Artists On Bikes Drawn To DoodleCat

4.9.10

“At least some old guy pulling his kid on a tag-along didn’t win,” proclaimed an insightful Andrew Ricciardi. He continued, “You know how at some AlleyCats they just give it to the crowd favorite -- not here. This was a real race where the fastest guys won.” Astute observations, indeed; I could not agree more.

DoodleCat marked Round 5 of the hotly contested Atlanta AlleyCat Championship Series. Bryan Stuck designed a terrific course, which was not too abstract for the three dozen artist/competitors. On a picture perfect Friday night, riders gathered in the popular Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta. Sign-up began a little after 5:00, but the business of racing didn’t get going until 6:30, so, the earlier you got there, the more time you had to plot your course. The manifest included seven checkpoints and then finished at Raw Space for the Dodekapus art extravaganza. No street numbers were provided, so many of the racers were working their I-phones or other hand held devices to locate the lesser known checks. As it turned out, riders would be able to circumnavigate the checks in a large loop around downtown. Excellent. Team Dreadnok’s Rob “The Rocket” Evans and Jason “Snot Rocket” Atwood chose, like a majority of the riders, to hit the checks in a clockwise direction. April Fools AlleyCat Champ, Jason Spruill, and Faster Mustache’s “Kan de Man” Dan McCauley bucked the trend, going in the reverse order, counterclockwise. Both Teams had a “Bring It” attitude, as neither Team would be following, chasing, or leading the other. Basically, with Championship points on the line, it was just going to be very exciting to see how this was all going to play out. Four riders, all on the top of the leader board, working as two Teams, racing in opposite directions. SWEET! But wait a minute. What about the thirty two other competitors? Many of them definitely had the skills to create a masterpiece at this race. Mike Woz had turned in impressive rides on his single speed in the previous four rounds, and was sitting Third Overall in the series with consistent racing. Faster Mustache’s Justin Barber is a guy who can never be counted out. “ATL Mayor” Angel Luis Proventud was due for one of his beautiful rides. Several of the top riders were absent. Brian Tester was on injured reserves. Nathan Bolster might have been out doing reconnaissance for next year’s Strip Cat. The whereabouts of Team Shred’s Wes and Dawn was unfortunately a blank canvas.

A Le Mans start had racers scrambling into the busy streets in an absolute balls out, frantic explosion. A fixie guy grabbed the early lead of riders and then got on his cell phone. “I just got passed by two roadies,” was all that was heard. The distance between checks was short enough that it was tough to get a smooth rhythm. Riders would catch each other while they were quickly completing their “Art Projects.” None of the required tasks took more than a minute: spray some paint on a plywood graffiti panel, draw part of a bike, sing a song, have your picture taken in costume.

Before the first check, Barber made the critical mistake of answering his cell phone. It was his work. “Hello? Sir, can you fix my blah blah blah over the phone?” asks clueless client. Correct response, “Fuck No! I’m trying to win The DoodleCat.” But, NO! “Employee of the Month,” Barber, talked him up for twenty minutes. He literally worked his way out of contention, but he may get a gold star from his boss. This is Exactly why I don’t have a cell phone. No, wait, this is Exactly why I don’t have a job. With the race at full volume, Team Dreadnok lost a chunk of time locating the volunteers at the check in front of The High Museum. It is still unclear whether or not the lead riders may have gotten there so fast they beat the volunteers to the check. Anxious to make up time, Evans continued at full speed while Atwood was forced to stop and straighten his rear wheel, which had become off-center in the rear triangle. The Capital City Police later stopped Evans for a little talk, for an undisclosed infraction. With the clock ticking, all these delays ended up possibly costing Team Dreadnok the win. McCauley & Spruill rolled in to Raw Space at 7:21. Scrambling in alone, Atwood was the next to arrive, three minutes later. Seconds after that, coming from the opposite end of the street, Evans charged to the finish for Fourth. A minute later, Ricciardi was the 5^th finisher. Next was Mitch Lagneaux who performed “No Hand” balancing acts to celebrate his First Place Fixed No/Brake victory. “It was fun, Dude!” exclaimed Lagneaux. “I lost Stafford somewhere on Marrietta,” concluded Lagneaux. “ATL Mayor” Angel, Michael Mohan, and Russell Owens all finished together in a tie for 7^th. Sergio Garzon rounded out the top ten for the first time in the series. Perhaps the most impressive ride of the night was that of Roxanne Likos. She was First Woman, 11^th Overall, on her Fixed/No Brake track bike. The spirited Team “YA JINA” tied for second woman. “I took the long route,” said Mike Woz when he finished. D.F.L. went to Shariff. He won a bag of DoodleCat coffee and was told to “Wake The Fuck Up!”

Alexander, who has an uncanny resemblance to Bryan Stuck, and his popular band Meut entertained the growing crowd before the awards were handed out. Roxanne danced away with a really nice RFM bag. SOPO, Holly Mother Tattoo, Sarah Madden Massage, Team Shred, and Ride Dirty all sweetened the pot. A special “Thanks” to Bryan Stuck and J. Trevor Jones’ Dodekapus for making this race great!

Round Six: of The Atlanta AlleyCat Championship Series has yet to be announced. Until then, it’s time for a road trip. Many of the riders in this Series are headed to Athens on 4.24.10 for The Gambler and The Twilight. What’s more fun than Bikes, Poker, and Beer? See Ya There.

Kan de Man Dan

Results Posted Below Photos