Would You Trade Your Car for A Bike?

2012-11-27

That's the question that's asked on the web page for the Tour De Fat, an event sponsored by the New Belgium Brewing Company of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Here's how the event is described on the website:

The Tour de Fat is a thrilling rite of passage that includes: a costumed bicycle parade, eccentric entertainment, local food, unusual bike contests, and much more. This free event raises money for local nonprofit organizations through beer and merchandise purchases.

The Tour de Fat in Austin

Each year the Tour de Fat visits 15 American cities. Last Saturday it was in my city, Austin Texas. I went and took some photographs. (The pictures below are my own; the ones above are from the Tour De Fat Facebook page.)

This sign confused me.The words in Tour de Fat have been switched around into Fat de Tour. At first I thought it was a mistake, but then I realized that it's a pun (a joke with words.) Can you figure out what the pun is?

The name Tour de Fat is a parody of a famous bicycling event. Do you know what it is?

What do you think the word portaoke means? From what other words does it come? What language would you say that it is? What do you think the people inside the booth are doing?

(left picture) This man brought his pet.

(right picture) What's an "ice cream social"? In this phrase, what part of speech is the word social? Why is the picture on the truck ironic?

The Main Event

Here's the main event of the day. You can't see it very well, but the man on stage wearing shorts is trading his car for a bicycle.

Here's a description from the Tour De Fat website. (I've simplified some of the English.)

WHAT IS THE CAR/BIKE TRADE? The pinnacle of Tour de Fat is the car-for-bike swap. At each of the 15 Tour de Fat stops, one person will become the center of the show. He or she gets up on stage, hands over their car keys, and pledges to live one year car-free. Each car-for-bike swapper will receive a voucher that must be spent at a local bike shop. The shop will custom-design a car-replacement commuter bike for the winner. The budget is $2,250. Vehicles for Charity will auction the cars. The proceeds will benefit local cycling organizations.

WHO CAN DO IT? You! (Maybe). You must agree to trade your polluting car for a new bike and commit to human-powered transport on stage at Tour de Fat.

HOW DO I ENTER IMMEDIATELY? Submit a video of two minutes or less with your story and desire to be car-free. WHEN DO I KNOW IF I'M THE CHOSEN ONE? We will contact the lucky one in each city prior to the Tour de Fat show.

Each person who receives a bike is asked to keep a blog about their year living without a car. You can see all the blog posts from all the winners here.

QUESTIONS: How much is $2,250 in yen? Have you ever spent that much on a bicycle?)Why would a person want to trade his or her automobile for a bicycle? Would you do it? Why would a company want to sponsor an event like this?

(and finally . . .)

My Favorite Part Out of all the things I saw, I liked this game the best. Here's how it works:

Each player removes a block from the stack and places it on the top.

Then the next player does the same. The stack keeps getting higher and higher.

and higher.

What do you think will eventually happen?

They're ready for it to happen.

It happens!

THE END.

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