A Literary Attempt at Winning a Seven Cycle Custom Bike

Outside Magazine had a advertisement on a contest to win a $9500 custom bike from Seven Cycles of California. The day before the deadline, I spun off the keyboard the following literary attempt. The essay was to be about why you "deserve" to be the one person to win this bike. Well, I hate the over use and misuse of the word deserve, but I wanted to participate, so below is a draft of what I sent them.

Discaimer:
Normally, I would not use the word “deserve” because it has become a point of contention with me and I feel it is over used, much like the phrase “fixed income” or the term “ADD”. I think of them as BS cop outs for folks that choose not to take on responsibility and happen to things instead of allowing things to happen to them. I usually insert the word “earn” in place of “deserve”, but since the essay dictates we use the word “deserve”, I will be happy to follow the rules and use the word in a context of my choosing.

Disclaimer Two:
The following information is correct and verifiable, but should not be believed to be the truth unless you take the time to validate the facts and statements for yourself or unless you already know them to be so. That being said…What you are about to read probably has grammatical errors but IS true!

Reasons Tarpley Should Be Blessed With The Seven

As a world renowned PDR champion, a former triathlete, a small business owner and advocate for living a debt free life, I can relate to Seven Cycles, their employees and their mission in a number of ways.

I live in Macon , Georgia (think Allman Brothers, Alabama Vest and old ass buildings from 18 something), the pre-season training ground for Abercrombie & Fitch’s Pro Development Cycling Team and home of L.H. Thompson (damn fine stems and posts). It is here that I have not only been introduced to the sport of cycling, but also honed my skills in the art of Paintless Dent Removal (PDR) to the point of being ranked the best in the world.

In 1998, I moved from another southern state to Macon , GA in order to start my little company called Dent Tricks. I chose the city because of its size and geographic relevance to my old college town of Boone , NC and the fact that I had a non-compete contract I needed to abide by. It was in this sleepy backwards city, where I chose to test my entrepreneurial skillz, that I was introduced to the sport of mountain biking. You’d think living in the mountains of NC I would have had mountain biking shoved down my throat, like a rookie on a porn set, but I was busy helping friends grow high altitude agricultural cross pollinated “plants” between classes and trying to learn how to funnel a beer without shooting it from my nose. Obviously I was less interested in building a better body than I was in building a better bong.

Back to living in Macon though…I met some friends that regularly biked on local trails and made weekend trips to Tsali, NC for world class mountain biking. They got me hooked and I bought my first bike ever from a local shop that has grown tremendously thanks in part to a new cycling club called MAX. I purchased a Specialized Stump Jumper and was stoked. I rode it for two years solid and watched my list of friends grow because of it. I was meeting and hanging with friends from teens to seniors and some of the seniors were kicking my ass on the trails. I found out that the hard core mountain bikers were spending about ¼ of their biking time on mountain bikes, but were spending the rest of their time on road bikes. WTF I thought? Come to find out, it really increases your endurance and as serious racers, that is what they needed more than the technical riding for competition.

I couldn’t see the fun in riding a white line for several hours under the blazing sun of Georgia , while staring at someone else’s ass with no whoopty doos or sweet jumps in sight. I just didn’t get it. I did want to increase my endurance though because I have this innate desire to be the best I can at whatever I decide to pursue.

This desire to be good at something is especially strong when it comes to my career. I founded Dent Tricks, a paintless dent removal (PDR) company in 1998. PDR is the art of removing dents from cars by massaging or manipulating the metal back to its original shape without damaging the original paint. It is a craft that takes years to perfect. I have twice (2005 & 2007) been ranked First Place at the International Dent Olympics. Competitors from all over the world compete in this highly specialized competition. Like Seven Cycles, I am not satisfied with pretty good. I want my customers to know they have the best available.

After a couple of years on a mountain bike and some encouragement from the roadies, I stepped up and bought another Specialized. This time it was an Allez road bike. New shoes, new clips, new helmet and now funny shorts. Hey, you wanna fit in right?

So fast forward to today, which is now ironically about seven years later, and I have shaved legs, many triathlon races under my belt and a room of race pictures, finishers medals and dent trophies. The problem is that about two years ago, I met and fell in love with a runner, not a rider. Since I also happen to run, I started doing more of that and less riding. As the time has passed, I have seen less and less of my riding buddies. I only see them at cook outs and parites now. My cycling legs are gone, I have no new stories of dog chases, hill climbs or bonking to contribute and an old bike that weighs about 26 pounds. To say the least, my motivation has waned.

Though it’s not quite fair to call myself an avid rider at the moment, I can proudly say I’m an engaged recreational rider. Amy and I were got engaged on April 26 of 2007. Another interesting twist is that cycling friends introduced us. Justin (former bike shop owner) and his wife Sandra set us up. Unbeknownst to them, Amy at the time was a smoker and had never participated in any type of sports at all. However, since we began dating, Amy (Google “amys running life”) has run the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego, several half marathons, many 5 and 10K races...and quit smoking. She is now an athlete. On top of that, she is interested in riding a bike!! There is only one thing holding standing in the way though…money.

Amy and I are on a quest to be debt free, including the house. We both earn a fair amount, but are choosing to put every extra dollar we can scrounge up towards debt reduction. So, vacations, gourmet coffee, Netflix and other luxuries have temporarily been halted. We cut the credit cards up long ago. Only necessities, like transportation, housing, food and import beer make the cut now. We are living like no other….so that someday we can live like no other, as Dave Ramsey would say. We are not living like paupers, only coming out on triple coupon Thursdays, but rather living by a budget and making wise choices with what we do with our money, because we want to start our marriage off right, which by the way will be October 11, 2008. I know, I know, but she is working on her MBA and wants to have that behind her before managing a wedding. Once we are married and debt free, we will both have a bike.

In the meantime, it sure would be nice to have a reason, no excuse, to get back on the road and join the cycling group again. Being a winner of another International contest and riding the hills of Georgia on the prize would carry with it the responsibility and moral obligation to live up to the honor of possessing such a gift. The challenge of riding to the ability of the bike would be made and it would be up to me to meet it. In the eyes of the world and all those riding Seven’s now, I would be expected to be a cyclist again.

The story of Seven Cycles and Troy Tarpley are not that much different. We both began with no reputation and through persistence, successful completion and above average standards rose to be the best in our industries. Seven and Tarpley are not the largest in our chosen fields, but recognize that helps set us apart. I don’t know that anyone “deserves” to have anything given to them for free, but if I won this Seven Elium SG, I would earn it by riding BRAG (Bike Ride Around Georgia) next year, promoting Seven Cycles to our bike club with around 200 members and encouraging my favorite shop to sell them. I think if you’re giving a $9500 bike away you should get a ROI (Return on Investment) and I look forward to being just that….T-roi.