Wow what a non-stop day! A fantastic way to celebrate the end of October, fall and Halloween all in one big shot. A lot of city riding, but did over 250 miles when it was said and done, all on the bike of course!
Not too early of a start put us in Manitou Springs for the annual Emma Crawford Coffin Races. I love this and hope to never miss it! Absolutely hilarious, it's a parade/race/party based on a woman's coffin who after a torrential downpour came sliding off a nearby mountain straight through downtown in the 1890s. Strange thing to celebrate huh?! Yep... Hilarious...
Excellent view of Pikes Peak. This camera rocks!
We waited at the appointed meeting time til 11:10, even though we said we'd only wait til 11. This event is insanely crowded and gets bigger every year. Be late, and you can't find a place to see a darn thing! Well, none of our friends showed....
So, we went off just the two of us to find a place to watch, betting that we could save room for those who would show up later so they could see the action as well.
Although the parade didn't even start until 12:30, there were already throngs of people there. We did manage to find a nice spot in the second/third row of people up the hill a bit. Thankfully, these throngs of people (and dogs!) provide loads of entertainment.
Me: "oh, I'd join Facebook for that!" (I have, and continue to, resist joining Facebook)
Huge military bombers doing some sort of training run
This crew shows up every year.... They've always been well loved for two things: 1 - hot girls, and 2 - their awesome subaru outback. Now subarus here are almost a religion... They didn't get anywhere near the cheers and applause this year when they showed up in this....
Not exactly a hearse...
On to the racers and company! Best of photos....
This little oompa-loompa was the coolest!
Check out the crowd response she's getting
Dude... Where did you get those SHOES?!?
These guys always do well....
Yeoza!
Unspoken rule is... You don't spend much time on your costumes and coffin but you win (or close to it) the race. Or, you spend loads of time on your costumes and coffin and the crowd is ok with you not running so fast. Or, often both! However, this crew failed in both respects. Costumes, fail; coffin, fail; and the race? Yeah, they hardly tried. I doubt their application will be accepted next year! We take our coffin races seriously I tell you!
The firefighter teams show up in droves for this event, the tend to go all out in the costume, coffin and race department, absolutely earning the respect of the crowd beyond their chosen profession. And, every year, the announcer says: "I really hope there aren't any fires... Cause all the firefighters are here!"
Here's the Catamount Wildfire team. Awesome I say!
Another fire team... No idea which one...
More awesomeness...
These guys weren't as quick as some of the other firefighters... But get
for running in that long underwear! Can't imagine the chaffing!
Yes please....
Nice hats!
Willy Wonka led the band of oompa-loompas! Yep... Awesome...
Remember the little oompa-loompa? "Candy is awesome"
Hello!
Past two years there have been duelling elvis groups...
This year there were only 2 elvises! Elvis's? Elvisie?
Ah yes, the famous hillbillies! These guys always always always have an awesome entourage and are fast to boot!
Bwahaha... One mexican wrestler was getting sassy with another one...
These, ahem, guys
are well known too! They're great to watch in the race as they try not to spill their beers! Yes, that is absolutely beer.
Takes a lot of liquid courage to dress like that every year!
These guys! HILARIOUS!
These were right behind them and just as funny! Total science geeks! They'd yell "SCIENCE!!!!" at the top of their lungs at every opportunity!
This one was seriously creepy as well... I don't think she even blinked.... She had this spin tingling look on her face too....
PS - after sorting through the photos I checked out these guys' website. Ha, they have some funny stuff!!
Awesome coat, and check out the skeleton costume!
Awesomeness... Even more awesome as he came over to give this kid a high five!
Cute pug!
Parade finished up with some more cool cars, then this dude and his incredible trailer!
Stacy and her son Luke found us about half way through the parade, Dan and Liz joined us later.
Here's a video of some parade highlights! Pardon the terrible quality and such, I have a friend sending me a better video editing program as we speak... Til it arrives, we'll just have to deal with this poop.
Elvis bodysuit awesomeness....
These guys are wicked fast!
Blurry I know,
, but still worth posting between the costumes waiving and the expressions....
Nice.... hat?
Completely random...
A pause in the action and I noticed this little guy's costume. Yep. Awesome!
Time for some race action video!!
Got a few more shots of the racers as the walked back down the hill to the start line. Keep in mind here, this race up until last year was run downhill. There would always be ATLEAST one coffin that lost control into the crowd.
Rules state: no steering, no brakes. Well, darn thing got a smidge out of hand so now they run uphill. Still haul ass!
Awesome!
"We didn't wreck!"
Part of the hillbilly entourage... Awesome...
Straight boys just can't
strut...
Awesome!
That was either a fat pug, or some sort of mix. Either way, awesome costume!
Time for us to head out.... Bathroom break before taking the scenic ride home. Got a few shots while I was waiting for Karla.
Do you see the angel in the window?
Grabbed a bite to eat and hung out with the dogs for a bit, next it was time for a men's professional rugby game! I played rugby in college, but Karla's never seen a game. She was very nice and humored me in all my excitement.
Check out this pitch! (Rugby field is called a pitch) It's the only dedicated rugby pitch in Denver and it was very nice!
We knew Timmy and Brandi were out at Tailgate in Parker, Dan had said they would be going as well. I was pretty beat tired at this point and so asked Karla if we could go home. She relented, but I could tell she wanted to go. Got 3/4 of the way home and pulled off the freeway. "Honey, lets call Brandi and make sure they are still there." Yep, I realized I was being a selfish twat in taking us home. We turned around and headed for Tailgate!
Tailgate is a biker friendly bar in downtown Parker.
http://www.tailgatetavern.com/ They always go ALL OUT for halloween! We had a great time.
You'll probably need to maximize your window to view all of this one....
Dan's Ghostbusters backpack
TimmyP (its scary how well he pulled this off, especially with the aviators on)
Karla hogging all of Cheffy's candy...
I remember hitting the sack and looking up at the clock to see midnight...
What a day that was!
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