If you’ve never attended Tour de Fat, the free event returning to Golden Gate Park’s Lindley Meadow from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on September 13, you’ll need to know the skinny before you go.
Bedecked in a fun carnival theme, Tour de Fat is an annual festival hosted by New Belgium Brewing Company that promotes cycling as a family friendly, fun, and sustainable choice of transportation. The company breaks it down like this: “Beer, Bikes and Bemusement.”
The day will unfold through musical performances, rides, vaudeville acts, and even some feats of 21st-century yo-yo wizardry. And it’s all for two great causes that advocate for our vibrant bicycle community; all proceeds will be donated to the San Francisco bicycle Coalition and the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. Last year’s event raised more than $16,000 to benefit San Francisco cyclists.
If you love riding your bike or don’t yet own one, this is an opportune time to get inspired by the community. Arrive early in order to be in or watch and follow the colorful Costume Bike Parade; registration begins at 10 a.m., and the parade starts at 11 a.m. The best costumes from Tour de Fat will follow, fierce fashion-show-style. There will even be a Car for Bike Trade at 2:30 p.m., whereby one participant who pledges to trade four wheels for two for at least a year will be given a stipend to get a sweet commuter bike. Apply here for the chance to be that lucky person who gets to change his or her life. It’s a super-brave act, but we know you can do it.
As for that promised bemusement, rockers the Reals Band, vaudevillians Handsome Little Devils, and champion string troupe Yo-Yo People will heat up the stage in the early afternoon before the Slow Ride Race and the Thousand Person Dance Party get down. Participate in the latter, and you’ll be given the chance to win a New Belgium cruiser bike.
But one of the sure-shot off-wheel highlights of Tour de Fat that’s not to be missed will be the live performance by musician/comedian Reggie Watts at 4 p.m. Nothing less than a revered hero in the Bay Area, where he regularly fills venues for weeks at a time, Watts is perhaps best known as the brilliant musical wit who provides the essential comic relief on the IFC television series Comedy Bang! Bang! He’s toured with the likes of Conan O’Brien, appeared on America’s Next Top Model, and is seriously a national treasure whom more people need to know about.
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New Belgium Brewing Company has been rolling for 23 years strong. Not only is this Colorado brewery one of the biggest craft breweries in the country, but also it’s 100% employee owned, with many of those employees based in the Bay Area. If you’re somehow unfamiliar with the name, you may know its signature offering, an amber ale called Fat Tire. The company also brews up sour beers, such as La Folie, Transatlantique Kriek, and Le Terroir; seasonal flavors such as Pumpkick, an ale that is brewed with pumpkins; the unfiltered Snapshot Wheat; and the hop-forward Ranger IPA. Everyone of legal drinking age will be able to sample Fat Tire, Snapshot Wheat, and other varieties while grazing on tasty snacks.
Incidentally, should you ever find yourself in or near Fort Collins, Colorado, you can take a look around the brewery by going on one of New Belgium’s free daily tours, which include generous tastings of the latest beers.