I attended my first Tour De Fat today. It rocked my entire existance. I was supposed to update about other stuff first(like my first con experience at Dragon*Con last weekend) but I have to talk about what i experienced today.
What is Tour de Fat you ask? Well New Belgium Brewing company, known by the masses for being the creators of the beer, Fat Tire, known in Fort Collins as giver off free delicious beers in their tasting room. New Belgium is pretty passionate about the biking revolution and really encourage people to become bike commuters and love their bikes. They celebrate the wonderful invention that is the bicycle with a now traveling festival call the Tour de Fat . It’s bicycle festival with beer(and not the other way around, as they reminded us) used to raise money for local bike charities and encourage you to “come dressed as your favorite alter ego,because when everyone’s weird, no one is”
The day started with a bike parade through Fort Collins. We pretty much took over the streets. I can’texpress the shear number of people riding bicycles through town. We got to the end of the route and there were still people starting. It probably sounds cheesy but when i joined the parade i actually got a little teary eyed. All i could think was that this is how life SHOULD be. As we rode through town, it was great to watch the other side of the road when the parade route doubled back and not just see the awesome costumes , bike mods , and other fun accessories, but also hear the constant joyful cheers, bike bells, and the phrase “Happy Saturday” fill the air. It was so much fun.
We got to the festival next. There were several stages, a tent for buying beer tokens, places to trade in your tokens for beer, vendor booths, and food booths. There was also a fun little area where you could test drive some of the specialty bikes and play games. The entertainment was… entertaining to say the least. A really fun group of “ninjas” was there who specialized in juggling,fight choreography, and dancing was pretty hysterical. There was also probably one of the best live performances i’ve ever seen by the March Fourth Marching Band ,based out of Portland. The best way i can think to describe them is if you asked a bunch of circus performers to start a marching band, this is what you’d get. Stilts, twirlers, dancers, hula hoopers and lots of great music. They’re amazing and if you ever get the chance,you should check them out. Sadly my camera was dead by that point so idon’t have any pictures.
Finally one of the most inspiring parts of the whole day was watching the celebration ensue as a local women agreed to give her car up in exchange for an awesome new bike and the promise to live car free for 1 year. She probably needed all the encouragement she could get as she actually handed over the keys AND the TITLE to her car on stage. This all went along with Team Wonderbike, a social movement started by the new belgium crew to encourage people to take an oath to use their bikes instead of their cars. I joined and pledged 150 miles a month(for serious, i’m sure there will be updating on that in weeks and months to come). I encourage everyone to check the website and consider making a pledge. There’s no losers here, you will use less gas, have fun, and stay in shape.
If the going gets rough, i’m just going to remember the pledge:
I Pledge Allegiance To My Bike,
As A Patriotic Cure For America.
And To The Public, With Whom We Stand,
One Elation, Undeniable,
With Community And Transportation
For All
-Team Wonderbike
