Roanoke RAT (Radical Alley Tour)

Date and Time for this Past Event

• Sunday, Feb 25, 2024  11am

Location

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Details

Roanoke’s Radical Alley Tour (RAT) is back by popular demand once again! Ride through gravel alleys and urban oddity paths in the center of Roanoke City! Never be more than a few miles from the start and have no clue where you really are! It's a cycling experience like no other! This ride is FREE with no registration. It’s not a race and to call it organized would be giving it too much credit. You are responsible for yourself on the course. Traffic will not be controlled. There will be no busses running on Sunday so have a broken bike bail-out plan in mind….scooters, Uber, phone a friend, etc. BE SAFE! This is an urban orienteering challenge so GPS route navigating is pretty much required or try to keep up with someone who can. BE SURE TO TURN OFF AUTOMATIC ROUTE RECALCULATIONS ON YOUR DEVICE! Otherwise, the first time you get off course it'll redo the route and you'll have to reload it.

NEW FOR 2024: Sunday::New start/finish location, distance and time::Name

1) Now on Sunday so our bike professional friends can join us!
2) With fun as our goal, this year we’re making the official grand depart at 11 am DOWNTOWN! Meet next to the Taubman Museum under the Franklin Rd overpass on Norfolk Ave. This route reflects the new start location and shortened route. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45537191. We’re going to call mile 41 the official finish at Golden Cactus Brewery….but the route shows up to mile 48 if you want a few more downtown miles before riding back to Golden Cactus!

You can also load the FULL 100 miler (below) and the new start is at mile 43.4 on that route file. Golden Cactus https://www.goldencactusbrewing.com is hosting Yardball Meats Ramen Pop-up starting at 4 and should be a great place to celebrate post-ride!

3) New Name! No longer the “Roanoke Alley Tour”…now the “Roanoke R.A.T.” (Radical Alley Tour). Richmond recently held the Richmond Alley Tour but they have suggested this name shift and we like it! We’ve all come to realize we will eventually run out of City’s starting with R and want to preserve what it means to ride a RAT! Who will hold the next RAT? Abingdon? Bristol? Chicago? Detroit? We’re opening the doors for you and helping to brand this type of riding! You might be surprised to know Alley Cat riding is not necessarily held in alleys.1

11 AM START/FINISH:
For GPS navigation to the 11 am Grand Depart Start use: 110 Salem Ave SE, Roanoke, VA 24011
For GPS navigation to the Finish at Golden Cactus Brewing use: 214 5th St SW, Roanoke, VA 24016

DOWNTOWN PARKING: Parking near the finish and riding to the start is recommended. Free street parking is allowed in most of Downtown on Sunday. Read the signs to know. Unless you get too close to a church, street parking should be easy to find. Otherwise, Campbell Garage, 335 Cambell Ave SW, Roanoke, VA 24013 with $8 daily rate is halfway between the start and finish. For more parking options visit https://www.parkroanoke.com/

CRAZY 100 MILERS: You’re a rare breed. Only 15% finish the full route because it’s pretty intense. It’s 101 miles with just under 10,000 ft elevation. But if you think you have what it takes then start from mile 0 on the FULL route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45286636. This starts at the tennis courts off Grandin Road near Patrick Henry High School at 7 AM. GPS navigation to the FULL start/finish is 2322 Grandin Rd SW, Roanoke, VA 24015. This will probably get you to the downtown grand depart 15-30 min after the 11 am start. The other, shorter “official” route is contained within this 100 route but the start would be at mile 43.4 and the finish is at mile 84.4.

WHAT BIKE TO BRING: Hardtail MTB is the ideal bike. Gravel bikes work ok but you’ll get beat up. Aggressive tread and climbing gears are great. Alleys can be rougher than you think and the mountain bike tractions is better for braking....there's a lot of slowing and going, slowing and going, slowing and going, punchy climbs, hopping curbs, hitting potholes, and occasionally rolling over brush/trash.