Not only will this be a fun-filled race with some pretty awesome bikes raffled off, but it's going to kick off a new Salt Lake tradition. more info below.
Oh, and since I'm gone soon, somebody's gotta take over Saltcycle! Think about good candidates, let's keep the community event post alive!
Davey.
First off, the party. It's going to be a hellishly cold race and I encourage everyone to bring their warmest toe-warmers. It wouldn't be a bad idea to send your loved-ones/timid-weather-weary boyfriends ahead to the Art Center with food and libations to share, so that upon your arrival you may sup at hot chocolate and various sundries. The party itself will feature some fun raffle prizes, including bike part jewelry from Michael McGlothlen and some stuff I have kickin' around. Namely one of these two bikes:
Detailed pictures of both here.
The first one is a 1994 Klein Attitude. Klein's have a storied history of being awesome in almost every way, being fantastic early MTB's and still up there in stats of the greatest bikes of all eternity. Besides the (good) RockShox Judy fork this one is almost completely original, with XTR mechs front and back, White Industry/XTR wheels, and the extra-funky Klein Mission control Aluminium/Titanium Stem/bars combo. Speaking of funky, this bike also has press-in bearings, internally routed cables, and track ends. Super cool.
The other is more mysterious. A very nice road bike in the italian style, I have only suspicions of what this might be. It's got an english bb, campy gran-sport dropouts, silly lugs, cinelli-style fork crown, fastback-style seatstays, no cable routing for the rear brake and over the top of the bb cables, and downtube braze-ons. A cobble of styles, from every era, not sure where it belongs. Whispers of it being a Ron Stout are perpetuated by myself.
It rides incredibly, whatever it is, I really like this bike. Brooks Team Pro Saddle is brand new. Campy crank, BB, wheels, brake calipers, headset. Cinelli bars/stem, OLD cool Suntour Superbe derailleur (and a newer one up front). 56cm square.
Someone will take one of these bad boys home. If the fundraiser makes over a certain amount it'll be the mystery Italian bike. Everyone who races in the King-of-the-Hipsters Alleycat will get 2 raffle tickets straight off. The winners of various categories get 5.
So, what is this King-of-the-Hipsters jazz of which I speak, you ask?
Pretty simple. Way back in the day, like, 8 months ago, Alex Haworth shocked and dazzled the world by winning the ever-so-coveted top prize bag in the Don Giovanni Alleycat. That bag, from Burro Bags, is huge, awesome, and custom, looking a little like this:
Now all these months later Al turns out to not like wearing a massive bag that calls him a 'FUCKING HIPSTER' in huge letters. Who'd a thunk it?! So we concocted up a little scheme:
From here-on, the winner of the Look-at-That-Fucking-Hipster bag will carry a hallowed Salt Lake City mantle, and be named, for a quarterly time frame, the King/Queen of the Hipsters. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, as they must wear the bag as often as possible during their reign. It should be used. Luckily, their reign is finite. Every 3 months, starting December 16th, the bag is passed to a new challenger in an event of the current champion's concoction. It doesn't matter what kind of event it is, sprint or drag race or alleycat or hill climb or tall bike joust or that game with spoons and eggs that Esther cooked up, it just has to involve bikes. The organizer of the race cannot compete in their own challenge.
Further, with the title of King-of-the Hipsters, the champion forfeits their privacy, and their phone number and email address are posted on saltcycle/facebook for all to see. In the event that they don't host their event near 3 months after their crowning, they are free to be subjected to public (friendly) harassment until the event is held.
This is the legacy, Saltcycle. A guaranteed bike event every 3 months, rain or shine. Use it well.
