in collaboration with aztecas en dos ruedas, the nycbma hosted the first dia de muertos alleycat - a celebration of the lives of our mess fam who are still with us in spirit. Hit the checkpoints to collect your offerings and deliver them safely to the altar at the finish, where Tamales and café de olla wait for racers. We had seven (7) checkpoints, each representing a location where a messenger lost their life. Canal Street checkpoint was the exception, where it marked the anniversary of eight (8) lives lost on the bike path seven (7) years ago. Racers collected sugar skulls, flowers, pan de muerto, and fruit to bring to the altar at the finish. As the sun set and racers arrived, the altar glowed with candles surrounded by photos of our fam. The collected offerings were placed as gifts to guide their spirits back to celebrate with us for over special night.
We shared drinks, cafe de olla and tamales.
This is a tradition we’d love to keep going because we must never forget those we’ve lost to these streets. Thank you to the Aztecas for helping us put this together, without them this would not have been possible. We’re lucky to have this crew out here reppin their roots and we can’t wait to see what they bring us next.
