Sunday, September 6, 2009

It's been a long season. I'm only about 200 dollars away form my goal, so thank you to all who donated. The winners of the raffle have been announced and I'm working on getting everyone synced up.
Yesterday really showed me a lot about the people I ride with. Peggy Piagentini, one of my ride level teammates went over her handlebars on Shannon Road. If you're not familiar with that road, it's hilly and curvy. I was ahead of her and rode back after being told there was a crash. I saw her lying face down on the pavement. Blood was pooling on the pavement near her head. Scary stuff. I'm no good with injuries. I only know not to touch someone when they're flat out on the ground like that. The police came, the fire department and an ambulance came and did what they do so well. She was taken to a local hospital where she's still under observation. Luckily she only broke her jaw and her elbow. It could have been much worse.
I can't wait till Peggy can ride again with us. But that accident really drove home something I notice on the road. I'm struck by how careless people driving cars can be. Peggy was spooked by a guy in a white miata driving fast through the corners. He scared me, too.
The irony is that I was once on the "cyclists need to stay off the road" group, too. I still catch myself being numb to whatever is in my way while I drive my car. It's like I want to get somewhere fast and forget the humanity in between. I don't think it's just me who feels that way. I once thought that cyclists were jerks who took up too much of the road and were arrogant and dangerous...until I got on a bike again after twenty years.
I'm 44. I consider myself responsible. But I know that those cars driving past me too close for comfort and speeding around corners are no different than I am. I, too, forget while in my car that the bicycle on the side of the road has a person on it. It's not an obstacle. It's not a pylon. Regardless of what you think, you can't know the attitude of the man or woman pedaling down the street.
I do know this, though. That bike is no match for your car. It's much slower, much less stable and far too fragile to be competing for space with a two thousand pound piece of steel and plastic. Maybe next time you feel like unwinding that big motor or seeing how well your car can take those turns remember there's likely to be a bicyclist or pedestrian walking or running or riding on that street. And while you can't sense how close you really are to them as you pass in either direction know that they're way more terrified of you than you can ever be of them. So kinda close is way too close. Also know that there is someone waiting at home for them, expecting them to come through that door at the end of the ride or run or walk. Do you want to be the reason why they never came home? I'm much more careful when I drive now that I cycle than before. Maybe you should be, too.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

NHL Package Raffle


Former NHL player and a super personable guy Jamie Baker is helping raise money for Team in Training. Jamie and I used to work together on the FoxSports show, Shark Byte. I know firsthand that Jamie is a talented hockey coach. The video below has some shots of him teaching a camp just last week.

The prize: A one-hour private lesson with Jamie Baker.
Cost to enter: $20 per ticket (tax deductible)

We're raffling off the prize at $20 a ticket. We're only offering fifty tickets -- so you have a 1 in 50 chance of being coached by a former NHL player. You may enter as many times as you'd like!

How to enter: Donate the money on my donation page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/moabtour09/keck

You can also give me a check or even cash. If you enter online, email me at kevin.eck@mac.com and let me know you want the skating lessons with Jamie which we'll call "The NHL Package" As soon as I get confirmation you entered, I'll email your raffle number(s) to you. We'll draw for the prize when all 50 tickets are sold.

If you have any questions, email me at kevin.eck@mac.com and I can help you out.

Here's the video of Jamie talking about the prize.

Donate, enter and win! Good luck!



MLB Package Raffle


Former Major League Baseball player and all-around great guy Bip Roberts is helping raise money for Team in Training. Bip and I used to work together on the FoxSports Giants Pre-Game Show. I've seen first-hand that he's a talented and dedicated coach.

The prize: A one-hour private lesson with Bip Roberts.
Cost to enter: $20 per ticket (tax deductible)

We're raffling off the prize at $20 a ticket. We're only offering fifty tickets -- so you have a 1 in 50 chance of being coached by a former MLB player. You may enter as many times as you'd like!

How to enter: Donate the money on my donation page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/moabtour09/keck

or you can give me a check or even cash. If you enter online, email me at kevin.eck@mac.com and let me know you want the hitting lessons with Bip which we'll call "The MLB Package" As soon as I get confirmation you entered, I'll email your raffle number(s) to you. We'll draw for the prize when all 50 tickets are sold.

If you have any questions, email me at kevin.eck@mac.com and I can help you out.

Here's the video of Bip talking about the prize.

Donate, enter and win! Good luck!


Thursday, July 2, 2009

Raffles!

THE RIDE
OK - I was a little slow in cutting this latest blog.
We rode from Los Gatos High School to Mt. Eden road and back. It was a good little ride. Mt. Eden was a short burst of hill, or as Coach Don might call it, a small bump. The downhill was fun.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME OFFER!
Today I'm going up to Comcast in the City to tape Bip Roberts, former major league baseball player, talking about his offer. He's giving a one hour batting instruction for me to raffle off. Friday I'm going to Sharks Ice to talk to the man who scored the biggest goal in Sharks history, Jamie Baker. He's offering up an hour of hockey lessons for the effort. You might be interested to know that Jamie called me from a clinic he was teaching down in San Jose. Jamie is an excellent coach. Besides being an all-around great guy and extremely knowledgeable resource, he's either coaching his daughter's hockey team or leading a clinic for wanna-be NHL'ers. So you'll definitely get your money's worth.

Both he and Bip know what they're talking about and are excellent teachers. Besides coaching Skyline High School's baseball team to the local Championship, I once watched Bip clean up the swing of former major leaguer, F.P. Santangelo in the batting cage in the bowels of AT&T Park. I think we all left wondering what F.P.'s career would have been like with Bip as his personal hitting coach! The guy simply knows what a good swing is and how to get the most out of an at-bat. So for all you little league dads or moms this is one opportunity you don't want to miss.

Raffle tickets go on sale Monday. We're only raffling 50 tickets for each package. A ticket will run you $20.00. You can donate online at my web page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/moabtour09/keck
Or you can pay by check or even cash in person. Make checks payable to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or LLS.

When you donate, be sure to email me at kevin.eck@mac.com with a way to contact you and whether you'd like the NHL package with Jamie or the MLB package with Bip. Depending on how many tickets you buy, I'll send you a number or numbers for the the drawing.
We'll draw numbers when each package gets the full 50 entrants. Remember we're only giving 50 chances for each package so make sure you or your kid gets the best chance of winning! Buy as many tickets as you can afford. How many people do you know have the opportunity to get one on one coaching from Jamie Baker or Bip Roberts?

So enter for a great package and a great cause. 75% of all proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, the rest goes to send me to Moab to actually ride!


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Paceline Clinic

Saturday we did a paceline clinic.  We rode up and down Canada Road practicing staying together in a line, yelling out things like "car!" and "hole!"  and going faster without having to exert ourselves as much.  The concept is basically that the lead rider takes all the wind and those behind get all the benefit.  Since being in back is so great and it's so unfair to make one person always be in front, we take turns.  It's pretty dern tootin' actually.
My buddy Simon came out and shot some interviews with me.  We interviewed Evanne the honoree and got her story (it's in the video blog) Plus, we interviewed some other folks.  The plan is to release those videos as soon as I get around the cutting them!  So watch the video and get a sense of why I'm doing this and why it's so important to donate!

Monday, June 15, 2009

We rode our time trial on Saturday.  I rode a 44:30 time.  We went down Portola Road to Sand Hill road to Alpine and back to Portola.  It was a nice little loop.  
Donations are going well, we're just trying to figure out how to get the biggest bang for our buck with the stuff that friends are donating.  I also need to get off my butt and videotape Bip and Renel talking about their donations and whether you can bid or buy raffle tickets for them.
So stand by, I should have it all sorted out by next week.
This week we begin our hill training.  And on Saturday we start pace lines.  The good thing is that we're riding on Canada Road which is part of my regular ride...so that's cool.
Watch the new video and remember to donate!  The link is to the right.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Wow! I rode Canada Road again. What a difference it makes when your brakes aren't on! What a nice ride. Just an easy clip on the slight uphills and the downhills are just steep enough to get a little speed up. The fog started to roll over the hills about the time I was finishing up.
Today's theme: Do I shave my legs? Is it weird for people who see me pass by that I have hairy gorilla-ape legs? What about th eguys who zip past me on their bikes as I hammer at an amazingly slow speed. I mean, is it really important? Would it be a psychological boost on those longs straightaways? Would it make me faster? Or would it have a calming effect on my fellow riders and innocent bystanders knowing that order has been restored, the sun is in the sky, the cars are in their lanes and another cyclists has shed his leg hair. After all who wants to get passed by a guy who doesn't dress the part. When I'm riding I always feel better if the guy who is faster than me is dressed properly. I mean if someone looks like they just pulled a T-Shirt off the floor, slipped on a pair of baggy shorts and is wearing the first Bell Helmet ever made (you know, the black hard shell) goes zipping by, I kinda want to hang up the bike and take up macrame. But if that same guys is wearing a Webcor jersey with matching tights and a snappy helmet with matching shoes I don't feel so bad. I think, "OK, well that guy probably doesn't have a full time job. He has so much time to ride that he makes this look easy." Of course it never enters my mind that I'm 44 and need to up my conditioning.
So maybe Clinton and Stacey on "What Not to Wear" have a point. If you dress the part you feel better about yourself and that translates to how others view you. So maybe if I shave my legs the guys in the matching outfit will feel a little better about himself if he passes someone who is dressed well, too.
OK, enough. Remember to donate! My donation link is up and to the right. Hit the link and donate! Thanks for watching.