UPDATE 8:40 p.m.

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A sea of black t-shirts and bicycle tires hugged the Admiral Way sidewalk in both directions from the Shipwreck Tavern as the Annual Dead Baby Downhill took off tonight at 7:00 p.m. Bikers also lined up across the street near Jack-In-The-Box. It appeared to be an engineless Sturgis, as bicycle riders took over the sidewalks and a lane or two of street pavement too. Excitement, and the scent of weed, was in the air.

Around the first turn, near the Admiral overlook a guy slipped and took a serious spill on his bike. His head was a bloody mess. Firetrucks and medics soon came to the rescue. Lesser mishaps like flat tires and the loss of assorted bike parts flung on to the road stopping some participants in their tracks as they sadly watched their comrades zip by onward toward Georgetown. A huge street party awaited them there.

"I've done this three times before," said Jimmy Mannino, a professional photographer with a studio on Airport Way in Georgetown where the ride concluded. He was wearing a costume, including large white "feathered" wings. He explained the origin of the wacky name of the ride.

"It started in a little Belltown bike shop, about 15 years ago," he said. "They started welding bikes up. They had a doll on the wall with a big spike through it and everyone started calling it the Dead Baby ride. Every year it starts in a different place.

"This is my first bicycle that I got in 7th grade, 1964," he said proudly of his blue Schwinn Varsity.

"The sooner we get out of West Seattle the better," said Stu, the popular owner of Alki Bike and Board, who was on his bike. His two-story bicycle-built-for-several also was on the ride. "I've done this five or six years. I don't believe in mob rule. I think it develops hatred toward bicycles which we don't want. I like all the multitudes of people who really use bikes every day."

ORIGINAL POST

An event called the Dead Baby Downhill is set to begin at 5:00 pm at the Shipwreck Tavern 4210 s.w. Admiral Way. This is the fifteenth year for the event, which organizers call a "celebration of bike culture," which has people race on bikes from Admiral Way in West Seattle to Jules Maes Saloon near the intersection of Nebraska and Airport Way in Georgetown.

The event poster states " Bands, Beer, Food, and fun to be had." Such oddities as freak bikes, and tall bike jousting will be featured plus live music. The main party is on Airport way where nine stages featuring punk and metal bands like Lost Cause, and DJ Grim Us, await what is expected to be a crowd of more than three thousand people.

The race itself attracts hundreds of spectators and participants but the tall bike jousting is not for the faint hearted.

In years past the Dead Baby Bike Club has staged races down other Seattle hills.

Registration begins at 5:00 pm and the race starts at 7:00 pm. It's expected to take approximately 30 minutes to complete the ride.

Member of the Dead Baby Bike Club and documentarian Greg Mahlik, known as "Gergis" is seeking photographs and video footage for inclusion in a documentary he is assembling about the event.
You can contact him at gergis420@hotmail.com or by phone at 206-290-9531.

There are two races within the event. The first is a conventional (if anything about this event could be considered conventional) race in which men's and women's winners are awarded a trophy.

The second is a Bike Messenger Challenge Race in which the winner is sent to the World Career Messenger Race, being held this year in Chicago.

"It's a long board alley cat type of race," said Mahlik, "that messengers have been doing around here for years. Last year the World's was held in Guatemala so we sent a kid by the name of Craig Etheridge."

Etheridge went on to win that race.