Need For Speed: No Holds Barred Urban Bike Racing

What if there was a bike race through town…with no planned street closures?

This bike race occurs with no permits, no safety cops, no cones, through live traffic: like a video game, think Grand Theft Auto or Need For Speed, except in real life, with bikes!

The result is what you imagine. Actually, a little crazier than you can imagine.

This one is definitely a must watch!

Our Take

One could definitely argue against the legality and morality of this race.

Yet what bugged our urbanist brains is why is an urban bike race such a crazy idea? As we watched this video, we realized that as a civilization we have given up nearly 100% of our streets to giant, deadly metal boxes. Not 20%, not 50%, but virtually all our streets are designed for cars. This leaves absolutely no room for spontaneous fun, exercise, comradery, and (relatively) safe thrills.

There was footage of cyclists going through pedestrian zones. This is definitely a terrible idea. Putting your own skin in the game riding through cars is one thing, but blasting through pedestrians is another thing entirely.

While a bike race in car traffic is not the greatest idea (and a reprehensible idea through pedestrian zones), it does make you wonder why we’ve built cities where a bit of adventure, no matter what form it comes in, becomes some a hazard.

Either way, this one is a definite “Don’t try this at home.”