The last week has brought with it numerous creations of garage shop awesomeness. Indeed, it seems that 'round these here parts, it's possible for a wheelchair racer to say "Hmm...I think I need *this*"... and viola! With a few phone calls and a couple of rounds of this guy knowing that guy, she's in the money.

See it first hand in the new photo gallery: "garage shop awesomeness."

First, there was the issue of the draft board. I am the only wheelchair racer locally (this is changing...yeah Sean!) and earlier in the year I foresaw the need to have a mechanism to train at higher speeds and simulate drafting another racer. Consider it kind of like motor pacing for our sport. I happen to live about 1 mile from a massive institution of higher education, so, I commissioned the professor who teaches a senior design class in the mechanical engineering department. I got on their agenda and within a matter of months, we had a draft board...or perhaps you could say, a draft kite. So awesome! So functional! Thanks a million to George, Nathan, and the rest of the crowd in the ME department. AND to Phil and Kathleen, providing daily motivation, timing, and presence on the track and in the gym for when things get VERY HARD. *smile*

Second, there was the issue of the haphazard pieces of foam I had stacked up under my knees as, over the course of the season, I had felt that my body position was too low. I attempted to compensate, one 1/2 inch at a time. At the end of this process I had 4 pieces of foam slapped together with tape on which my knees rested. Although functional, it looked pretty sloppy..and as well all know...when you're on your way to Beijing, you gotta look good. You gotta keep it real. A gentleman by the name of Paul T lives in Los Altos and has become my equipment guru, with a garage full of big power tools, an amazing mind for mechanics, and a few hours of free time now and again. We bought a piece of kayak seat foam from REI and some tools called Dragon Skin from a online kayak shop, and we carved away at this foam until it was the exact shape I needed to fit under my knees in my racing chair. So awesome!

Third, there was the issue of traveling with the racer in a manner that is functional and safe for the equipment. My past solutions to this problem included a cardboard box (lame) and a cut up garbage can (ridiculous and lame - although others have done it with much success). A friend, Sean, has recently become involved in racing and man, does he know PEOPLE. One of his people is Josh, a welder and also mechanically-oriented gentleman at WorldWide in San Jose. You hand Josh and racing chair and a concept and within a few weeks you have a travel "cage" of sorts. It's light, it's super strong, and it makes sense. Thanks a million to Sean and Josh!

And - in broken record fashion - have I ever mentioned that this is a team effort? Team Cheri is rocking, in FULL EFFECT.