~ Tour de Fat 2008 ~
As summer comes to a close and the window into fall begins to open, there is one final celebration which represents the Holy Trinity of Fun (bikes, beer, ballyhoo), the annual Tour de Fat.
This year's fun began at 9:45 when the group met at Ann Morrison Park. In previous years, "the group" has gone bananas with costuming - - this year, however, we failed to costume. Although, Josh and I donned some big straw hats which were loads of crazy fun. Hats! At 10:00 the bike parade commenced, with an estimated 2,000 pedalers, and the group jockeyed for position. Throughout the parade, the group failed to stay together. There were just so many people on so many bikes, I have concluded, that it was near to impossible for the group to remain intact. Not to worry, however, this is precisely why God invented cell phones.
The parade is one's chance to see all of the many many wonderful costumes - - more wonderful even, than big straw hats! Unfortunately, I failed you, my dear readers, as I was unable to photograph the truly awe-inspiring costumes. There was a fantastic dragon, Mr. and Mrs. Potatoheads, garden gnomes, Jesus, etc., etc. I will go ahead and mention the guy with whom I attended public school from elementary thru high school who constructed a two-high bike and rode it through the parade with impressive balance and agility. The parade is about an hour in length and concludes with a critical mass through downtown which is very exciting with all of the bike bells ringing and the bystanders cheering (for bikes & ballyhoo!) and the total absence of automobiles. It is, in fact, a promotion of the bicycle-pedaling lifestyle.
After the parade, the group went for lunch. And after lunch, we returned to the park, where we acquired wristbands and tokens to exchange for beer. I'd like to take this moment to articulate my excitement for the Greenness of this particular festival, as the organizers seek for it to have a relatively low carbon impact on the environment. Which is awesome. The beer cups are corn and 100% compostable, and there were recycling and composting stations set up throughout the venue. Anyway.
Before the first beer was drunk, several of us decided to stand in line to partake in the wonky bike riding which is an incredible amount of fun, especially if you've consumed a few brewskies. Though, some of the bikes I attempted the impossible and was defeated, even after multiple try-and-try-agains. Everyone took turns riding the wonky bikes, some of us went at it several times.
As it was hot that day - - and after several hours of drinking lots of beer and overexerting ourselves with sillyness in the direct rays of the sun, the group was rather consumed by the heat. We trotted to the nearby river and employed the cold water to our advantage. After that, the group parted ways for much-needed naps. There must be something about being really really silly, smiling and laughing until you hurt, and being both hyper-active and somewhat intoxicated in the sun and around bikes for an extended amount of time that is exhausting. Several individuals had attempted to make some sort of plan with me that evening, but I declined in advance, saying "Oh, that's the day of the Tour de Fat." And when they respond, confused, "But it gets over at 4:00" I have to explain that a person is quite incapable of doing anything of consequence after engaging in the Holy Trinity of Fun. Though, that evening, the group reconvened for a viewing of Ironman at the dollar theater.
More photos are available on my flickr photoset. Also, I would like to direct external parties to David's photos which are substantially better than mine.
~ the mean tambourine ~
I absorbed a bit too much sun this weekend during the annual beer and bicycle festival. The intoxicating effects of the sun most likely were responsible for inducing me to volunteer to participate in a bicycle race that involved costumery and public displays of sillyness. As my team member was adorning me in a mullet wig and applying mascara to my face in the form of masculine facial hair, I almost fell off of the podium and blamed my imbalance on the multitude of beers I had consumed, which resulted in laughs from the contest coordinators. I also acquired numerous bumps and bruises on my person as a result of my intoxicated efforts to master all of the kooky custom bicycles available. Luckily, I do not have testicles.
In other news, over the weekend I netflixed the film "The Fountainhead" by mistake when I actually meant to netflix "The Fountain." What is up with me and my mixing up of titles.? sheesh! So, I snuggled up with some knitting last night, anticipating some sexy shirtless scenes of Hugh Jackman, and found myself viewing an Ayn Rand adaptation. God, Ayn Rand...blech. Anyway, I'm enjoying the film much more than I was expecting. I only made it through about halfway due to its length conflicting with my bedtime. And even though the sweaty bulging muscles of Gary Cooper in the quary aren't quite as suggestive as a ripped hairy chest, I'm looking forward to finishing the movie this evening.
Speaking of knitting, you may or may not recall my knitting a certain Nantucket Jacket, and how much joy I found in that project. THE ONE THING has been that I haven't really cared for the way that it fit on my person. I recently finished knitting my latest project and found myself at a loss about my next project. I gave some reflection to the Nantucket Jacket, remembered both how much I enjoyed working on it and how much I dislike the fit, and I decided to unravel it and knit it again. I spent a good chunck of time redesigning the pattern, deciding to work it in the round, making it a pullover instead of a cardigan, making it much more fitted instead of loose and baggy, with long sleeves instead of three-quarter length, and with a completely different neckline.
And finally...I get to go back to school tomorrow. I'm not exactly thrilled by the impending constraints on my time, but I'm looking forward to the intellectual stimulation and the possibility of blending of my work with my school.
~ Le Tour de Fat and other bicycling experiences ~
Yesterday, to put it mildly, was kind of an epic day. I was experiencing a hangover at 9p.m., had had my fill of silly costumes, wanted nothing more than to ride a bike with an extra pivit or with automobile tires or with wheels winding about my head, and was feeling embarrassed about my performance in a dance competition, not to mention my various wounds (such as a stubbed toe and lacerated leg). But before yesterday, came other sets of epic experiences. I have spent the past six weeks studying for the GRE, so as to apply for graduate school. I refer you to my previous post on how I felt about that. After taking the exam on Tuesday morning, I slumped into a depression for the rest of the week which was in no way related to the GRE. I had been feeling very blue. So, both of the items, the GRE and the saddness, contributed to my lack of posting for the past month.
On Friday, Josh and I rode Hard Guy. I had intended to make Hard Guy it's own post, but it leads so well into this post, serving as the nexus between my depression and the fact that today my facial muscles are seriously sore because I smiled too much yesterday. So, the air quality in Boise has been unhealthy at a pretty consistent rate lately, which has made me felt disinclined to do things (such as mountain biking) which incline me to breath heavily while outside. That, and also the aerial spraying of pesticides which "they" say isn't harmful to humans (my allergies have been going crazy since they began spraying). A wind storm came through on Friday and seemed to clear the air a bit. Josh and I seized the opportunity and rode Hard Guy. Neither of us had ridden for a while and we both observed a lack of feeling at the top of our game, yet the ride was fantastic. Additionally, I'm still timing myself on this ride, and on Friday I rode it faster than at any other time before, exactly five minutes faster, which made me feel incredible. Also, because there is so much pollution in the air, the sunsets have been stunning recently. Josh and I took the opportunity to take photos of us riding, in a vain attempt to photograph us "catching air".
This brings me to my main thesis: I feel that bicycling, in all its forms, is good for the spirit.
Yesterday, Josh and I attended Le Tour de Fat. It started with a cruiser parade in the morning. Josh and I donned our silly halloween costumes of a duck and dragon (which are good stock costumes to have on hand, you know, on the off chance that we need a costume for something but have no money to invest in costuming) and met about 500 other costumed cruiserers at the Rose Garden. We rode in parade style through the Greenbelt, down Warm Springs, and made a loop around downtown. It was a lot of fun. Many people went all out with their costuming and many of the bikes themselves were wonders to behold. Thus, I took many photos of the parade.
After the parade, Josh and I abandoned our costumes and got some lunch. We returned to the festivities around 2:00. We began by enjoying some beer and trying to ride some very wonky custom bikes. The bikes were so fun. There were two with wheels that wound all about the cycler, one which had an extra pivit on the frame so that the frame would swing around itself, one with big automobile tires, a two person bike in which the stearing was controlled by the peddling, a trike positioned backwards, a recumbant with the wheels that would wobble around, a bike with uneven axles and full suspension, one in which the frame was a huge spring and could pull apart and back, along with many others. I found that my ability to ride the wonky bikes increased proportionately to my intake of beers.
We met up with Sara Turbo and her friends Amy and Jeff, and had all kinds of fun talking, imbibing, riding bikes, hulla hooping, listening to the bands, throwing a frisbee to a dog, and the like. At some point, during an intermission in the music, there was a request for some volunteer contestants. Josh and I ran up to the stage, unaware about our role as contestants. Thoroughly inebriated, we learned that we would be participating in a dance contest. As the dude with the microphone gave us instructions, we discovered that we would not be dancing with eachother. I looked across and noticed that my dance contest parter was not the apple of my eye, but some other dude. I then proceeded to make a complete fool of myself along with sixteen other people, in front of several hundred.
At 7:00, we went to a locally-owed theater and saw Little Miss Sunshine over some turkey sandwiches and chips. By the end of the film, Josh and I both felt like we had hangovers, and it was 9:00 in the evening, presumably before most parties even get started. I went to bed at 9:30 on that Saturday night after such an epic day. A day which was filled with so much joy and fun that today my facial muscles are sore because of all the smiling. For more photos, a good 119 to be exact, please see my flickr page.
