By Touie Li
It was an afternoon in early July. A group of “alleycats” were on their bicycles cruising through the streets of downtown Shanghai. They were riding without a fixed route. To an outside observer it might have looked like a competition, but for those participating, it didn’t have that competitive vibe at all. It was more like a friends reunion. After all, all these ’cats’ had been locked in their houses for almost 2 months. They came from all over the place, talking to each other with different accents, got different bikes and styles, but they got along with each other just by simply riding their bikes together. It was a lovely weekend day for people to hang out, and behind all the laughter and hug it even had a greater meaning and goal – to help raise money for Ukraine.
7月初的某个午后，上海市中心街头流窜着一群骑自行车的“小猫”们，他们朝着同一个目的地出发，却没有固定的路线；他们看似在竞赛，却没有互相之间竞争的紧张氛围。在群众眼里，这群骑行“小猫们”满是洋溢着欢声笑语，以及重逢友人，结交新人的激动之情。骑手们来自天南地北，带着不一样的口音，自行车和造型来到现场，但却能很快通过对骑行的热忱打成一片，同踩自行车迎接夏日酷暑的到来。对大家来说，这是一次难得的周末放风，大家收获欢声笑语的背后也传递着为战乱中的乌克兰筹募资金给予援助的美好愿景。
An Alleycat is a non-profit event. The rules for an Alleycat are simple. Every rider is given a list of locations. The rider must then map out the fastest and most efficient route between the checkpoints, ride to all locations, collect all the stamps (given at each checkpoint), and cross the finish line in one piece. For this event, riders had 30 minutes before race time to map their routes. The top three finishers received prizes, but ALL participants enjoyed drinks, food, and products from the sponsors.
Alleycat是一个非盈利性的活动，规则并不复杂：车手们在活动开始前会有30分钟时间绘制路线，在地图上标注出专属自己的最佳路线（时效性高，路程短）的五个打卡点，每到一个点收集一枚印章，在终点前集齐所有印章。前三位到达终点且集齐印章的车手将获得奖品，同时所有参加活动的车手都可以分享赞助商提供的饮品以及小礼物。
Chris Rees was the organizer behind this event. Chris is a fixed-gear bike rider, skateboarder, and film photographer. For this event, he invited his friends in Shanghai to help. He had a Shanghai local tattoo artist create a theme graphic for the event (see picture below), and he printed some shirts for all donators of the event.
Chris Rees是这次Alellycat骑行募捐活动的组织者，同时也是一位自行车爱好者，滑手以及胶片摄影师。他邀请了在上海的滑手和朋友们前来做志愿者，同时还联络到了纹身艺术家50为活动设计主题版画。参与活动捐款的骑行爱好者Chris 也向大家免费赠送了Alleycat活动T恤。
Lil black rider cat, v cute, innit? 背着书包的小黑猫，就问你喜不喜欢？
The early birds got there to register early.
提早到达现场的骑车手正在登记参赛信息。
Edan MC’ed the event. He’s the brand manager of Team Healthy, one of the event’s sponsors. The whole event couldn’t have gone down successfully without him and his girlfriend Nana’s help. Mad respect!
本次Alleycat活动特邀主持人Edan，同时也是赞助商Team Healthy的品牌主理人，整个活动能够有序地组织与运行离不开他与女友Nana鼎力相助！
The Volunteer Duo —— Daddy Len and and his awesome daughter Ahna.
父女志愿者组合 Len & Ahna。
Before the start of the event, cats chatted about what their life had been like since being set free.
等待活动开始前，大家都在与许久不见的朋友们分享疫情以来的生活近况。
In alleycats, routes are not defined. It’s up to the rider to plan the fastest route!
本次骑行的四条路线，选手们可随意组织顺序!
Chris knew y’all couldn’t wait to start, so he purposefully had you guys wait longer that you should have… Um just kidding!
Chris知道大家都等不及开赛，于是故意让选手们多等了一会… 额，其实没有啦！
When it was time to set off, riders were ready to go fast!
大家各就各位启程出发！
He said to himself, “I got this!”
志在必得！
Look at this mountain bike dude doing wheelies on the street with zero effort.
山地车的小伙伴wheelie信手拈来。
En route! Street riding never gets old!
上路！街头骑行YYDS！
Chris prepared some nice pizzas for hungry riders after their 20 kilometer mission was done.
20公里骑行结束回到出发点，Chris 为大家准备了披萨果腹。
After stuffing their tummies, our host Edan proudly announced the champions. Peter Dixie was crowned the winner. Goodies in the pocket!
待大家吃好喝好，主持人Edan宣布首位完成路线的车手，丰厚的奖品送到冠军手上。
A group photo was a must! This was such a rare weekend cycling ended. I hope everyone had fun and the high spirits and donations can be sent to the trenches in Ukraine with love and hope!
活动完结大合照也不能落下，一次难得的周末骑行就此落幕，相信大家的热情也能伴随捐款传递到乌克兰的战壕中！
这次难得的Alleycat活动，通过骑行将大家连接到了一块，活动组织人Chris也有些话想和大家说：
This Alleycat event connected everyone together. The organizer Chris shed some light on how this event came to be:
“The whole idea of putting together an alleycat was a way to remind me of back home in New York. I participated in alleycats, sprints, and group rides since I got my first job working at a bike shop fixing flat tires. Like many people, I haven’t been home since the beginning of covid, so I wanted to bring some of those moments here.
“策划整个alleycat活动让我想起了老家纽约。我的第一份工作就是在纽约一家自行车店维修轮胎，由于这段经历我接触到了alleycat，竞速以及集体骑行等自行车活动。和很多在上海的外国人一样，我自从国内疫情以来都没回过家，所以这次活动，或多或少让我找回了在纽约的感觉。
Turning the event into a fundraiser came to me with all the chaos in the world going on. Our covid situation sucks, but it’s better than all the bullshit going on everywhere else. We can come together and do our part no matter how big or small our contribution is.
现在世界每天都在不断上演一系列事件，这也是我将其定义为募捐活动的原因。目前在上海，疫情的情况虽不容乐观，但说实在，相比全球各个地方正在发生的一些荒唐事来说，我们这边的情况还算好。我们都要团结起来，无论贡献是大是小，尽自己的一份力就好。
At first it was meant to be small – a small fundraiser with a handful of friends. Soon after the idea got out, more and more friends began to offer their help, whether it was by volunteering, sponsoring, or just helping to spread the word. The fundraiser was more than I, or anyone helping, had hoped for. We raised just over 8,000rmb and had over 60 different donators. All in all, it was a huge success, and I’m already excited for the next one.”
起初我只打算做一个小型募捐，就邀请身边的一些朋友来参与。当我这个想法被传开后，越来越多的朋友开始向我提供帮助，无论是做志愿者，赞助商，又或者帮忙转发朋友圈。直到最后我们总共筹集到了8000多元人民币，这完全超出了我和小伙伴们的期望，总计有60多位捐赠者。总而言之，这次的活动很成功，我很期待下一次与大家见面。”
Huge shoutout to Chris Rees for organizing this event. His nickname in Chinese is “铁柱” (Metal Pillar).
本次活动的组织者/策划人——Chris Rees柱哥
Photographer: Dong Ziyan
Editor: Touie Li
Supervisor: Emmanuel Lemire