05.14.2012 | 11:08 am
Update from the Winner: I just heard from ClydeInKS, and here’s what he had to say:
Elden – I am letting you know the results of my decision and will be much less dramatic that televised nonsense of a particular basketball player. I must proclaim THANK YOU for creating the motivation and inspiring myself (and my wife Mighty Athena) for losing some excess, it was badly needed! A second THANK YOU goes for not getting the waffles out after the week 1 announcement – I would have surely been thrown off course shortly after their arrival. And finally a third, and largest THANK YOU for enabling me to become the proud recipient of a used pair of shoes!! I have a signed copy of your book and seeing the signatures of many fabulous current (and favorite) racers made the choice a challenge but I must go with Lance’s shoes, and congratulate Kukui on winning the book and autographs.
I returned to the bicycle approximately 2005 when I decided to fundraise for LiveSTRONG and ride in Austin Challenge. The decision came following my father’s diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. I understand that Team In Training raises funds specifically for leukemia and lymphoma, but didn’t see LiveSTRONG as being discriminatory toward types of cancers. I have worn a LiveSTRONG bracelet on my wrist since the day I learned of Dad’s diagnosis and stands as a reminder and inspiration still to this day. Dad has recovered remarkably and remains in remission. His courage and willpower was remarkable to witness (he was in the process of a major home remodel and continued working as his body allowed following his diagnosis and treatments) and still amazes me today.
I continue to ride when able and aim to participate in fundraising rides. The Tour de BBQ, here in Kansas City is a fabulous ride and LiveSTRONG fundraiser that you should put on your calendar, the BBQ alone would be worth the trip! I have a bare place on the wall at my work place ( an outpatient therapy clinic) dedicated toward housing a pair of Lance Armstrong’s shoes and can’t wait to see them there! LiveSTRONG, for some uncomprehended reason, occasionally brings about negative comments and feedback, but their mission is one stand by and will continue supporting in your many avenues, as well as other areas, and am looking forward to riding Nowhere to support Camp Kesem!
Congrats, ClydeInKS! And hopefully I’ll be able to get those shoes off to you sometime within the next 5-6 years.
Decisions, Decisions
Suppose you were offered a near-impossible decision. But you had to choose. For example, suppose you had to choose between never eating peanut butter again, or eating nothing but peanut butter for the rest of your life (I’d go with the latter).
Or suppose you were given the choice of having to choose only one kind of bike riding — mountain bike or road — for the rest of your life (I know, that would be really easy for some of you, but it would be a very difficult decision for me, and in fact am sweating profusely at even the thought of having to make such a horrific decision).
Or — get this — suppose you were offered the choice of having to either get a copy of my book, complete with signatures from everyone in Team RadioShack:
Or you could choose a pair of Lance Armstrong’s worn out running shoes:
“But wait!” I imagine you saying, dramatically (by which I mean that you sound dramatic in my imagination, not that my imagination is dramatic, though it may well be). “How do we know that those are really Lance Armstrong’s shoes? They could be anyone’s shoes!”
“Ah, you are an astute one,” I reply. “So perhaps this will assuage your concerns.” At which point I — with a certain practiced showmanship — pull out the insole of the left shoe:
And indeed, this is verifiably Lance’s signature.
“But just in case that is not enough,” I then say, “Perhaps this video will be enough to put your fears to rest!”
Yes, that is Lance. And yes, those are the selfsame shoes, which are now in my possession.
And yes, those shoes really do smell terrible.
Not a Hypothetical Question
I pose this near-impossible choice because it is not hypothetical. The winner of last month’s weight challenge — wherein we raised more than $4000 for LiveStrong — is right this minute contemplating this very question, assuming he got the email I sent him a few minutes ago.
That person goes by the handle “ClydeInKS.”
The second place contestant — Kukui — will get whichever is left over.
I will report the results as I get them.
PS: By the way, among the weight loss challenge participants, the shoes would be chosen by 57%, the book by 42%, with 1% undecided.
PPS: I’m sure someone else is going to point it out, so I’ll go ahead and say it first: Lance Armstrong has the tidiest closet I have ever seen in my life.
Comments (16)
03.14.2012 | 2:41 pm
THURSDAY UPDATE FROM FATTY: Since I posted this late yesterday, I know a lot of people are just now seeing it. So: it’s totally cool to post your starting weight today (Thursday) as well as tomorrow (Friday), or Saturday. Thanks!
ANOTHER THURSDAY UPDATE FROM FATTY: I need some help with the phpBB forum from someone who is expert at it. Specifically, from someone who knows how to block the spam that’s already raining down on it. Email me if you can help.
A month or so ago, I posted that I need to lose weight. And I hinted that I had a good reason why. And I mentioned something about maybe doing a contest.
Then, at the beginning of this week, I announced that I’m going to get to be on the TV show, Leverage. (By the way, I’ve had several more exciting ideas about my appearance on that show and will post them tomorrow.)
Are you starting to connect the dots?
So here is my nightmare scenario: Everyone I know — family, friends, co-workers, and about 50,000 blog readers all check in as I liveblog the episode of Leverage I’m going to be on. I appear on screen — DVD recording, of course — and . . . I’m at my current weight.
Which appears to be even more than my actual current weight.
Which, just to be clear, is 173 pounds. Yeah, I’ve kinda let myself fatten up over the winter. A little (by which I mean, “a lot”).
Anyway, back to the scenario: Everyone looks at me on TV. Then they look at me in real life. Then they look at me on the screen again. Then someone speaks up.
“Dude. You really are the Fat Cyclist.”
Personal Motivation
So I need to lose weight. Before the middle of April. Like, ideally, 16 pounds (getting me back to my racing / modeling / TV-appearance weight of 158 pounds.
Plus, I’m running the Boston Marathon in the middle of April. I think it’d be nice if The Hammer didn’t have to wait for more than two hours at the finish line for me.
And in addition to all that, I would really like to start the bike racing season nice and light. Because I have set myself up for the most serious suite of races in my life. It’d be a shame if I sucked at all of them.
It’s time for me to get serious about losing some weight.
And maybe you’d like to lose some at the same time.
Maybe a cool contest would help.
Lose Weight, Fight Cancer, and Win Cool Stuff
So I’m proud to announce a four-week weight loss contest — starting tomorrow, and ending Friday, April 13. A nice, short, intense competition where you’ll do some good in the fight against cancer, you’ll motivate me to get to race weight by the time I’m on Leverage (and, the following weekend, racing the Boston Marathon), and — possibly — winning some cool stuff.
There will be prizes awarded every week, as well as a pretty awesome prize at the end.
And if you do better than I do, percentage-wise, I’m going to give you something pretty cool.
Of course, if I beat you, you’re going to have to give me a prize (don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll begrudge me it).
What Are The Prizes?
Well, the grand prize — the prize going to the person who loses the greatest percentage of their body weight by the end of the contest — is pretty awesome: an autographed copy of my book, Comedian Mastermind.
But not just autographed by me. Noooooo. It’s autographed by every single person on Team RadioShack Nissan Trek. Check it out:
I am pretty sure that there are not many objects in the world that are like this. And if you want, I’ll sign it too (also, if you want, I won’t sign it — your call).
Oh, and speaking of rare, signed objects, I’ve also got an alternate grand prize lined up. It’s something owned, worn, and signed by Lance Armstrong. No, not a yellow jersey. Those things are almost too common:
The Hall of LiveStrong, leading to the office in my house
So no. Not a yellow jersey. A pair of running shoes. Specifically, a pair of running shoes Lance wore ’til they were worn out. Then he signed them. Or will sign them. Since I just asked him to do this last night, I doubt he’s signed them yet.
Regardless, I’m pretty sure there are not many of those floating around on eBay.
[Side Note: Believe me, it was not an easy thing for me to approach Lance Armstrong and say, "Hey, Lance? Can I have a pair of your worn out running shoes, autographed?"
To which he replied (and I quote), "Uh…ok. You bet. When?"
Which is a pretty remarkable thing, really, when you consider that the vast number of replies he could have made. ]
But that’s not all.
There will also be other prizes given away to winners and other notable performers each week. For example, each week, I’m going to give away a box of Honey Stinger Waffles or Honey Stinger Energy Chews to the person who did the best that week.
You’ve heard of these, right? You know, only the best-tasting energy food that’s ever been made? So good, in fact, that I am at this very moment resisting the urge to climb two flights of stairs (my office is in the basement, my Honey Stinger stash is in my second-floor bedroom) and dig into them for some recreational snacking?
Yeah. Those Honey Stingers.
But that’s not all. Either.
Each week, to some random participant who has lost at least some weight that week, I will give a $36 gift certificate to Twin Six, which is plenty of money to get you a t-shirt, not to mention shipping. Or it’s enough to make a jersey a ridiculously good price. Or it’s enough to get you three pair of the same kind of socks, so when you lose one sock, you don’t have to throw the other one away; just keep it ’til you lose the next one, and you’re back to a good place again.
And there will be other prizes. But I’m not going to tell you what those prizes are.
Not yet, anyway. Because frankly I haven’t contacted everyone I need to to get the other prizes in place. Because I’m lazier than the average blogger, that’s why.
But I will tell you that anything I give away is worth having. Really worth having.
But prizes don’t go only to the absolute winners in this contest. Nosirree. They also go to anyone who manages to beat me.
Namely, if you beat me (meaning if you lose a greater percentage of your weight than I do by April 13) — I’ll comp your entry into the 2012 100 Miles of Nowhere.
That’s a $95.00 value, folks.
But if I beat you, you have to donate another $25 to my LiveStrong page.
Sounds like an intriguing competition, doesn’t it? Darn right it does.
Here’s how it works.
Step 1. Pay Your Dues
The first thing you’ve got to do with this contest is show you’re serious about it. You’ve got to pay an “entry fee,” of sorts.
In this case, the entry fee is you need to make a $25.00 donation at my LiveStrong Boston Marathon Challenge page. That’s your way of saying, “I’m not just idly entering this. I’m giving something up to do this. And also, I’m helping LiveStrong help people fight cancer.”
Step 2. Weigh Yourself
Weigh yourself tomorrow morning. And when you do it, do it honest. Don’t load up on water or anything to set yourself up with a padded start weight. I’m not. Let’s all play this honestly.
Step 3. Create a Topic For Yourself in the Forum
I just launched a bare-bones forum at forum.fatcyclist.com. You need to register for it, then create a topic for you and your weight loss progress. Here’s how:
- Go to the Forum Registration Page and agree to the terms. (I have never read the terms, and suggest you don’t read them either). Fill in the registration stuff and get yourself all properly registered and everything.
- Go to the Weight Loss Pages in the Forum and click the New Topic button.
- For the subject, enter your user handle or name. Whichever you’re going to use. But if you use a user handle instead of a name, send me an email with your name AND user handle, so I’ll be able to verify that you paid your registration dues.
- In the message, enter your starting weight. And anything else you’d like to.
- Go back to the Weight Loss Pages in the forum and check out what other people have set for their starting weights. Maybe reply to some of them. Encourage folks. Be nice. Let’s be cool and helpful and friendly and stuff, OK?
And that’s all you’ve got to do for now. If you’d like to enter interim weights, during the upcoming week, you can reply in your own topic with new weights. Or you can be all mysterious and not say anything ’til next week.
And it’ll go on like that for a month.
Easy, huh?
Step 5. Start Losing Weight
OK, now for the fun hard part: losing weight. I’m planning to be incredibly dedicated, and will post my weight every day. I’ll also be checking others’ threads and posting encouragement. Because I would love to see as many people as possible do great at this.
Step 6. Keep Losing Weight
I’ll be posting directions on how to do the math for your percentages lost, and when to post updates. Specifically, Wednesday next week I’ll go into what you need to do to enter your first weekly weigh-in, and by Thursday next week you need to have posted the results of your weigh-in.
This contest is going to be fun. And there’s going to be great stuff for you to win. And it should give you (and me!) a great reason to get started on getting rid of those Winter pounds.
So: ante up now. And then sign up. And good luck!
PS: Is there anyone out there who would like to be my helper / tracker on this game? Because I think I’m going to need some help. Email me if you’re willing to put some time in doing math and entering numbers. Thanks!
PS: I’ve got a math helper volunteer now. Thanks, David!
Comments (61)
11.3.2011 | 10:53 am
Update: The contest is over; the order form is now down.
Maybe it’s time I admit I have a problem.
I have this plan, see? And it’s a good plan: take my best work from the first two years of this blog, then add a bunch of fun new stuff to it: absurd footnotes, details about the inspiration for each of the posts, new organization, and a hilarious set of forewords from the core team. Get an awesome designer to lay it out and create a cover for me, get a terrific editor to edit it for me, and I’ve got a book. (Click here to learn more about Comedian Mastermind.)
Then I start pre-orders for that book, with the plan to use the proceeds to finance my dream: research and write The Cancer Caretaker’s Companion, a book project that’s going to require my full-time attention for several months.
Even more importantly, this book will be my foot in the door when I try to get a mainstream publisher to take note of The Cancer Caretaker’s Companion. “Look,” I’ll say, impressively, as I produce spreadsheets and bar charts and pie graphs. “Using nothing but my own bare hands” (and here I’ll show my bare hands to emphasize the point) “I wrote and published a book that sold pretty darned well. And that was just a comedy book, to be read for entertainment.”
“Imagine,” I’ll conclude, in a hushed, dramatic voice, “how many books I’d sell if my book were in actual bookstores and were marketed by people who market things for a living.”
In my imagination, at this point, the publisher swoons and my agent stands up, applauding wildly — while simultaneously wiping a tear from his eye.
So far, so good, right? But that’s where things go wrong for me.
“Why just sell a book?” I say to myself. “Everyone sells books, every day. People who come to my blog aren’t going to expect something that ordinary.”
“Why not,” I reason to myself, “make things a little more interesting? As in, give people a little nudge toward buying my book, just in case they’re on the fence? Add a little incentive, as it were.”
By the way, I say this to myself in a calculating, wily voice. The voice Otto from A Fish Called Wanda might use. Except more sincere, and less likely to torture you.
Buy My Book, Win a Dream Bike
Once I finished talking to myself (try to think of this habit as a charming idiosyncrasy, rather than as a sign of mental illness, thanks), I made a couple of calls.
First, I called my friend Chuck Ibis, shown here looking as startled as I am bewildered:
“Chuck,” I said, “I’d really love to give away a sexy, high-end bike to a random person who buys my book.”
“The Ibis Silk SL is sexy,” Chuck replied.
And you know what? Chuck’s right. Check it out:
The winner of the bike will get to choose either Siberian White, or Matt Matte. Let’s take a look at some of the frame details, because Ibis has stepped up its graphics game in a huge way lately. Here’s Siberian White:
And here’s Matt Matte:
But don’t look at the components on that Matt Matte bike up there, because they’re all wrong. The winner of this bike is gonna get something quite a bit sweeter, because the next call I made was to Dustin Brady.
You know, the marketing guy at Shimano who inspired everyone with his incredible determination to fulfill a promise.
“Dustin,” I said, “Chuck’s helping me out with a super-sweet Ibis frame. I’d like to turn this awesome bike into a full-on dream bike.
“That sounds like a problem a nice Shimano Dura-Ace build will solve,” Dustin replied.
“Wwwwhaaa?” I replied, because I was just getting ready to start my spiel on what I wanted to do and what I wanted him to give me (I was going to ask for an Ultegra build).
“Yeah,” said Dustin. “If it’s a dream bike, it’s gotta have Dura-Ace. Components and wheels.”
I admit, I had to sit down. Then I asked, “Full-on Dura-Ace? Shimano’s top-of-the line road components, top to bottom?
“Yeah,” said Dustin. “Let’s go with the C35 clinchers for this bike’s wheels, OK?”
“OK,” I said. “If you say so.”
How it Works
So, this is really pretty simple. If you’d like a chance at winning an Ibis Silk SL with Shimano Dura-Ace components and wheels, buy a book (or more than one) during the pre-order period, which ends a week from today (the order form’s a little further down this post).
For every buck you spend (rounded up and including money you spend on shipping) on buying my book, you get a row on my magical spreadsheet. So if you buy one book at the “I Need a Serious Bargain” price of $9.95 + $3.00 shipping, you get thirteen rows on my spreadsheet. If you buy a book at the “I Like Fatty” price of $19.95 + $3.00 shipping, you get 23 rows on my spreadsheet.
And if you buy 719 copies at the “I REALLY Love Fatty” price of $39.95, you get 28,728 rows on my spreadsheet.
And of course, even if you don’t win the bike, you still bought the book, which will arrive in time for Christmas (in fact, it should arrive in time for you to ship it elsewhere and still have it arrive by Christmas). But wrapping is up to you.
I’ll choose the winner randomly November 10 at midnight, Mountain Time, and will notify her or him by email.
But What If You Already Bought a Book?
Of course, if you already bought a book before I ever even announced this contest, your past purchase counts toward the contest too.
Cuz if it didn’t, that would totally suck.
How to Order
As always, I’m letting you select how much you want to pay for this book (though I’ve changed the name of one of the options). You can get more details about that here.
I have added a new price option, called “I Need a Bargain,” for $11.95, so that — with shipping — your total outlay for the book is under $15.00.
This option’s essentially like the “I Need a SERIOUS Bargain” option, except I was worried that people weren’t choosing the $9.95 option because they didn’t like the idea of me not getting a cut. With the $11.95 option, you can rest easy, knowing that you’ve got a great deal while still contributing a couple of bucks toward my Cancer Caretaker’s Companion project.
So, choose your option below, click Add to Cart, and then complete the sale at Paypal.
Thanks tons. I hope you enjoy this book. . .and I hope you win the bike, too.
Comments (54)
11.1.2011 | 5:24 pm
A Non-Book-Related Note from Fatty: Don’t worry, this whole post isn’t just about book stuff. Just stick with me for a few minutes while I take care of business.
A Book-Related Note from Fatty: First off, thanks to those of you who have bought a book (and extra thanks to those of you who have bought more than one!). I really appreciate it. This has been a lot of work, so I love seeing that folks are interested in owning a copy.
I have to say, though, I’m a little bit surprised at a couple things:
1. Not very many people have taken advantage of the “I’m Nearly Broke” option, where you can get a copy of this book for $9.95. I think maybe I made it seem like it’s an option you should take only as a last resort, like if you’re choosing between buying a book and paying the bills.
That’s not what I want at all.
The truth is, one of main things I want out of this first book is bragging rights. Specifically, I want to be able to say, “I sold thousands of books.”
So, if you’ve got $13 to spare (that’s how much the book will cost you after shipping) and you’d like to have this book, don’t be embarrassed to go with this bargain option. You’re still helping me accomplish an important step toward getting serious attention for my future projects.
2. Not very many people have taken advantage of the “Standard” price. I’m a little bit amazed at the fact that more people have paid the $39.95 price for this book than for the $19.95 price for it. That’s crazy-generous of you people. But don’t feel like you have to order one of the pricier versions of the book. As it’s easy to tell, this book is costing me about $10 per copy (between the book itself, shipping, and paying people who are helping me edit, design, and do layout for this book).
Which means that when you pay the $19.95 price, I’m clearing about $10 / copy. For books, that’s really, really good.
So, in short, if you’d like a copy of Comedian Mastermind — and I really hope you will want a copy, because honestly I’m pretty darned proud of it and think that if you like this blog you’ll really like this book — don’t feel pressured into buying the $30 or $40 version of the book.
I appreciate you taking the time and spending the money, no matter what.
But What About a Kindle Version?
Lots of people commented yesterday, wondering if there will be a Kindle version of Comedian MasterMind. The answer is, yes. But I’m not worrying about it until I get the paper version of the book out the door. My objective right now is to get the paper version finished and in everyone’s hands — with time to spare — before Christmas.
Once that’s done, I’ll learn how to Kindle-fy it, and maybe Nookitize it, too.
Story Problem
I’ve got a race this weekend. An important race.
It’s the…Turkey Triathlon.
Yes, really.
It’s a short little thing: 5K run, 10 mile road bike ride, and a 350 meter swim. In that order, which is kind of weird. And, as I have mentioned, this is a very important race.
A race I must win.
No, I’m saying I need to be the guy who beats everyone in this race. I couldn’t care less about whether some fast tri guy manages to clean my clock. In fact, I expect that to happen.
What matters is that I beat two particular people. These two:
I think you’ve met the one on the left, though it’s possible you’ve never seen a photo of her on this site without glasses and either a helmet or a ponytail.
She is the woman known — and feared — far and wide as “The Hammer.”
The one on the right — who is actually not taller than the one on the left, but is wearing heels (The Hammer does not wear heels, ever, out of kindness to me) — is The Swimmer.
There’s definitely a “Like Mother, Like Daughter” thing going on with these two. Both are very beautiful, both are very strong athletes, and — most importantly — both of them have a decent chance at beating me in the Turkey Tri this weekend.
It’s been the topic of considerable discussion among the three of us for several months. To the point of this race being approximately three thousand times more important to me than when — as a joke, really — we signed up for the thing.
A good case can be made for why each of us might win. I shall now present those cases.
The Case for Fatty
Let’s start with me first. You all pretty much know my strengths and weaknesses, but let’s review:
- Run: Thanks to The Hammer, I have made progress in running, to the point where I have gone from being a total non-runner to being a runner who can plod along slowly and clumsily for a great distance. For example, last Saturday The Hammer and I ran five miles before we ran a half marathon — in costume. Here we are:
The problem — and this is strictly a problem for me, not for The Hammer — is that I am much, much slower of a runner than The Hammer. By the time we got to the last five miles of the half-marathon, she could no longer bear to go at my pace and shot forward, disappearing over the horizon within one minute. I am not exaggerating.
- Bike: I am the fastest cyclist of the three of us.
- Swim: In open-water swims (St. George Ironman, Ogden Xterra), I am a faster swimmer than The Hammer. In the pool, she is faster than I am. For the Turkey Tri, we will be in a pool.
Why I could win: I expect that I will drop behind The Swimmer and The Hammer in the run, but I expect to make a fast transition to the bike, thanks to my planned strategy of yanking off my running shoes, pulling on my biking shoes, and then quickly twisting the knobs on my high-zoot Boa Closure System.
Once on the bike, I hope to make up ground quickly, and then startle them both with a “Yawp!” as I ride by.
If I give it everything I’ve got, I will be so far ahead by the time we get to the swim that it won’t matter that I am slower in the pool than The Hammer, and much, much slower than The Swimmer.
The Case for The Swimmer
In addition to having youth on her side, The Swimmer is also strong in two sports. Here is why she might win:
- Run: Over a short distance, during the couple of times she has run with The Hammer and me, The Swimmer has demonstrated that she is faster than either of us. And 5K is definitely a short distance. The Swimmer is very likely to finish this leg first.
- Bike: The Swimmer will do a very fast transition because she will not be changing shoes; she does not ride clipless. However, that’s about as much as can be said for her on the bike. She needs to hope she makes enough time in the other two events that The Hammer and I don’t overwhelm her on the bike.
- Swim: The Swimmer is not just a good swimmer, she’s on the varsity swim team. She’s a ridiculously good swimmer. If The Hammer and / or I have not finished at least 50% of the swim by the time The Swimmer gets in the pool, she is guaranteed to overtake us and win easily.
Why The Swimmer could win: While I am very strong in one event, The Swimmer is very strong in two events. All she has to do is limit her loss on the bike and she’s golden.
The Case for The Hammer
Behold The Mighty Hammer. Whereas I’m good at one event, and The Swimmer is good at two events, The Hammer is good at all three events. Here is why she might win:
- Run: Before she was ever known as The Hammer, she was The Runner. And she still is. Think of “Hammer” as a superset of “Runner.” I think it’s likely The Hammer will either enter the transition area with, slightly behind, or slightly ahead of The Swimmer. Those two will be close.
- Bike: The Hammer hangs with me, no problem, on the bike. Depending on how fast she is in the run, she’ll either finish with me or slightly ahead of me on the bike.
- Swim: While she claims to be very non-competitive, The Hammer’s game face gives her away. When she races, she’s racing. If she gets in the water ahead of me — which is highly probable — she’ll finish ahead of me.
Why The Hammer could win: The fact that the Hammer is not the weakest in any of the events makes her a very strong candidate for winning the whole thing.
What’s At Stake?
You mean aside from bragging rights? Nothing. Nothing at all.
But when you think about it, are there many things in the world worth more than bragging rights?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Your Take
I am interested in your predictions for who will win, as well as your analysis of why. If you need additional details, please feel free to ask; if I have time, I’ll supply an answer.
I look forward to seeing who is right.
Update for Extra Credit
I just got an email from the organizers with this information:
The weather is not looking great for Saturday. In the ten years of the Turkey Tri’s existence, we have never had to make a course change. However, there’s a potential this year. The race will be modified to a run-swim, if the course is determined to be unsafe due to weather related issues. These modifications will be made to ensure the safety of our participants. We’re hoping to keep our streak alive by not having to change the course. Lets hope it stays dry.
So the extra credit question is:
If the course is in fact modified to eliminate the one part of the race I am good at, exactly how badly will I lose?
Comments (71)
10.13.2011 | 8:31 am
A Note from Fatty About Dustin’s Young Survival Coalition Tour de Pink Contest: Dustin set out to do three things to honor Michelle last weekend. For two of them, all the work was up to him. For the third — raising $20,000 for the Young Survival Coalition — well, Team Fatty delivered for him in spades. Now that the contest is over, here are a few little nuggets of information you might be interested in:
- I just emailed the prize winners and am now waiting to hear back.
- The grand prize winner donated $100 on 10/7, and has the initials “BC.” [Update: The winner's name is Barry C, and he's sent in a little blurb and photo about himself. Check it out below]
- 493 people donated as part of this contest.
- Team Fatty raised $21,955.60, making us the second-biggest fundraiser in the West Coast Tour de Pink. That’s nearly $2000 more than our goal. Awesome!
- I thought we were going to be the largest fundraiser, but another person came from nowhere yesterday and raised about $3000 more than we did. Frankly, I think that is awesome.
- Weiser’s Army, of which Team Fatty is a member, is by far and away the top fundraising team, with just under $50,000 raised.
- The largest donation came from Twin Six — $1060 — coming from their 50% donation of all XL+ gear for one day. I love the Twin Six guys.
- The largest donation from an individual was an amazing $650.
- 75 people donated $100 or more, including two people who donated $500. That’s amazingly generous.
- 39 people donated $5, which is also amazingly generous. Seriously, when I see that someone donated $5, I see someone who doesn’t have a ton of money to spare, but is stretching to do something to help anyway. I’m happy to say that one of the people who donated $5 won a set of Shimano Dura-Ace pedals.
This has been a fantastic, inspiring contest. Thank you to everyone in Team Fatty who participated, and a huge thanks to Dustin, who has a huge heart and an amazing amount of determination.
I think the next time we have a bike giveaway loaded up with awesome Shimano componentry, it’s going to mean a lot more to everyone who reads this blog.
Meet the Winner of the Giant TCR Advanced SL With Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 Components
I’ve never received a prize acknowledgement back as quickly as I did from Barry, the winner of the Giant TCR Advanced SL, outfitted with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 components and Dura-Ace wheels. Barry’s reply? “Please tell me this is not some joke.”
It was no joke.
Here’s a little bit about Barry, in his own words:
Fatty,
I’ve been following your blog for about three years. I think I found out about it when I was looking something up on the Leadville 100. I did the race in ‘99 and ‘01 and was contemplating doing it again (my friend and I may go for it again in ‘12). I’ve followed your site daily since then.
I was touched by your situation with Susan and have experienced the impact of cancer in my family with my grandmother and most recently with my sister-in-law. I’ve donated off and on over the past few years whenever you were raising money.
When I read about Dustin and Michelle, their story motivated me to donate again. I don’t know if it was my sister-in-law recently winning the battle against breast cancer or my desire to complete an Ironman despite my controlled drowning swimming technique and my extreme hatred towards running. Regardless, I was happy to donate and am overwhelmed at actually winning something in return.
So about me – I live in New Jersey with my wife and three kids and we are a biking family. My focus was on mountain biking until just this spring when I purchased my first road bike (you will see it on ebay soon!!). I’ve done my share of races but I’m generally a middle of the pack sport level kind of guy. I completed Leadville twice to get my buckle but I won’t be challenging for the big buckle. I have several friends that are into biking like I am and we do a little bit of everything from road biking to downhill. Surprising to many people, New Jersey is a great place for biking.
I’m still in shock about the new bike. I am starting to work on all kinds of new excuses now about why I’m still slow on a $10,000 bike.
I’ve attached a picture of me on my Lenz Milkmoney singlespeed a month ago down in Virginia. That was my old favorite bike…I have a new one now.
Barry
Congratulations, Barry!
Write A Guest Post For Me
I am going to be traveling for work for the next two weeks. For at least one of those weeks, I’d like to feature guest posts.
We’ve done this once before, with the topic “My Proudest Moment” (see here and here and here and here and here). This time, the topic is:
I’ve never suffered as badly on a bike as when . . .
The truth is, rides where everything went right don’t make good stories. And we’ve all had bad days on a bike.
So, write your story for us. It can be serious, funny, contemplative, whatever you like.
When you send me the story, please do the following to make it easy for me:
- Make the subject line “I’ve never suffered as badly…” and address it to fatty@fatcyclist.com.
- Keep the post to 1200 words or less, please. If you must, the story can be longer, but I notice that readership and comments drop when my posts are too long.
- Attach the Word document to your email, and paste the story into the body of the email.
- Attach any images (JPG format please) you want to use in the story to the email. Don’t include them in the Word doc. Instead, indicate in double square brackets where the image should go, like this:
[[image001.jpg]]
- Keep the language clean. If I wouldn’t be comfortable saying the words to my 10-year-old daughters, I won’t use them in my blog.
- Include a bio (a couple sentences) about yourself, as well as a photo.
Not too hard, right?
I’m looking forward to reading — and posting — your stories!
PS: Mike Levin, longtime friend of fatty and coiner of the “We Want Pie!” mantra, has a relative who’s an international wakeboarding sensation. Noah is in the running for Sports Illustrated “Sports Kid of The Year.” Why don’t you go vote for him, by clicking here.
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