Monster Track 7 on target...

waiting for the group ride...brrrrrrrr.
We gathered at Delancey and Essex in front of the pizza shop for the group ride. This was the kick-off event to a three day weekend of Alley cat madness otherwise known as monster track 7. Messengers and urban street racing enthusiasts rubbed hands to stay warm as the ride was set to leave lower Manhattan and head over to Brooklyn via the Williamsburg bridge. The bikes took the car path in a celebration ride to kick off NYC's most competitive alley cat race.

We all rode over to Capone's bar on North 9th Street, which has always been friendly to the messenger community. They have a nice space with 2 levels, a great sound system and of course free pizza with beer purchases. Upstairs, riders could pre-register, get a map, spoke card and t-shirt. There were over 75 people signed up last night which is a solid indication that this may very well be the most attended race to date. Last year was about 140 riders and many more people will register today, at the start of the race. Lots of people come from out of town and I talked with Marcus who was from Berlin.
Last night was a chance for people to look over the map, find all the checkpoints and prepare their strategy for completing the course. No details about the ride are on-line yet, so I won't be blabbing any hints either. Monster Track 7 begins this afternoon, if you have the balls. More photos from last night are available on my flickr, pictures of last night