The Greatest Rally Cat Ever

11.30 Saturday. Meet here:

Mandela Parkway (AKA Cypress Freeway) Median Park

The ride will start at 12.30 SHARP. Take BART there. Ride your bike. Drive your car. Whatever works. The race will end across the street at Peralta Studios. We'll have a secure spot for dropping your bag off.

We're super excited about showing off some of the best mixed-terrain riding in the East Bay. The route includes a traditional mix of city riding, semi-rural roads, gravel roads, and fire roads. Here are a few tips on preparing for Saturday.

What to Bring:

 - A Bike. You'll want one. As Jason mentioned below, bring a bike your comfortable riding in a variety of conditions. As to be expected, a cross bike is pretty much perfect. A road bike with wider tires or a mountain bike will get you through the day, although certain sections will be more of an effort.

 - $10. Ten Bucks. 1,000 pennies. This will get you a map, a little baggy to put the map in (and keep the sweat out), food and drinks at the finish, and a day of riding some of the finest roads and dirt in the East Bay. It might also buy you some new friends.

- Water. Two bottles full. Rest assured that while the route will take you through some rather remote areas, you will never be too far from a water source.

- Tools and a couple inner tubes.

- Layers. The weather forecast looks good for Saturday, but as we all know, it can get mighty cold out here. Welcome to spring in the Bay.

 - Whatever else your might need to get you through the day. GPS devices, smartphones, food, talismans, prayer, etc.

Getting ready for these things is always a scramble. And we apologize if we're forgetting anything. For more tips, check out Jason's informative post below. See you all on Saturday!

Pass It On

NEW DATE!!! MAY NINETEEN!!!

Alas! There be a storm blowing in next week that's bound to put a damper on our plans to get rad next weekend. Hence, us folks behind the Rally Cat have decided to push the date back to May 19. We consider ourselves to be responsible people and would rather not see our beloved dirt go to shite from the hordes of eager riders blowing through. We apologize to those that might have taken steps to make themselves available next weekend. We promise to make it up to you. Really. See you on the 19th!

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.

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!

It's that time of the year again...

... and the locals are getting restless. Rest assured that the Rally Cat will go down again this year. Stay tuned for more info soon.

For now, our buddies over at the Spoke Cyclery are busy working on a race that'll go down Saturday, March 18 at Mosswood Park. Check out the flyer below for more info.

We Rode Bikes, Got Dirty, and Had a Party

Thank you everyone for coming out on Saturday to the Rally Cat and helping to raise money for Spokeland! Together, we raised $300 to help the fledgling bicycle cooperative build out their new space located in North Oakland. Keep posted to their website for information on the shop grand opening.

Huge thanks to the event sponsors - All Hail the Black Market, Box Dog Bikes, Chuey Brand, De La Paz Coffee, and MashSF - for donating prizes to the top finishers. And of course, a very special thank you to all the folks that came through on Saturday to work checkpoints, cook food, and help clean up after the event. We couldn't have made it happen with you! Check out the links below for some photos of the event:

plattyjo's flickr
Bici Girl's flickr

78 people registered for the event this year, 74 finished, and the rest were all accounted for. And in case you were wondering, check out some of the top finishers below:

Men
1. Scott K.
2. Dustin W.
3. Ricardo M.
4. Murphy M.
5. Blake V.K.
6. Kea H.
7. Sasha M.
8. Christon D.
9. Sam B.
10. Fred C. (singlespeed)
11. James J.
12. Jonathan W.
13. Chas C.
14. Kevin L.
15. Tom R.
16. Thomas H.
17. Bryan C.
18. Adam S. (singlespeed)
19. Max H. (singlespeed)
20. Eric T.

Women
1. Romany M.
2. Katie S.
3. Sam B.
4/5/6/7. Jenny O./Leah P./Bridget M./Alia S.
8. Amanda L. (singlespeed)
9. Ulrika
10. Arena and May

King/Queen of the Mountain
Walton B. and Leah P.!

Thanks again everyone! See you next year (if not sooner)!