Day 9, August 10th 2007 (Ault,CO to Golden,CO)

I woke up and made it to Fort Collins around 10:15 in the morning. It was great to see the sun gonig up over the mountains as I headed west towards the mountains. I knew that the New Belgium Brewery was in town and so I asked for directions and made it there by 10:30. I was outside and saw a lot of cool looking cruisers that all had a Fat Tire emblem on the bike. I later found out that after working for New Belgium for a year thay give you a cruiser bike for free. I walked in and the first thing I noticed was that there were a lot of dogs. There were 6 or 7 dogs in the brewery and only about 11 people. I was glad to see there weren't too many people in the brewery this early because it was still the morning. I first walked in and was given four free samples of different beers. I started talking to a man that was sitting at a table across from me and found out that bhe was only about 25 years old. He had just moved to Fort Collins two days earlier and was walking his dogs down the road when he saw the brewery and decided to come in for a few free samples. I chatted with him for about a half an hour when I was asked to take a picture for a few people. One of the guys worked at the brewery and the other two had just been up in South Dakota at a big motorcycle event called Sturgis. I took the picture and the guy who worked there named Chad gave me a free tall boy of Fat Tire beer just for taking the picture. I came back inside and started to talk to a nice couple that were on the road for a couple of weeks just living out of there van. The man that i was talking to said that when he had graduated from high school and when he was only 18 he had decided to hike the Appalacian Mountains. His older brother had just graduated from college and so they headed to the east coast and spent 8 months hiking the mountains. They were very nice to talk to and mentioned that I should take a tour of the brewery. I had thought about it but had just overheard the guy that was giving away the tour tickets say that he had just given away the last 5 pm tour. I went to ask him if there was anyway that I could get in an earlier tour and told him that i was trying to cross the country on my bike. He was instantly as helpful as possible. He gave me some free Fat Tire stuff and told me he would get me in the first tour at 1 pm. He said that he used to live in Iowa but as soon as he got out of the army he bought a nice car and drove out to Fort Collins. He liked it so much in Fort Collins that he sold his car moved out here and hasn't left since. I started the tour at 1 and just loved the whole thing. The tour guide was the same guy who had given me a free beer. He said that every week an employee is given a free case of beer along with just a great work envirionment. On the tour I ran into a family of three that was headed towards the Golden area that I was headed to. They had two extra tickets to the String Cheese concert at Red Rocks. I was planning on making it to Golden,CO by some point in the evening and then trying to get tickets to the show when I got there. Instead I was given tickets and a ride to the show. The family consisted of three great people: Justin, Jamey, and their uncle Pete. After talking with them at the tour we sat down and I was given four more free samples from the brewery. I was treated like a king in Fort Collins and just loved the hospitality that was being offered. I made it to the String Cheese show around 6 pm and had a lot of time to just look at Red Rocks because the concert didn't start until around 8. The whole place was just unbelievable. As you got to the top you could see the stage perfect because it was on a slope and you could see Denver in the background about 30 miles away. The whole show was great and ended with Travis coming out and impersonating Michael Jackson for the encore with the whole suit on and everything. We went back to the hotel that I was arranged to stay at with a friend named Chris and his friend and girlfriend. I was able to stay with them for the next few nights and knew that I was going to enjoy a little break in Colorado. The bed in the hotel was great and it was nice to be able to take a nice shower.
Daily mileage: 21.3 miles
Total Mileage: 812.9 miles