Can't stop, don't want to.

March 24, 2023 12:22 PM

Terry Barentsen films bike races, but not for the pro tour. Sometimes he’ll follow a single rider on a ride through their home neighborhoods or follow a chill group ride through NYC or the surrounding countryside - those last two in the company of BikeSnobNYC - but often he shoots alleycat races like Mexico City’s Track Or Die, NYC's Three Blind Mice, SF’s Mission Critical and sprints like Bedford Burning.

A few days ago, Terry put up his video of the MonsterTrack 2023 Alleycat, a hour and forty minutes of fixed gear, no brakes ripping through Manhattan on a beautiful Saturday morning, and it's amazing.

This isn't drone footage: he's also on a bike, using helmet mounted cameras to film and sometimes livestream his videos. If you're thinking you've seen this before, you might be right: here's Terry following creator of the genre Lucas Brunelle, legendary cycling videographer and creator of 2012's "Line Of Sight".

If you're so inclined, my advice is to turn the volume on these down halfway if they haven't got a backing track, open up SomaFM's Groove Salad, settle in and enjoy the flight.

posted by mhoye (17 comments total)

Oh my god that Mexico City race, in full traffic, opposing traffic, on sidewalks, in pedestrian malls, i can't stand it. It's just, these things, they're not responsible biking. These bystanders didn't sign up for having guys pelting through their days at 30km/h plus. I can't endorse it. As much as I hate cars, and love bikes, this is just bad behaviour in the service of adrenaline junkies. I love the big insane downhills on planned courses through little cities and towns where everyone there knows what's going on and can stay out of the way, but some of this here stuff is ultra-cringe. Do ya thang but don't put other people at risk.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:36 PM on March 24, 2023 [8 favorites]

These people are the worst. I half watched 3 of them and would permanently ban them all from riding if I had the power.

Fixed gear idiots splitting lanes, rarely signalling, riding no hands through busy intersections, running reds, going on sidewalks, running crosswalks against stopped traffic... each one of them the epitome of terrible cycling.
posted by dobbs at 1:13 PM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

Assholery = 100
Stupidity =100
Skill = ∞
posted by pepcorn at 1:25 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’m a big biker but I’m agreeing with the sentiment here that this is not responsible biking. They’re putting other people in danger whether it’s those in cars/trucks or pedestrians. It’s not ok no matter how cool it is.
posted by misterpatrick at 1:46 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

While I agree with you all I feel like this is further proof that MeFi is the old folks home of the internet.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:51 PM on March 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

They're putting people in cars/trucks in danger?

I mean, yeah, to some degree, probably, but the people in Mexico City who slowed down and in some cases put their hazard lights on as the riders were going by seemed pretty chill about it.

Big alleycat races in dense metropolitan areas almost seem like Critical Mass with a stopwatch.
posted by box at 2:24 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I drive on the regular in Manhattan. The fixies used to be the problem, but now the issue is the motor assisted bike delivery guys. But yeah, sure, get offa my lawn road.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:37 PM on March 24, 2023

I should have mentioned that zero people get hurt in any of these.
posted by mhoye at 2:49 PM on March 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

> I should have mentioned that zero people get hurt in any of these.

I watch these as guilty pleasure yet with a disapproving attitude, and eventually step away from the YT account for a while lol. Then once in a while return, and rinse & repeat.

One of the Alleycats had a regular legit crash into kids and a family. The guy being filmed was mic'd up. Because he was "racing" (unsanctioned, not closed courses, no cops/ security/ race staff, of course), he felt justified to snap at the kids and family, and ended up crashing into them.

Another vid, just riding along, another one of their buddies tags along, starts stuntin, and legit gets hit by a big SUV that had the light. The featured rider and Terry just kinda comment and keep going, which is a bit wild when you think about not stopping and seeing if they're OK lol.

In another Alleycat, 2 ladies were in the heat of the – again – unsanctioned race, and crossed an intersection full-gas, and a car screeches their brakes as the woman swerves last second. She didn't get hit, but at the finish line, she was visibly (and rightfully) shaken.

If these didn't exist, I think cycling culture would still be doing just fine. But also, that there would be skillful thrill-seekers doing stupid shit and gaining a following. And (IMHO) rightful naysayers tsk-tsking the attention/ thrill seeking antisocial shenaningans.
posted by room9 at 4:45 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

I used to ride socially with bike couriers in DC in the early 90’s. They were fucken nuts.
posted by slogger at 5:15 PM on March 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Toni is an old coworker of mine lol. love to see him in Terry's vids and know that he's still alive and doing well

now the issue is the motor assisted bike delivery guys

they are just trying to make a living. maybe place the blame on predatory delivery app companies that externalise all risk, and force these individuals to work as fast as possible, in dangerous conditions, for long hours and low pay, on equipment that they have to purchase and maintain out of their own paycheck. you can probably guess correctly as to whether they get hazard pay, paid time off, or health insurance as well

and please take a factual look at what drives traffic fatalities/hospitalizations in New York because it is assuredly not in any large part bicycle messengers, couriers, delivery folks etc, it is motor vehicles

sorry to derail. just don't like to see people punching down
posted by One Thousand and One at 5:23 PM on March 24, 2023 [4 favorites]

The ding-dongs who are whipping down the streets for lulz, as in this video, are definitely in a different category of asshole than the people who are trying to make a buck to eat in a capitalist hellscape.

Also I find the claims of "no one in these videos got hurt" to be just short of disingenuous, because the video is just an isolated POV of the race showing just a few riders and there's no way you could establish that as a fact.

I'm a pretty chill person and I don't get mad at the delivery dudes riding on the sidewalks when they're cautious and polite about it, but if you're haul-assing through a wad of people for yucks, I will have a problem with you.

Once again MetaFilter proving the truth that we can't have a bicycle thread without people vehemently excusing bad behaviour on both sides leaving the folks just trying to live their lives in comparative safety to just sigh.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:52 PM on March 24, 2023 [3 favorites]

I found it odd in the one video the guy ran red lights, went down the wrong side, barely missed peds, but never ever went into the Bus Lane.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:29 PM on March 24, 2023

I drive on the regular in Manhattan. The fixies used to be the problem, but now the issue is the motor assisted bike delivery guys.

Hate to break it to you, but auto traffic in NYC is The Problem. It's responsible for significant death and illness due to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and deaths and injuries from collisions, contribute to the housing crisis by devoting a gigantic amount of city real estate to their use instead of better more productive uses, waste huge amounts of time and money by creating traffic and inhibiting movement in the city, are a constant barrier to the development of better, more efficient, and more sustainable transit options, and are a net drain on society (economically, culturally, aesthetically, whatever) in the densest city in the country.

Kids on fixies and workers on e-bikes do not do any of this. They may annoy some people, but they don't do a fraction of a fraction of the harm that cars do.

And look, I can't condone the riding in these videos, there's no real justification of any of it, but the things in the status quo that we are okay with are much, much worse.
posted by entropone at 9:01 AM on March 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

I am biking every day instead of driving a car because I hate the idea of accidentally killing/maiming someone, even if it were 100% their fault. I just never want that to happen, and it can easily happen with a car (fuck cars!).
These bikers are assholes not because they are an annoyance, but because they give other people the experience of a near crash, the experience of being close to involuntarily kill or hurt someone.
posted by javanlight at 10:44 PM on March 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

For the record, I drive a pickup that is usually loaded with equipment, gear, supplies, etc. I cannot ride a bike or take the subway. All I ask is that the fixies and motor assists and everyone follow the rules of the road. The rules of the road, as annoying as they may be at times, are designed for safety.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:49 AM on March 30, 2023

That's cool that you're one of the good ones. It's probably pretty frustrating to hear statements implying that you shouldn't get respect because of the behavior of other people who do the same activity. Now imagine statements implying that you shouldn't get home alive because of it. Because that's what we hear - and with the memories of our dead friends in our hearts.
posted by entropone at 4:47 AM on March 31, 2023