Wednesday, February 06, 2008

How I Shop for Clothes


I can come up with plenty of reasons to be against cancer. Many of those reasons are the names of people I have loved dearly.

It turns out there’s another reason to fight cancer: If you pitch in to raise funds for the fight, they give you a free T-shirt.


I could tell you that the couture is the reason I intend to be strapping on my bike shoes this Sunday at a single-digit hour of the cold morning to start a 20-some mile ride.

But I have to be honest. The real reason I intend to ride this Sunday isn’t the cancer, and it’s not the T-shirt, and it’s not even the scenery, although those are all excellent causes.

The real reason I’m going to be out humping it over the hills this Sunday is that Big George Hincapie is going to be there—the only guy who rode with Lance Armstrong on all 7 of his Tour de France victories, and now a veteran of 11 Tours de France (including last year’s stunning team effort by Discovery that put two of their riders on the podium at the end of the race).

George Hincapie is about 35 years old. In a sport of the mind like cycling, that makes him a relative pup. (In the Tour de France, they give a special jersey to the best “young rider,” because they assume a kid doesn’t have much chance against the crafty older lions of the contest. You qualify to win the “young rider” prize right up until you’re 30 years old.)

So I’m going to get out there Sunday morning and show George what a real rider looks like, or at least what the back of a real rider looks like. I’m sure once I get up to speed, he’ll never have a chance of pulling around me.

If you want to be part of my fight against George Hincapie, or my fight for a free T-shirt, or even the fight against a wily old opponent like cancer, you’re welcome to chip in.

The money won’t go to me, but I’m sure the people it goes to will be earnestly grateful. They can use all our help.

To join the fight, grab your credit card and click here.

You will win the gratitude of many.


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