New Belgium Urban Assault in Fort Collins

By Eddie Clark  

(July 17, 2011) FORT COLLINS, Colo.— At approximately 9:30am, hundreds of cyclist headed out in three different waves from the New Belgium Brewery, which is known as the Mothership.  Two person teams competed in the Urban Assault Ride, which is one of the biggest scavenger hunt rides going.

Basically, teams had to find their way to each of the seven checkpoints, and complete the designated task at that check point to receive a bead which was given upon completion.  Teams were responsible for finding the fastest way to all of the checkpoints, and were allowed to compete on any two-wheeled bike of their choosing.  Additionally, there were also two mystery stops that didn’t have designated locations, and every rider had to find them with minimal clues.

Some checkpoint tasks were simple as assembling blocks in a certain order and lifting it above your head to taking a ride down a slip n slide.  While incredibly silly, most all of the checkpoints brought out the playful kid inside of everyone with uncanny tasks and exercises that required close teamwork to complete.

Amanda Hofer from the winning women’s team How Do You Like Me Meow said, ”The slip n slide was my favorite obstacle, but the pool feature was pretty nice too.”  At the Bobbing for Beers checkpoint, teams had to find three different cans of New Belgium beer on the bottom of a pool, which provided a much welcomed respite from the hot sunny 90 degree day.

Besides having a good time, the goal of the Urban Assault is for riders to hit all checkpoints and get back to the Mothership in the shortest time possible.  Unlike a typical race, pre-planning and short-cuts are encouraged so long as traffic laws are obeyed.

The New Belgium Brewery motto of ‘Following your Folly’ was highly encouraged in the form of whacky costumes and good times.  Besides standard fastest team competitions for all men, all women, coed, and family teams, the informal best costume competition was rewarded with prizes like a year’s supply of Jack Link beef jerky and even a brand new custom New Belgium Brewery limited edition cruiser bike.

At the after-party, the good times were imbibed by all with a massive celebration where tasty beer flowed, yummy food was enjoyed, and plenty of great prizes were raffled off.  Proceeds from the event went to benefit the Ciclismo Youth Foundation which exists to ensure that youth in the Fort Collins community have structured opportunities to learn and enjoy riding bicycles.