Thanks for a great Tour de Fat!

We had a wonderful time at Milwaukee's first-ever Tour de Fat on Saturday, July 3, raising more than $12,000 for the Bike Fed. Thousands of people gathered to celebrate bicycling. We were impressed by the costumes that people came up with, and thought our executive director's daughter did a great job picking out a sundress for him to wear.

Thanks to the more than 100 volunteers who made the festival happen. You rock! (Want to help out at next year's Tour de Fat? Contact hilary.carroll@bfw.org to put your name in the hat.

Congratulations to Christopher Miller, who won the car-bike exchange contest and got to trade in his 2000 Saturn SL1 for a handbuilt Black Sheep Bikes commuter bicycle.

Our hats also go off to the Bike Fed's own Jake Newborn, who won the slow biking contest. All those years of doing track stands have finally paid off!

Tour de Fat raised about $12,000 to help the Bike Fed continue its work making Milwaukee a better place to bike. The low-impact festival produced 134 pounds of compost, 45 pounds of recycling and three pounds of trash.

If you missed the event or just want to relive its glory, these news stories did a good job of capturing its spirit:

• "Tour de Fat" Meets Milwaukee - WUWM
  
• Tour de Fat touted as a $12,000 success - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

We'll be adding pictures to our Web site and Flickr page in the next day or two. Keep your eyes open!

Trade your car for a $3,000 commuter bike

Today I received the above photos from New Belgium Brewery of the bike model they are planning to give away in the car-bike trade at Milwaukee's Tour de Fat on Saturday, July 3.

Car-bike trade? Yup, you heard right. One lucky person will get to trade her or his car in for a $3,000 custom-built commuter bicycle from Black Sheep Bikes, complete with waterproof panniers. (Click here for a PDF with more specs.) The car goes to charity and the bike hits the streets. A win-win situation, n'est-ce pas?

If you've been looking to bike more or drive less, the car-bike trade is a great opportunity to put your dreams into action. To enter, just shoot a video of two minutes or less about your desire to make biking your primary transportation mode. Then upload it to the Milwaukee Tour de Fat Facebook page or email zlevis@newbelgium.com.

Here's a video with stories from past car-bike trade participants:



Tour de Fat is a celebration of bicycling and will take place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Humboldt Park. Folks are encouraged - but not required - to dress in costume. The event is free and for all ages, and everyone is invited whether they know how to ride a bike or not. Beer, food and merchandise will be for sale, with proceeds from beer and merchandise going to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.