Fat cities

Most people who attend New Belgium Brewery?s Tour de Fat spend their summer weekends huffing and puffing up mountain roads for the sheer love of bicycling.

It?s a refreshing change for most of them to take part in the Fort Collins brewery?s cycling festival, which includes a bicycle parade, games and, of course, beer.
Five years ago, the brewery ? which named its first beer Fat Tire in honor of the co-founder?s own bicycle adventure in Europe ? started Tour de Fat to contrast to the races and strenuous recreational rides most die-hards expect out of summer cycling events.
?It?s the anti-race,? said Chris Winn, organizer of the Tour de Fat who calls himself the ?event evangelist.? ?It?s definitely not your everyday biking event.?
This summer, the Tour de Fat will take place in 10 Western U.S. cities. Colorado events include July 9 in Frisco, Sept. 10 in Durango and Sept. 24 outside the brewery in Fort Collins. Money raised at each event will benefit nonprofit cycling groups that work in each city to build bicycling trails or bike lanes. Last year, the Tour de Fat raised about $85,000 in eight cities.
The festival was one of New Belgium Brewery?s first marketing tools and philanthropic outreaches. Jeff Lebesch, an avid cyclist and former electrical engineer, and his wife, Kim Jordan, a former social worker, started New Belgium Brewery in their basement in 1991. In 14 years years, the company has grown to 200 employees and donates $1 for every barrel of beer it brews. Last year, that amounted to $300,000 donated to charities.
Cycling is part of the company?s fabric. After working at the brewery for a year, employees receive a free cruiser bike ? a heavy bike with large fenders and padded seat, a throwback to the old Schwinns most people associate with their childhoods. New Belgium employees use the bikes for cruising, too ? bicycle racks outside the brewery are packed most days.
The idea for Tour de Fat was born before New Belgium really had an advertising budget. Motorcycle enthusiasts have rallies, so why not bicyclists? The Tour de Fat has become such a big part of New Belgium Brewery, Winn?s entire job is to organize the events and take them on the road each summer.
The Tour de Fat certainly gets the word out about Fat Tire beer, but Winn said he also feels good knowing his company is contributing to cycling in cities across the Western United States, including Flagstaff, Ariz.; Boise, Idaho, and Missoula, Mont.
?It?s great being able to ride the trails that Tour de Fat helped build,? he said.
There are plenty of other cycling events in Colorado this summer raising money for nonprofit groups. The rides, including the MS 150 benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Tour de Cure for the American Diabetes Association and the Ride for 65 Roses to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, continue to grow in popularity.
There aren?t many new bicycling events in Colorado, but the ones that have been around a while increase in the number of participants each year, said Barry Schiebel, manager at Lee?s Cyclery at Harmony Road and Lemay Avenue in Fort Collins.
The charity bike rides cater to recreational cyclists, from those who want to ride only a few blocks to the more dedicated who have trained to ride 100 miles or more. The events are perfect for cyclists who want to challenge themselves but not enter a race.
?Most recreational riders don?t want to attempt a 60-, 70- or 100-mile ride by themselves,? Schiebel said. ?They want to go out with their friends, have a good time and not have to take anything with them. The routes on these rides are all good with rest stops that provide all the food and water you need.?
After a couple of weekends of pedaling through the foothills and mountains, the Tour de Fat may be a good place to stop and rest. People are encouraged to come in costume and decorate their bikes for the bicycle parade. Enthusiasts from all facets of cycling ? from road racing to mountain biking to recreational riding ? are welcome, Winn said.
?It?s not about intensity,? he said. ?It?s about getting people to come out, smell the roses and celebrate the fact that the bike is the best invention ever made.?

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