Tour de Fat
New Belgium (the brewery) sponsored a crazy bike festival & alternative transportation fund raiser in Portland today. They've been doing them all over the country, but this was the first I'd heard of it here. With Michelle out of town, rode on over. What a sight to behold.
There was a stage on which bands of varying talent played. There were bikes welded together from miscellaneous bikes and other things that might have been lying around the scrap yard. (See Here for samples) And these bikes were available to ride.
While there I spent several hours riding around the park on tall bikes (made by stretching a bike vertically, or simply welding one on top of another), lawn mower bikes, razor scooter bikes, hinged-bikes (my favorite - the back end swung freely from the front, so you could ride beside your front tire if you felt like it. ), Choppers, Cruisers, trikes, and other contraptions that defy description.
It was a blast to ride these things around. Once I finished and got back on my bike, I was quite disoriented. I wish Andrew could have been there, it reminded me of the crap we used to do in middle/high school.
Oh, and the beer was good. Then I had to shower and make a quick trip north to see Alan's new place. Wonderful place, and cool people. First time meeting most of these people in a social setting rather than work, but it was very nice.
Posted by Andy at August 16, 2003 08:20 PMComments
One Word: "Hop Madness"
Posted by: Andy at August 18, 2003 10:54 AM
More than one word - "no one to go with," and I blame you...
Posted by: Scott at August 18, 2003 12:58 PM
What up Freed, I miss those times too man, wish I could have been there with you.
Posted by: Andrew Fletcher at August 19, 2003 02:53 PM
When I was a kid, I once made a bike out of bamboo and snot. But those were different thymes. And that was Oak Harbor.
Okay, fine, I didn't really do that. But we did have a set of those things... what were they called... guess it's not necessary to type what I'm thinking and waste time... Okay, I don't remember what they were called, but they looked like a Construx (sp?) building set on a human scale. They were white PVC pipes with connector pieces with which you could build kid-size forts or rocketships or, in our case, a Death Kart (the set came with plastic crappy wheels). Looking back on it, I can't believe how stupid we were to take the Death Kart down some of the hills we did (take through dense woods, for instance). I think that you spend at least the first 13 years of your life trying desperately to kill yourself. Then you realize at some age just how close you got and get all afraid of dying... Then you start drinking beer...
Posted by: GeddyT at August 19, 2003 07:11 PM
Looks like a lot of fun. Why do I always have to be out of town when this stuff goes on?
Posted by: Scott at August 18, 2003 08:37 AM