THE NEWS FOR DUBLIN CYCLE COURIER RACES
by Pete Lord and Derek Chadbourne
Lost Cat , Mid-Winter, 1998
D.C. Guru Shawn Bega has posited that as early as 1810, before Europe had bicycles, the armies of the Qing Dynasty in China were sending messages to their troops by bicycle. We have to assume that, were there two or more of these ur-messengers, they raced one another on Fridays after work.
Through the French Post’s non-pedal Stiffwalkers" of the 1830's and the British newspaper and bakery delivery bikes of the 1870's and on to what we now know as bicycle despatch.
The first Alleycat was in the summer of 1985 in Toronto. Ronny Munroe and Marshall Sukoluk ran the race from a bar or Marshall's backyard, depending on who you believe, to promote Marshall's distribution company. Six racers started and Gary Rothenberger was the first Alleycat victor.
The race as we know it was born Hellowe'en, 1987. This time it was Toronto's cappuccino supremo, John Jet Fuel and Lance Catrullo, The recorded winner, stat fans, was Dave Fix-My- Bike, who was dressed as Batman.
Hellowe'en '93 presented the most legendary street race. The course was "out of control by all accounts and finished with the racers climbing a 70 ramp to a first floor warehouse with an indoor wooden track. Said track was just being completed as the race set off and the engineers who designed it had not reckoned on riders going quite so far up the steep banking. A low hanging pipe near the roof turned several contenders into casualties, Three bands played and 300 revellers and racers went through 15 kegs of beer (at 56.8 litres each, mind), John Jet Fuel's explanation to the police, "it was a community event, officer" was accepted and nobody has looked back since. Hellowe'en '95 saw 93 starters in the race and over 400 people at the party.
By now, TO was holding annual races on closed downtown streets in broad daylight where the police and fire departments raced a lite beer version of an Alleycat against messengers to huge crowds of spectators. If the idea was becoming more legitimate during the day, it had to go further out at night. Right out onto frozen Lake Ontario.
Valentine’s Day '96 and the race's first checkpoint was a surprise figure of eight track built of chainsaw-sculpted 800 lb, ice blocks, Valentine's Day '97 attracted 35 racers in studded and non- studded tyre categories, featured fire sculptures, torches for late night light and barrels of fire to warm the 350 spectators.
All of this eventually brought about major sponsorship in the form of Dunhill Cigarettes looking to splash some loonies around. John Jet Fuel ('im again'?) sketched a figure-of-eight track on a brawn paper bag, John Consolatti of the University of Toronto did the design proper, and Greg Moore headed the team of constructors. Dunhill threw in a perverse transcontinental lorry ride for the timber, and the first Alleycat Scramble took place in Vancouver, Hellowe'en '96. The 150 rider, two day event now alternates between the two coasts and can next be seen April 23rd and 24th in Toronto.
Pete Lord has designed and perpetrated more Alleycat races than you've had hot dinners. In 1993 at the first Cycle Messenger World Championships in Berlin, he brought the idea to Europe.
Derek Chadbourne is the editor Hideousewhitenoise, the messenger zine all the others wish they were.
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