Monday, December 13, 2010

And we finish with a BANG! What next?


Mark F. headed to the run-up (walk-up, really this day)


Yesterday was the last race of the 2010 Cap City Cross racing season. Held at Lobdell Frisbee park in Alexandria, OH it proved to be a snowy, muddy, freezing, hard but fun race. Well, it sort-of was. Seems I made contact with some sort of stomach-bug a few hours before the race and wasn't feeling on top of my game. However I did finish the year by racing with the C group, just not well enough to line up with the B's again.


But I must have been well enough because after letting Duncan and Mike go, I was slowly able to claw my way up to pass one guy in the middle of the second lap and held on to that position to finish with a 6th. I will have to thank Jovid in a way, because he got really sick and didn't race at all, so I used his bike (really, my bike that I set up for him if I wanted to get snitty). What was the advantage? Lower gearing than my other "race" bike and most other people's bikes for one. Secondly it had clearance for wider tires with bigger knobs that helped me from completely wiping out most of the time. Yeah I did wipe out on the last lap but hey... snow and mud? You'll have that. It was a long, stretched out course with lots of climbing and not too many tight-n-twisty sections. To sum up, I wasn't all there physically but made up for it mechanically a bit. But that's not the "finish with a bang" now is it?






The B's took off and on the last muddy downhill stretch, lots of people were wiping out. One gentleman (a different Duncan) broke something in his shoulder- area (perhaps a clavicle). Bad stuff. Catie my lovely bride and another racer/spectator took him to the hospital. Ouch. Then the A group took off for the last race and dang, John Proppe from Team Lake Effect laid a whoopin' on the field. On that very same downhill everyone else was wiping out on, John mashed the pedals and came blasting through it. Yowza.


And while that was pretty cool to watch, it wasn't the "finish with a bang" that I was referring to. You are probably saying "Alright already! What the heck are you talking about?"


Glad you asked. At the beginning of December the contributions to the Wounded Warrior Project had slowed to a trickle and I thought "Well, I guess that's it." We had done pretty decently by collecting $755 in donations at that point. But by last night we were at $1,650. HOLY WA! We more than doubled donations in just over a week. Which was amazing considering it took us three months to get over $700. Not only that but we've attracted multiple people who are interested in putting on and sponsoring something like a one-day race or event ride.


It leaves me feeling like we really did accomplish something. Getting to this point was not easy but the Wounded Warrior Project was something that our family felt very strongly about.


What next? Racing season it over, our fundraising efforts for this year have officially concluded. After the holidays it looks like we have an event to plan. But do I continue with this blog? Do I have anything witty, clever, interesting or at least slightly amusing to add? I would like to think that I do. Or has this blog served it's purpose, run its course and it's time to move on to something else? All things to ponder.


As always, thanks for reading. And posting something for me to read is highly encouraged!

4 comments:

  1. Wow! $1,650!! You two did good! Congrats! I wish I could have made it to a race - I ended up with nasty viral infection during your last race – but glad you held it up to the end. I love your blog posts - they are very entertaining. Hate to see it end but you did a good thing in the memory of your son and for all Wounded Warriors. Kudos!

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  2. Your options are limitless. One thing about a targeted blog is you can let it lay fallow until you've got more on-topic stuff to post. Would love to hear what's in the works and how you all are amping up for next year.

    Just a side note. I know you've been uncomfortable with the focus being on you rather than the WWP. Folks who don't have family or friends serving NEED a face, a human to connect to in order to get invested in this thing you're trying to promote.

    When I was maniacally posting about Cure JM, the one thing that gave the whole thing OOOMPH was the kids. Kevin was the face we'd all come to know. When he got permission and started posting photos of the kids, things flew and the movement kept growing.

    Your face matters. Your son's face matters. Your story matters. It's how we connect. If I hadn't been part of the Pease Greeters, your faces would be the only ones I'd have. Just something else to ponder.

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  3. Cheryl, all good points. I realized that I was going to be the "face" of this project, just wish it were better looking.

    Maybe I will segue from "Riding with my son" to "Writing with my son?" Eh, more things to think about.

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  4. Absolutely fantastic job, J.D.! I know it was a family effort from the start - you, Cate, Jovid. The whole family (Parker, too) pitched in to create this momentum and now you're seeing your hard work pay off! Kudos and congratulations. James would be impressed.
    I hope you are feeling a spot better and you enjoy a peaceful Christmas. Then, when 2011 dawns you'll have an even stronger resolve to pick the momentum back up and smash your current records!
    So pleased for all of you and so proud to be a very small part of your support team!

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