Xmas Alleycat results

This is an insight into the shocking world of courier charity fundraising...

Thanks to everyone who came out to race last night, I know it had been a tough day in work and the weather was awful.

Results:
1st: 25 Sean
2nd(after arm-wrestle play-off): Daz
3rd: Kropa
4th: Aidan
5th: Dennis
6th: Jack
7th: Lucasz
8th: Lally
9th: Eoin
10th: Lorcan
11th: Donal
12th: Gary
13th: Fabian
DFL: Rob/Andrea

We had a nice night in Feile afterwards and the raffle was a great success.
We managed to raise €570 for Aware, thanks to everyone for digging deep.

Thanks again to all the sponsors: ThinkBike, Swrve, Cyclelogical, South Ink, V Piercing and RSD.

Have a great Christmas everyone, and remember to ride safe and watch out for taxis :) (I've had too many close calls with the fuckers in the last couple of weeks).

Final Reminder for Xmas alleycat

DUBLIN MESSENGERS CHRISTMAS ALLEYCAT
FRI., DEC. 19TH, 7PM WILTON PLC.
RACE START AT 8PM SHARP

swrve.co.uk

***COPY OF GOLDEN PAGES REQUIRED TO RACE***
AFTER PARTY UPSTAIRS IN FEILE (FORMERLY CARNIVAL)
RAFFLE!!! TICKETS €5 OR 3 FOR €10
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO AWARE
RACE ENTRY €10, INCLUDES RAFFLE TICKET
AFTERPARTY FREE WITH RACE ENTRY, OR €5 (INCLUDES RAFFLE TICKET)

Tomek, Tomorrow

CHRISTMAS ALLEYCAT

Bit of an update.

Race will start at 8pm sharp at Wilton Plc. So be there by 7.30.
*DON'T FORGET YOUR YELLOW PAGES*

Race entry €10. This includes a raffle ticket.
Raffle tickets are €5, or 3 for €10.
Remember all proceeds are going to Aware.
Entry to After Party free with race entry, or €5, which includes a raffle ticket.

We have some savage prizes so far:
€300 voucher for Think Bike, thanks to John.
Honey Leather Brooks B17 saddle, dvd's, thanks to Cliff in Cyclelogical (don't tell Dave...)
Merino base layer, T-shirts, Cycling Hoodies, cycling caps from Swrve. Big thanks to Chris.
There will also be some more prizes from the endless Dublin Messengers schwag bag.
If anyone else would like to sponsor this worthwhile event please get in touch.

After Party tbc. but probably, upstairs in Anseo. Also, Kerr is playing a set in the Blue Note on Capel St. the same night.

Please come out and support this event. A fun night for a good cause.

Xmas Alleycat *update

Dublin Messengers plan on throwing an Alleycat on Dec. 19th this year. The final alleycat of the year followed by a nice little shindig somewhere.

No concrete details as yet, just something to throw in your diaries.
We're going to re-use the Golden Pages race that was dreamt up by 5Jive, who never lived to see his race actually happen. We ran the race for a couple of years in his honour, but that somehow slipped last year so I'd like to bring it back again.

I think it's important to have something like this at one of the darkest points of the year, both literally and emotionally, for many people. 5Jive(Ciaran), seemed full of life and was always great fun to be around, but, as we found out, this was not the case. His tragic death was a stark reminder to us all of how important it is to have friends, talk to people, and be there for others.

Couriers are a bunch of misfits, it's always been the way. Many are not from this country, many have little family, other couriers are in a sense the family unit, however dysfunctional that family may be. So come along to the race, have fun, and remember how important the group of people you are sharing that fun with is.

Sorry if that sounds all a bit serious, the race will be a blast, I just think that at least once a year, we should look inwards a little bit and have a think about what this community means to a lot of us, and how lucky we are to be surrounded by such good people.

I need help organising this so please get in touch if you would like to help out. I think it would be nice to donate the proceeds of this race to a charity like Aware, an Irish support group for depression.

On another note, don't forget to come along to the Dublin Cycling Campaign's Christmas Party. Thursday Dec 18th in the POD. A good chance to mingle with some of Dublin's other cycling groups, and strangely enough, they don't all hate us!

*It appears there are 2 Irish guys cycling around the world to raise money for Aware. You can follow their progress here.

You will need a copy of the Golden Pages in your bag in order to complete the race, so start trying to lay your hands on some copies now.

Halloween Results

Thanks to everyone who showed up to race, hang out, do a checkpoint, whatever. It was a cold evening and standing around was not particularly fun.

28 raced on Friday. Results as follows:

1st: Gyula
2nd: Steve
3rd: Kropa
4th: John Wharfield
5th: Brian
6th: Kerr
7th: Chris + Eoghan McNulty
8th: Cisto
9th: Geri
10th: Dennis
11th: Frank
12th: Squeak
13th: Aidan
14th: Michelle and Dave
DNF: Lorcan, Doricea, Barry, Ali, Daz, Cariosa, Renee, Fabian, Tim, Johnny, Lucas,
DFL: Josh

I think I made a boo-boo with 1st girl, so Squeak shall be receiving a prize next time I see her.
Apologies also to Daz who got a misprinted 1st manifest with only 2 pick-ups and drops on it, but had the good grace to lose his 2nd manifest and save me a headache...


Savage party afterwards in Perrines, thanks for the hospitality.

Saturday night was Courier Carnage, but, due to the carnage from the night before, only 7 brave souls turned up to race. We just did a 7-up sprint and Daz came out on top to take the cash prize, which he nicely spent on getting us a round afterwards. Everyone seemed to enjoy the course, so there's talk of making it a more regular, winner takes all event.


Thanks again to everyone for coming out, I'm looking forward to the next race.
Rest of my photos can be found here.

ECMC 2009

No confirmed date as yet... last weekend in May is what we here from our man on the inside, Gar.
Only a title page on their site, but you can sign up for a newsletter here.

Halloween Race

Halloween main race will take place Fri. October 31st.

Registration: Wilton Place from 7pm. (wilton park house if weather is shit)

Race starts: 8pm

€5 Entry.

Prizes for best costume.

Afterparty venue to be confirmed... (not my place...)

Kyotoloco 2008

Details here

Halloween 2008

I saw a Pumpkin hat in the pound shop yesterday, so that can mean only one thing... Halloween is over 6 weeks away!

Aside from Paddy's Day Massacre, Halloween has always been one of our most successful events and hopefully this year will be no exception. There was a great turn out for last Fridays Tartancat and I think we can keep that going.

This year Halloween falls on a Friday, so that gives us a whole weekend to play with.
Friday night we'll have the traditional Halloween alleycat, prizes for best costume as always.
Here are some previous years efforts:



Details of Fridays race are still sketchy... as there is nothing organised yet. I've an idea for a race, but if anyone else wants to chip in please get in touch.

For Saturday I thought we'd take a trip back in time, to a more innocent age of messing... Anyone remember Courier Carnage from 2001??? It's basically a knockout sprint competition around a course using some of our most popular streets in the working day... it also bears a slight resemblance to the course we attempted to have for CMWC... I only just noticed that...
Anyway, this is a fun format, 3/4 rider heats running down to a 4 up final.


Hoping to book somewhere for parties on both nights, again anyone with any suggestions get in touch, about venues, dj'ing, whatever.
ALSO!!! Anyone with a logo design for posters, t-shirts, get in touch asap. As you can see from my MSPaint masterpiece above I'm a donkey when it comes to design. If you'd like to be immortalised let me know.

Peace!

ECMC 2008

The dust has settled and my liver has stopped screaming. What a weekend. Europe knows how to party and damn do those Dutch know how to throw an event! Easily the best organised messenger event I've ever been to and that includes NYC 2005 with their oodles of dirty money!

It was a last minute decision for me to go, and I'm so glad I did. The largest travelling Irish contingent since New York made it feel like a home away from home, but seeing all those faces from around Europe descend on one place had me beaming all weekend.

The main race and the majority of side events were held on the Technical University campus. Our campsite was within crawling distance of the course and we had toilets, 'prison-style' showers and running water all within reach. Hot, free breakfst in the mornings, good coffee, 1 euro beer... it brings a tear to my eye remembering it all.

Day one saw some polo action, Euro-style... which meant a much slower pace and better attitude than whatever that was in Toronto. This was a nice slow build up to the main event and provided people with plenty of time to catch up with old friends and begin the serious drinking. Basel won the polo I believe with London coming 2nd thanks to a DQ. Team Dublin 12 proudly grabbed 4th after DQ'ings.


The welcome party was also held on the campus and the messengers really showed that they know how to drink. In fact the rest of this evening is a blur to me so I shall comment no further. All I know is that I was dancing on stage at one point, and then I woke up in my tent, if anyone can fill in the blank please email me.

Of course this didn't help when I dragged myself out of bed to find that the qualifiers were actually starting on time, and that if I keep picking 102 as my race number I will keep being in the first groups to qualify... A quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham and cheese, and a Bailey's iced coffee, and I was ready(ish) to race.

The course was a lot of fun, I really wish I had more time on it. It was pretty complicated, and you were punished for making mistakes, which I agree with, no turning around and going back the way you came like in Toronto. It really paid to stay calm and think ahead. The loop was pretty long, and to make up for holland's renowned flatness there were a few stair sections thrown in where you had to get off and run, again I think this added to the course. Everyone I saw racing looked like they were having a good time. I had a few calamities during my heat so I didn't qualify for the final, chief among these was my saddle coming loose right in front of Vincent who was MC'ing the event. It's quite distracting having someone with a microphone giving a running commentary on you trying to fix shit. Added to this were some sweaty birthday man-hugs from Flip at the stamp checkpoint and some guerilla water bombings by Pax, oh, not to forget my own ineptitude. I really didn't care though as I rode the whole thing with a huge grin on my face.

It was so nice after this to chill out in the amazing weather, have a few beers and watch the days events unfold. Semi-naked Scandinavian girls, aggresively drunk Glaswegians, skinsuit wearing Swiss... all part of a days entertainment.


That evening the party and the roller racing moved to Area 51, a skatepark close to the campus. There were some games of footdown in the car park, and the the rain came. It didn't spoil anyone's fun though as we all piled inside for some live music and the Roller race finals. Chapeau to the Rollapoluza Crew for throwing a pro event. You can tell these guys know what they're doing and the whole evening ran without a hitch. A few more beers in the campsite later on and most of us settled in for the night to prepare for another days shenanigans.


Sunday morning and the sun was back out again with a vengance making racing conditions incredibly tough. 3 hours of racing for everyone. no cut-offs or limited manifests. Jobs were worth money and the fattest wallet after 3 hours claimed victory. The strength of the organising shone through once again at this event. There was a laptop where everyone was hanging out that had live updates of the race... yes you read that right. As people made money it came up on the screen and you could watch the race unfold. I found out afterwards that this was actually on the internet, and a few guys in Dublin were follwing the race from there! Some achievement.


Just watching the racers was hard work, it was painfully hot, and 3 hours is a very long time when you can watch a clock ticking. Thankfully there was plenty of water to be had on the course, and a couple of hoses provided welcome relief at 2 points on the course. It was great watching racers srinting throught the start/finish area trying to grab plastic cups of water from volunteers... sometimes succeeding, sometimes howling in frustration as they knew it would be a few more minutes before they could get some much-needed refreshment.


Chapeau to Austin from NYC for showing true spirit and doing the whole race with a plastic bag from the local supermarket to carry his packages!

When it all boiled down Michael ‘michi’ Brinkmann and Astid ‘azkic’ Narud emerged as male and female champions respectively. Full results can be found here.


Side event finals took place after this, sprints, skids, trackstand, circles, the usual palaver. Great to watch. Sometimes when I see all the fixie stuff I am reminded of this Shakepeare quote:

"Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. "

That's just me... it's probably 'cos I can barely trackstand... But in all seriousness it is quite a spectacle to watch Jumbo winning everything. The guy has so much control over his bike it's ridiculous. It was also nice to see some new talent coming along. Our own Daz had a really good showing, being narrowly beaten by Jumbo in both the skids and the backward circles(I think). He's going to be a force to be reckoned with in a couple of years... oh and he is also fast as fuck.



The final party was held on the campus, with the dulcet tones of Rik Van Den Bosch chilling everyone out after the awards ceremnoy. Not for long though as people proceeded to get wasted again. At some point the beer went from €1 to free... this prompted Pax from Copenhagen to start a beer fight, I gladly missed this and managed to stay relatively dry. A group of us struggled on into the wee hours, and when my head finally hit the sack the sun was coming up again.


There is always a terrible comedown from these events, irrespective of how much narcotics you've consumed during it. Taking the tent down and watching the campsite dwindle was quite disheartening. Having to say goodbye to so many good people and maybe not see them again for another year can be a bit of a downer. But I guess that's one of the reasons these events will keep happening and hopefully keep getting stronger as this years event proved.

I said in my post about Toronto to remember that messengers aren't event organisers... I have most eloquently been forced to eat my words. the Dutch messengers have shown the rest of Europe, and indeed the rest of the world, that it is possible for a bunch of functioning alcoholics to throw a world class sporting event. My hat goes off to them for this and I'm already counting down the days to ECMC Berlin. The bar has been spectacularly and irrevocably raised.

More photos can be viewed here and here.

London's Calling 2008

The pre-event to CMWC last year was such a success the Londoners have decided to do it all again.
By all accounts this was a great weekend and I'm sure the experience gained form organising last year will stand them in good stead to make a good event even better.

I'll post the link to their website in the 'Upcoming' box to the right of the page as soon as it goes online.

24 hours of pain

The annual 24 hour race in Holland is coming up in Spetember, and it seems the Irish have made an impression... here be a forwarded mail from the organisers:

Just writing to inform you that the 24 hours race is on again.

Since we love you Irish warriors' participation we all hope thatyou'll be back this year.

Date is september 6th.

This years route gonna be a circle, Start and finish in Amsterdam.

Hope to see you again!

Cheers,

Tomas

I'll post some more info about registration etc as soon as I can track it down.

Global Global Gutz Results

Here we are... scroll down to find yourself. 16th is the best Dublin time. i don't know what we have to do, but we have to completely re-think the nature of the course if we want to start posting quicker times. Seems we're stuck in a rut...
Congratualtions to all the racers.

1 Jens Reinert Hamburg 0:30:59

2 Daniel Hamburg 0:31:00

3 Irek G Warsaw 0:31:21

4 Mrówa Warsaw 0:32:15

5 Bandit Warsaw 0:32:19

6 Prettyboy Sydney 0:32:39

7 Doddy Sydney 0:33:24

8 Big Rob Sydney 0:33:45

9 Simon Lieberg Bremen 0:33:52

10 Alexander Drögmöller Bremen 0:33:52

11 Georg Hasselmann Bremen 0:33:52

12 Daniel Heisler Bremen 0:33:52

13 Ralph New York 0:35:14

14 Andrew New York 0:35:35

15 Matt Brisbane 0:35:38

16 Kropa Dublin 0:35:46

17 Lizard Dublin 0:35:47

18 Piki Warsaw 0:35:50

19 Maciek Warsaw 0:35:50

20 Daz Dublin 0:35:52

21 Sean Dublin 0:35:52

22 Tomas Warsaw 0:35:59

23 Janek Warsaw 0:36:11

24 Mlynek Warsaw 0:36:12

25 J.T New York 0:36:27

26 Crihs New York 0:36:30

27 Jacobs Boston 0:36:50

28 Someone New York 0:36:50

29 Frankie Nun, el Divino Santiago 0:36:56

30 Croth Boston 0:37:10

31 Olli Hyytiainan Winnipeg 0:37:11

32 Miler Warsaw 0:37:19

33 Mark Leoppky Winnipeg 0:37:36

34 Karl Brisbane 0:37:47

35 Jim Kuz Toronto 0:37:54

36 Pornosteve Zurich 0:37:55

37 Martin Larsen Toronto 0:37:59

38 Cris Cali New York 0:38:00

39 Samwise Sydney 0:38:03

40 Pinky Gaab Santiago 0:38:15

41 Will Melbourne 0:38:20

42 Mex Sydney 0:38:26

43 Link New York 0:38:33

44 Yatika New York 0:38:39

45 Eric Slowski Boston 0:38:50

46 Jorge Abarca Santiago 0:39:06

47 Glenn Macaulay Winnipeg 0:39:26

48 Benjamin Bloomfield Winnipeg 0:39:26

49 Jamie Vrooman Winnipeg 0:39:26

50 Jeff Kidder San Diego 0:39:30

51 Ernesto San Diego 0:39:31

52 Andino "guaraná" Reyes Santiago 0:39:32

53 Bryan F. San Diego 0:39:32

54 Vince Zurich 0:39:42

55 Steve Dublin 0:40:05

56 Emerson San Diego 0:40:08

57 Mario "velocity" Boldoy Santiago 0:40:16

58 Dave Brisbane 0:40:30

59 Ed Dublin 0:40:34

60 Lucasz Dublin 0:40:36

61 Aryeh Smith Toronto 0:40:38

62 Carlee (First female)

Toronto 0:40:42

63 Andy McGillioray Toronto 0:40:44

64 Pete Rubi Boston 0:40:49

65 Gary Bolivar Boston 0:40:50

66 Brendan Shea Boston 0:40:51

67 Beardo Boston 0:40:52

68 Simon Brisbane 0:41:00

69 Bidu Zurich 0:41:23

70 El Comelon Zurich 0:41:30

71 Nathan Brisbane 0:41:30

72 Paul Brisbane 0:41:55

73 Kevin Dublin 0:42:00

74 Jordan Field Toronto 0:42:01

75 Rob Zurich 0:42:06

76 Kerr Dublin 0:42:09

77 Ale Verdugo Santiago 0:42:12

78 Doctor Brisbane 0:42:19

79 Sam Brisbane 0:42:20

80 Noal Brisbane 0:42:21

81 Tom Brisbane 0:42:22

82 Damian Brisbane 0:42:22

83 Pete Sydney 0:42:23

84 Rangi Sydney 0:42:25

85 John Melbourne 0:42:34

86 Dan Melbourne 0:42:36

87 Josh Melbourne 0:42:39

88 Pete Brewer Toronto 0:42:46

89 Pascal Zurich 0:42:47

90 Cameron Hildebrandt Toronto 0:42:48

91 Tim Kassel 0:43:01

92 Ania Warsaw 0:43:02

93 Michel Santiago 0:43:04

94 Tobias Kassel 0:43:07

95 Bob Sutton Toronto 0:43:14

96 Jano "michelado" Montano Santiago 0:43:18

97 Matius Santiago 0:43:36

98 Steveiator Melbourne 0:43:40

99 Pablo Santiago 0:43:48

100 Johannes Zurich 0:43:48

101 Cordones Flojos Santiago 0:43:50

102 Steve Melbourne 0:43:51

103 Sewin on fire Santiago 0:43:52

104 Liam Melbourne 0:44:00

105 Jessie D Toronto 0:44:06

106 Kyle New York 0:44:08

107 Trek slick Santiago 0:44:08

108 Pip Melbourne 0:44:23

109 Udo Dada Santiago 0:45:14

110 Brett Brisbane 0:45:17

111 Britlee New York 0:45:25

112 Quintrileo Santiago 0:45:28

113 Casco Giro MSN Santiago 0:45:29

114 Dan Brisbane 0:45:38

115 Jaime Santiago 0:45:40

116 Bado Sydney 0:45:42

117 Niall Dublin 0:45:56

118 Pete Brisbane 0:45:58

119 Stefan Kassel 0:46:08

120 Marty Kassel 0:46:11

121 Sebi Kassel 0:46:12

122 Zeb Sydney 0:47:08

123 El-Jeffe San Diego 0:47:15

124 Stan G. San Diego 0:47:16

125 Dennis-Johnycrash-Tha Mennice Frankfurt 0:47:18

126 Moritz Mindnmatter Frankfurt 0:47:23

127 Mace Brisbane 0:47:27

128 Paragon Sydney 0:47:33

129 Natalie Dublin 0:47:46

130 Chris Dublin 0:47:46

131 Tom2 Brisbane 0:48:00

132 Chris Streetfighta Frankfurt 0:48:13

133 riley Adelaide 0:48:22

134 Sketchy Rick San Diego 0:48:41

135 Mattallica San Diego 0:48:42

136 dannoz Adelaide 0:49:00

137 Chris Dinsmore Norfolk 0:49:03

138 Rastas Santiago 0:49:08

139 Mayobike Santiago 0:49:12

140 msn lentes Santiago 0:49:13

141 Rene-Schwanenflug Frankfurt 0:49:36

142 Dennis Cologne 0:50:09

143 Rupe Cologne 0:50:12

144 Fabián Santiago 0:50:16

145 short amarillo Santiago 0:50:18

146 Andy Brisbane 0:50:20

147 James Brisbane 0:50:21

148 Carolina Santiago 0:50:28

149 Negro "fantasma" Pablo Santiago 0:50:44

150 Michelle Dublin 0:50:55

151 Lawrence Santiago 0:52:12

152 PPVaz Santiago 0:52:30

153 Wes Cheney Norfolk 0:53:21

154 PedroXT Santiago 0:53:30

155 Nata de Leche Santiago 0:53:34

156 Anette Zurich 0:53:48

157 Osita Santiago 0:53:58

158 Robert Kurtz Norfolk 0:54:01

159 JotaPé Santiago 0:54:58

160 Aaron Brisbane 0:55:39

161 C.J. Brisbane 0:55:41

162 Juan Madrid 0:55:42

163 Federico Madrid 0:55:45

164 Anja Cologne 0:55:54

165 Coco Madrid 0:56:02

166 Marcel Essen 0:56:49

167 Noah San Diego 0:56:50

168 Tim Essen 0:56:51

169 Guillermo Madrid 0:56:56

170 Jochen Essen 0:57:25

171 Alvaro Madrid 0:58:21

172 David Madrid 0:58:23

173 Lars Kassel 0:58:58

174 David Buchta Norfolk 0:59:36

175 Laura Caughey San Diego 0:59:57

176 Albano Madrid 1:00:00

177 Aitor Madrid 1:00:00

178 Elise Melbourne 1:01:48

179 Alberto Madrid 1:02:00

180 Andre Cologne 1:04:31

181 J. Jitensha Norfolk 1:05:28

182 Dirk Essen 1:05:59

183 Philipp Essen 1:06:20

184 Martin Essen 1:07:27

185 Henry Essen 1:07:36

186 Markus Essen 1:07:39

187 Sarah Melbourne 1:09:06

188 Clara Madrid 1:10:00

189 Rafa Madrid 1:10:00

190 bowie fist Adelaide 1:10:00

191 big mick fist Adelaide 1:10:00

192 antoin fist Adelaide 1:10:00

193 Edu Cologne 1:33:31

194 Jane Zurich 1:50:13

195 Denis Zurich 1:53:07

196 Chrisiaan Zurich 1:54:43

197 Mats Zurich 1:54:53

Janka Cologne DNF

Gaku Cologne DNF

Uula Cologne DNF

Hans Cologne DNF

Eik Cologne DNF

ErasMostro Santiago DNF

Xerófito Santiago DNF

NN Santiago DNF

NN Santiago DNF

Mattias Zurich DNF

Marc Zurich DNF

Tobias Pohl Bremen DNF

Clint Sydney DNF

Paul Sydney DNF

Rocco Dublin DNF

Tim Dublin DNF

Gary Dublin DNF

Tomkow Essen DNF

Jepp Essen DNF

Oliver Essen DNF

Alex Heimkind Hamburg DNF

Alf Tejaoa San Diego DQ

Global Gutz Results

16 racers, 21 kilometres, some beer.
1: Kropa (and 1st fixed): 35:46
2: Lizard: 35.47
3: Daz: 35.52.2
4: Sean 35.52.8
5: Steve: 40.05
6: Ed: 40.34
7: Lucasz: 40.36
8: Kevin: 42.00
9: Kerr: 42.09
10: Niall: 45.56
11:Natalie (1st female): 47.46
12: Chris: 47.46
13: Michelle: 50.55
dnf: Rocco
dnf: Tim
dnf: Gary

And here is the course: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1803514

Check the global Gutz website here over the next few days to see how you fared on the worldwide scale.

Thanks to everyone who came out to race, and everyone that helped out.

Global Gutz details

Ahoy hoy...
So Global Gutz is this Saturday. We've decided to go for the 1pm start as we guess noone really wants to race at 9pm on Sunday...

I've to ride the course today to confirm the distance, but be prepared for 21k.

We've no prizes really, but hey, fuck prizes right? €5 entry, winner takes the pot, and is in with a chance of winning return flights to Toronto for this years CMWC.

This is not your average alleycat remember. For one, the course is designed to be simple, straight and as fast as possible, for once the race designer is not trying to make you cry. You are not just racing for yourself, but for your city. We all want Dublin to be well up there when the global results are posted. To this end it makes sense to work together as much as possible. Sprint at the end if you have the legs. I'm guessing this might be one reason some other cities do so well. Racing together will give everyone a better overall time... and I have a devilish finish in mind that will make for a great sprint finish if we have a bunch coming in together...

I hope to get off my ass and have flyers circulating this afternoon, Thursday at the latest.

Also, it is Kropas (Polish Chris) last day in Ireland on Saturday, so even if you're not coming out to race, perish the thought, please come and hang out. We're going to attempt to play polo afterwards, and of course go for a few beers, so come and join us.

Start place is Merrion Square East, inside the park. Be there AT THE LATEST 12.30pm for registration. Race begins at 1pm SHARP!!! No exceptions. One of the great things about this race is that we will be riding at the same time as people all over the world.

See you there.

Belated Paddy's Day Massacre results

Better late than never...

Fri. Night/Rubber Side Down alleycat:
1st: Rocco
2nd: Ed
3rd: Oisin

Sprints:
Rob

Skids:
Rob

Backward Circles:
Daz (30 circles, probably an Irish record)

Trackstands:
Rob

Footdown:
Daz

Sunday alleycat:
1st: Ed and Eoin
3rd: Kropa

1st female: Lola... the only female entrant in any event over the weekend, what's up with that???

Overall Massacre winner: Aaron. He competed in every event, and was technically our only out-of-towner, chapeau!

Big thanks go out to everyone that organised a race, or a party, or helped put in any way, you know who you are. Thanks to all the racers, it would be nothing without you after all. Thanks to Cuan for bringing us loads of schwag from Toronto to give away, Kate for making those awesome caps, Aaron for the leftie Timbuk we still have to find a home for, CCB for the stunning bag that Aaron won, and last but by no means least Xander from House of Pistard who made the cross design for the shirts and gave the limited edition hoodie that Rocco won for the Friday night race.

See you next year.

Global Gutz

We're getting near that time of year again, the worldwide alleycat that is Global Gutz.
I've registered us for it so tough doo-doo you're going to race it, for the greater glory of Dublin and all who ride in her... or something.

For those who don't know Global Gutz is an annual race that takes place in cities around the world at the same time. Every city must design a 21km course in as straight a route as possible, incorporating 5 checkpoints. This means that every city has to ride the same distance.
Male and female winners will win return airfare to this years CMWC in Toronto.

The course we used last year left Dublin's first rider across the line, Lizard, in 14th place worldwide, but the time was 6 minutes off 1st place. In a medieval city like Dublin it is hard to make a course that doesn't involve a lot of junctions etc. so we are at a disadvantage. I still have last years course saved so we can use that, but if someone would like to come up with a new one get in touch.

All you need to know is: 5 checkpoints, not including start/finish. Flat as possible to aid the riders, remember we're trying to help them win this one, 21km measured pretty accurately, and make the course as simple as possible so that there can be no short cuts taken, fairness is the key.

Check the link to Global Gutz in the sidebar --> for more info and previous results.

Paddy's Day Massacre Timetable *Update*

Boom... So Saturday night we have some seats reserved in George Bernard Shaw. Wanna be in there by 8.30, should be plenty of time as the race starts at 5pm. If you're in there early, the seats are reserved for Graham White, whoever that is, so ask for them...

Friday night we finish at Wood Quay, so I'm guessing Dice Bar has always been good to us, lets go there... there is also a good breakbeat night in Voodoo which I'm quite tempted by so there's a couple of things to offer around the area. Check out the dj's here.

Here ye be...
Party venues to be confirmed, but as of now it's Bernard Shaw, Anseo, Dice... something like that. I'll update as soon as I know the score...


Click on image for awe-inspiringly large view...

If anyone needs any more details or low-down send us a mail or comment and I'll help in any way I can.
Anyone coming from afar for this one? We've got couch space so don't be shy...

St. Patrick's Day Massacre 2008

It's getting near that time of year again. We're gonna start gearing up for the weekend of fun and frolics that is the St. Patrick's Day Massacre.

No real timetable as yet, but you can count on there being Friday night and Saturday afternoon alleycats, some track racing on Sunday, weather permitting, and the usual dicking around on bikes that we like to call skids, trackstands etc.

Paddy's Day is on the Monday this year, which means we have another day to play around with, so we'll see what we can come up with for that.

For now, check out the beautiful logo that Xander from House of Pistard has come up with for this years event. Much love from Dublin for the work that he did on it.

As usual, any questions, ideas, offers of help, email us: dublinmessengers@gmail.com
We'd love to see you all here for the weekend.
You can check results and tales from previous events here.