Yesterday, the 24th of September, I had the opportunity of working all day at the
Tour de Fat put on by New Belgium brewery of Colorado. I arrived a little late for my valet shift but it was relatively easy to get into the swing of things. The Parade was only just getting under way and the Rhymanese Twins were whooping up their act. I was given the "parker" job, where the valet attendant is charged with placing the bikes just right. For a time this was a relatively easy task. Tilt the bikes toward the door and at a ninety degree angle from the spine of the police
barricades provided by National Fence. The parade went out and some new volunteers got involved. When the parade came back though things picked up and I was placing a bike every 40 seconds.
I think that during the 3 hour period of my shift I parked about 200 bikes. The parades return brought in the bulk of that. I gave up parking after a while and handed the task over to someone new and ran bikes with the rest of the Valet until 1:30- the end of my shift.
I received a wooden nickle as a tip in while working at the valet and used it to get a beer. I walked around. There was the usual selection of food tents and a couple of stages. Then there were the groups who benefited from the show's proceeds: the
Bay Area Ridge Trail and the
Bicycle Coalition. they work together of course but they also work on very different issues. I thought that they actually worked well together. I went over to the outreach table and started my next shift.
Initially, I didn't know how to work with in the confines of a small tent at a festival since my previous experience as a Coalition Ambassador was as a street canvasser but after I pulled in a couple of memberships the other volunteers in the tent began giving me a wide berth. I know that I wasn't the best fundraiser that day but in general I paid my way there. By mid-shift I was ready for a break and decided to use the second of my spare nickles for a beer and a walk.
I stood and watched the stages for a bit and took in the crowd. I noticed that this years show has flyers that say, "Now for the whole family!". There are art bikes and jugglers, bands and other circus acts. The venue struck me as sort of whimsical and even a bit contrived, like I totally expected to see a tent with an announcer outside inviting people to see the "Bearded Man"!
Essentially, I have heard about Tour de Fat multiple times in the past few years and the reviews generally agreed with what I saw yesterday: HOKEY. However, after standing at the show for a few moments I realized that this was in fact the shows intent. It tends to evoke a feeling of a bygone era lost somewhere int he 1880's, where a brand new stripped leotard and a top hat were in fact a luxury and not some flamboyant attempt at humor. I have concluded that Tour de Fat really does live up its intentions and that I would gladly participate in the future.
I went over to the
Bay Area Ridge trail, where Bern, one of the directors, was managing Tour de Fat merchandise. I asked him about the organization's mission and some of their recent developments. Readers of the RPHL will remember that I took a trip on some of the ridge trail only a little while ago. He told me that the recent
article in the Examiner about the Ridge Trail was a great example of where the organization was heading. That article describes how the GGNRA is purchasing land adjacent to the town Montara as a way to protect threataned watershed easements. However, he also said that it wasn't likely that a trail would be available through or near the SFPUC lands any time soon but that his organization was working on a work-around.
Returning to the Outreach Booth it occurred to me that Tour de Fat seen from the outside seems to be a silly excuse for a beer and at best a good laugh. However, after signing up four more coalition memberships I began to realize that almost everyone in attendance was directly involved in one of the two participating organizations and were generally well aware of the issues being represented. I met so many of them that day my mind was swimming in fact. After leaving the show I had time to reflect on how the Tour differs from festivals like Outsidelands and Power to the People. While the number of attendees were far fewer, those at the Tour de Fat were really in the know.
