Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Win This Bike! (Maybe)


Actually, this post isn't entirely about a bike giveaway. I recently came across the blog of a guy who goes by Fat Cyclist, or Fatty for short. I given my 210-lb frame, I feel I have a little in common with the guy, and he seems to have a pretty good sense of humor, so I've been following his blog. I'd also love for someone to take his logo and put that on a cycling jersey. I'd love to be able to ride in that because it's perfect for me.

Today's post involves a potential giveaway of a brand new Trek Superfly 100 mountain bike. That's a nearly $5,000 bike. Really swanky, something I could never afford. Here's the gist of the situation. Fatty has had a little trouble motivating himself to get down to his racing weight of 158 lbs from his current 170 lbs. All I can assume is that the guy is also a midget. If I were 170 lbs, I'd actually be rail thin and would never wear a shirt. I mean never. They'd have to fire me at work because I would walk into my classroom and teach Shakespeare in nothing but slacks and a pair of loafers, but then I'm 6'3". I guess one guy's fat is another guy's tall.

Anyway, the guy bought this bike back in January and told himself he couldn't put it together until he reached his target weight, which apparently hasn't really budged since then. Desperate for motivation, he decided to publicly offer it up as a prize to anyone donating to his LiveStrong campaign if he's unable to reach his target weight by June 3. Every $5 you donate through his team page (linked on his post) earns you an entry in the contest. If he fails and you win, that's a sweet bike. If he succeeds, you don't get a bike, but you've also made a charitable donation to help fund the fight against cancer. Even if you're a total jerk, it's a tax deduction, so there's that.

Also, the cancer thing is personal for this guy. His wife died of breast cancer in 2009, so it's not like he pulled the charity out of a hat. This isn't really about winning a bike (although I wouldn't mind having it myself.) This is more about doing something good for everyone involved. This is something that is worth supporting.

5 comments:

Julie said...

Good luck, I think. Of course, I want you to win the bike but I'd also like to see the guy hit his goal.

Jacob said...

Julie, I donated, but I think the bike is too small for me. I just thought I'd try to drive more traffic his way for the fundraiser.

Mickey said...

But if you do win the bike, you could at least sell it and buy one that fits.

And then we can go mountain biking. I used to be huge into riding trails, and I still go occasionally.

I think that guy is stretching to call himself fat. If he's only 12 lbs. over his racing weight, this doesn't sound like much of a struggle. Or maybe he just needs to accept himself at 170. Or maybe he's 5'2".

Also, anyone who buys a $5,000 bike and then doesn't even bother to assemble it makes me a little ill. He should just donate the bike to LiveStrong.

Mickey said...

And 6'3", 210? Nice work, man. I'd lose the shirt.

Jacob said...

Using that unassembled bike to motivate myself? I definitely understand that. It's something I would do. When I was on Weight Watchers I'd set goals for that and only allow myself beer that was already in my house if I met that goal. It helped and it's just a smaller version of he's doing.

I round up to 6'3" actually. I'm taller than 6'2" and shorter than 6'3". For my height, the chart says I should be 180. I'd be happy with 190. All of my extra weight is no currently concentrated between the bottom of my ribs and the top of my hips. I'm perfectly happy with every other area, so no with the shirt thing.