Urban Assault “Victory”
Earlier this summer Dave and I fiercely competed in the Urban Assault bike race in Charlotte. Unfortunately our time left much (much!) to be desired but we had a blast and can’t wait for next year.
For us, the first leg of the race began before the race even started, we biked from our place, about three miles to the start,Marshall Park. With our laminated map and cell phones in tow, we were confident and had a solid plan. We were sure the first mystery point was the clock tower at Queens University, and about 40 minutes later realized it was a dude in an afro and a tutu riding around the booty loop! YIKES! We regrouped and got back on track… with 40 precious minutes behind us.
Over the next two hours we navigated more than 20 miles all over Charlotte and competed in the paperboy toss, human bowling, piggyback polo and a trip down a water slide. Finally, we made it to our last stop – Common Market to put together a puzzle. Our brains and our legs were fried, we couldn’t get it and ended up waiting out the 10 minute maximum and rode to the finish line. Our final challenge awaited… riding a power wheel bike course and going through a kids bouncy-castle/maze (after 100 other wet and sweaty people already had… gross.)
One of the best take-aways from the race was seeing how many cool places are easy to ride to in Charlotte. And the delicious, free New Belgium Beer waiting for us at the finish line.
