Charity Rides

Serious question blog readers...

In the past I have resisted asking for money for any of my races or trips. I have no reason to beg. I am capable of earning my own money and saving up to do what I wish with it but I don't begrudge anyone else's way of financing their dreams. I enjoy the freedom that I am beholden to no one but myself when I am "out there." I know my blog provides entertainment to people but I don't feel like it's a job and don't wish to turn it into one. To me it feels more like family, as cheesy as that is.

However if I let myself dream bigger, I could see planning a trip that perhaps costs a significant amount of money and time that would be followed of spectators via SPOT and other means. Charity riding comes in when I use that event following to raise money for a good cause. I'm sure we can all debate what's a worthy cause, but to me there are more out there that are truly worthy than I could ever give a significant contribution too. My problem with charitable fund raising for a ride always relates to taking any piece of the money.

Is it ethical to use a percentage of donated money, stated clearly up front, to fund a trip that overall nets a charity a sizable donation? Or could/should you ask separately for a trip costs donation? Certainly without the trip's entertainment value to spectators, the donations to that charity would be much less. But if I still could find a way to fund the trip myself, the charity would get that much more. The crux becomes, at least for me, if you use a percentage of the money for the trip, you could take more overall trips and raise more overall funds for charity. Obviously you would need to state your intentions up front.

But I'm torn. My gut is wary. What do you think? Do you give money to charity? What about fundraising events like I'm talking about? Would you give more or less if 100% of your donation went to the cause? Would you donate separately to make sure the trip got off the ground? Please leave a comment, you can be anon if you want. I only delete highly inflammatory anon comments which I don't really ever get.

You won't see a paypal button on my site any time soon but I do wonder how I can do the most good with my activities in the future. Much of my charity has been volunteered time, not money but all kinds of donations are good in my opinion. Those who can donate funds at this time, please give to Fat Cyclists's Fighting for Susan campaign. You can even get a sweet bike and vacation out of the deal...

Enough!

Warning: This post is not sexy, there are only two pictures and it's not much about bikes. But it's my blog so I'm posting it anyway.

Sometimes you really have to be hit hard and knocked to the ground, figuratively and literally, to be able to get up again with conviction. Nothing brings out passion like a fight.

And if those sentences don't make your blood boil inside just a little bit, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore ;)

To say things haven't been going well lately is about the understatement of the century. First the miscarriage, a week later I get swept off what should be an easy alpine mixed route by an avalanche and luckily walk out with my partner, each of us crawling and hobbling for 7 hours on broken ankles to self rescue. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd ever fucked up before bad enough to cost me my life. Pain in every single tiny step reminded me both just what I have to lose and just why I had been there. Some people would want me to quit, never step foot on snow again. But those people don't really know me. If it wasn't a passion, I wouldn't have been there in the first place. All I can do is promise to learn more, train more and continue to listen to my gut instincts. Fear of the white death grows stronger when you feel it's power.

Since getting booted up at the hospital, I've spent the last 9 days primarily laying on my back in bed healing. At first I was cursing pain meds that made me feel goofy and stupid. Now I loath insomnia worse than I've ever had. I cannot sleep more than a couple hours at a time without waking up aching and extremely uncomfortable. Weird positions cause new pains in a self perpetuating cycle. Sleeping pills are not the answer for me. I've never taken them and don't wish to now. I think there is a natural answer or maybe I just need more patience. My wife, family and friends are amazing as always. They've stepped up without hesitation to send me emails, pick up slack, calm me down and keep me sane. My thanks to them cannot be stated enough and they know who they are.

I have a long way to go. I've never been injured this badly before. There will be no shaking it off. No White Rim weekend a few days after an ultrasound on my leg. No couple extra Advil with my recovery drink. No hobbling around the office but still pedaling easily. After a week and a half of laying on my back as much as humanly possible, taking Tylenol and icing my foot, it's still very discolored and swollen. It's much better, but it's still ugly. It took me 3 days alone to be able to bend it to 90 degs in my boot and remove the two cheater heel shims. It took the rest of the week to be able to stand without screaming pain, very literally. I probably scared the neighbors a time or two. There have been plenty of tears. At least I can shower alone now and putting lotion on my injured foot afterward is cathartic. I apologize. I promise to fix it. My foot can't answer but it makes me feel better anyway. It's still hard to look at and touch my injured body part.

But I have to move on and move forward. My good buddy Dave promises I will wake up one day in much decreased pain and with a thirst for knowledge. I believe him and hope the pain fades eventually. It's not as bad now, but it's ever present. At least I don't have to scream or grit my teeth. I already want to move forward. Simple things like taking Turbo for a walk last night or being able to help Marni by emptying the dishwasher are small steps. It takes far too long to shuttle plates and bowls on crutches but I do it anyway. Marni and I sorted out the gear I was wearing and carrying that day, taking inventory of things to be cleaned, fixed or replaced. Bent steel crampons drive home the beating I obviously took. Today Bill took me out to lunch and I put on "real" clothes for the first time since the avalanche. It went well and I smiled genuine smiles. I'm looking for more things I can do. Moving forward on applications, planning races for when I'm healthy again, reading, studying, eating well and hopefully soon, exercise. Many have cautioned me against moving too fast, pushing my recovery. I hear that and do not want to cause myself future pain and suffering just to get back on a bike or my feet a couple weeks sooner. But I know that I recover faster than most and that there must be positive no impact things I can do now, or at least soon. Core work, hangboard work, crutch walks with Turbo...something. And hopefully those things will encourage healing in a multitude of ways.

So check back soon. There are more blogs to come. If I'm stuck in bed much longer I'll just have to go back in time and start telling some old stories. I know there are some good ones you all want to hear. In the meantime, give the phone a few extra rings or the front door an extra knock. I've been knocked down a peg on crutches.

Crushed

I am not feeling up to sharing quite as much as Marni is. I'm really disappointed but getting through it. I'm positive for the future still but was looking so forward to our little baby and even more my wife's excitement over it. Finally. But it was not meant to be, at least quite yet.

A longer version on Marni's blog here.

Still here

I'm still here, somewhere out there. Not many pictures, but great focus. Usually the camera has stayed home, selfishly enjoying the scenery with just my own eyes, or sometimes sharing with a friend or two. I'm in the picture below, a small dot in the lower right in the sea of Winky Woo.There are still treasures to behold, worth leaving a warm bed in the middle of the night and hauling a borrowed pack and a few snacks to great heights.
Taking suncup street and the runnel express. Rule number one, don't fall.
Bikes are more forgiving. Falls can be brushed off. But laser like focus is still free for the taking, weaving down narrow singletrack descents. Bike mojo slowly returns from the great Divide brain drain.
So don't worry, I'm somewhere out there. And eventually I'll come back here too.

Just click "Register" and send in your waiver

The last month has been strange. Since finishing the Tour Divide it's been a mix of extreme sloth, occasional unstructured exercise and long jaunts in the mountains. Plenty of time to think, too much time to eat. I'm beginning to itch for some structured training again. Rolling out with the Colorado Trail racers yesterday morning probably pushed me over the edge.

Today I registered for the 2010 Arrowhead 135, a large part due to the influence of my "friends"... ahem Jill, Doug, DaveB, Eric, Pete, Jeff, JayP and T-race. Of course I'd by lying if Mike's beautiful 2009 race report hasn't also been an influence. I've wanted to race in the snow for a few years and the awesome Leadville winter series has kept me in check. However the passion has only grown despite my focus and funds being allocated elsewhere. Winter is one of the most beautiful seasons and I really do enjoy it's harshness. I decided this was finally the year to get serious. Last week I sold my too small 18" Pugs and there is a new 20" Pugsley on the way. While I would love a Fatback, it's just not financially in the cards. Luckily the new grey Pugs is quite attractive, much better than purple. I don't have the money for a wheelset yet but I do have a brand new 20" Surly Karate Monkey frameset in red that's for sale if anyone out there is interested? Luckily or unluckily, depending on your viewpoint, I'll also have some actual earned income coming in the somewhat near future.

So now I'm committed to at least racing the Arrowhead. I'm a little nervous and a lot excited. There are critical things to figure out, number one being my footwear situation. But nothing forces creativity like necessity and I think I'm up for the challenge. Is it too early in August to say...let it snow?

Longs Peak Redux

Marni has much better words for our Longs Peak trip than I do so I'll just share a few photos. Can't think of a much better way to spend the day though, just awesome.

Dawn just below the Boulderfield
Coiling the rope at the top of the technical section, I really like this picture.
Summit together. Our 20th joint 14er, only our third without Turbo.
Admiring the view of the cirque below. The Diamond, Mt.Meeker, Chasm Lake, Mt.Lady Washington. Everything the opposition direction was one giant cloud.
One of my all time favorite Marni self portraits. I believe this is while waiting at a belay station while I tried not to fall off icy 5.4 in Exums somewhere above. Background is a cloud.
More to come and I sure am glad to be so lucky.

Belford/Oxford

At least one more overdue report here as Marni and I pack for Longs Peak in the predawn hours of tomorrow. On our way down to Scott and Melissa's wedding we swung through Leadville to visit Cycles of Life on our way to Chaffee County Road 390. What's there you ask? Well the trailhead to quite a few 14ers! After our success on Yale, Marni was itching to get a few more Sawatch range 14ers done in this perfect summer weather season. We stopped at the Missouri Gulch trailhead, cooked up some pesto ravioli and popped up the switchbacks.

Missouri Mountain, which we're hoping to climb soon, is at the summit of the couloirs that are still present in the far center of the picture.
We hiked up towards our trail split with the Elkhead Pass trail in the early evening hours. There was plenty of time before sunset to find a spot and we didn't have far to go.
Turbo loves to stop and smell the roses, well roll in them anyway. Puppy bliss.
We settled for taking some pictures of this great wildflower season.
The trail was in great shape thanks to the awesome work of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative.
Turbo pretending to be in the sound of puppy music.
There were quite a few big (and loud) groups camping in Missouri Gulch but I found us a nice quiet spot off the trail. It was mostly level ;)
Turbo doesn't really like being in the tent, he prefers to roam the wild searching for things to smell and guarding camp from marmots. We let him chill outside until it got dark and then called him in for bed.
Marni and I entertained ourselves with more mini-card rummy. I spotted her a 175 point lead (NOT on purpose) but managed to score a few big hands and come back for the victory! A little candy snack before bed and plenty of water and we dozed off to sleep at 11, 700 feet.
Motivated to reach La Veta at a decent hour and increase our chances of a double summit, Marni actually wanted to get up early. We awoke before 5am and were rolling by 20 to six, full of muffins and coffee (well me anyway).
Sunrise followed quickly and soon we were hot hiking up the slope. We stripped to more realistic hiking attire, sans puffies and long underwear.
No one was stirring in the tents below and we wondered if we'd be the first summit of the day.
My cutie.
The sun gradually filled the valley with light and all the Sawatch around us began to appear.
Turbo was making quick work of this trail, much better than the loose scree on Yale. "Hurry up slow bi peds, I have quad paws!"

Almost there!
The west slopes of Belford open up to a nice ridge near the top, with nice easy walking to the summit.
Turbo leads the way and just after 7am we were closing in on the top.
Belford Summit! We make zee summit! Turbo's #16 and our #18 in cloudless skies. We were however the 2nd to the top, another early riser caught sunrise on Belford.
We descended after a quick snack towards Oxford.
A steep descent, some easy saddle hiking and another short climb led us to the top of Oxford another 50 minutes later. Harvard, Columbia and dozens of other summits were visable.
Almost to 14er #2 of the day.
Ahhh it's nice to be up high.
Another self timer shot brings us to Turbo's #17 and our #19 on Oxford. We're almost 1/3 of the way through the list and I'm excited for the ones that remain.
After topping out on Oxford we still had to return over Belford or Elkhead Pass to return to our tent. We decided to return back over Belford and headed down the switchbacks a ways before stopping for some lunch. Turbo was quite pleased with turkey and cheese sandwich plus 2 summit bones and an ABCB (advanced base camp bone).
A few more switchbacks brought us back to our tent. The clouds were moving in quickly now despite it being not even noon so we packed up quickly and hussled down the trail to the E. A quick stop at K's in Buena Vista for some burgers, cheese fries and ice cream and we headed off towards La Veta.

Little Monkeys

Busy bees and lazy bloggers! Another belated update since recently Marni and I took our niece and nephew out to the climbing gym for the afternoon. They were spending the week with their grandparents so we headed up to Denver to take them out. Well first we got lunch while their awesome mom ran to Kinkos to fax me some legal paperwork so they could climb without her there...then we went climbing!

Trevor getting suited up to go climb for his very first time. He was nervous but would gradually go higher and higher all day long.
Trevor and Marni with Kylie in the background.
While Kylie amazed me with her texting prowess (oh to be 13), Marni took Trevor up the wall the first time. He would pick a goal, a sign or particular big colored hold, and go just up to that spot.
Me climbing on the auto belay while Trevor and Kylie check out the wall.
Marni and Kylie.
Kylie had been climbing once before and she was a natural. She made it up every time I think.
Trevor lapped this wall half a dozen times, each time getting a little higher. By the end of our session he asked Marni if I could climb next to him and he would try to make the top. Despite his thoughts at the beginning of the day, he made it all the way up!
Both the kids also thought the slackline was pretty cool.
And Kylie climbed all the way up the rope ladder too.
Not having been at the climbing gym in ages I floundered up a few 5.10s, it was not pretty. Apparently my weak hands and arms do not do overhanging right now.
All and all we had an awesome time.
Trevor liked playing with the camera. He'll be a natural blogger and facebooker in a few years. Hard to believe he was born the day before Marni and I met for the first time.
Soon I think everyone was worn out and we headed off for celebration ice cream. :)