Tour de Fat - Chicago

When Don suggested we take a road trip to Chicago to go to the Tour de Fat (a festival sponsored by New Belgium Brewing Company) I had no idea what to expect. I'm willing to admit I jumped into this one a bit blind. I did ask if it was open to people of all ages (it was sponsored by a beer company). Assured that it was (based more on the 10AM -4 PM schedule, being in a public park, and absence of being told it was only open to those legal drinking age) I said sure, why not.

The festival is a celebration of all things bicycle related. An early highlight was seeing synchronized bicycle dancing by the Racketeers -- a local group. Prior to the trip, we saw a different group of women performing similar stunts in the documentary Veer (http://www.amazon.com/Veer-Matthew-Modine/dp/B0033G9NPG/ref=sr_1_7?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1311796583&sr=1-7). Think of Ethel Williams' group hopping out of the water and riding bicycles and you ahve a good idea of what we saw. It was quite entertaining.

One of the anticipated highlights was that the event was kicked off by a bicycle ride through the section of Chicago near Palmer Square. We hadn't expected to see people in costumes. This has renewed my interest in creating a costume for the Disneyland Half Marathon. My favorite was seeing The Flintstones. The dads even toted "Pebbles" and "Bamm Bamm" behind them. Very clever!




 I had not anticipated being able to ride novelty bicycles. This one was clearly Ashley's favorite since the wheels are made out of shoes. Unfortunately she was a little too short for it. In this area they conformed bicycles into all different shapes -- there were three bicycles put into a triangle shape that went around in circles, a unicycle with training wheels, and hinges put in place so the bicycle could not steer strait. Remember -- this is a beer festival so you have that added dimension to bike riding. Helmets were a requirement.

Ashely rode a bicycle "all around the world." I think she went about 7 times before getting "too tired." (a little bicycle humor for you)

Don sampled some beers he really liked. Unfortunately New Belgium is not in our part of the country, and the beer he liked most is only available in bars.

One note about the festival, it ran "off the grid" using panels that were pedalled around the park. Hence they call themselves a "Pedal Powered FUNdraiser of Sustainable Folly."

Next month New Belgium is breaking into the Washington, DC /Maryland market. Maybe next year's Tour de Fat will have a stop on the East Coast.

http://www.newbelgium.com/events/tour-de-fat.aspx