minneapolis

Riding in Minneapolis' Powderhorn 24 bike race stands out as one of the most fun events I've been involved in by bike—ever. The field of riders is men, women, teams, solo riders, unicycles, recumbents, road bikes, touring bikes, folding bikes, fixies, single-speeds, etc, etc. All riding together... for 24 hours. The wide range of cyclists and wheels big and small all riding together made a bit of a party out of it (to say nothing of the hundreds of people camped along the Greenway's start/finish area). Trapped together in the maze of the Powderhorn neighborhood, we all shared an intense need to keep going and going and going. Minneapolis bike culture at its best!

The route was simple, or so it seemed. There was about a 5 mile loop that started and finished on the greenway. The loop (or lap) was a fairly straightforward ride that made a rectangular pattern out in the open streets (not a closed race course) around Powderhorn Park. The lap had 4 checkpoints that you had a hole punched on your lap counting card that we were all wearing as necklaces. If you missed a checkpoint, the next checkpoint would not give you a punch and this way it was obvious that everyone was hitting all checkpoints every lap.

When I signed up I didn't pay attention to anything beyond it being a 24 hour ride. Upon learning about the checkpoints I thought it was something a bit different than I imagined and I considered bailing out, but thanks to peer pressure (I signed up with a friend whom I had done a 24 hour ride with once before) I kept my doubts somewhat in check. After finding out we wouldn't just have our laps counted, we'd have bonus checkpoints throughout the 24 hours within a mile of the route, I worried we were on the verge of a potential disaster. Truth: the last 24 hour ride Derek and I did together led to us making some irrational decisions starting at about 14 hours in and were pretty much completely delirious for the last 8 hours (and that was a simple ride to Duluth and back!).

The roll out with a few hundred spectators cheering the couple hundred riders was exciting and we quickly got into a rhythm and discovered that even with all the stops, we were able to keep up a decent pace and within a couple of laps we had a route that was making sense to us. An hour in and we had over 15 miles under our belts and then we get handed a manifest with our fist 5 bonus stops (each with 2 hours windows to stop at them).

The bonuses forced us to start thinking beyond the laps. We had to go to a Beehive where we added antennas to our helmets to turn us into bees (worker bees, for sure), did a karaoke stint to Rocket Man, raced through a little obstacle course on a tiny kids bike, rode a lap on a Nice Ride, did yoga, played out a bit of an operetta (I was Crete, stirring up the seas), tried a little bike polo on my recumbent, wrote a Haiku, learned about in-season veggies at the Midtown Farmers Market, etc, etc. Phew!

The bonus (!) of the bonus stops was that they kept us sane (though they were mostly doing things that took me out of my comfort zone) and the constant encouragement and socializing with other riders kept up our pace and sometime Saturday morning we had ridden a double century and a triple seemed do-able. How cool is this, eh? Things continued going smoothly for us and while we didn't make the triple, we did end up clocking 275 miles over a total of 51 official laps.

The final lap was glorious in that the "race" was over and all the riders were content with simply finishing off the lap (only full laps were counted) and celebrating an amazing accomplishment. Thanks to all who came out to cheer us on, to the organizers and volunteers of the Powderhorn 24, and to our fellow riders!

Here's some video that I shot:

We ended the weekend with coat-tails flying at the Brompton US Championship • 2012. Thank you to all who helped make this event a race to remember: Open Streets Minneapolis, Brompton Bicycles Ltd, Best-dressed judge John Meegan and everyone at Top Shelf, Aaron from Minneapolis Musette for his scintillating play-by-play commentary, Mayor RT Rybak, Brooks, Twin Six, Schwalbe, Banjo Brothers, and Nutcase.

Most of all, thank you to this year's participants and to those who helped cheer the racers on as we kicked-off Open Streets 2012 in style. Read on for the race results and links to the coverage of the race around the web.

Women's Division:

• 1st Place — Susan Todzy
• 2nd Place — Megan Turak
• 3rd Place — Sophie Breen
• Best-Dressed — Susan Todzy

Men's Division:

• 1st Place — Wallace Alexander
• 2nd Place — Pedro Becquer
• 3rd Place — Spencer Morse
• Best-Dressed — Spencer Morse

Championship coverage around the web:

• Top finishers Wallace and Pedro neck-and-neck in the Pioneer Press
• Participant Mark Skoine in his homemade Union-Jack helmet in the Pioneer Press 
• Chris Eidem shares a break-down of the race from the rider's perspective on his blog "Fat Boy Biking"
• Read *near* all-around-champion Spencer Morse's race recap at his blog "Why I Ride"
• Cycle Twin Cities put together a great recap of the event earlier this week, including video and photos
• Urban Velo's Scott Klocksin sums up the race with a video of the starting sprint and brief commentary
• See more pictures and add your own in the shop's BUSC2012 Flickr group
• Watch the shop staff's pre-race Brompton alley cat here

Photos by Perennial Cycle staff Martha Garcés & Kat McCarthy © Perennial Cycle, 2012

We couldn't be more excited to be just days away from the Brompton US Championship 2012, to be held this Sunday, June 10 in Minneapolis. You've read the basics in our previous post on the event—now for the nitty-gritty details of the weekend's festivities.

Saturday, June 9 — Let's Party!

Whether you're racing Sunday or not, you're invited to enjoy music, food & drink at our Registration and Packet pick-up Party at Perennial Cycle from 5:30–8:30pm. What to bring: cash if you'd like to dine with us, your bike (Brompton or otherwise!), and a friend. All are welcome. 

MUSIC:

Our own Jon Nielsen will be playing from 7–8 p.m.

NOSH:

Potter's Pasties food truck will be selling pasties from 5:30–8 p.m. with traditional, chicken, vegetarian Thai, pulled pork and sausage pasties and sides. Potter's will also keep you hydrated with a variety of sodas, water, ginger-mint limeade, and Vietnamese coffees. For details, view the menu here.

We'll be serving ice cream, donated by Banjo Bros., between 6–8 p.m.

ACTIVITIES:

• Fold to the Death in a Folding Duel — Challenge a fellow party-goer to a folding duel on stage.
• Time your fastest fold on stage
• Hop in the Photo Booth for a chance to get your picture taken with a limited edition tri-coloured Jubilee Brompton, designed in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, or a limited edition Vic Lee inspired Brompton.

PRIZES & DEALS:

• Raffle prizes include Nutcase Union-Jack helmets, men's and women's Twin Six apparel, Walz caps, and other cycling accessories. There will be multiple opportunities to get your name in the hat throughout the evening.
• Perennial Cycle will be offering free registration for Sunday's event to anyone who buys an in-stock Brompton at the party.

POST-PARTY PUB-RIDE:

Following Saturday's party, we'll be heading out on a pub-ride as a group to Merlin's Rest, so don't forget to bring your Brompton, your folding friends, or your preferred bike or trike to ride with us. Sales Manager Greg Neis will be leading the ride.

Sunday, June 10 — Brompton US Championship • 2012

If you haven't already registered, there's still time to get a chance at the top prize—a trip to England to compete in the Brompton World Championship—at perennialcycle.com. All are welcome to spectate and cheer the participants on.

TIMING:

8:30–9:40 a.m. Pre-race Check-in at W 34th Street and Lyndale Ave S. Tea and Scones by A Baker's Wife provided for all registered participants.

10 a.m. - sharp - Participants will start the race with a Le Mans running start to their folded Bromptons, unfold as fast as they can, and head into the first lap of six. A UCI (International Cycling Union) representative will be present to officiate the competition. 

11 a.m. Folding Competition, open to participants and spectators alike. Race participants may partake in the Folding Competition free of charge. For $5, others may have a chance to get their names in the bracket. A prize will awarded to the fastest folder.

11:30 a.m. Awards Presentation with representatives from Perennial Cycle and John McConaghay of Brompton.

AWARDS:

Best Dressed — John Meegan of Top Shelf will judge the sartorial elegance of all of the Championship's entrants and award a custom-made shirt, created with up to 30 measurements to guarantee the perfect fit, to one man and one woman with impeccable style.

Fastest Fold — The folder with most finesse will go home with a set of Schwalbe 16x1¼ Kojaks for his or her Brompton.

3rd Place, Men's/Women's Divisions — One men's and one women's Twin Six Jersey

2nd Place, Men's/Women's Divisions — One men's and one women's Brooks B-17 Saddle (B-17 & B-17S)

1st Place, Men's & Women's Champion — A trip to the Brompton World Championship in England for the first place finishers in the men's and women's divisions

OPEN STREETS!

All registered participants and guests are encouraged to participate in the Open Streets Minneapolis event following the race. Lyndale will be open to cyclists, pedestrians, and other non-motorized modes of transport through 4 p.m. Sunday.

Over 20 years ago I got a job at Alternative Bikes in uptown Minneapolis. Jay Erickson was the owner of this upstanding neighborhood bike shop that specializes in selling Bridgestone bikes, skateboards and snowboards (early adopters). Another big specialty was overnight repairs. I worked as an overnight repairman. I learned a lot from Jay. Plenty about repairs and bike shops, and whole lot about myself (working late with the pressure of getting through a massive pile of repairs will do that to you). I worked for the Alt for 2 years and it was the last place that my paycheck was signed by someone other than myself.

Jay's sons were little kids going to elementary school back then, but now one of them (Jesse) has teamed up with a workmate (Ben) to design a nice quality, highly versatile frame that they are marketing as a Handsome Cycle Co. bike.

I spotted this frame at the big industry trade show (Interbike). It was being used to showcase some accessories in the Topeak booth. This model was labelled  as a "Devil". It sure looked like a nice start from which Handsome can grow from. The catalog lying below the bike was nicely styled without being over-designed. Cool.  Good work guys!