Roanoke’s Radical Alley Tour (RAT) is back by popular demand once again! Ride though gravel alleys and urban oddity paths in the center of the Roanoke City! Never be more than a few miles from the start and have no clue where you really are! It's a cycling experience like no other! The route goes up to 80 miles!
This ride is FREE with no registration, no expectations and we give nothing in return except the chance to do this together. It’s not a race and to call it organized would be giving it too much credit. You are responsible for yourself. Traffic will not be controlled. There are no busses running on Sunday. BE SAFE!
This is an urban orienteering challenge so GPS route navigating is pretty much required or try to keep up with someone who can. GPS navigation can be tricky with this. BE SURE TO TURN OFF AUTOMATIC ROUTE RECALCULATIONS ON YOUR DEVISE! Otherwise, the first time you get off course it'll redo the route and you'll have to reload it. Also, deactivate turn notifications. Better yet, don’t load them. I have found that loading the gpx file (not fit or tcx) works best. Turn notifications can be very distracting. You might like them, but I certainly do not for this ride.
NEW FOR 2025: New start/finish location : new route.
1) Now on Sunday so our bike professional friends can join us!
2) This year we’re making the official grand depart at 10 am from Good Times Cycle and Adventure in SE Roanoke! This new bike shop has no affiliation with this event but are kind enough to let us use their parking lot and will be open on the morning of our departure, just for us!
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49734965. I recommend grabbing lunch in the Grandin Village area at the grocery store-Coop or local restaurant or gas station. You’ll be in that area around miles 28, 36 and 38.
10AM START/FINISH:
For GPS navigation to the 10am Grand Depart Start use: 1318 Riverland Rd SE, Roanoke, VA 24014
WHAT BIKE TO BRING: Hard tail MTB is the ideal bike IMO. Gravel bikes work, but you’ll get beat up a little. Aggressive tread and climbing gears are great. Alleys can be rougher than you think and some knob on the tires will be better for all that braking....there's a lot of slowing and going, slowing and going, slowing and going, punchy climbs, hopping curbs, hitting pot holes, and occasionally rolling over brush/trash.
Also check out other Trips & Adventurous Activities in Roanoke, Sports events in Roanoke, Workshops in Roanoke.
