by 
I get an incredible amount of e-mails about cool races, rides, and festivals that our readers put on. So many events in fact, that I am going to make a separate events page. Eventually. Until that happens, here are 3 events happening in over the next few weeks that really caught my attention. Here at DC we like to support the people that support us. So, if you are near any these parties, try to check them out.
The first event is the Tour de Fat right here in my hometown of Tempe, AZ. Our friend Guz has been working hard organizing the volunteers and this year looks to be bigger than ever.
Drink beer for a good cause!
The New Belgium Tour de Fat is once again coming to Tempe, AZ on Saturday Oct. 15th. This is the second largest Tour de Fat after their home show in Ft. Collins, CO and we’re expecting around 15,000 bike enthusiasts from all over Arizona. The event is staffed by 350 local volunteers and all proceeds stay with local cycling advocacy organizations like Tempe Bicycle Action Group, Bike Saviours, and the Mountain Bike Association of Arizona. There will be a costumed bike parade around Tempe at 10am, then the beer will flow from 11am-4pm. There will be music, games, and fun all day, and there will even be an area for kids and families in the morning. Don’t miss one of the biggest bike parties here or anywhere else.
This event makes me proud to be a cyclist. It raises a TON of money for our community and it puts a lot people on bikes for at least one day. I will be there serving up pizza to the hungry masses, stop by and say hello (and maybe bring me a beer?). I even got myself a “get out of jail free” card from the promoters after my little mishap last year. Check out the facebook event page for more details.
The next one is from our friends up in Vermont at bike29. This sounds like a great ride in memory of a great person.
Coming up on October 23rd is the second running of the CircumBurke Challenge. It is an endurance style fun ride, that as the name suggests, circles Burke Mountain. This is not an ordinary ride though, it harkens back to the olden days of mountain biking (at least in these parts), where you would go off into the wilderness in search of trails. There is an element of being in the “wild” that just isn’t there on well manicured singletrack. Old School if you will
This ride is held in memory of local outdoor activist, father and avid rider Dave Blumenthal. Dave lost his life in a collision with a vehicle out on the Tour Divide of 2010. He was the type of guy to head out on forest doubletrack and ride it until it went someplace. This ride encapsulates the same sort of spirit, and would be a great way to spend one of the last few days of the riding season.
If I still lived back east, I would be there.
Last but definitely not least. I got an e-mail from Chris at The Bicycle Company about a race he is putting on down in west Texas called 12 Hours of OLD EL PASO
The 12 Hours of Old El Paso will be held on Saturday October 22, 2011 beginning at 10:00 am and running until 10:00 PM, at the Bowen Ranch Round House. Complete as many 8 mile laps as you can within 12 hours. The race course is made up of 8 miles of single track trail (about 75%) and double track (about 25%). We have five kegs of beer lined up from Real Ale Brewing and we need some help drinking it…
I don’t know if 5 kegs will be enough for 12 hours. But I think I am going to drive down and try to find out.
Feel free to leave your events in the comments or drop us a line through the contact page. We also tend to spread the word about a lot of events through our facebook page. If you haven’t given us a “Like” yet, get over there and get on board!
by 
Oh sweet irony, I only ride a bike and have no driver’s license, (yeah, DUI, judge all you want as I can’t stop you), so I can’t go to these events. Maybe someday.
That Vermont gig sounds sweet. But the fat fuck I am would get lost in the woods and eaten by a bear.
@Keith. No judging here. Did 2 years without a car for DUI. That’s how I got in to biking 6 years ago. Now I’m 4 or 2 wheels depending on the circumstances or how fucking cold it is. I hate NJ winters.
I just started the process of getting my DL back, could have done it last year but at the time I figured “why”? I have lived in Flagstaff for 18 months and done fine with no car at all, but then I started to notice all the Motorhead concerts I was missing, bike events I couldn’t attend (I wouldn’t ever race, but I’d volunteer the shit out of a bike race), and friends and family un-visited who live far away and I thought to myself, oh why the hell not, this world is going to collapse into a heap of shit by mid-2016 anyway, fuck planning.
…haven’t heard but the occasional; ‘peep’ out a gnomer & littlejar over the last few months…
…wonder if they’ve been hangin’ out down nogales way with any ‘south of the border’ friends…
… http://news.yahoo.com/drug-smugglers-tunnel-arizona-parking-spaces-193126687.html …
…just wonderin’…
@bgw
You bastard !!
Now I have this image in my head.
lj and Gnome hanging out south of the border. Sitting in some sleazy dive bar.
lj is ranting and raving about matters of the utmost triviality.
At which point Gnome screams in his face: “Harden the fuck up !!!”
They then chest thump, clink glasses and guzzle their beers.
The ultimate opposites attract. A true bromance for the ages.
…f-f-f-uck, dude, just hit the link i provided…if gnomer & littlejar were hangin’ out with these guys, they were busy motherfuckers & in reality i was simply using their names to share an arizona/mexican border story because they both have ‘border’ history on these pages…
…but never discount littlejar’s intelligence because the man possesses plenty of that…what raised so much ire here was the fact that he allowed his communication skills to become questionable…
…while disseminating worthwhile information, he seemed to lose track of the fact that here on drunkcyclist, there’s no need to talk down to an intelligent audience simply because we may share differing viewpoints…
…to disregard & not allow for the intelligence of your target audience is highly insulting to those people…
…littlejar hated me (& may still do) because when he was blogging regularly, i rode him hard & i talked down to him hoping he’d “get” that that was what he was doing to us…
…littlejar may rant & rave but littlejar is not a trivial man unless he allows the demon alcohol to take possession…underneath the sometimes hyperbole, he has plenty of good energy to work with…
bgw, I’d put it out there that overall “intelligence” in a social or professional context can be looked at as analogous to a balance sheet with assets and liabilities.
so that, if someone possessing of some competencies / assets in thought is so compromised in the communication / realization of those thoughts or, has some bias or other ‘issue’ that trumps the objective application of their intelligence then the net effect is that they’re for intents and purposes a dumbass.
Simply having some capability to be intelligent doesn’t mean shit if all your liabilities prevent you (and others) from reaping any results.
I fucked a Mexican whore for twenty bucks once. She asked “Do you have more spitting?” the whole time. That poor dehydrated girl. And we were no where near the border. But my palmares includes a few stints along the old barbed wire of that monument as well. I can not hold disdain for the other side. Mexico means freedom to me. Not like lazyboys and chips. More like survival and self reliance…something Amerika doesn’t seem to be remembering very well. LJ and I might share that in common, but we’ve never met. We’ve always been to goddamned depressed to make it happen.
Geez guys. It was a joke.
…kark…i would agree with you 100 X 100% & suggest that your comment & analogy were well phrased…
…despite you, fff, thinking you were making a ‘joke’, i felt you were trivializing someone who honestly felt he had worthwhile ideas to disseminate…i’d suggest you now know better the waters in which you swim…
…my having been relentless in provoking littlejar in the past was always with the hope that he might realize that his dumbass-edness was constantly, to paraphrase kark, ‘trumping the objective application of his intelligence’…
…& were he to do the same now, in the same manner, i’d once again be “…guilty as charged…” but that’s not to say he wouldn’t be working with a grain of truth…
…hope there’s no hard feelings all around…
Shouldn’t be any hard feelings BGW.
Turtle Pirates can take it & LJ was instrumental, (albeit unwittingly), in their birth.
AARR, me hearties.
France vs Wales tonight.
Aller le Bleue
(Because it sounds cool).
“littlejar may rant & rave but littlejar is not a trivial man unless he allows the demon alcohol to take possession”
That would be the key point.
lj has done some very nice posts. Very well written and thoughtful.
But the majority of his posts are nothing but mindless rants.
The booze and dope make him paranoid. At that point it doesn’t matter how smart he might be.
most these comments are mindless rants too, yea?
Yes. But they are sober mindless rants. There’s a difference. I think.
Maybe not.
I’ll shut up now.
…are you, sir, suggesting that a man so eloquent as to utilize a word with the descriptive grace of ‘dumbass-edness’ could ever be capable of ranting mindlessly ???…
…sheesh !!!…& desist…
…mister hurben, sir…i put to you that the welsh team were robbed by the questionable ejection of sam warburton, for, from whence i could ascertain was but a yellow card infraction at most, thus leaving the side to play a man down whilst the french porcs (ohhh, sorry) were in the safe pocket of an irish/french referee…
…last match – wales beats ireland…hmmm…
…this match – wales plays france…hmmm…
…how the organizers could even remotely consider allowing anyone but a neutral referee to preside over a semi-final is absolutely ludicrous…to use an irish/french ref insults the integrity of the not only the game but the whole world cup…
…but, as those french porcs (sorry) would say “c’est la vie”…
…i hope the all blacks carry the day against the aussies & then simply demolish those french porcs (my ire has been stirred & i’m not really sorry at all…)…
…i wanna see a haka performed over the decimated bodies of les bleu…
Zoot Allures, (as the late, great Frank Zappa would say).
M. BGW, vous pouvez la théorie du complot avec le meilleur de nous.
We should make you an honorary Kiwi for that, that’s right up there with Suzy & the poisoned hamburgers.
But I agree, it was a travesty & sadly this RWC has seen some pretty bad refereeing, maybe now the IRB will join the real world & bring in the concept of a third referee.
Tonight, we see the All Blacks deal to the Wallabies, next week they will put Les Blues to the sword & SpecialNeedz will be sitting on his Lazeeboy & popping the cap off beers from http://www.theBeerstore.co.nz
My magic can of cheap Australian piss has predicted it.
C’est ne pas “Zoot Allures”. C’est “zut alors”. Vous etes tres bete.
Monsieur Joe l’électricien
“Zoot Allures” est un album 1976 de roche de Frank Zappa.
Le titre est un jeu de mots sur l’expression française “Zut alors!” qui, si elle n’a pas de traduction directe, transmet surprenant doux et peut être approchée par “Merde!”.
Pot moque du chaudron
@BGW,
Now that there’s been time to cool, an apology is probably due to referee Warburton
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10759514
…warburton is the ejected welsh captain…
…alain rolland, the irish born referee with the french heritage…
…but either way, you expect me to be fair & objective when a tiny country like wales, where practically everyone is related & thus me by default, loses their shot to a decision by some froggy mick ???…
French ?? You poofters are talking in French ??
Don’t you know the French are persona non grata here on DC.
Not sure why. I’ve met a few French-people over the years and they seemed ok to me.
But the powers that be have deemed the French off-limits. And that’s good enough for me.
I’m a good ‘Merican. I do what I’m told. No matter how insane it is.
What do ya call someone who speaks 3 languages ? Tri-lingual.
What do ya call someone who speaks 2 languages ? Bi-lingual.
What do ya call someone who speaks 1 language ? ‘Merican.
Sorry BGW, typing faster than I was thinking, glad that you’re paying attention..
“It was a game of 2 halves & on the night Rugby was the winner”
Given that France was the team that destroyed the All Blacks hopes the last RWC, most people are expecting to see a massacre.
Still your boys get their shot against the Aussies this week for Bronze, (yes, I know it’s for second loser).
@TripleF,
Except for their unfortunate habit of exploding nuclear devices on Pacific atolls & blowing up Rainbow Warriors in Auckland harbour, I like the French.
Given that this is DC, I’m sure that I’ve seen the following names around here.
Bernard Hinault & Laurent Fignon
…hurben…i really have nothing against the french & can appreciate the cycling heroes of gaul…but for the next two weeks, they’re all pigs…
…go ALL-BLACKS !!!…
I’m French, and as far as rugby goes, may the best team win, as long as England loses.
You lowly swine…..Hurben how could you…..I have just spent ten days in the Namib and I come back to find you allowed a Kiwi ref to axe the Bokke. Can’t I turn my back for a moment? ;)
…africansingle…i fear the refs have influenced several important matches…
…& just last friday nite, i was actually with a chap from n.z. & a good s.a. friend who was touting the awesomeness of the springbokkes only to have his enthusiasm put on hold for another 4 years…
…at this point – go ALL-BLACKS…crush the french…
Sorry AfricanSingle,
I offered him a Chicken Burger, but he said, “we’re not falling for that one again”.
For the uninitiated, a conspiracy theory emerged after the Springboks historic victory over the ABs in the 1995 RWC finals, (as portrayed in Clint Eastwoods’ movie, Invictus)
It was alleged that a mysterious waitress known as “Suzie” had deliberately poisoned the All Blacks in the week before the final. During the match New Zealand players could be seen throwing up on the sidelines.
My feelings were Dat hulle was net te kak sleg
@bgw & Hurben
Yes, it will be an absolute travesty if the French get anything less than thrashing.
Now back on yer bikes, boys.
…i think we’re all in accord with both those thoughts, manno…
…& i got in a few hours yesterday…
Got my hours in today & at least two tomorrow before work.
I’ll be trialing ‘Secret Drink Mix’ which I ordered from the states after Snakes recommendation.
So far I’m impressed, besides my order they tossed in two single servings.
…hurben…e-mail me an address, mate…i’ve been busy but i wanna send you your autographed ‘john doe – jill sobule’ cd…
…this is becoming quite the musical neighborhood…david getz, janis joplin’s drummer & a founder of big brother & the holding company, an awesome & diverse player in his own right, in one house…directly across the street on one side is the very cool john doe of X & many assorted creative projects, musical & otherwise (ie: the band is going to south america next month with pearl jam & i just learned yesterday that micheal bluestein who is the keyboard player with the band foreigner is moving into the house across the road on the left…’foreigner’ pays the bills but i was told he’s an exceptional jazz pianist…
…i’m thinking i’m gonna have to get off my ass, do a little persuasive talking & organize these cats into putting on a little live music for next years block party…
Thanks BGW,
Awesome!
One of my first LPs, (& still in my collection), was ‘Cheap Thrills’, the first of many times when my parents shouted ‘You call that music?’
That would be a block party that I’d pay money to be there.
You could probably convince Jacquie to do a banjo turn, actually you’d probably have to get security involved in persuading her not to.
@BGW & AfricanSingle
All Blacks World Champions after defeating France 8-7!
A thrashing it wasn’t, the French played their best rugby of the tournament & I think that the ABs were probably lucky to take it.
Still, all credit to the ABs.
SpecialNeedz, send a delivery address to hbaynes@xtra.co.nz & I’ll get your beers to you, good on you, well done.
Go the mighty All Blacks, world champions for the next 4 years.
That was a nailbiter of a game!
From that game alone, the All Blacks didn’t really deserve it… But considering their play throughout the tournament vs. France’s, and the fact they managed to defend a one point margin for almost half the game under the pressure of a 24 year drought of world cup wins, they are worthy champions. Mmmmm, looking forward to some tasty beers!
Thanks Hurben, lets hope its them against the Boks in the next final!
Congratulations to the All Blacks, hard-earned win and a long drought broken.
Now can we end the rugby commentary and get back to bikes ? ;)
…quick weigh in on the match…a local bar, ‘wellington’s’, literally on the water in sausalito & owned by a brit, (naturally) stayed open well past closing time ’til the all-blacks secured their win & whilst i don’t understand all the finer points of the game, i’d agree that the french threw a fearsome game new zealand’s way…
…i missed the first 40 minutes due to work but i walked in to welli’s at the half to les bleus – 0, nz – 5 & about 30 boisterous, highly animated frenchmen & maybe 4 kiwi supporters (the brits all stayed home – they didn’t care) but i have to say, the bunch made the experience awesome…
…the ruckus behavior had several boat dwellers come whining to the bar owner & even calling the police, so it got toned down a notch (& laughed at) but overall, it was great fun…
…what made it worthwhile was that at the end of the match, most of those anguished frenchmen, despite their cheers & gnashing of teeth as les bleus almost came back & their roars of “oh, non !!!” as extra time ticked down, the majority politely applauded at the finale, which i thought was truly sporting of ’em…
…anyway…hurben, specialneedz & africansingle…thanks guys, you & my local rugby mates drew me in…
…4 years from now, watch out for ‘wales’…CYMRU’s gonna be strong…