Thursday, March 29, 2012

Event details

We want you guys to get out to the East Bay and enjoy some great views of the Bay Area, ride some dirt you may have never done before and even learn a little bit of local history.

We are still finalizing the route but we will be starting and finishing near West Oakland BART for several reasons. There will be secure storage for your bags, a clean restroom post race for you to clean up.

As I have overheard over a few years of this event that people were a little disappointed that the ride wasn't MORE DIRT (we all like more dirt, I know) - We are fortunate enough to be able to ride from a city into the wilderness and link together multiple parks to not have to do laps in one place just to get more dirt. So, to emphasize this as to have fewer people be expecting an all off-road ride, the ride will be a mix of road and off road.


What bike do I ride?
Without knowing your technical capabilities, I would say a cross bike is pretty much perfect.

There will be scattered, rocky sections on some of the trails that would be pretty rough on a road bike (although you may be skilled enough to ride one).

If it's wet and soggy on the trails, a bike with some wider tires will help you keep some traction.


Ride stats
Something between 30-40 miles with 2000-3000 ft of ascending.*

Your mileage will vary. Your elevation may vary.


"I don't know my way around"
Maps are prohibitively expensive to print out for everyone at the race for the entire East Bay. If you are very worried about getting lost, bring a smart phone.

We will provide a map with a suggested route between checkpoints and start/finish locations.

The best paper map that covers the area we will be is probably the East Bay Bicycle Coalition Map 1: West of the Hills. REI, Sports Basement, TipTop Bike Shop, The Missing Link and other shops usually have this map for around $10.

If for whatever reason you have any issues, a bus stop or BART stop is usually within a mile or two to bail you out.


What your entry money gets you
We will be providing food and beer at the finish - this includes vegan options. We are collecting up some prizes that will be awarded on a to be decided basis. Note that this isn't an alley cat where everyone gets a prize for finishing. We want you to come for the ride, have a great time, and hang out with old and new friends. We are not here to make money.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

April 14 May 19! Lock That Date!


Assuming all things go as planned and we don't get a ton more rain, the Rally Cat will go down Saturday, April 14 May 19 at 12pm. As folks have learned in previous years, dates are subject to change pending poor trail conditions. We're hoping we got it right this year. Expect more of the same combination of fine East Bay dirt, roads, dirty roads, and roadie dirt. We're working out the start/finish details and will post up here soon. Stay tuned for further infos and we'll see you next month!