Kerry Hilton, the CEO of my agency, illustrated me in a meeting last year.

JoeDOYLE.com is all about, well, me…my thoughts and interests and family and much more. At one point in my life I thought “blogs are so self centered, who would ever write one?” Then I started one (back in 06) when Stacey became pregnant with our twins. What better way to keep far-reaching family and friends up to speed?

Self publishing soon became important to me. I wrote about Da Bears, my love of Cyclocross, live music, food, being a dad and more.

After 390 posts, my blog has taken a back seat to self-publishing in 140 characters on Twitter and the occasional updates on Facebook and LinkedIn. And I’m not 100% sure where this thing will go, save for the family updates will continue as they are most important.

Plus, I may use this space to cross promote my professional side. Many of you know I’m the Interactive Director at HCB Health, an agency focused on the healthcare industry. Part of my regular initiatives are to write articles for our blog, Med Men, and other industry rags. Showing our prowess is important to new business, and I love to publish.

So, if it will make any difference to your work, please give my recent article a gander. It’s called Development Options for you iPad Presentations. It’s useful information for any person who’s heard “let’s build an app for that” in conversation.

And while you’re at it, why not click those social network links above and add me as a friend? It promises to be fun. Same with all the social networks listed on the Med Men blog (I direct those initiatives, too). Peace.

Rumor has it, some family/friend/local in a sleepy South Dakota town called the infant version of my father-in-law a real “Corker”. Corky was soon to follow, and it stuck. I bet many of his own friends would take a second to ponder his traditional first name.

For those who know Richard, please take a second to tell him happy birthday in this post. I’m looking forward to a fine celebration this week, sir. Especially since I’m growing this ‘stache in the name of men’s health, and you’re a cancer survivor working his way to all clear.

This month I wove a nose ribbon in the name of Movember. It’s a movement to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancers, and it supports the Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG. The latter has been a charity I’ve supported numerous times in the past, because I believe they exist to help.

Walking about with a multi-colored lip sweater hasn’t been an easy feat. Strangers tend to double take. I’ve noticed workmates sort-of stare and almost coil in fear of this freakish hair creation. A hockey teammate blurted out “dude, is that a sweet ‘stache?”

You betcha.

My new nose neighbor has been effective. It’s a conversation starter and a laugh device all in one. People who know me now know that one in six men will develop prostate cancer. That’s a staggering fact.

They also find out that people can battle, like my father-in-law Corky.
And my friend Jeff Andrews.
And Aaron Bell’s dad.
Same with Tiffany Cannon’s old man.

Stacey and I started thinking about all the people we know who have (and continue to battle) prostate cancer, and the list is vast.

It pays to be in the know, so I encourage every male reading this to get a physical. Ask your Doc about PSA levels and your health. Also ask him about your options. If you know me, and you’ve seen my mustache, you likely heard me say that you don’t need to be prodded by Dr Longfinger any more. How cool is that?

Please consider donating to my team, Geeks With Balls. We’ll take your pocket change, your lunch money, a round at the ole ballgame – whatever you can give will be amazing. I’ll make it up to you the next time we meet, friend.

You can also go direct to my page and donate. Either way, you are the coolest.

Thanks in advance. Please high five a man in your life, he deserves it.

And Happy Birthday, Corky!

This year didn’t turn out as good as last year. Or even the year before. I think it’s because they combed the curl out of their hair, and in the dual image you can see that PJ is looking in a different direction than his sister.

Whatever – I can be critical. I guess if we wanted staged photos (or even the professional journalistic style) we’d call on a couple photogs we know here in town. But these are true to who they are – adorable 3.5 year olds.

If you’re family and you want me to send some to your local Walgreens (in any size), just let me know. I’ll order whatever you desire.

(Click on an image to see it alone, then click again to make it larger)

10 years ago we started a journey.
On that day the world became our oyster. We had no idea where we we heading – there was no Texas in our plans, and the idea of twins wasn’t even a possibility. We built a foundation of friendship between us, and opened that to others.

10 years is a long time.
Feels like an eternity… (isn’t that the joke?) To be honest, 10 years have flown by. It seems like that wonderful Fall day was just a couple of years ago. That’s part of what makes 10 years so special.

10 years is a start.
Every day brings us back to day one, to a place where we created a life together. Every day brings us back to our wedding song, Teach Me About Love, because we can never stop learning about each other.

Stacey, I love you. Thank you for 10 great years.

But they’re not bike racing, and certainly not racing at a level that I would like to be at. So I’ve made a shift in anticipation of the fall ‘Cross season in Texas.

Lone Star Cyclocross from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.

From now through the end of the year I will no longer head to CrossFit and I will play hockey just once a week, on a set day, so I can more accurately plan training rides and progression with my coach. I’ve hired David Wenger of Durata Training, my first one-on-one coach ever.

So far the training has been great. I’m reading my wattage on a Quarq Cinqo tied to a Garmin 705.

It’s all exciting to me – the electronics. For years I’ve been proud to be the guy with zero electronics to monitor progression. A real velo Luddite. (Yes, I lead an interactive dept for a living, don’t judge.)

Now I’m in it for results.

I often tweet my training results and routes, so be sure to follow me there to keep up. Coach is starting to intensify my training and I noticed something that said 375 watts for 15 seconds, then down to 185 watts for 15 seconds, and back up again. Man, that’s gonna be tough. But ‘cross is fierce, balls-to-the-wall, pain cave racing.

Here’s my schedule for the year:
Oct 16- Austin – season opener at Belterra
Oct 17- Austin – season opener w/Texas Custom Bicycle Show
Oct 23 Houston GCCA
Oct 24 Houston Woodlands CX
Oct 30 New Braunfels- WurstFest
Nov 6 Webberville p/b Violet Crown
Nov 7 Austin p/b Holland Racing
Nov 13 San Antonio p/b Bicycle Heaven
Nov 14 San Antonio
Nov 20 Ft Worth p/b Broken Films
Nov 21 Ft Worth p/b Think Cash
Dec 5 Chicago Cross Cup State Championships
Dec 12 Austin p/b Brain and Spine
Dec 18 Dallas – State Championship (Skills Based)
Dec 19 Dallas – State Championship (Age Based)

You might have noticed that Chicago date. Still in the works, but close to complete and puts a big smile on my face just thinking about getting back to the series I started.

Eye of the tiger, people. Let’s race!

After my last post, several people made last-minute donations. To all of you who opened up your wallets, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude:

Matt Smith
Kristin B – in memory of her father
Denise and Guy Netherey
Mike Hemme – In honor of Noreen
Scott Adair
Mark Giardina
Kurt Pennypacker – in honor of Uncle Jame Merello
Kristin Garcia – in honor of Sandra Marines
Kelly Doyle
Joe and Margaret Udell
Jodi Henderson – in memory of Heather Munsel
Jeff Hermann – in memory of way too many people to list
Jean Ashley – in honor of all the survivors
Danny Stipp
Christian Gray – in memory of Phyllis’ Grandbaby
Bruce Turner – in memory of Ineke Lauran
Mike Cacciabondo
Brian and Tiffany Galligan (Blake and Mason, too)

The day was wonderful. Hot and dry – the course was loose and fast. I enjoyed a call up in front of the whole SS class. Those who weren’t listening in the cattle chute said “why is he going up there” and “who’s that guy”? I quickly let them know it was because I helped raise fund for LIVESTRONG and that was all they needed.

It’s not about the race, but I finished 23rd out of 42. I shaved six minutes off my fall time on the same course, albeit the terrain was very wet last year. The images in this post are free from Ingot Imaging, but here are some great shots of me from Liz Keutz, too. Who knew I smiled so much while in pain?

The staff from LIVESTRONG was extremely nice. If you ever get the opportunity to be a part of their micro-donation grassroots effort, you should give it a thought. The barrier to entry is low, and the perks are high. All told, the LIVESTRONG racers at the Mellow Classic raised over $27,000.

Live strong, friends. Thanks again.

The Mellow Johnny’s Classic race is on Sunday for my class (singlespeed) and I’m stoked to ride again at Juan Pelota’s ranch. I get to ride out there Friday night, too. Gonna be great.

Best of all, thanks to some amazing people I’ve met my donation milestone. But – that doesn’t mean we should stop. I’m hoping many of you will make a low $10 donation to LIVESTRONG. After all, it’s not about my milestone, it is all about helping a quality organization help people living with cancer.

I just read that 81 percent of every dollar raised went directly to fund programmatic expenses in 2009 for LIVESTRONG. That’s pretty amazing, especially for an organization that has raised over $325 million since it’s inception.

So if you think cancer sucks, please donate to LIVESTRONG through my page. I promise to think of you and anyone I’m riding for (in your honor) during the race. Believe me, I’ll be suffering. Not near as much as the survivors or those living with cancer, but it is going to be a tough slog in dry and hot conditions.

Thanks to all who have given so far, y’all rule:
Mark Giardina
Kurt Pennypacker – in honor of Uncle Jame Merello
Kristin Garcia – in honor of Sandra Marines
Kelly Doyle
Joe and Margaret Udell
Jodi Henderson – in memory of Heather Munsel
Jeff Hermann – in memory of way too many people to list
Jean Ashley – in honor of all the survivors
Danny Stipp
Cristian Gray – in memory of Phyllis’ Grandbaby
Bruce Turner – in memory of Ineke Lauran
Mike Cacciabondo
Brian and Tiffany Galligan (Blake and Mason, too)

Live strong, friends.

Image credit to good friend Ken Dawson, from last year’s race.

Today you keep me on my toes. You make me laugh and smile and feel proud. I will love you always and know that our journey is still just starting out.

Happy Birthday, Katie and Patrick.

UPDATE – scenes from their birthday party are found here.

As you can see it was fun for them. That is until the needles came out. Ouch!

But they are set for a whole year and we are happy they got a clean bill of health. Vision and hearing were a couple of the tests this time around and it turns out the kids are both sitting at 20/30 vision.

Patrick
38.5″ tall – 75% percentile
35.2 lbs – 75% percentile

Katherine
36″ tall – 25% percentile
27.9 lbs – 10% percentile

But it’s also in my repertoire to occasionally raise money and donate funds to a worthy cause. It’s been awhile, but this spring I feel compelled to raise at least $250 for LIVESTRONG. And you can help me get reach my goal with a simple $10 donation.

It’s a much smaller ambition that I had in 2001 and 2002 when I raised over $10,000 a year with Ole Mike Cacciabondo. The yearly reward for our hard work (as Peloton Project members) was a long weekend in Austin. We got to ride with Lance and connect with this amazing city. Now that I live here, I’ve come to see firsthand just how valuable the LAF is to our town, and even more so to the cancer community.

People affected by cancer visit the LIVESTRONG websites every day. Heck, every minute. It’s the first step for many, and a true inspiration to anyone who’s on the journey to recovery. Since I’ve become the Interactive Director at HC&B Healthcare, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two huge oncology organizations, and everyone in the field knows the prowess of the LAF. They are on the forefront of the cancer movement – helping many with information, resources and even funding cancer research.

In years past I would ride in honor of people I knew who were affected by the disease. But this year I plan to race in the Mellow Johnny’s Classic – a UCI Pro Mountain Bike Race that happens on Juan Pelota‘s ranch. I’ll draw inspiration on the trail from all the people I know who’ve beaten cancer – there are so many of you.

Racing on Juan Pelota's ranch last year. Photo: Jason Smith.

Thanks in advance for considering it. You rule!

Joe

P. S. I’ll update here a bit more frequently this month. Updates to training and fund-raising, kid’s birthday fun and race results/day-of events.