The Fun Reason You’ll Want to Collect Goatheads This Summer

Nothing ruins a Treasure Valley faster than having a goathead flatten your bike tire.  Why in the world would you want to collect these things?! 

Thanks to a sidewalk full of goatheads in my neighborhood a few years ago, I learned the hard way why it's so important to slime your bike tires in the Treasure Valley.  A few of those little buggers slowly let all the air out of my tires while my friends and I were eating brunch one Saturday morning. I felt so bad having to make everyone wait for me while McU's rescued my tire so we could continue on our planned cruise. Now I see red every time one gets caught in my shoe. I HATE GOATHEADS!

...but I'll be collecting them this summer! Why? Because Boise Bicycle Project has unveiled Boise Goathead Fest 2018! It's not as painful as it sounds.  When New Belgium pulled it's popular bike parade and concert, Tour De Fat, out of the Treasure Valley, BBP vowed to create a super local replacement. Enter the first-ever Goathead Fest scheduled for August 3-4, 2018.

According to KTVB, the bike-themed event will kick off on August 3 at 5 p.m. with a concert festival in the newly renamed Cecil D. Andrus Park (formerly Capitol Park.) Then, in keeping with Tour De Fat fashion, the popular bike parade returns on August 4! It'll make its way around Downtown Boise and end back at the park where a full-blown party of local craft beer, food, and homegrown entertainment takes over the park for the rest of the day!

So where does collecting Goatheads come in? Well, in an attempt to make sidewalks, streets, and trails more friendly to bike tires, BBP will encourage people to collect bags of goatheads through the entire month of July (that's when they get really bad.)  Once you fill your bag, bring it into BBP or one of their partners and they'll give you a drink token to exchange for some Goathead Fest merch or beer!

The best part? The entire festival is free and open to the public.  Any money you spend on merch or beer will benefit any and all local cycling nonprofits that want to be part of the day.