Beer, Bikes and Big Wheels

A couple of weeks ago Kate and I received an email from REI which outlined the upcoming September events. One of the events noted was the New Belgium Urban Assault Bike Ride. After briefly researching this event, we found we could not resist the urge of a Sunday ride that highlighted beer, bikes and bigwheels.

As the event came to fruition last week with, we found out that the ride was a little more intense than what we thought. The race started and finished at Freewheel Cycle in Midtown. We were given three hours to complete the course which included five pre-determined locations: Chipotle near Lake Calhoun; Penn Cycle in Richfield; REI in Bloomington; Peace Coffee in South Minneapolis; and Freehweel Cycle near U of M West Bank. At each location we were to complete an event. Upon completion of the event, we received a bead. We were also required to find three mystery locations, which we received beads for visiting. Any events not completed or mystery locations not visited, we would receive a time penalty. We could visit the locations in any order.

A little intense.. Yes! However, it was a blast!

Pre-race, I mapped out our route. I mapped the first stop as Chipotle by Lake Calhoun. This was a short ride from Freewheel Cylce. Here, we had to perform bike limbo. We had to go under the bar at three different levels. I was not able to clear the lowest level. Kate was a stud and completed all three!

The next stop was Lake Harriet. This was the first clue to get the clue for the second "mystery stop." There was a guy wearing a fairy costume and afro riding his bike around the lake. I was able to scout him out on the other side of the Bandshell, so we did not have to ride all the way around the lake to find him. This saved us time as the bike path is one way going the opposite direction of where he was standing. His clue, essentially, would have led us to a bike shop in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis; we would not have time to reach the second "mystery stop."

The second location was Penn Cycle in Richfield. After maneuvering our bikes down Penn Avenue past Hwy 62, we came upon this stop. Here we had to ride miniature bikes. I had to ride one direction. Then, Kate had to ride the bike back.

The third stop was REI. The event here was a paperboy deal. I rode a bike around a roped off loop collecting rolled-up newspapers from a volunteer. Then, while riding around this loop, I had to chuck the newspaper about 25 yards where Kate had to catch these newspapers in a box. Once we completed this task, we were free to move on.

The next stop, which was our final stop, was Peace Coffee. This stop was actually near the start line and we were near the race end time. Regardless, we found the big wheels!!! I was an avid big wheeler back in the day.

After big wheeling, we headed to the finish line given it we were at the three hour time max for completing the course. We ended up missing the last location and two "mystery stops." At the finish line, we had to go through an inflatable obstacle course/slide. We then checked in our beads/race time and went indoors to collect our chipotle burrito and free beer.

Kate and I had a blast on the ride and are definitely planning on doing this again next year! Anyone willing to join us, I would highly recommend it! Just be prepared to ride your bike about 30 miles.