Chicago added, two dropped from 2007
The wild and wooly New Belgium Brewing Co. bike festival and freak show known as Tour de Fat is back on the calendar in 11 cities this summer.
Chicago was added to the list, but Flagstaff and Missoula were dropped.
The makers of Fat Tire beer will be visiting Chicago, San Francisco, Truckee, Seattle, Portland, Boise, Fort Collins, Denver, Durango, Tempe and Austin (dates below).
Western US
This is the eighth year that the cycling circus is touring the western US. Festival goers often dress in costume and decorate their most fun bikes in an opening parade. There's musical and acrobatic entertainment. There's also plenty of beer.
While partying might be one theme of the bike fest, at its heart it celebrates the bicycle, informs how to reduce our waste stream, encourages people to ride bikes to work and for errands, and raises money for local charities.
That's why some folks in Missoula and Flagstaff were particularly miffed earlier this year when they learned Tour de Fat wasn't coming to their communities.
Lost funding
For instance, the Flagstaff Biking Organization reports that about half of its income came from the Tour de Fat.
“Without their investment in FBO, our organization would not be where it is today.”
In a letter to the organization, New Belgium explained it feared a calamity as participants “pushed revelry to new heights.” Also, the event lost its downtown location and couldn't secure permits from the city of Flagstaff.
Cancelling the show in Missoula means that the Mountain Bike Missoula club and Free Cycles Missoula will have to look elsewhere for the $7,600 raised by last year's event.
Car trade
Each stop on Tour de Fat features a car trade, in which one person receives a new bicycle and trailer in return for trading in their car, which is donated to charity.
To win, contestants must create a two-minute video that tells about their desire to be car-free; upload it to YouTube; send the URL to New Belgium. See details here.
More details
The Follow Your Folly website has all the details about this year's tour. Be sure to check out TDF 101, which reminds people to come as the alter ego, “because when everybody's weird, no one is,” and to decorate their bikes.
Also, no dogs this year.
The dates for the Tour de Fat (check Follow Your Folly later for location information):
Chicago — June 21
San Francisco — July 19
Truckee — July 26
Seattle — Aug. 2
Portland — Aug. 16
Boise — Aug. 23
New Belgium (Fort Collins) — Sept. 6
Denver — Sept. 13
Durango — Sept. 20
Tempe — Oct. 11
Austin — Oct. 18
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