GREELY, CO (CONT.)

CRABTREE BREWING...

Crabtree Brewery is an independent craft brewery in Greeley run by Jeff and Stephanie Crabtree. Jeff left the corporate world four years ago to follow his dream. "The only thing I regret is that I didn't start this sooner," he said

Some of his creations include Boxcar Brown, Jeff's Pale Ale, and a fantastic beer with a ginger base.

Although Crabtree Brewing has grown 40 percent over the last four years, Jeff's biggest challenge is nudging further into a market dominated by Colorado brewing giants Coors and Budweiser.

TALL BIKES IN GREELEY...

Headed out of Greeley around 8 a.m. during the July 4th weekend and caught up to Darin who was riding a tall bike.

"I know how to weld, so over the last three days I built this bike for today's parade," said the 24-year-old dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt, black skinny jeans, and reddish-brown Vans tennis shoes.

Darin had a full Paul Bunyan beard, plugs in his ears the size of spools of thread and big sunglasses that screamed 1976.

His 5-and-a-half-foot-tall bicycle featured a red Volkcycle on top of his mom's green bike. He had a cloth Rolling Stone bag with a photo of Sean Penn hanging from the handlebars, and about a dozen medium-size flags he was taking to sell at the parade.

Darin also had his Jamaican tunes on board with 6-inch speakers mounted to the front stem; he was jamming to Toots and the Mayfals.

"It's amazing and one of the free-ist feelings," he said about riding two-stories tall in traffic.

"I just really like riding and seeing how happy people are to see it."

TIDBITS...

- The train depot in Greeley serves as headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce. Bill Sterling was on the clock and so was Bella, a 5-year-old English bulldog. "She's the director of greeting," said Sterling. Bella was a beast - about 80 pounds packaged into a 2-foot-long frame, she reminded me of a sack of potatoes with deep brown eyes and an extremely sad underbite. Bella would have been the last kid picked on the playground, so it was a good thing she was adopted by Greeley.