This alleycat is one of the most professionally organised I’ve ever seen. With helicopter-shot footage, pro-style podium and legion of staff, it beats the charming-but-shambolic affairs I’ve taken part in, at least on paper/YouTube.
It ran through the streets of Auckland in New Zealand, with five checkpoints, or six if you ran a brake. That’s right, being safety-conscious did effectively rule you out of the winning spot. Odd decision, that.
Red Bull Eye in the Sky was a fixed gear, track bike race around Auckland City, New Zealand. There were 5 checkpoints around the city and riders had to collect a token at each checkpoint. If a rider was running with a brake they had to visit a 6th checkpoint.
The thing is, Auckland isn’t a very good place for a race like this. Being built essentially at random over two thousand years is an advantage, if you’re a city looking to host a good alleycat. All the accouterments of high-level sponsorship can’t make up for the fun of London’s claustrophobic and chaotic street planning.
Someone called Rainier Schaefer took 1st place with a time of 19.22min, in case you’re interested.
Stop reading this and ride a bike 