|
Tour de Fat: Following your Folly |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Kurt Brighton
|
|
Friday, 21 September 2007 |
|
|
|
|
 You have to admit, Fort Collins is more or less a bike-friendly town year-round.
Also, as home to some of the nation’s best craft breweries, Fort Collins is known around the country as a destination for beer connoisseurs. And for the most part, it’s a lunatic-friendly town too—just visit Old Town Square any weekend evening and you’ll see what I mean.
So once a year there is a certain special day when Fort Collins is proud to subject itself to a unique combination of all three of those elements—a perfect storm of cyclists, crazies, and of course, cerveza.
Naturally, what we’re talking about here is the Tour de Fat. It’s that goofy day when you can see bike-riding freaks of all shapes and sizes, decked out in all sorts of gear, from giant alien heads, to fairy tights and wings, to bug-eyed welder’s goggles matched with costumes Les Claypool never dreamed of in his wildest acid-fueled dementia.
Not only do people dress themselves in silly costumes to celebrate the event, they also deck out their bikes in all sorts of wacky get-ups for their ride on the parade route that wends its way from New Belgium Brewing and back again. That’s when the real fun begins, as participants get to enjoy one of Fort Collins’ best beers—and best-known ones—along with good music, circus acts and a generally wacky carnival-like atmosphere.
This year bands include Lord Loves a Working Man, March Fourth Marching Band, and a Colorado favorite, Asylum Street Spankers. Based out of Austin, Texas, the Spankers have been around for more than a decade, playing a mostly-acoustic mélange of lunatic country, weird western swing, smart-ass rock, silly hip-hop and frantic jazz that always gets a crowd involved. The band recently released a children’s album, “Mommy Says No,” which contains paeans to the deepest of childhood’s concerns: things like boogers, super frogs and lunchboxes.
But don’t think that the Spankers are completely childish—just mostly. They have a great song called “Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV.,” sung (kind of) to the tune of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree,” that deserves a place of honor in the barren pantheon of recent anti-war songs. Check out the ingenious, darkly vaudevillian video on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmsOIjzQ1V8.
Admission to the Tour is free, and all proceeds from beer sales and T-shirt sales go towards funding Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, an all-volunteer non-profit dedicated to promoting responsible mountain biking, and Bike Fort Collins, which seeks to promote a bicycle-friendly culture and transportation system in Fort Collins.
Time to give that Halloween costume—both for yourself and your bike—a dusting off.
———
7TH ANNUAL TOUR DE FAT
Participants can begin gathering at 10 a.m., and bike registration for the parade starts at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 22
New Belgium Brewing Co., 500 Linden St., Fort Collins | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
