Hold onto your handlebars, — and your handlebar mustaches. The 10th annual Mustache Ride is rolling back into town.
The shenanigans of this beer crawl on wheels commence at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at McKnight’s Irish Pub. Organizers estimate this year’s event will see 400 to 500 participants — numbers similar to last year’s — most of whom will be in costume. All proceeds benefit the Routt County Humane Society.
What: 10th annual Mustache Ride
When: 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1
Where: McKnight’s Irish Pub, followed by participating restaurants
Cost: $10 donation to participate; $40 donation ($30 if purchased before the day of the event) for a ‘Stache Card, good for one drink at each sponsoring restaurant
More information: ssmustacheride.com
“You have to donate, and you have to have a mustache and a bike,” founder and organizer Nate Bird said. “Those are the only requirements.”
Age and facial hair growing abilities are irrelevant. Bird knows of several infants who will be donning pasted-on mustaches and are ready to hitch up in bike trailers.
After a spin at McKnight’s, the stampede of bicycles will cruise to Freshie’s, then roll downtown. But rather than every ’stache-wearer charging along the same, set restaurant route, as was the format in past years, members of the pack will disperse among participating restaurants at their own pace and in their own order.
Other restaurant sponsors for the event include Smokehouse, Sunpies, Carl’s, Backdoor Grill, Dude & Dan’s and The Hungry Dog. The facilities will host riders and provide those of age one drink each.
Besides the sponsoring restaurants — many of which also donate a percentage of their proceeds for the day — other local businesses will also be contributing time and efforts. These include Steamboat Specialties, Ohana, PostNet, See Me Media and Elk Mountain Laser Designs.
“It’s the generosity of the whole community coming together,” Bird said.
“It’s a day of so much fun for locals,” said Jess Scroble, Routt County Humane Society animal care and adoption technician.
While the mustached, bicycling, potentially wobbling parade is one of the goofiest sights in town, the event’s intentions are unwavering as new wheels on a freshly paved bike path, and its outcomes is as clear and noble as a toast between two crystal glasses.
In their fourth year, organizers of the Mustache Ride turned the event into a fundraiser.
“I think in Steamboat, above many other places, we love our pets,” Bird said, “and we didn’t know of any other fundraisers for the Humane Society.”
Bird has three rescue dogs, one of which was adopted from the Routt County Humane Society, and organizer Rob Peterson has one.
Two years after the switch, Casey Barnett — who recently adopted from RCHS and who, with his wife, serves as a foster family for a 13-year-old pomeranian mix — joined the crew to "take it to the next level,” in terms of website design, organization, photography and fundraising ideas, said Bird.
Barnett’s efforts raised the amount donated from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
“(In 2012,) the Humane Society (at that time, Steamboat Springs Animal Shelter) went from in the red to in the black because of our donation,” Bird recalled. “When we gave the check to the volunteers, they started crying.”
Bird notes that the events of the past two years have raised $12,000 each; this year, organizers are shooting to hit $15,000.
Humane Society employees and board members will volunteer at the event, helping take photos and selling tickets at participating bars, said Scroble. She noted the donations go directly to addressing the needs of the animals: food, veterinary care, medicine, beds and treats.
The Mustache Ride will award prizes for the following categories: best male costume, best female costume, best team theme, best helmet, best bike, and, of course, best ‘stache.
Above their mustaches, all participants are encouraged to wear helmets.