Alleycat Races Involve Harrisonburg Community

Large groups of strangely dressed bicyclists have been gathering regularly at Harrisonburg's Court Square for over a year now.

If you thought you saw a horde of pirates riding around downtown Harrisonburg on bikes in the dark, dodging in and out of traffic, and popping into local businesses, you probably did. What may look like a random group of rowdy college students and cyclists is actually a well-organized form of bicycle advocacy.

These events are called Alleycats, and they aren't just happening in Harrisonburg; they are all over the globe. In fact, most large cities that have a strong presence of bicycle messengers have regular Alleycat races. The emergence of Alleycats in Harrisonburg is surprising, however, because Harrisonburg isn't a big city. Nor does it have a strong presence of bicycle messengers, but Harrisonburg does have a strong cycling community.

Alleycat bicycle races were brought to Harrisonburg by local bicycle enthusiast Matt Styer. He got the idea from a trip he took to Washington D.C. Styer said, "We're getting people out doing something they wouldn't have done before." He explained, "We want people to realize how easy it is to ride around town and how fun it is." Styer believes that it is an exciting time for Harrisonburg right now. Alleycats and other cycling events along with high gas prices, and a community of people that are aware of and passionate about the situation are making a difference in the community. "People show up to city counsel meetings to help improve bike plans. Things are happening. Yeah it's an exciting time!" he says.

The first official Alleycat in Harrisonburg was pirate-themed and was called the Park View Alleycat. The checkpoints were mostly all on EMU campus. Styer said, "I had some help from friends. We had like 30 people for the first one. It was funny; we had people riding all over campus, jumping in the fountain, and running into Common Grounds. One of my friends, Kurt Rosenberger, was teamed with his sister and they ran into Common Grounds dressed as pirates to do a check point only to find their parents sitting down with the president of EMU. They are easy going people. They just laughed."

There have been nine Alleycats to date. Some of the themes for the Alleycats include the Halloween Alleycat, the Mad Elf Alleycat, Alleycat Eros, the April's Fool Alleycat, the Mid Summers Alleycat, and the Pirate Alleycat. Over the past year the Alleycats have developed a dedicated community of bicycle advocates of all ages and cycling experience.

Many local businesses have shown their support for the Alleycats by providing prizes for the winners of the events. "The bike shops have been giving us a lot of prizes and doing a lot of advertising for us as far as spreading the word," said Styer. Others have been supportive by helping with some of the checkpoints. The Harrisonburg Cycling Club, headed by Ben Wise, has been very supportive. "He's big advocate and they are really thankful for the Alleycats."

The Alleycat participants are often given tasks to complete where they have to go into businesses and ask questions or get something from the employees. "Some people get surprised because we don't always tell store owners that we are planning a stop there. We have one at the Little Grill and I talked to them afterwards and seemed to think it was really cool."

The future of Alleycat bicycle scavenger hunts looks to be positive as well. Styer, along with Wise and the devoted Harrisonburg cycling community, have big ideas for other cycling events. They are planning on creating events that are even more friendly for people in the community, such as showcasing the new bike paths that are being built.

"To me there are two kind of people," muses Styer. "there are people who ride their bikes around town and there are people that haven't yet." The goal is to create a community building activity where people can learn to feel safe riding bikes around town. "We need to get people over that fear."