11.4.2009 | 8:04 am
I have never grown a moustache (or, as we will call it from here on out, a “mo.”). This is not because I am unable to grow a mo. I expect I am quite capable of such an act, for my facial hair –unlike the hair on the top of my head–has not receded in the slightest.
And it hasn’t gone gray, either. OK, maybe I’m starting to get the odd gray stubble on my chin, but my mo-growing zone remains luxuriously thick and dark.
Here, for example, is what I would have looked like with a mo when being photographed at the Austin LiveStrong Challenge with Lori — one of the people I met at the event:
Pretty dashing, I say. And I’m not the only one who would look great with a mo. Consider Kenny, whose mo would go just swimmingly with the flavasava he’s got going on below his lower lip:
It makes him look dangerous, no? Yes!
And I understand even a certain Lance is growing a mo this month.
Holy crap. I look exactly like Geraldo Rivera. When he’s not wearing his toupee, I mean.
I think the evidence is quite clear. It’s time to grow a mo. And for the month of Movember, I am going to. I will photograph myself and post my progress frequently, so you can see how it’s going.
And — if you’re a guy — I’d like you to join me and do the same. (And if you’re not a guy, or you’re a guy without the necessary facial capability, I’d like you to convince some other guy to grow a mo on your behalf.)
What Is Movember?
(For Movember.com’s own description of themselves, click here.) Movember is the month formerly known as November. During this month, men — manly men — grow mos as a way to call attention to themselves (hey, I’m just being honest here).
Then, when people ask you “Why are you growing a moustache?” — and they will ask you this question — you tell them about the cancers affecting men, and ask them to donate to your Mo donation page (the money will be channeled to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and to LiveStrong).
So really, a mo is kinda like wearing a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness. But a lot more personal. And harder to remove. And it’s displayed a lot higher.
What Mo Will I Grow?
The great thing about growing a mo is that for the first week or more, you have time to ponder the question: “What shape will my mo take?”
And in fact I spent considerable time considering that exact question.
Until I saw Zombieland last weekend. And now I cannot personally imagine growing any other mo than the one Tallahassee had.
First photos coming next week. I am going to look so macho.
Join Up and Maybe Win a Mo T-Shirt or Necklace
So now, I’d like to ask you to join Team Fatty and grow a mo. It doesn’t cost anything to register, and you do not have to be a guy. Anyone can join the Movember movement.
I will ask you, as a member of Team Fatty’s Mo Brigade, to send me occasional photographs of your (or your surrogate’s) Mo-In-Progress. And I will post ones I like on the Blog.
At the end of the month, I will award Movember T-Shirts to the ten most awesome (as determined either by popular vote or by me — haven’t decided which yet) Mos in Team Fatty. They look like this:
Or, if you’re a woman who got someone else to grow an awesome mo, I’ve got ten of these to award, too:
Really, I simply cannot think of more incentivizing incentives. Go sign up now, and start growing your mo.
PS: I am all kinds of swamped at work and life right now, and I’m trying to get ready for a 3-day MTB weekend with the core team. Also, this whole week is supposed to have perfect “shorts and short sleeves” riding weather, and I’d be a fool to not take advantage of it.
So I’ll be back Tuesday. Unless the weather holds.
Comments (61)
11.2.2009 | 11:46 am
If you get Bicycling Magazine , you might have seen that they have a really nice story about my family and me in the December issue. Click either of the images below to see a larger, more legible version of that page:
You can see that my teenage sons love being photographed.
Well, to go along with that article, Bicycling did an interview with me for their weekly podcast. So if you’ve ever wondered what I sound like or how much I stammer, now’s your chance to find out. Hint: it’s a lot.
I should point out that between this article and podcast, this is the third time Bicycling has done a real favor to me (the first time was when they put the Fat Cyclist jersey on the cover, the second time was when they talked about the jersey in the editorial page).
I hereby declare Bicycling a Friend of Fatty for life.
PS: I know I said I’d talk about Movember today, but I honestly haven’t taken the time to get things organized. Mea culpa. Soon, I promise.
Comments (65)
10.30.2009 | 9:00 am
No time to write today. Much more important things going on this morning. Specifically, getting Halloween costumes ready.
Nigel is a block of Java code.
For those of you who can read this and want to know how it ends, here’s the back.
The girls — who are deeply into the Harry Potter series right now (we’re currently on Prisoner of Azkaban) wanted to be Harry and Ron.
Brice is working on the most sophisticated costume of all — he’s going to be Captain Duct Tape. He spent a lot of time working on the cape last night (yes, made entirely of duct tape), but he’s not done with the rest of the costume. I think it’s going to be awesome.
As for me, well, I’m Pearl Izumi Man.
I daresay this will attract some attention at the office.
[Note: More on this getup in another post. Meanwhile, would you believe that this jersey is their size XL? Yeah.]
Happy Halloween!
PS: Start thinking about what moustache you’re going to grow. Team Fatty will be starting up Movember this Monday.
PPS: If you’re local, I recommend you participate in Rick Sunderlage’s (not his real name) Hell-O-Ween ride tonight. Basic Info here, and updated info here.
Comments (67)
10.29.2009 | 12:14 am
This is the last post I’ll do about the Austin LiveStrong Challenge. I promise. Unless something else occurs to me or I otherwise change my mind.
The thing is, though, I just got the photos of the team and me with Lance.
And they’re awesome.
The most rewarding one is the group photo from the award ceremony dinner on Saturday night.
Here, Lance actually volunteered to wear a Team Fatty jersey. The thing is, though, I didn’t have one with me to wear. So the guy you see behind and to the left of me, currently wearing a black t-shirt, gave his up for Lance to wear.
I also like the posed photo Lance and I took right before the dinner.
The thing is, while we were standing there, Lance actually told me something I did not know and that very few people know, and that a lot of people would be interested in knowing.
But I’m not going to say what it is. Because secrets are at their most awesome when people know you have one, but don’t know what it is.
But back to photos with Lance.
I have to say that my very most favorite photos are of me riding with Lance.
Gee, I wonder why he has a pained expression on his face? Maybe it’s because of this:
Or perhaps he’s just disappointed that the basket, with its copious carrying capacity, is — alas! — empty.
Maybe he’d be happier if there were something in it.
Or, considering my nickname and the nature of my blog, perhaps he was hoping for something along this line:
OK. Tomorrow we stop talking about Austin. Seriously.
Cuz you know, it’s about time to start thinking about Movember.
PS: Thanks to Red Licorice Events for providing me with that exquisite bike for the photo shoot.
Comments (78)
10.28.2009 | 7:39 am
After two days of hanging out, schmoozing, and generally doing my absolute best to counteract all the work I’ve done to become fit these past few months, it was finally time for the LiveStrong Challenge ride.
As befits an award-winning, beloved internet cycling superstar celebrity blogger, I arrived at the start line with just moments to spare, and pushed through self-importantly.
Then I acted like I had been there for hours.
Luckily, I was not the last guy to arrive. Lance arrived and got to the start line a few minutes after I did.
That’s Chris Brewer in the green shirt in the background, by the way. An incredibly terrific guy and survivor who’s made the fight against cancer his life’s mission.
Plans, Changed
I had made no secret of my plans for the LiveStrong Challenge ride. Using the front position Team Fatty had earned to maximum advantage, I’d go out hard, doing my absolute best to hang with the fast guys for as long as possible. Then, once they dropped me (and I knew they would drop me), I’d try to finish as fast as I could and get to the finish line. After that, I’d greet and thank Team Fatty as they crossed the line.
Well, that plan changed before the ride ever started.
Lance’s group of fast guys were positioned ahead of us. And then, to my surprise, they took off, while officials stopped us from going.
I guess Lance needed some “alone” time.
We didn’t get to leave the starting gate until about six minutes after Lance’s group did. And it seemed, um, unlikely that I would be able to make up six minutes on Lance and his group of fast friends.
So I decided that I’d make the second part of my plan the only part of my plan: Finish the ride quickly and hang out with Team Fatty.
Toward that end, I figured there was no special reason for me to ride the 90-mile course. I’d finish the 65-mile course sooner and see more people (Yeah, I could have applied that logic to its extreme and only done the 20-mile course, but I wanted to get a bigger ride in than that.)
The Ride
Once the ride did start, I did my absolute best to get to the finish line fast. MattC — Team Fatty San Jose Co-Captain — did an incredible job being my leadout guy. He completely demolished himself bridging me to a group of eight guys who were riding a very fast pace, after which he said, “That’s it for me,” and settled in to enjoy the rest of the ride.
So for the next few miles, I buried myself, trying to hang with this group.
The group quickly shrunk. Before long, it was down to just three of us, with the same guy pulling the whole time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy managed to bridge.
As for me, I just couldn’t stick at that pace, and finally dropped off.
And then, for the next ten miles or so, I time trialed. While there were lots of people out on the course — many people start the ride on their own, without bothering about an official start — I’m pretty sure that for about the first several miles, I was the third-placed person who actually started when the gun went off (i.e., not with Lance’s group, and not with the self-starters.)
Then a group wearing Mellow Johnnies jerseys caught and passed me, letting me know my seatbag was dangling. I stopped and fixed it, at which point TC and MattC caught me and we rode together for a while.
But I was on a mission, so before long I gapped them and continued on.
65 miles can go by pretty fast when you’re going hard, and there aren’t many hills (in the 65-mile course, only one sticks out in my mind as being even remotely significant). Two bottles of water and three packets of Shot Bloks were all I needed for this kind of distance, so I didn’t stop at any of the aid stations. I just blew through and kept working toward the finish line.
Kellene, meanwhile, was cruising the same course, taking pictures with people and having fun. Here she is with Delvis:
Yes, she is a little creeped out.
The Finish Line
I finished my ride in three-ish hours. I think. I retrieved my bag, changed into comfortable clothes, went and grabbed some food and drinks, did a couple interviews (yes, really), and then got back to the finish line, just in time to see Lance finish the 90 mile course.
At that point, I made myself a fixture, looking for anyone in a Fat Cyclist jersey crossing the line, and congratulating them and thanking them for what they’ve done.
Kellene wasn’t far at all behind me, in spite of the fact that she had done the ride the way it’s meant to be ridden: as a big ol’ party.
And after that, I just hung out an enjoyed myself, loving the fact that I have the biggest, most fundraisingest, friendliest, and generally awesomest team that has ever kicked butt in all four LiveStrong challenges.
And that’s not subjective. That’s quantifiable.
Here are a few of the photos. There’s many more (post them in comments, Team Fatty!) that others took:
I stayed right to the end — tired, but not wanting to miss a single Team Fatty member who had stuck it out to the finish.
Eventually, the last rider came through. Those of us who remained made an aisle of people and tossed yellow rose petals all over him as he came through.
The poor guy — not a Team Fatty member — was totally cooked, though, and I don’t think he enjoyed the attention right then.
Then, with the finish line to ourselves, Kellene and I tried getting in a jump pose.
Not a single one of them worked.
I went back to the Ride for the Roses staging area to pick up my stuff and head back to the hotel, where I said bye to Bill — who met me at the airport and was practically everywhere during the event: an incredible volunteer! — and Fred, who took flawless care of hundreds of bikes and loaned me his very nice Cervelo road bike for the Challenge ride itself.
Seriously, the LAF staff, volunteers, and Team Fatty are some of the best, friendliest, hardworkingest people I have ever met. And they made this an extraordinary weekend.
I’ll be back in 2010. And I have a feeling Team Fatty will be bigger and more awesome than ever.
Comments (54)
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