Big Wheels keep on turnin'

Adults toss aside their worries at annual rally

By Amy Hebert, Camera Staff Writer
July 11, 2004

Don't bother asking Matt Armbruster why he invites dozens of adults to careen drunkenly down Pearl Street on modified plastic children's toys every year.

"Why not?" said the aerospace engineer as he stood outside the West End Tavern before Saturday's Big Wheel Rally wearing pigtails and a super-hero costume.

The three-wheeled pub crawl started 13 years ago, when Armbruster was a University of Colorado student disgruntled over a canceled Study Abroad trip, he said.

But it hasn't lost any appeal now that Armbruster is a professional design engineer at Starsys Research, and most of the participants are closer to 40 than 20.

"I expect that the only time I won't be here is when they put me in a box," Armbruster said.

Saturday's rally drew about 20 riders, but the costumes and the appeal of the sentimental toys attracted dozens of nostalgic onlookers.

Although most of the toys were reinforced with steel, or sawed in half and extended, the colorful logos were instantly recognizable.

No one can really grasp the rally's appeal without participating though, said Sebastian Tortelli, a 39-year-old electrician from Breckenridge.

"You'd have to get on a Big Wheel and ride it to understand," he explained.

Adults acting like children and throwing their cares to the wind is reason enough to keep Scott Gilleon coming to the annual rally.

The 36-year-old Boulder cycling coach, who mounted his Big Wheel in a jester's hat, gloves and a Speedo, said he'll never be too old for the silliness of it.

"People take life too seriously," Gilleon said. "Boulder has become too uptight, and I think stuff like this is what it needs."

Contact Camera Staff Writer Amy Hebert at (303) 473-1329 or heberta@dailycamera.com.