VOICES ‘The best laid-back event in Golden’

There are a lot of events around that try to entice people to attend by billing themselves as the biggest, the most exciting, the wildest or craziest event in the history of…Well, the history of events, I guess. Ones that draw more people than the gladiators at the Roman Coliseum ever did.

But one event around here likes to take the opposite approach and bills itself as “ e best laid-back event in Golden.” at’s kind of refreshing to see for a change.

It’s an ongoing event on the last Tuesday evening of every month while the weather is warm and totally family-friendly. It’s simply called the Golden Bike Cruise.

Now with that kind of name around here, it’s going to need a little more explanation than its title might suggest. First o , they mean bicycles, not motorcycles. Yes, we have an overabundance of both kinds of bikes in Golden.

Second, it’s a di erent kind of cruise than the Super Cruise we have for cars. is one is an actual group bicycle ride around town, not an exhibition of custom or vintage bikes.

AVENUE FLASHES

Nobody’s going to be setting up lawn chairs to watch the cool bikes cruise up and down the streets.

And third, it’s just a chill social bike ride along the streets and bike paths around Golden, not some epic endurance ride up the side of Lookout Mountain for people dreaming about competing in the Olympics.

So, here’s what the Golden Bike Cruise actually is. Basically, it’s a group ride with a di erent fun theme every month. e events run from May through September, and as I mentioned above, happen on the last Tuesday evening of those months, so we have a few more coming up this year. e next one is on Tuesday, July 25.

Everyone meets on the upper deck of the Calvary Church parking garage, located at 818 14th St., right behind the Golden Armory Building. e riding portion is a simple loop up to the New ey set up beer and food booths, in conjunction with New Terrain Brewing and Bob’s Atomic Burgers and have a local Golden band there to provide live music. e night’s schedule is the doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the kegs are tapped. Cruise from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. then a kids ra e at 7:45 p.m. after the ride. e adult ra e happens at 8:45 p.m. and the music ends at 9 p.m.

Loveland Mine Park and back along the streets and bike trails of Golden.

Since the rides are themed, all riders are encouraged to wear costumes and decorate their bikes. 100-150 riders of all ages usually participate. July 25’s theme is Tropical Paradise, so break out those Hawaiian shirts and baggy shorts or some kind of beach wear.

It’s free to ride and participate, but this is actually a fundraising event sponsored by Golden Community Commons, a non-pro t organization envisioning the future of the historic Armory building. e organization doesn’t make money o the ride itself, it just raises funds from the beer sales. Plus, there are a lot of local business in Golden sponsoring the event with things like prize donations for the ra e. So, how do you get tickets for the ra es? For kids, there are four ways to get a ra e ticket. Just by showing up, by wearing a costume, by bringing canned goods for a local food pantry or by purchasing food. For adults, there is only one way to get ra e tickets — just buy beer!

So, if this sounds like a fun night for you and your friends or families, I’m giving you a little advanced notice so you have time to organize your own little group, nd something fun to wear and make some plans for a unique Tuesday night get-together. You can also tune up and decorate your bike if you need to.

If you need more information, visit goldenbikecruise.com. ere is a route map on there and you can check out what the themes are going to be for the other upcoming rides as well. I’ll give you a couple of hints. Back to school and zombies. Zombies? Hmmm…I know a few people that may not even need a special costume for that one.

John Akal is a well-known jazz artist/ drummer and leader of the 20-piece Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra. He also