(L–R) Marlie and Adam Rosenberg relax after the race. It was Marlie’s second race of the day—she won her age group in an early-morning 10k run. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Mixte or fixie, mountain or road, all cycles and cyclists were welcome to ride in the 2016 SLUG Cat held on Saturday, May 20. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Spencer Maughn’s thighs will be burning after he rides his Felt TK3 with its 49-15 up the steep hill on his way to the 200 S. block of 1300 E. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Derek Ballard couldn’t race without a copy of SLUG Magazine to help decipher the manifest destinations. Pre-race shade was provided by the Bohemian Brewery canopy behind Saturday Cycles. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Javier Campos brought some crazy enthusiasm to the 2016 SLUG Cat. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Racers stream from the Saturday Cycles parking lot and stop traffic on their way to Velo City Bags. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
The Bicycle Collective’s Davey Davis winds it up at the beginning of the race on his way to Velo City Bags, where he’ll collect his manifest. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
(L–R) Alisha Knight, SLUG Community Development Assistant, and Nathan Larsen, Velo City Bags owner, pass out manifests with race locations keyed to the May bike issue of SLUG Magazine. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Teegan Feudale plots her route as she prepares to ride. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
SLUG marketeer Devan, along with Wes Brown, Evan Service, Nathan Marabello and Chase Davis, battle the SLC GREENbike challenge. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Wes Brown wheelies off a wicked curb on an SLC GREENbike. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Nathan Marabello adjusts his sunglasses as he leaves Cranky’s Bike Shop on his way to the selfie station next door at Porcupine. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
It was a wild scene outside of Porcupine as racers quickly donned logo T-shirts for selfies. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Jake Matsukawa nails his selfie at Porcupine before racing to the next SLUG Cat challenge on his manifest. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
UDOT Active Transportation Manager Heidi Goedhart folds a shirt at The Stockist during the 2016 SLUG Cat. Goedhart strives to make walking and cycling a safe option for every street in Utah, not just on a limited network of particular streets. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
SLUG Cat racers dominated 900 E. as they sped to Fishers Cyclery on 2100 S. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Mrs. Corn offers a peace sign as she rides with a tailwind on her way to Proper Brewing Co. for the SLUG Cat’s skee ball challenge. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Darin Holland racks up a respectable Skee Ball score at Proper Brewing Co. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Whit Hohman waits for her friends Amy Holmes and Darin Holland to finish a round of skee ball at Proper Brewing Co. Hohman is most proud of her three laps in the MiniDrome behind the Crank SLC bike shop. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Teegan Feudale finishes her race at Crank SLC. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
SLUG Magazine’s Community Development Executive John Ford tallied racer manifests before declaring winners based on finish time, location stamps, and extra points. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Crane Giamo didn’t know if he’d have the strength to finish, but here he is: broken but ebullient. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
The smartest alley cat racers set their sights on winning the after party. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
(L–R) Marlie and Adam Rosenberg relax after the race. It was Marlie’s second race of the day—she won her age group in an early-morning 10k run. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Stu Beaumont brought rocked an orange ensemble as he knocked out a few laps around the MiniDrome. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
(L–R) Jeff and Ian Egglestan keep an eye on the MiniDrome. Jeff enjoyed chasing his son around during the race, and Ian particularly liked his laps in the MiniDrome. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Andrew Blevins from Cold Shoulder, a SLUG Cat sponsor, displays a removable cooler tote that slides into a Cold Shoulder backpack. When it’s not a cooler, it’s a fully functional backpack. And when it’s a cooler, the tote’s welded seams make transporting ice-cold beer as easy as riding a bike. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Brian Ahrendt and Stephanie Buschardt relax behind the Crank SLC bike shop after the 2016 SLUG Cat. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Meara McClenahan rides her vintage mixte through her mandatory three laps on the mini velodrome. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
(L–R) A grateful Angela Brown joins Monster’s Ryan, Chris and Nino at the Muscle Monster Energy Shake canopy. “Without sponsors like Monster, we couldn’t produce important cycling events for the community,” Brown says. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
DJ NixBeat provided the jivin’ tunes for the afterparty. Photo: John Barkiple
(L–R) SLUG Cat winning men: Nathan Marabello, second; Evan Service, first; Adam Kaessner, third. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
And in dead last, Fishers Cyclery’s Alan Barley stands alone. He’ll say that it’s all about runnin’ reds and manslaughter, but burying the bodies doesn’t earn any manifest stamps in the 2016 SLUG Cat. Photo: John Barkiple, Jessica Huynh
Bikes ruled the roads, changing lanes and running lights with abandon during the Fourth Annual SLUG Cat race. Racers registered at Saturday Cycles and relaxed in canopied shade before tackling their manifest’s challenges. With stops scattered around town from the Marmalade to Sugarhouse, riders had to plan their routes carefully or risk missing their cutoff time at 7 p.m.
Challenges included selfies at Porcupine Pub & Grille, cornhole at Salt Lake City Bicycle Co., skee ball at Proper Brewing Co., a quick trip on a GREENbike, and a memory game at Watchtower Cafe. From riders who purchased bikes recently to riders with trusty steeds from the ‘70s, the SLUG Cat competitors encompassed a wide variety of both skill and determination.
Darin’s flat tire derailed his cycle posse early in the race, so they took it easy and only hit a few Downtown stops on their manifest. Ian had a great time riding with his dad, Jeff Eggleston—a cyclo-kilted demon on wheels. Racers Amy Holmes and Mrs. Corn are both new to the Salt Lake bike scene, and they both enjoyed meeting riders throughout the day. Racer Adam Rosenberg put it best when he said, “It’s fun to ride bikes with goofy people having a goofy time.”
Behind Crank SLC, a wicked mini velodrome awaited race finishers and challenged them to complete three laps as a final challenge. An afterparty including tunes by DJ NixBeat along with a variety of prizes—both tossed and awarded—guaranteed that the SLUG Cat pleased all in attendance.
Sponsors included: SLUG Magazine, Monster Energy, New Belgium Brewing, Beer Bar, Cold Shoulder Bags, Crank SLC, Cranky’s Bike Shop, Fishers Cyclery, GREENBike SLC, K’UL Chocolate, Porcupine Pub & Grille, Proper Brewing Co., SLC Bicycle Co., Saturday Cycles, The Stockist, Velo City Bags and Watchtower Cafe.
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