Monstertrack is an illegal alleycat race originally held in New York City in 2000. The race was conceived by a bicycle messenger known as 'Snake'. The race is exclusively for riders on brakeless fixed-gear bicycles. The event gained popularity along with that of because of the use of track and fixed-gear bicycles on urban streets in the 2000s.
Carlos "Diablo" and Victor "Freeway" worked as bike messengers, but took on roles of race organizers, and also participated in alleycat races. The pair made the alleycat scene in New York more popular by using the internet to spread the word about bike racing in New York. Monstertrack is billed as the second largest alleycat in the U.S., attracting racers from Europe and Japan .
Cancellation of 2008 Monstertrack
Following the death of Matt Manger-Lynch, killed while participating in an alleycat in Chicago, the organizers of Monstertrack announced that the alleycat, scheduled as part of the Monstertrack event, had been cancelled. In their statement the organisers said:
As many of you know, Monster Track started as a race held for a small, close group of NYC bike messengers. It has now become an overwhelmingly all-inclusive event. This, on its face, may seem like a positive direction for a race but in the context of a solely track bike alleycat it brings many problems. First and foremost, the safety of the racers is compromised. We believe that this is not a tenable position for race organizers.
Controversy
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Alleycats can be dangerous because they take place on streets that are open to the public. Participants typically ignore traffic signals and general road safety conventions.
Critics argue that the races encourage a reckless and lawless use of public roads and that participants endanger themselves as well as others nearby. Video of these events is often uploaded to social media.
References
- JENNIFER BLEYER (2008-03-02). "Blood on the tracks". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- "Monster Track alleycat cancelled". Moving Target. 2008-03-02.
- "MonsterTrack 2023 the Full Race | Fixed Gear Only No Brakes". YouTube.
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