Time For Festivus

I have been so wrapped up in school that I have forgotten to bombard you with reminders about the Festivus Ride.

If you are unfamiliar, the Festivus Ride is just like the Full Moon Fiasco in that we meet at The Swamp and ride to an undisclosed location only this month there will be many, many prizes.

Last year we were lucky enough to have it at Northern Lights and they set us up nicely outside and pretty much gave us free reign but I did not know that they were going to charge a gratuity on EVERYONES tab! That's right, if you bought one (1) drink, they charged a gratuity. You probably didn't know, so you tipped them as well. It was a dirty trick that will not happen again and I apologize for it happening then. Though that issue has been resolved, we are unable to have it there again this year due to prior bookings and blah, blah, blah; you don't care.

We also had to bump the date of the ride up to Friday the 4th instead of Saturday because of the Zags game. I was reminded of this by Jacque who has been a faithful Lifetime Member For Life and has gone above and beyond by tracking down an appropriate venue for our shenanigans.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN

Get there early for a spoke card. This will be your key to participate in the reindeer games. Please try to make a one dollar donation for the card. There will be a few opportunities to earn yourself a great prize as well as a giveaway later in the evening. To give you a hint as to what will be offered as prizes, I have over $300.00 in gift cards and merchandise to give away.

Some of the events include but are not limited to:

Bicycle Decorating Contest

• Best Overall
• Best Use of Lights
• Best Decorations

The Ring Toss Game

• First. Second. Third.

The Givaway

• Several Great Prizes

1. Decorate your bike.
   
   
2. Ride to The Swamp.
   (directions in sidebar on left)
   Friday December 4th, 8:00p.m.
   

Get there early for a spoke card and find me, they go fast. Any questions don't hesitate to send an email.

Festivus Begging

I have few breaks in my school schedule to allow me to work on Festivus planning so I have to start now to think that I can pull this off.

If you are not familiar with the FBC Festivus, it is a decorated bike ride that terminates at an event with bicycle themed games and prize giveaways. Last year was a overwhelming success with several businesses and individuals making donations. This year promises to be much larger and I am starting my annual begging for prize donations. Here is what I posted on Facebook:

With the Festivus Ride being so early in December (5th), I am working on donations for the event.

There are several events planned that include podium prizes (1st through 3rd). These events would include but not limited to the same ones from last year, such as the bike decorating contest with two categories and possibly an overall winner, the frame toss event and the very popular ring toss game. I would like to have others like maybe a slow race or some fixed gear stuff. Some of the 1st place prizes last year were pretty big, including wine from Caterina, a big gift certificate from Fresh Abundance, gear from North Division Bicycles, free stuff at The Scoop and Neato Burrito.

If you or someone you know would be able to donate something from your business or local bike shop, the FBC Spokane would certainly appreciate it. So much in fact that I would be able to post your logo or link on the blogspot, linking to any possible online information or a website and generally go on and on about how cool you are. Also, if you have a banner that you would like to display at the event you are welcome to do so, granted that you are responsible for bringing, hanging and removing.

Since all of this sounds like a good idea and you would like to participate, you are welcome to contact me here on facebook or the other FBC email address with what you would like to donate and information on how I can retrieve you donation:

fbcspokane(at)hotmail(dot)com

Thanks for being a fan. You make this whole thing work.

Like I mentioned in the post on Facebook, please contact me at the above email address and I can make arrangements to meet with you to collect whatever sort of donation you would like to make.

The Lifetime Members For Life really do make this whole thing work.

Super Secret Success

(click image for pics)
While eating my traditional post-fiasco breakfast of a bowl of croutons and lager, I could not get over how awesome the night was and that my head was pounding me with the force of a thousand Bing Crosbys.

This time our destination was Fresh Abundance. At first you may think that a bike trip to the grocery store is nothing out of the ordinary, but it was Fiascoween. Friend and Lifetime Member For Life, Bright Spirit runs the place and had this great idea of using some empty space behind the building to host a couple of bands, an outdoor beer garden, two fire pits, beer, wine and snacks. And do it all without charging a cover at the door. I'll have to say, she and her staff pulled it off magically. It was a great idea handled as smoothly as possible and I had nothing to do with it. Now that you know you can safely get there by bicycle, be sure to go by Fresh Abundance some time and buy some organic groceries.

Big thanks also to Quarter Monkey and B-Radicals for playing and even wearing costumes. I'll have to admit that one of the guitar players should have won the contest based solely on committing to shaving a bald spot on top of his head. That's dedication.

For the costume contest I just let the crowd decide and they narrowed the field first to about 15 participants then it was down to two. The Garden Gnome and Zombie Superman. Really, how do you pick? Again letting the crowd decide, there was overwhelming support for Zombie Superman who won a Sigg water bottle with the FBC logo on the side.

If you have pictures of Fiascoween you can link to them in the comments section or on the facebook site (link above, left).

I would also like to thank the weather for being extra awesome.

125+ riders; 45 degrees and clear

THE NEXT RIDE

The Fiasco on the horizon will be the Festivus Ride December 5th. For those of you that were able to participate last year, you know what a big deal this one is. I am in the process of contacting local and non-local businesses to get donations for prizes. There will be several events this year, all having podium prizes. I will also be looking to get volunteers to man these stations during the games. Don't worry, it shouldn't cut into your beer time or prevent you from participating in any of the events. So if you or a business you know of would be willing to help out the FBC this year, feel free to contact me. I am pretty busy with school this time around and could use all the help I can get. I will post more information as I get it. Any questions, email them.