New Belgium Urban Assault Ride!
Biking For Baseball sits in the shadow of Denver’s historic D&F tower in Skyline park. The air is heating on this Sunday morning and everyone knows its going to be a beautiful day in the Mile High City. As we’re talking with passers by and preparing
for the days events, a silence falls over the park. Mothers hurry to grab their children and carry them indoors. We’re looking around, wondering why we clearly should be afraid, when we look to the south. The park has cleared and Biking For Baseball finds itself staring down the barrel of the gun. But this one is loaded with Cyclists, 1,500 times over. Someone starts shouting a countdown. 10… 9… 8… I swear the only tumble weed in Denver County rolls by. 3… 2… 1… We can’t hear ‘Go’ because of the rumble. The running of the bulls has nothing on this. These animals are wearing cleats, fueled by the promise of free beer, and are wearing… -gulp- spandex.
Welcome to the New Belgium Urban Assault Ride.
The UAR is the biggest bicycle scavenger hunt series in the nation. Teams of 2 set out on a city-wide quest for checkpoints on their favorite 2 wheeled steeds. This year’s Denver event is the first complete sell-out the race has had in its illustrious 9 year history. Riders range from serious racers to the seriously racy. Give-aways
are a plenty, and its generally next to impossible to have a bad time.
This year Biking For Baseball was lucky enough to have an opportunity to get out and interact with the crazies with an ideally positioned tent and expo space, just inside the beer garden. Throughout the day we got to meet a wide range of people and share with them our dream and our cause. The response was, across the board, incredible. People wanted to know more, they wanted to help out, and they wanted to join up!
Jay from Foothills Cycling wants to put up our posters in his shop. Raul from Coachella wants us to be at cycle-fest. Rod from San Fran says he’s got plenty of room to put us up for the night when we pass through. Kim from Highlands ranch, David from Littleton, and PJ from Iowa got their B4B shirts right there on the spot.
All in all it was an incredible day and a huge success for Biking For Baseball. We’re energized by the support and can’t wait to do it again so keep an eye out for our next appearance. The full photo album is up on our Facebook page.
Thanks again to everyone who helped out and showed their support!