Cascade Commotion

About this time last year, the inaugural Cascade Commotion was planned, constructed, announced, organized, and put into action all within roughly a two week period. It turned out to not only be a success, both in rider turn out and growing a community of cyclists, and a rip-roarin’ good time on two wheels: it was also the catalyst for this group organizing and executing more races and events. The original point of the Cascade Commotion to, literally quoting from the original post, “reclaim the roots of spreading the stoke and showcasing the beauty that is the urban scape and ecologically robust foothills surrounding the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.” Wow. Without being too congratulatory - talk about prophetic. This last year has seen invaluable bonds built with @redding_trail_alliance and @bigfootadventurechallenge that were certainly forged as a result of the ride.
Which begs the question - do we need another Cascade Commotion?
The answer is a resounding “YES.” But with a few interesting tweaks.
For the uninitiated, an “alleycat” is a race loosely directed by checkpoints where the goal isn’t necessarily to “win” - it’s to have fun. It’s a little mass chaos, it’s a little organized peloton. It’s a test of fitness, bike handling skills, and your knowledge of the local routes (or ability to improvise and create a route on the fly.) Along the way to and around the check points are various goals and challenges to amass “points.”
There is no route. There is only one objective (besides having a blast): connect three check points and collect as many points as possible within in the allotted time.
The ride will likely shake out around 40 miles and 2-3k feet of climbing, for folks trying to get as many points as possible, all within 3 hours. It should be clear that this is a dirt centric event; but there will be a good deal of pavement with many points available around downtown Redding’s business (and bike shops.) While hesitant to call this a “gravel” event, that’s probably the best rig to use.
Spread the word, save the date, and let’s party!

Host or Publisher Shasta Cascade Brevet