Last Friday I did something that combined two of my favorite things: Halloween and cycling. Every year Krank It Up (an awesome local bike shop in town) hosts a Halloween-themed bike race with obstacles and checkpoints all over Tallahassee.
Halloween + Tallahassee = Talloween.
This year was the 13th annual bike race and it took place on Friday the 13th. Pretty spooky, I know. Not only was this my first Talloween but this was also my first ever bike race and I’ll admit I was a little nervous beforehand. I ride my bike to school everyday and to work most days, but I definitely don’t consider myself an all out cyclist; I’m huffing and puffing after every hill, my bike makes a horrible noise when I slam on the brakes, and I’m never sure if I’m in the right gear or not. That being said I had an AMAZING time riding around town with my friends.
The way Talloween works is participants have two hours to go to all the checkpoints before returning to the bike shop. At each checkpoint there is a challenge or obstacle that you have to complete in order to get a piece of candy, which signifies that you went to that checkpoint. Some of this years challenges were singing karaoke with a full band, watching an eerie video, and crawling around in a maze full of bubble wrap. Unlike most bike races there is no set route, everyone gets to choose their own adventure and make their own route across town.
My group of friends didn’t make it to all the checkpoints and we definitely didn’t win the race, but we had so much fun. Plus we all got tattoos that were created just for the event (sorry Mom).
(I got the two-headed cats, my boyfriend John got the crow, and my friends got either moons, crows, or coffins)
So if you’re in Tallahassee next October and you’ve got a bike lying around consider riding in Talloween 14! You definitely won’t regret it.
