Tomorrow: 'Tour De Pollo' Alleycat Bike Race

Tomorrow: 'Tour De Pollo' Alleycat Bike RacePhoto: Kseniya Makarova/Flickr
Jennie Butler
Published on September 04, 2015

It’s Labor Day weekend, BART is closing down, and Burning Man is in full swing. That means it might just be the perfect time to take to the emptier-than-usual streets for an unorthodox bicycle race.

Tomorrow marks the second edition of the Tour De Pollo, an alleycat bike race hosted by Wing Wings, La Sombra Juice, TCB Courier, Pursuit Bicycles and local clothing line Team Terrible.

Racers take off from Wing Wings (422 Haight St.) at 1pm, making an approximately 17-mile loop around around the city before ending at the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge. The first, second and third place winners will take home a variety of goods from the race’s sponsors. 

Wing Wings owner Christian Ciscle and Team Terrible founder Eugene Hood held the first Tour De Pollo back in February. For that edition, racers had to make pit stops at various chicken joints around the city, ending with a block party and a meal at Wing Wings. (There's no block party this year, unfortunately.)

Tomorrow is the “ice scream" edition: Racers must cross the finish line with spoons from Three Twins, Sixth Course, Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous, Mitchell’s and Toy Boat, which means that the ride will take them from the Lower Haight through at least the Mission, Dogpatch and Inner Richmond.

About 25 people competed in the last Tour De Pollo, most of whom were “couriers and other experienced cyclists,” says Hood. But don’t let that discourage you—he and Ciscle are expecting a lower turnout this go-round, and Ciscle is promising a free meal to the “DFL (dead fucking last) racer."

Sign-ups for Tour De Pollo begin at noon tomorrow in front of Wing Wings ($5 entry). Food and beverages will be provided by Wing Wings and La Sombra.