The other day we drove down to San Diego to participate in the Tour de Fat, which is a day-long bike festival put on by the New Belgium Brewing Company, based out of Ft. Collins, Colorado.  If you aren’t familiar with New Belgium, they’re a fully wind-powered brewery, a member of 1% For the Planet, and many (if not most) of their employees bike to work.  Every year, they tour the US on to preach the benefits of biking more and driving less.

The Main Stage, October 2010

But the tour isn’t your average bike festival.  People who go revel–no bask–in the joy of being strange and weird, if only for a day.   When you arrive, you see intricate costumes, tattoos that aren’t normally exposed, and some very creative bicycles (the Penny Farthing is almost mainstream for some of these people!).

Funny Bikes & Costumes, October 2010

We, however, were fairly mild: I was a duck, my wife was a zebra, and our son was the cutest frog at the entire festival.  Still we had a good time, especially knowing that all of our entry fee (optional) was going to bicycle and environmental charities.  Spending the day in San Diego’s Balboa Park can never really be a bad deal.

If you’re tired of the mainstream, and are looking for a great excuse to be strange, and benefit great environmental charities, cruise on over to the Tour de Fat.