Friday night was an art gallery crawl in Fort Collins Old Town area. I met up with some somewhat new, incredibly welcoming friends to walk through an art gallery whilst partaking of an adult beverage or two. A lot of cities offer similar events, normally called First Fridays. I've been to the Kansas City version. Wherever it happens, I highly recommend going as it is perhaps some of the best people watching outside of an airport!
Then came Saturday. Saturday was EPIC (overused verbiage but true). You may or may not know that New Belgium Brewery is from Fort Collins (makers of Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat etc). Every year they host a series of bike rides through the downtown areas of Chicago, Austin, Denver, Portland and several other large US cities. Of course, they bring the ride to their homeland of FoCo for Labor Day weekend every year. The Tour de Fat, as it's called, is not so much anti-car as it is pro-bike.
The first time I went, 2 years ago, I was advised that "everyone wears costumes." Not wanting to stand out, I obviously did NOT wear a costume. Boy, was that a mistake. I felt more like an outcast in street clothes as literally everyone wears their most ridiculous costume. Some are themed, others are obviously well thought out and creative. All of us costumed crazies load onto the most fantastic bike we can find and have a bike parade of sorts through the downtown areas normally congested with cars...this year there were 15,000 people in FoCo. At some point during the event a member of the crowd donates their car and receives a new bike in exchange for using only it to get around for at least the next year. There's music and local food vendors, custom bikes to try out, dancing and of course...beer. This is the party of all parties with all proceeds benefiting local bike co-ops.
There were pre-parties and post-parties to attend and no one would think twice if you showed up to a local business or restaurant sporting a hot pink afro wig. The whole town is out, laughing, singing, dancing and BIKING! What a great day!
Sunday is another post...along with Monday, Tues and Wed morning of this week. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from Tour de Fat and if you ever find yourself in an area that hosts it, GO!!
No comments:
Post a Comment