A Note From Fatty: I’ve added more photos and video since originally posting this morning. Even if you’ve looked through this before, it’s worth another look now.
Another Note From Fatty:This is the third in a series of four posts talking about last weekend’s Seattle LiveStrong Challenge event. Part One is here, and Part Two is here.
Yesterday, I put up some of the starting line photos. Today, I’ve got pictures and stories members of Team Fatty have mailed me.
Let’s start with a couple of my very favorite pictures of the whole event, sent in by Jonathan Schwarz:
Here are a couple Team Fatty riders coming around the “WIN Susan” corner, chalked in close to the finish line. Whoever thought to do that, thank you.
And another group of four coming around “WIN Susan” corner. I believe that’s Jeff LaRock, Matt Kreger (on the Ibis Silk Carbon he won on this blog last year), Jeremy Everitt and Jonathan Schwarz.
And the same group of four after the ride. I think we’ve got our new Team Fatty poster here!
Here’s David Lazar — a good friend, riding buddy, and mentor to me from when I was at Microsoft — with his family, along the route.
Matt Kreger took the time to take lots of photos along the route, giving you a sense of what the ride was like:
Several people noted the punishing bout of rain and hail that blasted folks during the ride. I didn’t understand how bad it was ’til I saw this video Matt Kreger sent in from the event:
And I got a terrific story from a Team Fatty rider who stayed at the front of the group, James L:
I’d heard that in previous Livestrong Challenge events, Lance rides with a few of his core team from Austin. They drive the pace hard. Of course everyone wants to see how long they can hang with Lance. Eventually most if not all crack under the pressure and Lance and his gang ride off with the police escort.
Since I’ve never seen this, I’m not sure if this is accurate.
In any case, I started in the back of the Fat Cyclist chute, content to just find a good group to ride with and meet a few people, have a good time, and beat the rain. Well even with a police officer on every corner, the bulk of the Fat Cyclist team took a wrong turn only one mile into the course. Suddenly, I was at the front of the ride, chatting with another guy from Tucson, following the police car.
We got onto the freeway (surreal experience right there) and a very fast group quickly formed. To me it seemed like an unsustainable pace but I thought oh well it might be fun to see how long I could hang. There were a few Fat Cyclists in the group, but not many.
By the time we got around Mercer Island, there were about 8 in the group, still flying, still following the police escort. We skipped the first two food stops and ascended Newport Hill. By this time we had dropped a few more, I was the only Fat Cyclist left, and a couple of guys were still drilling it. I was just trying to hang on, but slowly my body was remembering the sensations of racing from many years ago. By the top, there were just three of us, two racers plus myself.
The rest of the story is we rode every weekend warrior’s dream, the perfect training ride with a police escort! At every intersection, the police siren and lights came on. He corked the intersection for us and we rode through. There was also a follow motorcycle. They stopped at the rest stops and waited for us. We repaid by riding out of our minds to finish in just under five hours.
It turns out both my riding partners were cancer survivors. Quinn is 24, a bike racer from Portland, and had testicular cancer seven months ago and was very lucky to have caught it early. Kurt from Seattle had a similar story.
The message: check your nuts.
Congrats on a great ride, James. And that’s sound advice, especially for men.
Video of the Best Team Jersey Award
In yesterday’s post, I announced that the Team Fatty jersey had won the Seattle LiveStrong Best Jersey competition. Well, we’ve got video of Nick’s speech now:
Once again, congratulations to Twin Six on creating what we can now call an award-winning jersey!
More Than Just Hard Riding
There was more than just a big ride for Team Fatty, though. Before all the official events began, Team Fatty-Seattle got together for burgers at Dan Vogel’s place (thanks for letting us use your deck, Dan!):
Team Fatty-Seattle Co-Captain Steve Peterson (ClydeSteve) tries not to frighten the children.
Nick mans the tongs, sporting the Twin Six WWJR (What Would Jesus Ride?) T-shirt. Dom Fulford works the grill.
Team Fatty (and family and friends) enjoying a sunny day in Seattle. I’m pretty sure it was raining in Utah at the time.
Pre-race ride huddle to discuss team strategy: “Let’s take a wrong turn to confuse everyone else right out of the gate.”
Tomorrow: Team Co-Captain ClydeSteve’s Account
I’m going to do one more day of recapping this awesome event. Tomorrow will focus on the Award ceremony. By then I should have video, and ClydeSteve has promised to send his story of the day.
Once again, congratulations and thank you to all of Team Fatty-Seattle!
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.
That’s because 405 of you donated $5 to my LiveStrong Challenge account yesterday. Well, actually, a few of you have a hard time following directions (and I mean that in a really grateful way) and donated more than the $5 I asked for. Which means that all told, yesterday you donated $3040 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation on my behalf.
Thank you. Multiplied by 405, of course.
It’s 5:00 AM here; I’m up early because my birthday party / personal LiveStrong Challenge ride starts in one hour: some friends and I are going to ride The Gauntlet Supreme. So I will do the prize drawing and send email to winners later today. After I’m back, have showered, and taken a three-hour nap.
Seattle LiveStrong Challenge Coverage Coming Soon
I am not able to attend the Seattle LiveStrong Challenge, but — since Team Fatty-Seattle has made an incredibly impressive showing: $141,328! — the LAF asked me to send them a video for them to show at the Awards ceremony tomorrow night. I’ll post that video here for you to see here then, too.
And as I get videos, photographs, and reports of Team Fatty’s goings-on, I’ll update as frequently as needed.
All of you: thank you for reading, for your generosity, and for your support.
Now I’m going to go get ready for a big ol’ ride. I understand there will be cake at the end.
PS: Today Team Fatty crossed the 1/3 million mark!
I’ve always loved having visitors over, but now I love it for a completely different reason. Which is to say, when family comes over to stay for a few days, I now assume they are here to give me a break. To let me take a ride. To, in short, revert back to my natural ways of laxitude and irresponsibility.
And so it was that as soon as I found out my Ma-in-Law was going to be staying with us through the weekend that I IM’d Mark and said, “Hey, remember how you were talking about riding a Nebo loop (more about past Nebo rides here, here, and here) sometime? My Saturday just opened up.”
And within a couple hours, we had a ride plan established. Eventually, nine of us would start the ride: Me, Kenny, Jon, Jon’s brother Paul, Mark, Mark’s brother Steve, Chucky, Linde, and Vince (joining us at Payson Lake).
A Little About The Ride
You should know that the Nebo Loop is in contention for the coveted “Best Road Century in the Entire World” prize, having easily captured the local version of this prize (“Best Road Century in Utah”). It begins with a twenty-mile spin-up, giving you a chance to get warmed up and to chat with the group.
This is followed by a twenty-mile climb up an incredibly scenic, winding mountain road. About halfway up the climb there is a good spot to refill water bottles and regroup: Payson Lake.
The second half of the climb messes with your head, because there are at least six or seven places where you could swear you have reached the summit. But you haven’t. Mt. Nebo is the king of mindgame epics.
Once you (really, finally) summit and regroup, there’s the descent — which, just to show you who’s boss, still has three steep climbing pitches in it. Once the descent begins in earnest, it winds and turns at the top, then straightens out into a working descent. If you manage to form a group for this part of the ride, you can build a huge gap on those who find themselves soloing it.
Oh, by the way, right now there are several places in this descent where the pavement has been torn out. Just two feet long, but spanning the width of the road, presumably to put down cable or pipe.
Which means you get to decide whether you are confident doing a high-speed road bunnyhop over two feet of gravel.
It turns out that I am not.
Linde’s Tell
As proof that I am not fast, light, nor strong, I got shot right out the back of the group as soon as the road turned upward. For a while, Mark and Chucky rode with me as a shepherding move. Then, finding it difficult to ride so slowly, they went ahead.
I would be alone with my thoughts until we regrouped at Payson Lake, where Vince and Linde caught up with us.
For your information, by the way, my thoughts primarily took the form of, “Wow, I’m slow. And I hurt. And I’m fat. And I’m slow. It hurts to be this slow when you’re fat.” And so on.
Once we left for the second half of the climb, I was — again — shot out the back. Almost as if I were not as good a cyclist as the people I was riding with.
The difference, this time, was that Linde — resplendent in brilliant-white Assos clothing, head to knee — was in the back with me.
A side note: As much as possible, I avoided looking at Linde, because his clothing was so brilliantly white — or was it actually luminescent? — that I would see a Linde-shaped purple afterimage after looking at him.
From time to time, though, Linde would surge ahead, making me think that he was about to drop me. But then — every time — he would drop back and I would catch him, after which he would tuck in behind me.
Then it occurred to me: The Surge-Sag is Linde’s “Tell.” He was doing those mini-attacks to make me think he was strong, when in fact he was actually suffering. So of course I did the neighborly thing: the next time he did a mini-surge, I kicked up my speed just a hair. When Linde dropped back, he found that he couldn’t hold my wheel, and he was gone.
Mark’s Tell
I buried myself a little bit, wanting this attack — yes, I was attacking a friend on a friendly group ride — to stick. And there, up ahead, was Mark. I could see him.
And I could see that he was suffering. Because Mark had a Tell, too. Where he had been riding smoothly earlier in the day — his legs spinning, his shoulders flat and steady — he was now mashing, and his shoulders bobbed up and down as he pumped the bars.
I got the exact same feeling I get when I’m swimming in the deep ocean and smell blood.
I then exhibited one of cycling’s exceptions to the laws of physics: I gave 110% of my maximum energy output. Yes, I knew — even as it happened — that I would pay for it later, but at the time that seemed like a reasonable trade.
Twenty minutes later — I’m lucky it’s a very long climb — I caught Mark.
Apologetically, he stepped up the pace, at which point I begged him to back off, because I had just given everything I had to catch him and needed a few moments to revel.
Jon’s Tell
As Mark and I rode, we could see Jon, tantalizingly close — maybe just 100 yards or so. And you know what? Jon was showing off his Tell, too. Evidently, when Jon’s tired, he locks his elbows, rests his hands flat on the bars, and lets his head slump forward.
You know the look.
And Mark knew it too. He pulled away from me, hoping to bridge to Jon. After all, we were getting near the summit, and Mark surely did not want to finish the climb with the slow guy.
Hey, if I could have finished with someone besides myself, I would have.
Fortunately for Jon, this was not a concern for him. Tell or no Tell, I was not up to another push.
My Tell
As I finished the climb, I asked myself: “So, what is my Tell? How does my riding change when I’m cooked?”
All I needed to do was look down to get the answer. I was on the double yellow line. You see, my Tell is not only the most obvious one in the world, it’s actually deadly. Which is to say, my Tell is: I drift left.
I don’t know why I drift left when I’m tired, but I do. Reliably and predictably. And I’m generally not aware of it until a car honks at me or I cross the divider line.
Note to everyone who ever rides with me: try not to be on my left once I’ve bonked.
A Note from Fatty: This is the fifth in a series of who-knows-how-many posts about racers experiences with what I am now certain will be the annual 100 Miles of Nowhere. If you’re just now re-joining the blog after a long weekend, you may want to read previous posts to catch up. And if you were a racer and want to get your certificate, be sure to readthis post, which gives instructions on what you need to do.
Another Note from Fatty:The Kona Cadabra contest is now over. This evening I will do all the necessary spreadsheet magic (more work than you might think), choose, and notify a winner.
You’ll be excited to note that when we began this drawing, we had raised $197K for the LAF. We have now raised $230K. That’s $33,000 in one week!
Thanks so much for your donations and work in raising money to fight cancer.
Ryan T: Riding Part of the Course on a Big Wheel Division
Ryan is a friend of mine from way back. When I first started riding, Ryan had most-trusted-mechanic status. He’s moved on to other things and it’s been a while since we’ve ridden together, so it meant a lot to me to see that he did the 100 Miles of Nowhere.
I was even more pleased that he did the final lap on his Trek Mod — an adult-sized Big Wheel, basically.
From what I understand, Ryan and his friends now do night descents down Squaw Peak (the same descent where Kenny turfed it a couple years ago) on their Mods. I am evidently invited to joint them sometime. I just have to bring my own light setup.
Bruce had the outstanding idea of turning his race into a fundraiser, with the promise he’d do extra miles for extra donations. So he rode 111 miles on the block surrounding Heritage Park on Randolph Air Force Base.
One of his co-workers ran a half-marathon opposite him–so they saw each other about a zillion times.
You can read the complete report — including a torrential downpour, visits from friends, and contemplations on a dead bird he passed 120 times at Bruce’s site.
Jon S: On the Road, But Still Going Nowhere Division
Jon didn’t want to miss the great riding weather Saturday, so decided to take his rollers on the road:
Here’s Jon riding the rollers up Squaw Peak:
Almost made it…
And now, on the flats as he goes around Utah Lake, he’s just flying:
Says Jon, “I cheated and took off all the resistance (and pumped up my tires nice and firm) so I could lock in a hard gear and ride like mad.” Jon finished in 3:36:20, with a 27.7mph average. Nice!
I’m a little concerned about the fact that he chose not to wear a helmet, however.
Michael M: Internally Geared Hub Pugsley Division
After dropping my son off at the dayhome, I headed home to gather up my gear and head out and see how far I could push my Pugsley in a day. My plan was to ride around the neighborhood and map all of the streets and alleys within 1 km of home with my GPS. However, I couldn’t find my GPS. I searched the house several times but to no avail (I did later convince myself that the number of times I did those stairs should count for 2 km). No worries though, I know the loop at the local park is 8 km long and it’s a 2 km long downhill jaunt to get there.
Prior to taking off, I decided to weigh my bike and associated gear (snacks, gatorade, water, rain gear) to see how much weight I’d be pedaling today. It came in at an even 50 lbs! (Is there an additional category for heaviest bike?)
I got the usual stares associated with riding 4″ tires, but I think some people were just curious why they kept seeing me over and over again. If they’d asked, I’m not sure what I would have told them. I returned home at the 52 mile (read: km) mark for some lunch. Cold leftover pizza and chocolate bars, a true meal of champions. After watching the beginning of The Dirty Dozen, I returned to the Pug and the seemingly endless loop through Edworthy Park. By mile 70 (km) I started to think my newish Brooks saddle was finally broken in (I later concluded that the nerves in my @ss were just numbed).
I returned home at mile marker 98 (km), tired and aching, but not too bad. Good thing I had those 2 km of stairs earlier to top me up to 100 km! I told myself I could push for 100 miles, but I had to cut it off there as it was time to pick up my son again (I also had several other excuses at the ready in case I needed more convincing). I know 100 km is well short of 100 miles, but I figure I’m not selling myself short since my tires are at least 4 times the width of most other bikes in this race, and my bike weighed in at what is likely twice the racer average.
My overall time (minus lunch) was approximately 4.5 hours. I credit my win to selecting a category requiring an obscure bike that is likely the least desirable long distance road bike ever created (and I knew that Jill Homer was like 3000 miles away from her Pugsley).
Denville, NJ Tag-Team Division
Team Phillips, riding in the Denville NJ division, were split between two categories. Mrs. Team Phillips, an amateur by her own admission, was riding in the women’s not-quite-40-by-mere-days category. Mr. Team Phillips was competing in the men’s more-than-40-but-nowhere-near-50-thank-you-very-much category.
Mrs. Team Phillips, while fully committed to this event, was not able to complete a full century, but did ride for 2.5 hours (3.5 hours total elapsed time). She admitted to “feeling weepy” near the end of the ride, saying “I was becoming physically whipped, my blood sugar was low, and besides, watching ER (the TV show) always does that to me.”
Despite the fact that legally she did not finish the race, the rules were consulted… and it turns out there were no rules. Congratulations go out to Mrs. Team Phillips for her gutsy win. In her post-race interview, she specifically thanked Fat Cyclist for dreaming up this insane concept, her husband, Mr. Team Phillips, for buying her the trainer (which can now be found on Craigslist for $12), and especially to DZNuts, for “not being specifically formulated for the male anatomy.”
Mr. Team Phillips was confident he could complete all 100 miles, but in his own words, “not on some [expletive deleted] trainer”. To his credit, it was quite a beautiful day in northwest NJ, and he took full advantage of the regularly scheduled shop ride to complete the 37 mile first stage of the race. The second stage was 19 laps on a 3.4 mile loop, with minimal climbing (although steep, requiring him to get out of the saddle on every loop), beautiful scenery, and the warm spring sun (resulting in a distinctive cyclist’s tan by the end of the day).
Although Mr. Team Phillips provided his own support (drinks, food, gels, and even an extra bike), he did get some additional support and photographic assistance from his friend Jay, who even rode along for 6 laps. Total riding time for both stages was 5 hours 50 minutes, with an average speed of 17.3 mph.
Without question, Mr. Team Phillips was the clear champion of his more-than-40-but-nowhere-near-50-thank-you-very-much category. In his post race interview, he muttered something unintelligible about “the alpacas” and thanked his wife, Mrs. Team Phillips, for encouraging him to sign up for this particular brand of torture.
Team Phillips celebrated with a nap, a hot shower, and a lovely dinner at a local Italian restaurant, where “scads” of pasta and bread were consumed. In reflecting on their respective wins, the members of Team Phillips were united in their emphatic statement: “This was never about us, it was about all the people who are fighting the good fight against cancer. We are just glad we were able to partipate in some small way in this battle. WIN Susan!”
Bruce B: Extra Mileage Division
Denville, NJ Tag-Team Division