Although 40 below zero temps are beyond ridiculous, I'm happy to be forced to stay inside so I can finally give the last update and thank you for Cross for Tots this holiday season.
Originally, my goal was to double the number of participants, fans, and donations than we had achieved in 2011. With 6 months of hard work, planning, and spreading the word about the event, we were so amazingly blessed when the day finally arrived and everything was perfect! The weather was beautiful and the course Hollywood planned out went up easily with some extra help from Dan J. and Chris P. the night before. As we set up stakes in the waning light, it was fun to talk to the neighbors that walked the trails about the event that was about to transpire.
Jay and I stayed up late organizing the raffle prizes and pre-reg packets, getting little sleep as if we were kids on Christmas Eve. Come early the next morning, we headed out to finish the course and set up camp for the day ahead. To our joy, Barry, Chris, Sarah, Kim, Cheryl, Chucker, and Teresa all showed up to help! We knocked it out in no time and had an hour to catch our breath before the excitement began.
Each event category went great and we received a lot of positive feedback on the course layout and event. For hours, we had fun watching the riders and they pedaled through the double-sandpit, navigated the off-camber trees, and descended "The Luge" aka Suicide Hill.
New and experienced riders from MN, WI, and even SD came out to check out the action and donate to Toys for Tots. Even the spectators and some neighbors brought toys and money to donate... I couldn't believe it! We even had one of the largest "A" field of the season! And, as we found out by the end of the day, we had successfully reached our goals with more than 130 participants, 175 toys collected, and $1200 cash/checks donated!!!!
I can't say it enough, but we couldn't have done it without all of our volunteers and donations of materials and finances to help cover the costs! Thanks to Dan, Chris, Chucker, Teresa, Sarah, Cheryl, Kim, Greg, Barry, Timmer, and Amanda for course set-up, registration, and course maintenance! Thanks to our sponsors: Hollywood Cycles, Girl Fiend Cycling, Podiumwear, LaMere Cycles, Winter Company, 29nSngl, Mt Borah Epic Team, Olympus Supply, HED, Waffle Van, and Barbieri. Thanks to MandersonDotCom for entertaining us and keeping the music flowing! And thank you to all the riders and spectators that helped us break it all down at the end of the day! We did it in record time!
With a few donations still arriving at Hollywood Cycles in the week following, we waited to bring in the donations. Once we did, we loaded up every single square inch of our SUV with toys... so much so that, once we'd crammed them into every nook and cranny of the car, all the way to the top, I jumped in the passenger seat so Jay could pile more on top of me and between our seats. We couldn't even see each other once we headed down the road! When we arrived, we were greeted by three smiling Marines who were blown away as we strategically extricated the toys from the car without causing an avalanche. It took three huge bins to get it all into the Kare11 tent and it was fun to follow it up with an envelope of $1200 to go along with it!
All the stress of organizing and putting on the event, work, life, and the holidays completely disappeared this year when we got to hand these donations over... no matter what was going on, it didn't matter when I thought of how many families in our community would have a better holiday because of all these efforts and because of everyone who helped make it happen! You are all Holiday Heroes! I hope you keep that in close to your heart, because a child somewhere smiled and squealed and gave their parents a massive hug... thanks to YOU!
And this Santa has a warm heart thanks to you... you helped make this dream come true. We hope each and every one of you had a wonderful holiday and New Year, and will bring that joy and caring into 2014. I know we will!
With love and gratitude,
SantaWood, Mrs. SantaWood, and SantaDog
Here are some links to Pics & Videos:
Photos on Flickr by SantaWood: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23965156@N06/sets/72157639493509724/
Photos by TMB Images:
tmbimages.com/2013Cyclocross/2013-11-30-Cross-For-Tots
Photos by Prenzlow Perspective:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.400188433446765.1073741848.203290419803235&type=1
Descending the "Luge" 1st lap elite wave. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NNqzGCv ... ata_player
Hitting the "Beaches" hard!!! Look at all those racers!!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiWBUs-w ... ata_player
THC don't get off for barriers, neither do the leaders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B88HLrs7 ... ata_player
