Today I was reading one of my favorite blogs and I came across this press release:
Team CarboRocket is looking for a few good, ordinary folks who are on the verge of doing something extraordinary. You may not even know what that extraordinary thing is yet, but you can feel it burning inside of you. Hopefully, you already enjoy cycling, be it on the road or mountain.
Team membership is open to anyone who’s interested in doing something big. You may be a total novice or a seasoned veteran, we care not. What we do care about is that — whatever your extraordinary goal may be — there is an enormous gap between where you are now and achieving that goal. Maybe you are overweight. Maybe you have never ridden even a tenth the distance you’re hoping to ride. Maybe you’re missing a limb or two. Whatever hurdle you have to reaching your goal should make you dig very deep.
If this isn’t clear here’s an example: You are currently an expert level mountain biker with a resume stacked with impressive finishes and maybe even some sponsors and you want to finish the Leadville 100 mountain bike race because you’ve never done it. Sorry, not digging deep enough, no need to apply.
If, however, you’re a sport-level mountain biker and you’ve been thinking that the Great Divide Race is a little bit too short and you think it’s about time somebody rides from Canada to Mexico and then back, well yeah. We’d like to hear more.
What’s in it for you? You will be supported and sponsored by none other than Ibis Cycles in conjunction with Bingham Cyclery, CarboRocket sports drink, Ritchey components and the ever humble FatCyclist.com. We can’t divulge exactly what awesome deals and swag you will be getting from each of these sponsors because we are still trying to figure out what Fatty is contributing. Maybe he’ll publish your stories. Maybe he’ll give you his super-secret recipe for quiche. It’s hard to say for sure. But we will say that you will like being sponsored by us. A lot.
What’s in it for us? We love a good story and we want to follow yours, from ordinary to extraordinary. We will be there when you fall down, first, to laugh at you and then give you a hand up, a dusting off and a gentle push onward. You will keep us apprised of your progress and ultimately your attempt at completing your extraordinary goal by updating your story at regular intervals on the team blog.
We want at least half the team to be women and total team members to be 10. We don’t want your entire story just yet, only 150 words or less. You need to tell us a compelling snippet of your story including who you are, what extraordinary thing it is you want to accomplish and why it will be so challenging. Email your 150 words to [email protected]. The sponsors will then pick 10 people with the most compelling stories to make up the Team.
And then we’ll come up with a cool secret handshake or something. We look forward to hearing your outrageously cool idea. Oh yeah, there is a one week deadline for consideration. You have until February 19, Midnight to submit your snippet.
Love,
Team CarboRocket
And here is my “application” to Team CarboRocket. Have a read, tell me what you think. You think I have a chance? Maybe Brad will respond right here on my blog.
Dear Future Team Manager,
I’ve been sent by fatty. Not that Fatty, the fatty who currently resides around my midsection. I am 33 years old, I have a couple of great kids, and can never find enough time in the day to fit everything in. Last year I rode my first and only century, the Seattle LIVESTRONG challenge. This year, in addition, to a few more of those I have a completely ridiculous goal of racing cyclocross, not just racing, but finishing, and not just finishing, but finishing first.
The background – when I decided at the beginning of last year that it was imperative that I rode with team fatty at LVESTRONG I was pushing 400 pounds. At the time of the ride I was 290. It’s gone up a wee bit since then, and this new goal; this is what’s going to send me into overdrive.
I want to race for Team CarboRocket. I want to stand atop the podium come a cold fall evening, covered in equal parts mud, sweat, smiles and pride, 100 pounds lighter, and say that it was only because of you that this was possible.
-Dartanyon
If you feel compelled … send Brad an email, and let him know why I would be a kick ass member of his team!