Seattle LiveStrong Challenge II: Jersey Contest, Pics From the Starting Line
I’m really, really, really happy to report that Team Fatty has won the Seattle LiveStrong Best Jersey award!
For those of you who don’t know (or don’t remember) what the Team Fatty jersey looks like, here’s a reminder.
Front:
And back:
Huge congratulations and thanks go out to Twin Six for both their awesome jersey design and tireless work toward fundraising for Team Fatty’s LiveStrong Challenge.
Since neither Twin Six nor I are in Seattle for the LiveStrong Challenge today, I asked my friend Nick to accept the award. Here’s the speech I prepared for him to give:
Team Fatty’s proud to be wearing the winning jersey in the Seattle LiveStrong Challenge. You should know that behind this jersey is a very small company in Minnesota called Twin Six. And by “very small company,” I mean two guys: Ryan Carlson and Brent Gale.
Twin Six hasn’t just been making great jerseys, though. They’ve been tireless in their efforts to raise money in the LiveStrong challenge. They had a day where 50% of their gross sales went to the LAF. That raised nearly $30,000 for the LAF in one day. They were instrumental in the success of Team Fatty’s 100 Miles of Nowhere event, raising $20,000. And sales from the Team Fatty jersey have raised more than $15,000 for the LiveStrong Challenge.
Twin Six is a tiny company, but they’re great guys doing huge things. They’re very proud to be a part of Team Fatty, and we’re proud to have them with us.
Here’s Nick (thanks to Sarah, Nick’s wife, for taking this photo) accepting the award and giving the speech:
Once again, Brent and Ryan: Thanks and congratulations!
Pics from the Starting Line
I expect that a lot of Team Fatty-Seattle is still resting up after all that’s gone on in the past couple days, after which I’ll be excited to read your stories and see your pics. Please send them in.
Meanwhile, my good friends Jeff and Matt have sent a few photos in from the starting line.
Lining up at the front, thanks to Team Fatty being the top fundraiser at the event. From left: Nick Abbott, Bob Bringhurst, and Dom Fulford. Right behind Bob’s left shoulder is Kent Peterson, who set me up with the best fenders a Seattle commuter could ever wish for. Others, identify yourselves!
Success!
Game face.
Team Fatty, ready to roll.
Matt (left) has been my manager at two different companies and remains a great friend. Jeff (right) has been my friend since we were freshmen at college, 25 years ago. It means a lot to me to have them riding with Team Fatty.
AnneMarie, with the LAF, sent me this great photo of the team about ready to go.
And here’s Team Fatty, rolling off the line. I’m pretty sure that’s my friends Nick on the left and Bob on the right.
More Tomorrow
I’ve got video, more pics, and stories from the event still in the pipeline (I’m not being coy; I haven’t seen them yet myself).
And if you participated in the ride, describe it in the comments section here. And note that it’s possible to include photos as part of your comment, provided you’ve got the photo online somewhere. Make sure, though, that your photos are no wider than 450 pixels wide, OK?
PS: If you haven’t already read the first post on Team Fatty at the Seattle LiveStrong Challenge, click here to get caught up.
Comment by Rob Hoyt | 06.21.2009 | 4:41 pm
Thanks Elden & Susan, for inspiring me to ride the LiveStrong 100. It was a blast! I was thinking of you guys while I was honking up the Montreax climb (man, that one hurt!). Great Job, Team Fatty!
Comment by chtrich | 06.21.2009 | 4:48 pm
GREAT work everyone!!!!
Comment by Marrock | 06.21.2009 | 5:19 pm
I require a Fat Cyclist hoodie!
Comment by David Lazar | 06.21.2009 | 5:49 pm
Third from the left is Dom Fulford. Thanks for saving a spot for me at the starting line, I was running late, and it was an honor and a thrill. Thanks, Jeff, for the Zip Fizz. Elden, this was a complete “Fatty” weekend: Great ride, friends, family, burgers, winning fundraising team, winning jersey, and good feelings to do our small part to help you and Susan. Wish you could have been here, we’ll do it again when things are better! All the best, David.
Comment by Jeff LaRock | 06.21.2009 | 6:43 pm
I’m back at the hotel after a great 100 miler. It was quite an event and the LAF did an amazing job of honoring Fatty and Susan! Honestly, I could have done without the massive downpour and the pea sized hail at around mile 70, but I guess not even the great Elden can control the weather. Great ride support and a quite challenging course. BTW, the pre-ride info said 3,900 feet of climbing. My Garmin disagreed and showed 5500 feet. Also, that Montreux climb killed me! And what was up with the 75 yard long 18% climb at about mile 95. Ouch!
Also, I was able to score a ticket to the dinner and am thankful that I did. It was amazing. Clydesteve put a tear in my eye (he had to have put it there because, being a manly man, I don’t cry). Very touching indeed!
Thanks for everything Fatty!!
Comment by Philly Jen | 06.21.2009 | 7:08 pm
I knew we’d sweep the jersey competition! Yay Twin Six!
If you read the fine print, this means that we’re ineligible to compete for the jersey prize in the remaining three Livestrong cities. Which means that everyone will say with great puzzlement, “Hmmm, wonder why the sexy jersey that makes you ride faster didn’t win?” People may even take to the streets demanding a recount…
Comment by Matt Carter | 06.21.2009 | 7:26 pm
Elden, today was a blast. I was blown away at all the great passion around Team Fat Cyclist, and how everyone is pulling behind you and Susan. Echoing David, really looking forward to getting to hang at the Anti-Chafing Zone with you next year!
Win Susan!!
Comment by Keith | 06.21.2009 | 7:42 pm
I just got home from the century ride. What an awesome day! I agree with Jeff — I could do without the hail and the spirit-crushing slog up Montreux. It was, by far, the best organized ride I’ve ever seen. Great job Livestrong! And great job ClydeSteve, and all of Team Fatty!
I was truly awestruck at the number of “Survivor” signs I saw on rider’s jerseys. Incredible.
Thanks again Elden!
Comment by stuckinmypedals | 06.21.2009 | 7:48 pm
Great job, Seattle team and great job Twin Six for creating an award winning jersey. WIN SUSAN!
Comment by Kent Peterson | 06.21.2009 | 8:02 pm
Fatty, you can see me just over Bob’s shoulder. Awesome ride with some wicked hills. Ooh and hail. And I learned “a valuable lesson.” Details soon on my blog.
Comment by Isela | 06.21.2009 | 8:41 pm
Great work Team Fatty!
Any chances of the jersey being put on sale again? Want a third one :)
Comment by Bob B | 06.21.2009 | 9:50 pm
Nick and a few of the other Team Fatty guys did the 70-mile route. Dom had just had back surgery a few weeks ago, and I needed to be at a baseball game that started early in the afternoon. So Nick and Dom took turns pulling while I tried to hang on to their wheels. I kept checking for medical problems such as swollen adenoid glands that would force me to end the ride early, but I had no luck in that department.
During the ride, I was thinking about how inspirational all the Team Fat Cyclist folks are, especially Elden and Susan. When I’m confronted with difficulties, my tendency is to draw inward. Elden and Susan take the opposite approach, and look to help other people. Seeing their generosity of spirit forces me out of my shell, however briefly. So thanks, Elden and Susan and the rest of Team Fatty. You’re helping a lot of people in a lot of different ways.
And I’ve seen how kind and helpful the LAF folks are when my sister was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It’s truly a worthwhile cause. I’ve dealt with their great support staff first-hand. I may write more about it on my web log, but I already updated it this month, so I filled my quota.
Oh, and the Mariners won in the bottom of the 9th inning. What a great day!
Comment by theguth | 06.21.2009 | 11:37 pm
I can only vouch for the first half of the ride, but it started as tremendous fun.
Then this :(
http://twitpic.com/80p2o
I’m just sad that I didn’t get a chance to put my stamp on the montreaux climb, i’ve been riding it for a month. likely the end of my season, but it’ll be more time to sit and follow the tour coverage for sure.
Yikes! Are you OK? – FC
Comment by Jeremy Everitt | 06.22.2009 | 1:29 am
@theguth – Holy canoli, that was you? Man, I am so sorry. I understand if it’s too much, but what was the final verdict, besides the ambulance ride, I mean.
Big thank you to Matt (yes, Ibis, winner, Matt), Jon and Jeff for waiting for me at the top of hills from about mile 60 on. I appreciated it.
The day started with a fabulous roll out behind a pace car. Only it wasn’t a pace car. And it wasn’t on the right street. But it did start in front of us as the air horn from Dan Wilson sent us on our way. Pretty much the whole of Team Fatty took a wrong turn out of the gate.
Once we got on the right route, it was smooth sailing across the I-90 express lanes to Mercer Island. (On a side note, the tunnels were a little on the creepy side on a bike.) Weather was just about perfect. Not too warm, not too cold. Hills were rolling and the pace was solid. Various groups of Team Fatty riders formed, broke up and formed anew until we got off the island and into Bellevue.
From there it was a bit of a blur until May Valley for me. By May Valley, distinct groups had formed up and I was riding with Jon and a few folks I never did identify. We got east of Tiger Mountain and all of a sudden it got a bit chilly. The climb was a good one with a pretty good, long descent off the back. Jon and I got stopped about halfway down as one rider was directing traffic around the crash theguth mentioned. (Again, I’m sorry that wrecked your day and apparently a few more to come.) The road was damp but we got no drops until we got to the Issaquah Highlands.
The rain came down pretty steady along East Lake Sammamish, making drafting roughly akin to getting your teeth polished but without the sickly sweet kiddie flavor. The rain let up a few miles before Marymoor. I reconnected with Jon and Steve at the Marymoor stop and we rode together along West Lake Sammamish. We caught up to Kenny rolling his singlespeed (42×17) I believe on the century. We hit a bit of a rise and he dropped us like a crazy girlfriend.
By the time we navigated West Lake Sammamish, the sun was out again. At the base of Montreaux, we came together with Jeff and Matt. I suffered mightily, having to hike a bike in a couple of spots due to pretty awful cramps. I blame it on the lack of any kind of climbing on my part prior to the event. I fully expected to catch on with another group going a bit slower once I made it over that beast, but Steve, Matt, Jon and Jeff were all waiting for me at the top. (Thank you, thank you.)
The descent off the hill was not nearly worth the suffering to get up there, but it was a good working downhill to the next rest stop. Jeff, Jon, Matt and I stopped and Steve kept rolling. We cruised along Lake Washington through Renton and met up with more rain. And hail. And thunder and lightning. It was a short storm as far as distance, but we tried to plow through the rain, so we got soaked. Wet chamois is not a good thing. We stopped when the peanut-sized hail started pelting us. Good thing for my official FatCyclist.com cycling cap for protection against that hail.
Once it let up a little, we didn’t ride much more than a mile before we hit dry pavement again and turned down to Seward Park. Today happened to be a closure day for the road along Seward Park so we dodged families riding and Dads teaching their little ones to ride bikes.
We stopped at the final rest stop at mile 95 before attacking the hill to downtown. I beg to differ with Jeff’s assessment of 75 yards but regardless of length, it was steep up to Yessler and steep over Yessler. That late in a century was not very nice.
The roll up to Seattle Center was slow due to the traffic lights but we made it as a group and hopefully have some good photos of the four of us coming in together. They others had cameras so I’m hoping they post a few and when I can, I’ll pull the three I have of my iPhone.
It was a great ride. I met some great people over the course of the weekend. I’ve decided the people who are a part of Team Fatty Seattle are a quality bunch and I’ll ride with any of you, anytime. If you’re ever in Keizer, OR, look me up.
I rolled out West Lake Sammamish with
Comment by buckythedonkey | 06.22.2009 | 2:10 am
Sounds like you had a brilliant day. Er, theguth notwithstanding… Hope you’re OK, mate. Well won T6! Seriously though, was it ever in doubt? :)
Now, I wonder if Fatty can persuade Lance to pull on a Team Fatty jersey at the final bash… Could we raise a bounty to see that?
WIN SUSAN!!
Comment by Mike Roadie | 06.22.2009 | 5:10 am
Wow! I mean, WOW!!!! I am so impressed with Steve, and Team Fatty Seattle!! What an amazing result, and what a statement about a group of people becoming a family to fight cancer.
As more people travel to the other cities and see our awesomeness there, especially the big event weekend in Austin, they will be amazed too.
Congrats to all…..let’s kick this cancer thing!
WIN!!!
Comment by Jodi | 06.22.2009 | 7:26 am
Geez that video is great Elden. What an awesome event, I’m amazed at this Fatty legion of support. I’m really proud of you – what a powerful way to fight for Susan.
Comment by Evan | 06.22.2009 | 7:47 am
The team wearing all those jerseys looks very impressive. Can’t wait to do it in Philly!!
Comment by Kathleen@ForgingAhead | 06.22.2009 | 8:45 am
Wonderful pics and such enthusiasm! Hope you’re ok @theguth. I already double checked the elevation for the San Jose ride – they had been saying 6k+ and now they’re saying 3,500. Wonder which it will be :-)
Go Team Fatty Seattle! You guys rock.
WIN SUSAN!
Comment by Eric & Kristine | 06.22.2009 | 9:00 am
What an amazing day! Eric rode the 100 miles and started off the ride with Team Fatty and I did the 45 miles. Thanks to everyone on the Team Fatty – we just moved here from SJ in January and do not know anyone, but everyone was so friendly! It was nice to start at the front of the pack as I am not a fast rider and was past by about 200 riders on the I90 bridge. The ride was a lot easier than I thought, until that darn hill 5 miles to the finish. I was so mad when I had to walk it. Never the less, I finished the ride a 1/2 hour faster than last year’s challenge in SJ. I was happy with my results. The highligt of my ride was watching a bald eagle with is catch being chased by 2 other birds in Renton. I have never seen such a beautiful moment.
Eric was in the lead pack that took a wrong turn in the beginning, but he got back on track and rode strong. He thrives on a challenge and many of the 100 milers gave him the opportunity to ride hard. Thanks to everyone for making his ride a success. Eric is a 3x cancer survivor and this was his 2nd LiveStrong Challenge. He finished strong, under 6 hours.
The post-ride party was great, just wish we could have took the beer down onto the green to enjoy. Looking forward to next year.
Thank you Team Fatty – and congrats on all the awards! WIN SUSAN!
Comment by Marcos | 06.22.2009 | 9:37 am
Amazing! Congratulations!
Comment by Clydesteve | 06.22.2009 | 10:18 am
Oh, Man, theguth! I was looking for a Team Fatty jersey, but didn’t see one, so I didn’t linger.
I hope you recover quickly & well.
Steve
Comment by Lief Zimmerman | 06.22.2009 | 10:34 am
Fatty and Team,
It was an honor to ride with your team…while it lasted…through the tunnel.
I don’t see me in any pictures you have up here but I think I was the only Team Fatty member on a bent so…that should be easy.
Kent and I leapfrogged each other all day long and I am willing to bet that his “lesson learned” has something to do with wearing sandals and wool socks in rain and hail.
Even those Pemco commercials don’t have a category for a Sandals-n-Socks & Singlespeed Century riding guy. Kent was amazing.
Montreaux Hill was tough but I did my best FatCyclist impression all the way up. Having never ridden with you I wouldn’t know from experience I can only judge from what I read, but I cracked jokes all the way up the hill. It made it a lot easier for me…I am sure the others couldn’t wait to leave me and my recumbent behind. They didn’t have long to wait.
Thanks for your inspiration Fatty. I rode in honor of a friend of mine Johnny Carbaugh who is aggressively battling stage 4 metastatic melanoma. I wouldn’t categorize his blog as family friendly but it is his own brand of catharsis and accurately sums up what many cancer victims feel I am sure.
http://johnnydeep1.blogspot.com/
Hat’s off to your enthusiasm, staying power, and dedication to your wife and to this cause…fighting cancer. The bike ride was hard but it doesn’t hold a candle to cancer. We all did it willingly to help in the way that we can.
Win Susan!
Comment by Clydesteve | 06.22.2009 | 12:07 pm
I am betting Kent Peterson’s valuable lesson involves baldness and hail. At least I learned such a lesson.
Comment by whitney | 06.22.2009 | 12:53 pm
Congrats!
Are there new team fatty jerseys on the horizon? or a reissue of the pink ones from last year?
Comment by theguth | 06.22.2009 | 3:06 pm
Yeah, I’m okay (thanks to everyone for your concern). I honestly faired quite well, given my trajectory/speed. I wish I could say the same for the other riders involved (three total) but I didn’t get enough information, I don’t know how to follow up. I think the rider you saw directing traffic was directly behind me on the decent and he wound up striking a cyclist who had already crashed and was disoriented (EMS had to take him away on a backboard). I catapulted off that guardrail into the ravine (superman style points) and landed in a heap on a tree. I cannot believe that I only suffered scrapes and bruises to my neck/rump/ego. But my bike is likely a write off, dropped it off at the shop for an estimate earlier.
After SAG picked us up I got to hang out at the finish line medi tent while doted on my the great staff there. I cheered on finishers with ice packs shoved in my jersey and bibs. Sad that I crashed out for sure, but thanking my lucky stars that it wasn’t worse. And still glad to have been part of such a great event.
Comment by Russell Rogers | 06.22.2009 | 6:31 pm
Holy Macerel! I went past that crash just as they were loading the fellow into the ambulance. They had him on a back board and neck brace and it didn’t look to good. Those were some tight turns with with damp roads. I hope theguth and the other riders recover quickly.
It was a good day. It was officially the longest century ride that I have ever done! Three flats, constant changing from cold to warm (I never really got hot all day) weather clothes, an absolute deluge of rain, several flats amongst the folks I was riding with, one of whom wiped out (with only minor scrapes), all added up to a ride that would never end! I was in the first row off the start line and got back 5 minutes after the course closed!
My garmin said that the elevation gain was also around 5600 feet. Every other person that I spoke with had the same thing. So I think the course info was incorrect.
Thanks to Eldon and Steve for making it all possible. It was great meeting everyone!