Alleycat

To help everyone get prepared for Tuesday's messenger race, an article on Pittsburgh Alleycat races courtesy of the Bike Blog:

Pittsburgh Tribune Review, April 17, 2006

By Andrew Johnson

Gothic black bottoms, down-the-back dreadlocks and pierced septums don't exactly mesh with Lance Armstrong's image. Michael Camp, 29, of Rochester, is no Armstrong. He likes to combine his bike rides with a trip to the 31st Street Pub, a Strip District staple.

Camp recently downed a Presque Isle Pilsner before riding in The Caffeinator Alleycat, an organized bike race around the city. Other participants of the same race prepared for the aerobic test by smoking.

An "alleycat" is a bike messenger-style race, where renegade riders compete in an urban setting at breakneck, red-light defying speeds. It's one of the last remaining vestiges for these mostly male cyclists, whose profession is disappearing in a digital world where electronic court filings have replaced hard copy documents.

Ian Newell, 27, works for Quick Messenger on the South Side and said the trade is down in Pittsburgh.

Triangle Messenger Service lasted in the city nearly 20 years and grew to 25 bike messengers, before closing four years ago. Newell said he's one of four messengers at Quick, one of the city's bigger companies, among several small ones.

Brad Kenner, 27, of the South Side, said he biked briefly for Jet Messenger Service, Uptown, before quitting. He said after an eight-hour shift, he sometimes pulled in $40. Kenner blamed technology for the dwindling need for bike messengers.

With the Caffeinator Alleycat earlier this month, they brought the street spirit of maverick bicycle riding back to Pittsburgh -- at least for the day.

In this race, about 40 bikers tried to navigate the quickest way to seven coffeehouses -- downing beverages at each -- between Mellon Park and the Mexican War Streets.

Alleycat races, in general, are a nod to bike messengers' creativity in finding their city targets, organizer Brian Janaszek said. Janaszek said there are about six to eight of these under-the-radar local races a year. They are advertised in a magazine called Dirt Rag and on blogs.

The group at this alleycat was more Social Distortion than Tour de France.

Frank Elia, 41, brought eight members from BABE -- Beaver Area Bike Enthusiasts. Elia drank a Pabst Blue Ribbon and wore a utility man's blue workshirt that said "Kirk."

He said his group loves the fixed-gear bikes popular among messengers. The stripped-down bike, with super-skinny tires, gets him close to the road, producing a "Zen"-like ride.

"It's a pure feeling," Elia said.

A fixed-gear bike doesn't shift, not even into neutral, and a biker can't coast on one, even downhill. If the cyclist stops pedaling, a heels-over-head handlebar flip often follows. Some at the alleycat added brakes to their rigs, but many bike messengers slow down solely using their pedals.

Camp, a child therapist in Beaver County, has a burgundy-colored Schwinn Traveler steel frame, dating back to the time of President Reagan's near-assassination. The bike cost him $55 to construct.

Adam McNeish, 28, of Butler, crashed the single-speed party with something more elaborate. It still fit the category of low-tech, though. McNeish used a section of gray plastic outdoor floor mat for a super-long banana seat for his recumbent bicycle. He said the gray mat was better than the green mats with flowers on them. He had to look hard to find it.

A recumbent bicycle is the kind of extended low-rider bike one sits down in. It looks like something made for circus performers.

McNeish, after a wobbly start, went missing from the finishing line.

But Brian Rayburn, 20, a University of Pittsburgh sophomore, was there. Rayburn crossed the finish line first. He ditched his bike and ran into Beleza Community Coffeehouse on Buena Vista Street in the Mexican War Streets, practically heaving.

Rayburn was the only non-courier who said he aspired to be a full-time, bike messenger.