this weekend past there was a FREE GAZA event collaboration
I teamed up with Guarina of Native Woman Ride to host a Free Gaza themed event
Native Woman Ride hosted a slow paced family friendly bicycle group ride called The Great Ride of Return
then... adjacent to that
I hosted the Free Gaza Alleycat (a messenger race\a bicycle scavenge hunt)
the notion was simple
the ride starts at a certain time at a certain place
and then
the ride ends at a certain place at an estimated time
the goal was to have Alleycat Racers do a race that would finish in roughly the same amount of time as the Social Ride
everyone met up at Dupont Circle at 1 PM
with a the ride taking off at 1:30
(bummer for all the late riders)
((there were half a dozen late riders))
while the Alleycat did registration at 1:30 and started the Alleycat Race at 1:45
there was some confusion...
maybe people thought the Alleycat was a PUNK ANTI RIDE THING
when in actuality...
it was a Collaboration
not a Competition
the ride and the race joined forces to bring attention to the situation in Gaza and more specifically the Gaza Sunbirds
both events were Not for Profit events where there were suggested donations for the Gaza Sunbirds
PLEASE CHECK OUT THE GAZA SUNBIRDS
Donate if you Can
GAZA SUNBIRDS
the event day was met with unseasonably warm weather
there was a chance of rain
the rain held off
yes... it was a beautiful day
a great day for a bike ride
on the day prior to the race I joined in on a pre-ride of the Ride Loop
it all made pretty good sense
we rode from the start to the finish
as we were blocks from the intended finish
I called David the ride director back to the Museum of the Palestinian People
mentioned the invite from the curator of the museum for riders to stop in for water or tea
not much was said about my suggestion
we pedaled to the end at an El Salvadorian restaurant as the finish
I withheld my curiosity of where all the bicycles would be parked\locked up
the race was my thing
the ride was there thing
it was not my place to micromanage their planning
no worries...
they were organizing a ride
I was organizing the race
I did not want to be too controlling about their thing
just as I would not want them being controlling of mine
I was all set...
my Manifest was set
just needed to coordinate my manifest with the ride start and the ride finish
doing the ride seemed like the final word about the Dupont Circle Start and the El Tamarindo Finish
the Alleycat had its awkwardness
as mentioned
there was a misconception of the collaboration
about this being ONE event with TWO ride options
ride or race
slow or fast
somehow that was misunderstood
there was some backpedalling
some people were torn
Alleycat or Social Ride?
it was suggested that we host the Alleycat on a different day
maybe some of the riders would race? maybe there would be greater attendance if we did the race on another day?
maybe true... maybe not true...
that was not the intention
the RIDE AND RACE were to happen on the same day
I had several sponsors for THIS DAY (including FOOD)
I had several PICK UP POINTS for this day
I had planned to host a race with the ride on this day
there was no desire to change the race day
the point of me doing an Alleycat in Conjunction with the Native Women Ride event was to use my Social Media efforts to bring MORE attention to the day
only so many people are interested in Alleycats
so... I thought I could promote the dual event with greater success
both the ride and the Alleycat were well attended
but really
neither had the MASSES that I had expected
in the weeks prior I had spend a good amount of time promoting the ride
spent more time promoting the ride than the Alleycat
as the Alleycat needs Alleycat Racers
the Ride Needs bodies on Bicycles
the Alleycat is not for Everyone
the Ride... the Ride is for Everyone
so... as planned we had the race
there were some strong legs
we had a potential top three
there may be 30 thousand runners in the Marine Corps Marathon
but really
only the top 5 in the men and the top 5 of the women are actually running to win the race
there was a struggle
thought I had convinced some would be Alleycat racers
yet they flaked and did the ride
mid Alleycat some Alleycat Races saw the group ride... ADHD kicked in... and they jumped in on the ride
kids these days
had the same struggle trying to get the kids to play kickball at the park after school when my kids were kids
oh well...
I tried
kids these days
very few kids these days are as cool as my kids
I feel that I was successful in throwing my event
the ride and the race were well run and well attended
there were no injuries and very little conflict
people were having a good day in the spirit of the day
it was confusing at the finish
as intended... Top Alleycat Racers finished in roughly 45 minutes
as we gathered at the El Tamarindo finish I scored manifests
amusingly... I saw David the ride leader of The Great Ride of Return
it was David and SOME of the ride came rolling through
David lead the ride up 18th... they looped back and came towards El Tamarindo
we cheers
they waved - they smiled
and then... they kept going
where did they go?
where were they going?
I thought they said that El Tamarindo would be the finish?
What?
they did not stop? where did they go?
I had a good idea where they went... the Museum of the Palestinian People was just two blocks away
I had thought it could be a good stop for the Social Ride
I guess they decided somewhere along the line that they would change the finish
but... but... but they did not tell us
which was fine... but not really
I would have liked the Alleycat racers to get the same post race experience
we missed Fairouz Foty speak and sing
it all worked out
I was able to get Falafel Inc. as a sponsor of the event
my older son Dean helped out with my friend Marina to pick up 100 falafel sandwiches and 100 tangerines
he brought the food to the alleged finish
after I felt I had all the Alleycat finishers fed
I drove my son's car filled with food two blocks away and fed the masses
in the all it all worked out
there could have been better communication
there were a few glitches
there was some conflict
but I think those things could be easily ironed out in the future
in the end... it is not about me
it was about the day
and the day was about Palestine
this was a FREE GAZA themed bicycle event
it was about drawing attention to the need of a Ceasefire in the Middle East
and more specifically
the relief effort of the Gaza Sunbirds
glad I joined in... glad I was able to lend some support
IT WAS AWESOME!
I toured a few checkpoints with a few people who were late for the ride and then after seeing Brian Clark aka Biggs at the FREE GAZA mural CheckPoint I figured I best be at the finish waiting for Alleycat racers to finish and for my son to drop off food
there was some Alleycat Scoring Confusion
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS!
it all got sorted out
in the end
this was the top Five
Brian Clark aka Biggs
Greg aka Sleazy
Legend Bruce
Fast and Friendly Dave P
and
Mordie in 5th
there were prize bags with some SWAG
and
the TOP THREE FINISHERS each got a Free Gaza Poster as designed by a local Graphic Designer\Street Artist Han Key
PLEASE DONATE TO THE GAZA SUNBIRDS IF YOU CAN