Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewing’s incredible festival of bikes, beer and bemusement, is mere days away. We caught up with member-volunteer Nathan to hear why he thinks you should come raise a glass and lend a hand at this can’t-miss event:
You keep coming back to volunteer at Tour de Fat year after year. What keeps you coming back?
Tour de Fat is a completely different animal when it comes to bike events. I’m used to geeking out with other people over bike gear, bike routes and awesome things we can do to make biking easy and accessible, but Tour de Fat is like a circus carnival with bikes at its hub. (See what I did there?!) There’s spoken word, carnival acts, people in costumes… bikes in costumes!
New Belgium Brewing is a pretty awesome company in their business ethics and in the quality of their product as well. That they tour this bizarro road show to all kinds of cities to benefit bike organizations all over the country is so impressive to me as an activist and consumer.
What made you start volunteering with the SF Bicycle Coalition?
I joined the SF Bicycle Coalition just before the ground-breaking elections in 2008 (having volunteered for Barack Obama and “No on Prop 8”). Shortly after joining, I began to notice first hand how important the SF Bicycle Coalition’s work is, and how easy it is to make a direct impact as a volunteer. So, with a desire to meet new people and get my hands dirty with new volunteer work, I did Bicycle Ambassador training for membership outreach and have been doing it ever since!
What do you do when you’re not volunteering with the SF Bicycle Coalition?
I am a musician and currently sing bass with a professional drag a cappella quartet called The Kinsey Sicks. We tour around the country (and world!) about 3-4 months throughout the year. When I am in San Francisco, I manage an office for a residential high rise in the city. Incidentally, we have some great bike features for staff and residents that I’ve picked up from my time volunteering with the SF Bicycle Coalition.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering at Tour de Fat?
Get ready to have some fun, take the wackiness in stride, and make some new friends over a pint when your shift is over.
Great advice, Nathan! We’re still looking for a dozen more volunteers to join us this Saturday. Come help raise funds, bring the fun and earn yourself a free beer token when you sign up to volunteer!
Enjoy incredible live acts on three stages, bike parades, delicious New Belgium brews, free bike wrenching from Avenue Cyclery and so much more at Saturday’s Tour de Fat. See you there!
