You did it!! Y'all gave enough to reach my original goal of $1500 raised for Levi's charities!! So the beard is coming off sometime this fall. Current high bidder is $250 - so if you want to help shave, you'll have to step up big time!!!

I'm only $300 away from the next incentive step (free helmet!) - so please consider donating!!!

Thank you to all who contributed!! Much Appreciated!!!

http://www.levisgranfondo.com/fundraising/portal/?user=ccallana

Friends and Family - Only a few weeks left to help out - I am only $300 short of my goal!!!. The donation deadline is the end of this month! :) Big thanks to all those who have already contributed!! Traci is really excited about the possibility of me taking the beard off, so anything you can do to help will make her *very* happy! :) If you can't contribute, that's ok too... just scream real loud on October 1st for me to ride strong and not die on the Cat2 climb :)

As many of you know, on October 1, I am doing a Metric Century (62 Miles or so) ride near Santa Rosa as part of Levi Leipheimer's GranFondo. This is a charity event, and as such I am attempting to raise $1500 for the charities the event supports. I have included the list of charities at the bottom of this email.

I am writing to ask you for your help in reaching my goal. There are 3 incentives for you to donate (besides helping some worthy charities!):

--If you donate $100 or more, the event folks will send you some sort of a gift.

--If I hit my goal, I will shave my beard (which I haven't done in over 15 years) - I'll even make a video of it!! :)

--If you are the highest donor, I will let you participate in the shaving if you so wish! :) (Highest donor right now is $201 - Thanks Tom!!)

There is a deadline of August 30 to meet the fundraising goals, so please don't wait! :)

If you would like to help out, please click here to donate by credit/debit card. http://www.levisgranfondo.com/fundraising/portal/?user=ccallana

You can donate by check as well if you are more comfortable doing that - send them to me, made out to VeloStreet, Inc. - just make sure to send them soon so I can send them off to Santa Rosa before the end of the month!! :)

VeloStreet is a Non-Profit - all donations are tax deductible.

Your support is greatly appreciated - Please forward to anyone who you think may be willing to help out.

Thanks for your consideration!!

----

Supported charities

http://www.levisgranfondo.com/p/fundraise/cause/

LIVESTRONG

Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong and based in Austin, Texas, LIVESTRONG fights for the 28 million people around the world living with cancer today. LIVESTRONG connects individuals to the support they need, leverages funding and resources to spur innovation and engages communities and leaders to drive social change. Known for the iconic yellow wristband, LIVESTRONG’s mission is to inspire and empower anyone affected by cancer. For more information visit www.livestrong.org.

VeloStreet’s Cycling Initiatives Program

VeloStreet, the non-profit arm of the GranFondo, has a series of hands-on initiatives that aim to directly improving cycling resources in the communities in which the GranFondo operates and throughout California. The current program is made of the following promising initiatives:

• Ongoing planing and scoping for the construction of the first Sonoma County Velodrome in Santa Rosa
• A cycling-specific signage program for favored bicycle routes throughout Sonoma County to facilitate lawful cycling for tourists and to increase awareness amongst local residents.
• A competitive grant program to fund cycling infrastructure and education in California and beyond.

Forget Me Not Farm

Since its inception in 1992, Forget Me Not Farm has helped thousands of at-risk children and youth break the cycle of abuse. Located on the grounds of the Humane Society & SPCA of Sonoma County, the Farm offers animal-assisted and horticultural therapeutic activities that provide a haven for children, plants and animals to bond, learn, and heal with one another.

Community Giving

Much of the GranFondo course traverses beautiful rural scenery with little to no development. Looks can be deceiving however, for there are folks living in these fine stretches of country with kids that need as good a dose of learning as their city dwelling brethren. Problem is, much of these school districts have to spend more money to educate fewer students across these widely spread areas. On top of that, since there are less kids in the classroom, less money comes down from local, state, and federal coffers. The GranFondo is working with schools along the route to identify needs and support this community as we enjoy the views and terrain in their backyards. Additionally, this gets these kids excited about cycling at a young age and in a time where childhood obesity and nutrition are major problems for developing children.

This same geographic and financial situation extends to emergency services and other community services, not just schools. The GranFondo supports these vital local resources so that folks who make their life in further flung areas of the county can continue to have the same opportunities as their urban comrades.

Levi's GranFondo - Donate to the Cause

So I'm not very active on my blog, mostly because I spend my time doing other things :) But I figured I'd use this space for something useful today.

October 1, I am riding a Metric Century (62 Miles or so) ride as part of Levi Leipheimer's GranFondo. As part of this ride, I am attempting to raise $1500 for the charities the event supports. You can see the places that receive funds here http://www.levisgranfondo.com/p/fundraise/cause/

If you donate $100 or more, the GranFondo folks will send you something as a gift. In addition, I am offering a couple incentives to donate. As most of you know, I've had a beard on my face for over 15 years - if I reach my goal, I will shave it off! If you have the highest donation, I will even let you assist (if you are local to me of course - otherwise, we'll have to come up with some other arrangement).

Click here to donate. http://www.levisgranfondo.com/fundraising/portal/?user=ccallana

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Michael Rogers

Michael Rogers, originally uploaded by C.Cal.Shoot.

Ok, so it's been months and months since I posted anything. But, since I noticed a few people actually linked thru to my flickr site, I thought I'd add something from this year's Amgen Tour of California. Here is the Yellow Jersey and eventual overall winner Michael Rogers at the time trial in Los Angeles.

Check out this link for more from the 2010 race http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriscallanan/collections/72157623939010541/

Enjoy!

Cobra

Cobra, originally uploaded by C.Cal.Shoot.

Shot the employee car show yesterday. Lots of very cool cars - including this Mustang GT500 Shelby Cobra - high gloss black. Created a pretty cool reflection, of, umm.... me :)

Bridwell's Adventures in Folsom

After over 2 years of trying, I finally scored some time with Bridwell the Gnome. Bridwell has been traveling around the globe, visiting various photographers from the DSL Reports Digital Imaging forum, http://www.dslreports.com/forum/dimaging .

Turns out, I had to bust him out of Folsom State Prison before we could see the town....



After we got out of there, I decided he'd like to see where I work...



On site, we have a nice little quiet area where Bridwell decided he wanted to contemplate life hanging out in a tree.



Apparently had enough thinking, he headed over to the waterfall, where I thought he was going to jump...



But this group of Canada Geese convinced him otherwise....



It was time to get inside, but he couldn't figure out which way to go...



After much internal deliberation, he found his parking stall...



Came inside, and promptly installed one of the Beta builds of Windows 7...



Bridwell decided he'd see enough work, he wanted to see a famous bridge, or a dam, or lake or something.... So we checked out Folsom Dam - we could only see it from the new Folsom Lake Crossing bridge, since the road over the dam was closed after 9/11.



We got there by bike, he rode here....




We went around to the lake



And then he enjoyed something refreshing to drink.



On our way home, we stopped to get a good view of the prison from a distance



We checked out the Rainbow Bridge, and the old pedestrian foot bridge





And finished up the night with some Sake....




Quite the time spent in Folsom.... now he's off to the northwest somewhere... Thanks for visiting!!

I'm entered in this contest to shoot my dream assignment. Please go here and vote for me!!

Thanks!