Slap Dash Alley Cat

I came to Portland to look at bikes and ride my bike and I got to do both tonight as well as practice some of the skills you need to make a bike in the clever and inventive Slap Dash Alley Cat, a race organized by a nice fellow in a cool hat, Carl Larson, as part of benefit for BikePortland.org, the website I’ve been using to keep track of news and events over the course of this NAHBS weekend.

I showed up at a place called Plan B in the midst of a craft show, where I bought a custom monogrammed tequila-themed beer cozy for my March race, The Taco Truck Time Trial. I ate a Shrooben, their portabello mushroom Rueben, before signing up and getting a spoke card and manifest listing five locations and five tasks: cut, paint, drill, weld, and bling.

I glommed on to this guy Michael, a zoobomber, known to and celebrated by all, who combined a generous and friendly manner with an ability to wayfare on the order of G.S. Barnes, and he led us on a highly-efficient route to first, a Northeast Portland workshop where riders had to cut bike tubes we’d been given at race start, then to an even farther away garage where we painted them, then across the river and downtown to where Rapha was hosting a party with roller racers, then back across the river and on a rustic but industrial trail along the Williamette called the Springwater, to a shop where we welded our pieces together before sprinting back to near the start for drilling and then finally once more to the Plan B where the after-party was in such full swing I completely despaired of getting a beer.

So, after swelling a bit with pride for finishing 5th out of over 30, and thanking Michael for his guidance and Carl for his organizing, I left and rode around a bit, crossing bridges two more times.