop. I told Jordan the rough location of the stop and took off, heading south again on 4th. I knew I would have to come back north on 4th so I wasn’t concerned with getting ahead of Jordan, if anything I could get the answer, swing around and give it to him as we hit the next stop.

I shot down to the end of 4th at St Paul and began to scour the Postal and Am Track buildings. I pulled out my manifest, found the specific request and noted it. As I turned around I could see Jordan pulling up, I shouted out the answer to him and told him were we where headed next, roughly. I took off heading back up 4th street. I took 4th to Kilbourn, paused a second to make sure Jordan so the turn point, and turned right. At 3rd I paused again, made sure he saw me, and then turned left ahead of traffic. I slowed down and began searching Pere Marquette Park for sponsorship signage, to no avail. Once I reached State I circled back and caught up with Jordan, who was also scouring the park. I mounted the sidewalk and slowly rode around the park in a counter clockwise fashion, while Jordan went clockwise. As I rounded the south end of the park and the walkway took me next to the river I became a little nervous about loosing my balance on the sloppy and ice covered sidewalk and falling into the river. I was quite happy to get past the river but ran in to Jordan and neither of us had seen the sign. We pulled onto the state street sidewalk, I stopped and wrote down the sponsor I knew would be on the sign, which was on all of them, so far, Milwaukee County parks. As I finished Jordan noticed a sign laying face down in the sidewalk next to us. We picked it up and saw it was what wee were looking for. I wondered if someone else had knocked it over in an attempt to make everyone else mess up on this stop but thought again when it looked like it had been laying there all day. I turned over my manifest for more room and quickly scrawled the answer down.

We took off for the next stop, heading the wrong way on State again. We turned south on Water and headed two blocks to the M&I building south of Wells. Jordan got caught in a red light and I beat him to the stop. I scanned the interior of the bank lobby, wondering if anyone was watching me with suspicion and spotted what I thought the answer was. Jordan showed up and I told him the answer. I pulled out the manifest and with only a few stops left I decided to split the answers between us. I told Jordan to head south to Wisconsin and get two answers down there and I headed back north to Kilbourn to get one answer and would come around to get another one and we would meet back at the Chase building on Wisconsin. I headed back up Water as Jordan headed south. I pulled ahead of traffic and cut over to the left turn lane, crossing onto Kilbourn on a red and noticed a cop car idling directly in front of me. Too my good luck the police were inside the hotel and I was free this time. I quickly headed to the end of the building and searched through the windows to find the answer to the next question. I wrote down what I thought was correct and turned back to head east on Kilbourn. I slowed down as I passed the police and waited for the green light, like a good citizen. Once I had it I sprinted up the short hill, cut around Broadway and got my next answer. I took a right on Wisconsin and sprinted to meet with Jordan.

He was still searching for his answer when I showed up and found it was I got off my bike. We swapped answers, double checked the manifests and headed the block left to the bar. We locked up and ran inside, thankful to be out of the cold and finally done with the race. I handed in my manifest to Eric and he asked what baby shower present I got. I told him the race was crazy but fun and went back out to lock up my bike. We sat down, warmed up, relaxed and drank beer as we waited for the winner announcements Eric had some questions about my manifest so I showed him where some of the answers were, told him about the sign being down at Pere Marquette. He told me which ones I had wrong and what the correct answers were. He then pointed out that I had missed a question, I looked at Jordan and he said he had it and told me he got it while he was waiting for me. They told me to go back and get them but I said forget it, I was done.

In the end we didn’t win, Jordan got 3rd and I got 5th, not too bad, middle of the pack. The race was small, but fun. I was happy to be over with it since the roads were so horrible and couldn’t wait to see what slop January’s race brought.