DEAD CITY ALLEYCAT 2021
Ghosts of the DC Streets
Holy Rood Cemetery
2126 Wisconsin Ave. NW DC
What would The Dead City Alleycat be without at least one Check Point at a Cemetery?
well... there were a few Cemetery stops on this manifest
Holy Rood being my favorite of these stops
and
what I believe to be a great little race within the race...
the way that I set things up was that the first check point would be The Tour de Bike Lane at 15th and P Street NW
the Tour de Bike Lane check point would be a nod to David Confer
David was a good friend of mine and a big brother to many in the DC Cycling community
David hosted all sorts of events... social rides... Alleycats... and of course the Tour de Bike Lane
David was also a mechanic, a DJ, and a lover of life
as the First Check Point I had things such that many of the volunteers would attend the Tour de Bike Lane and then peel off for their Check Point Assignments
my friend Marina would team up with David Confer's partner Cate Cohen
Cate has been trying to carry on the spirit of David Confer by continuing to run a number of the events that David Confer spearheaded
I thought Cate would enjoy this check point
Cate and Marina were instructed to handle their check point duties at Checkpoint One and then head across town to Holy Rood Cemetery
knowing that the racers would be fast
they would have to shut down the first check point... pedal across town without getting lost... and then set up for the Holy Rood timed check point
they made it... it was close... but we knew it would be close
at this spot the volunteers assembled Fedex Boxes
each racer would have to do two laps carrying two boxes
the laps were timed
lap times would be written on a race number from DCCX, the only cyclocross race in the District, and the racer would take that number with them to be used at other time events
the winner of this Check Point was given a prize for being the fastest in the two lap challenge
Holy Rood Cemetery is a bit of an unknown spot
in recent years it has been brought back up to respectable state
personally I did not mind the knocked over grave stones and the over grown grass
more spooky that way
the views are amazing...
in one direction you can see the US Capitol building and the Washington Monument
then in the other direction there is a view of the National Cathedral
there were a number of volunteers keeping time
handing off boxes
and entertaining the racers
thank you all to volunteered
this could not have happened without the assistance of these volunteers
this series of photos are by Paul Lagoy
