I had the pleasure of participating in Monster Track XVI this last weekend. I was participating personally as a racer, not promoting the shop. Of course, wherever I go I am an ambassador of Fulton Bikes. Having been a first at Monster Track myself, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect, yet I was stoked to participate nonetheless. One thing that I can tell you is that the hype is real, Monster Track is definitely one for the books. Lets start by simply saying this, Over 200 racers registered and started the race and there were only a 100 that completed the checkpoints and finished the race. Of course I finished, and decent considering, yet things did not go smoothly for myself at all, having gotten lost twice trying to find checkpoints and catching a flat before the last one. Luckily I was carrying everything I needed to change it.
The picture above does not even come close to demonstrating the madness at the beginning of the race. From the moment they tossed the manifests in the air, and everyone scrambles to get one, adrenaline flows through your veins like river runoff in springtime. Not even bothered in the slightest that the rain had restarted at this point, we begin to sprint across the Williamsburg bridge. From here, oh man I can’t even describe the excitement, or at least not with the enthusiasm necessary, whether it be manically crossing three lanes of traffic as your buddy yells “CHECK POINT!” or splitting traffic going the opposite direction on Lexington Ave, there was never a dull moment.
As a rookie to Alley Cats, I found that it is much more quick to stay with a group. Of course, I found this out the hard way, as near the end of the first manifest I decided to sprint ahead and ended up lost, slowing me down significantly. Not to mention I was alone throughout the second manifest, lost a bit. Nevertheless, NYC alley cats, and Monster Track in particular are an experience unlike any other. The comradery that exists in the cycle community is one of the things that I love about this sport. Monster Track is no different, a whole weekend of events including roller races sponsored by Affinity Cycles, a formal event, and an after party with prizes.
As best put by Cooper Ray, second place and defending champion, “Monster Track is about experience.” I look forward to my years to come in NYC as I am still less than a year old here. Monster Track is unarguably the quintessential alley cat race, the urban championship so to speak. As they say, the best riders in this one are those that ride NYC the best. Can you ride the city, can you find the checkpoints? These are factors that are of great importance in Monster Track and yet completely not present in other disciplines of bike racing. Congratulations to the 3 NYC natives that held it down this year, Alfred Bobe Jr. , Cooper Ray, and Chris Thormann, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Keeping the podium NYC local.
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