New Belgium Brewing entered the Chicago market about a year or so ago, with its flagship Fat Tire brand, and figured, now that it’s permeated the tap handles and sixpacks of Chicago, why not start shaping the city’s culture? To that end, it brought its freak circus of a bike carnival, Tour de Fat, to Humboldt Park on Saturday. While I rode over after lunch in time to catch Mucca Pazza, we heard that the morning’s nasty storm did not faze the hearty bicycle paraders, who numbered 500 or so. By afternoon, the crowd seemed to number in the low four figures, a perfect comfort level for Palmer Square, and the day’s events had the feel of a giant family picnic with ample beer. If your family includes lots of eccentric bicycle enthusiasts that is. By the time the day’s festivities came to an end, with a bicycle raffle and a ceremony wherein someone donated their car to West Town Bikes and was rewarded with a top-of-the-line human-powered two-wheeler by our hosts, the crowd was likely starting to wonder how we’d been so easily charmed by a beer brand. As one local publishing executive from another company quipped, “Goose Island must be feeling really stupid right now.” At least till Pitchfork. (Brian Hey)
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