As you can see below, racers donned their speediest outfits and circled, round and round, about downtown Fort Collins this summer. They celebrated bicycles and beer, the official symbols of the great state of Colorado. 

It’s a high-profile race, and the costumes aided in their quest for endless circling amid friends—both new and old—to work up an appetite ahead of the 2nd round of competition later that day: Beer-drinking and eating from food trucks while simultaneously swaying to the bands back at the New Belgium Brewing (the race founders) HQ. 

It was a tough competition, and only the most hardy and best-prepared made it successfully through the grueling course. Below are a few photos of competitors in the first non-elimination, come-on-by round.