36 racers met up at the World Exchange Plaza in Ottawa yesterday to take part in the Apocalypse Now Redux Alleycat. It was a great turnout (especially on a day that was calling for thundershowers). Racers biked for an average of 2h to complete the race, which spanned from Little Italy, to Old Ottawa South, to Vanier, to Hull.
I was manning two checkpoints on this race (yeah, I’m baddass like that). The first checkpoint was at the polo court, and it was all over before it ever began. All 36 racers showed up within ten minutes of each other, but I made them line up and wait their turn. I would wait for each racer to get on their bike and leave the park before signing the next person’s manifest. Angelo thought this would space out the racers enough to keep things interesting.
(When Ange developed this race, he tied it into the movie by keeping the course close to the river. Ottawa South substituted for Vietnam, and the crossing into Vanier acted as crossing over into Cambodia. Ange’s manifests were great, detailed, and had maps too, so it was a nice, fun alleycat for newbies – while still being challenging enough for the vets.)
As soon as the last racer was on their way from the first checkpoint, I packed up my stuff and biked it over to the second last checkpoint as fast as I could. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get there before the first racers hit the checkpoint, so I pedaled like crazy for those 7km.
Of course I made it there first, and even had time to catch my breath and take a few pictures of the site.
Pretty!
Here I was supposed to give racers their third and final manifest, which told them where they could find the general.
I was in constant contact with Angelo over the radio, and it was clear that Johnny Rockstar had a sizable lead over everyone else. He showed up to my checkpoint first, where he discovered that the final destination was still about 6km away from my checkpoint, and kind of hard to find (squaw bay is off the bike path over in Hull, and not marked in any way). Lots of racers were SUPER disappointed that I wasn’t the last checkpoint, especially those who had been pedaling for +2h.
Rhys and Devon. Devon took a wrong turn at the very end, and fell a few places in the rankings. Oh well, just add it to the bank of experience, right Devon???
Some racers
Pascale was first female overall, even though she flatted out during the race! She was super fast!!!
Once the racers had come through the checkpoint, I collected my stuff yet again and made my way down to Squaw Bay. it was amazing coming through the bush and seeing a sea of bikes on the ground! We hung out there for a while, drinking some drinks and recounting favourite parts of the race.
Look at those smiles – you’d never guess they came in DFL!!!!
Slowly we made our way over to Brian’s house, where the afterparty was held. Angelo still had to get the beer for the party, and figure out the prizes (who would get what). He is a man who knows his priorities – beer was DEFINITELY first on the agenda.
In total, Angelo bought 36 cases of PBR. It was a little obscene.
The biggest outdoor cooler I’ve ever seen!! A trough of PBR.
Once the masses were appeased with beer, Angelo and I slipped away to get some food and go over the results, and he figured out who would get what prizes.
Here are the results:
1st place: Johnny Rockstar
prize: Giant Omnium 50″ frame
prize sponsor: Cyclo-sportif G.M. Bertrand
2nd place: Rhys
prize: Brooks saddle (!)
prize sponsor: Phat Moose Cycles
3rd place: AK
prize: gold Steelwool hubs
prize sponsor: Tall Tree Cycles
1st female: Pascale
prize: $100 Gift Certificate for a tattoo
prize sponsor: The Ink Spot Tattoo and Body Piercing
2nd female: Oleha
prize: Wool bike jersey
prize sponsor: Tall Tree Cycles
DFL: Alexis
prize: kickstand and brake lever
prize sponsor: Pecco’s
There were enough prizes for almost everyone, including socks, tires, and spokecards from past alleycats. It was a really fun awards ceremony. It’s always my favourite part of the night, because everyone is always SO HAPPY for everyone else, and there were big cheers for each racer when they went up to pick a prize.
Once the prizes were all handed out, then Ange was really done his duties as race organizer, and proceeded to shotgun five or six beer. 
I imbibed a little too much as well last night, and really felt it in the morning. Oh well, that’s part of alleycats too, I suppose!
Here is the final ranking of all racers:
1 – Johnny Rockstar
2 – Rhys
3 – AK
4 – Rishi
5 – Shamus
6 – Eric (Apocalypse Now Trivia Award)
7 – Sailor (PBR Award)
8 – Fathead
9 – Devon
10 – Pascale (first female)
11 – Marc
12 – Tomas
13 – Chris
14 – Oleha (2nd Female)
15 – Bryon
16 – Mark
17 – Emma
18 – Jamie
19 – BG
20 – Emily
21 – Courtney
22 – Jizza (Cpt Willard Award)
23 – Tiffany (special mention – ate shit in the HUGE pothole on the trail)
24 – Adam
25 – Jesse
26 – AB (farthest traveled – all the way from Pensacola, FL)
27 – Johnny Crash (Lance Johnston Award)
28 – Texas (DFL)
The next racers finished before Johnny and Texas, but got some answers wrong on their manifests, so they got bumped down the list:
29 – Zach
30 – Nicole
31 – Nick
32 – Barry
33 – Raph
DNF – Cam
DNS – Omar
Congratulations to all who raced, and big ups to the volunteers and sponsors! It was an awesome turnout and an awesome race!
NOTE: If you raced and are not on this list, please email me at baddirt@gmail.com. We’re short 4 racers, and we DON’T leave any soldier behind!