Saturday in Bushwick: Check out a free indoor bike race (slide show)

We can’t think of anything Bushwickier than a bike race inside a disused Lutheran chapel. This Saturday, 100 cyclists will descend upon the gorgeous, soon-to-be-torn-down Bushwick Church (626 Bushwick Ave between Jefferson and Troutman Sts) to pit themselves against the clock and each other on a miniature velodrome. (For those who haven’t read Hemingway’s rhapsodic descriptions in A Moveable Feast, a velodrome is an ovular indoor track banked inward, around which bicyclists zoom on their two-wheeled steeds.)

Red Bull Mini Dromes have taken place all over the world—but this is the first one to be held in NYC. Doors open at 9pm, and the event goes till 4am; admission is free for the first 1,000 who RSVP (click here to reserve your spot). David Ortiz hosts, and there’ll also be a performance from Brooklyn’s own Ninjasonik.

We chatted with one of the competitors, local bike messenger and North American Cycle Courier Championship winner Austin Horse.

Average distance he clocks per day as a messenger: 50 miles

Past Mini Dromes: San Francisco, Tokyo and Guadalajara, Mexico

Top two narrow brushes with disaster while on the job:
“I had a livery cab run a stop sign and hit my rear wheel. I was flung into a drainage opening, and my leg got stuck in there up to my midthigh. It sucked, but I just yanked myself out like a coyote in a trap, and I didn’t get hurt.”

“A cab made a really illegal turn across an entire avenue and hit me, and I was actually under the vehicle. He tried to drive away and drove over me. I ended up being okay, but my bike was crushed.”

Why he’s pumped about the Mini Drome in Bushwick:
“This is the first one that’s happened in New York, and the venue’s extra special. The viewing opportunities are going to be phenomenal, because there’s an upper deck. Usually, people are just sort of looking over the edges; you can see people’s heads, but you can’t see all of the action. But with the mezzanine, everyone will be able to see everything that’s going on inside the Drome. It suits the event more than any other place I’ve seen it happen.”