May is Bike Month NYC. Step one: bless bike

New York City cyclists can have their bike’s blessed and sprinkled with holy water this Saturday, April 26. Transportation Alternatives is sponsoring a bevy of cycling events, including the 9:30 a.m. blessing inside the Cathedral of St. John (Manhattan). The reverend will say a “BRIEF” few words, organizers promise, before sprinkling holy water on the congregated rides.

No word on when the blessing expires, but since it only goes down once a year, cyclists will have to hope it lasts at least that long.

The cathedral, at 112 St. and Amsterdam, is accessible by the 110 St stop on the 1 Train.

Bicycle Racing at the ol’ Velodrome

This weekend heralds the beginning of 2008’s racing season for the Kissena Cycling Club. Founded in 1963, the club bills itself as New York’s “premier cycling club” (who am I to argue?) and hosts races at the Kissena Velodrome (Queens), Prospect Park and Floyd Bennett Field.

Festivities kick off Saturday with a race at Kissena. Unlike some of the tours mentioned earlier, this one isn’t strictly for fun. That’s not to say it won’t be fun, but your idea of fun would have to be racing a track bike against competitive riders.

There’s always watching–unlike say, the Tour de France, the advantage of a velodrome is that the cyclists are always in sight (think NASCAR). Plus, spectators get the added bonus of knowing where the track is in case they ever want to scale the fence for a moonlight ride. (Which would be illegal, by the way. But not unheard of).

Kissena has a fact sheet on the upcoming race. Unfortunately it’s in PDF. The pertinent info:

Saturday April 26 (1 pm), Sunday April 27 (12 pm). Riders must pre-register by Friday, April 25 (no day-of registration). Entry fees are $15 for riders in all classes.

Update: Coney Island Roller Rink open

Gowanus Lounge was on hand for the opening of a new roller rink in an old Coney Island building, and were thrilled at the public reception.

To see the Childs Building alive with music and fun and smiles after a half-century in hibernation is a spectacular thing. (The gentleman who own the building for fifty years–and is now in his nineties–was even on hand on Saturday night.

Speaking of bike tours…

Early registration for the 5 Boro Bike tour ends March 28. Early registrants to this May 4, citywide tour pay $43, versus $55 for latecomers. Tour organizers are expecting 30,000 riders to participate, not 30,001.

Why not? Because registration ends when they fill the available slots. Since the tour is totally car free, and features an NYC marathon-esque start on the Narrows bridge, it tends to fill up. (Our wise city fathers neglected to include bike or pedestrian access to New York’s largest suspension span, so chances to see it with people power are snapped up).

Tours de New York

Queens is getting a bike tour! Streetfilm.org has footage of a March 11 fundraiser by Transportation Alternatives, who are trying to rake in some money. They’re hoping to fund a group ride through New York’s biggest and second-ugliest borough.

Now, this is blog is called Sport Brooklyn, and clearly, Queens is not Brooklyn. But since there’s only so many of these bike tours each year, each of them is worth noting. By “these bike tours,” I mean the 15 – 100 mile group rides put on by various groups over the summer. In addition to Transportation Alternative’s popular NYC Century, Brooklyn and the Bronx each host an annual “Tour de…”

No date is slated for the Tour de Queens. But what about the familiar favorites? No worries. Tour de Brooklyn will be held May 25, NYC Century on September 7, and Tour de Bronx on October 19.

Monster Track canceled. What’s Monster Track?

Monster Track 9 is off, with organizers citing safety concerns in the wake of a recent death of an racer in Chicago. Monster Track was billed as one of the world’s largest alleycats, with organizers expecting up to 250 participants this year, many of them non-messengers.

For those who’ve just arrived in America or somehow missed the late nineties, an alleycat race is an unsanctioned bicycle race on open streets (i.e. with traffic). The Chicago racer, who wasn’t a courier, was killed when he ran a light and was hit by an SUV, said the Chicago Tribune.

The organizers said that the growing popularity of alleycats among non-messengers contributed to their decision to cancel it:

“As many of you know, Monster Track started as a race held for a small, close group of NYC bike messengers. It has now become an overwhelmingly all-inclusive event. This, on its face, may seem like a positive direction for a race but in the context of a solely track bike alleycat it brings many problems. First and foremost, the safety of the racers is compromised. We believe that this is not a tenable position for race organizers.”

BikeBlog quotes a press release saying several smaller events will go on:

Friday March 7, 8PM
Goldsprints at Third Ward
195 Morgan Ave. Brooklyn

Saturday March 8, 1PM
Fixed Gear Comp and injured messenger fundraiser at Rocky’s
South 5th St. at Kent Ave. Brooklyn

Sunday March 9, 12PM
Velo City Track Competition at Kissena Velodrome
Booth Memorial Ave near Kissena Blvd. Queens