We won the Gnarliest Photo Contest!

We won the Gnarliest Photo Contest over at Steve's blog!  Yes, you read that correctly: WE.  I did the hurting and you did the voting and together "we" came out with the big win.  Thank you for your votes!  With 40.1% (204) of the total (509) votes, it was a landslide victory.

Some of you were around to help me through my epic guardrail crash of '05, for which I'm grateful beyond words.  Talk about depressing... as for the rest of you, I'm grateful for you taking time out of your busy lives to cast your ballot!

AND, as a man of my word, let me know when you're in the area for that run or bike ride and I'll loan you the Sugoi Zap Vest for the outing.  (It's bright enough to be seen from space so it should do the job.)  Thanks to Sugoi and Road ID for sponsoring the contest!!

 

The votes

 

 The winnings

Public Service Announcement: (I'd be remiss if I failed to take advantage of this soap box.)  Accidents and injuries can account for major set-backs, or worse.  While some accidents and/or injuries are not preventable, staying VISIBLE on the roads/trails will decrease your chance of injury due to another person's negligence.  Unless you're in a controlled photo shoot environment, on a closed course, or a paid actor, you don't look awesome decked-out in all black (okay, maybe you do... but not smart) on a road bike. 

While neon and day-glow colors survived through the 80's - and how! - even if you think it's stylishly hideous, it's better to be "safely hideous" versus stylishly hit-by-a-car.  (Just look at that Sugoi Zap Vest!  Epic.  How can you miss it?)  And DO carry your medical information AND emergency contact info on you when you're out and about; you never know when you're going to need it (like the Road ID bracelet that I came very close to purchasing near Christmas).  Bottom-line is "Safety First" so you can keep going out there and having fun.

Thanks again!  You rock!!

VOTE for me over at the Gnarliest Injuries Photo Contest!! (Please! :)

My online pal and triathlete Steve is holding a contest on his page for the Gnarliest Sports Injuries and I submitted my "I-beam Punctures Thigh" entries from my epic 2005 crash in the North Georgia Mountains.

Here's the deal: if you can stand the sight of injuries and some carnage, go to his blog HERE for the Gnarliest Injuries Photo Contest and please vote for the three most heinous wrecks for male and female (mine is titled I-beam Severs Quad... so it'd be great if you would actually vote for mine among the top 3...)  Top prize takes home nearly $375-400 in cycling/running gear, all oriented towards safety, visibility, identification.  So help keep me safe!

As some of you know I'm heading back to school for trauma nursing in the near future, so this is not only thematically-appropriate but will help in the penny-pinching.

I know I don't ask for anything, but do appreciate the little things so if you have the time, that would be great.  Thanks in advance, and feel free to kick this over to your coworkers/colleagues so they can vote for me too!  The more the merrier :)  [Just be sure and warn them that the theme is that of sports trauma so they don't read this while eating cheerios or something along those lines.]

If I win, we'll go for a run to celebrate.  I'll even let you wear my jacket.  What's not to love?

Thanks for exercising your right to vote.. on President's Day nonetheless!