Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
When I returned to Colorado from the East in August I got in touch with my friend Kelly about getting together for a "Kellython", one of the grueling hikes or bike rides I did frequently with him a few years earlier. Kelly's very fit and does cross-country ski marathons including Wisconsin’s Birkebeiner while I was feeling especially chubby from a low exercise summer. So I was disappointed when he suggested I head up to Fort Collins for the Tour de Fat. But first I had to ask, “Tour de What?”
What’s the “Tour de Fat”? Well, it’s kind of a cross between a summertime Halloween on bicycles and a celebration on mankind’s greatest invention – Beer! Fat Tire Ale, the bestselling beer in Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewery’s line of products is named after “fat tire” mountain biking and displays one on the bottle or can
. Craft beer is a big deal in Colorado with more breweries than almost anywhere else in the country, and New Belgium is a big player as the third biggest craft brewery and eight biggest overall in the country in terms of production. I’ve been saying for years that I’m going to go on the brewery tour sometime, but it remains “On My List”.
Anyway, New Belgium initiated and sponsors a costume bicycle ride named Tour de Fat and street festival in its hometown. The Tour has grown to as many as 20,000 participants in recent years along a set route through the city. Much of the college town of 120,000 that’s home to Colorado State University that doesn’t join in the ride shows up to watch the show.
Tour de Fat is expanding to a city near you! New Belgium now sponsors the races in more than a dozen cities throughout the country, including Denver, to promote their beers, one almost every summer weekend in a different town. Fort Collins Tour, the biggest of them all is always on a Saturday close to Labor Day.
Anyway, I drove to Fort Collins and met Kelly and a friend of his named Kurt at Kelly’s house in old town Fort Collins about two blocks from the parade route. The Tour was quite a spectacle I had not expected, a continuous stream of thousands of costumed riders on all forms of pedal-powered cycling contraptions, a parade that took hours to pass in one direction and back in the other. As you can see, I went a little overboard in my picture taking of the event.
The party continued after the morning ride in a celebration of food and beer and bikes downtown, accompanied by live music. Kelly, Curt, and I loaded up on some Fat Tires at his house between watching the parade and heading out to the festival, so there was much merriment. Some of my religious friends will be pleased to know that, as indicated by my photographic evidence, I finally found Jesus!
Tour de Fat - A Celebration of Bicycles & Beer
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
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