Operation Cookie Bake: Mom Saves the Day

Ever get busted by one of the world’s strongest men? I did along with some friends! We had made a promise to one of our favorite cyclists Jens Voigt a few months ago and he didn’t forget. I think the best way to explain the situation is for you to read Mary Topping’s blog, she explains   Operation Cookie Bake with a great video at the end.

Jens Voigt is one of cycling’s biggest names. He is the first pro-rider I became a fan of in 2009 during the Tour De France. I have followed his career from team to team the last several years and enjoy watching him ride. I’ve written more about that here

So the story in brief is, we promised Jens cookies to wish his biggest fan Melissa a Happy birthday in December. A bunch of us on Twitter promised cookies to him the next time he raced in America and also Angi inLuxembourg promised cookies when he races there. Conner had made cookies for our tweeps and also a bag for Jens. I chased him all over on Thursday and could never get him over to give him the cookies. Mary had cookies too and couldn’t get close enough.

So when I woke up on Friday morning and saw these tweets from Jens,  my heart sank! I couldn’t believe he remembered and I had been so close.

18 May Jens Voigt ‏@thejensie

Hi everybody, maybe some of you remember how i tweeted something to somebody birthday a long time ago??! And i got cookies promised for that

18 May Jens Voigt ‏@thejensie

Got the cookies promised next time i would race in the US, and oh man- this free cookies where a big part in my decision making to continue!

Jens Voigt ‏@thejensie

So yeah, 50% of my reason to resign another year was the free cookies-hahaha and they have'nt shown up yet. Hahaha

Wow. You can imagine our panic. You don’t want to make the Jensie mad! So Operation Cookie Bake went into emergency management. Mary was the first to deliver and she has a great video on her blog, so be sure to check it out. I hadn’t planned on going to the southern California stages, so I did the next best thing……….called Mom!

My Mom has worked for Disney for years and she is always game for fun stuff. She recently started following cycling and getting more into it to keep up with Conner and I. So she agreed to take cookies to the Beverly Hills start on Sunday. We were set to make delivery number two, Mary and Mom saved the day.

Then a little butterfly mentioned where the team buses were parking on Saturday morning and what time they would be there. I made a call to mom and told her they would be only a thirty minute drive away. Ontario was so much closer than Beverly Hills and easier than the traffic nightmare being warned about on Sunday. Then another friend told me that cyclists can’t eat homemade things during a race because of contamination risk and that he might not eat them. I told my mom to go buy him Circus Animal Cookies by Mothers, these are a California tradition and great cookies. So she ran to the store got a bag and hopped in the car armed with a picture of Jens.

She found the buses easily but RSNT wasn’t there yet. She waited at a empty spot and asked woman standing next to her if she knew where the Radio Shack bus would be. The woman replied, “ I think here, I am waiting for them too because Chris Horner is my brother.” Then the bus didn’t come and she helped my mom find where the bus actually was which was next to my Mom’s car!

She waited by the door of the bus. She said the door opened, Jens came out and looked right at her and smiled. He stopped to sign a jersey for a little boy next to her, she said the little boy asked him about the bee he chewed up the other day and it was cute.

She held the cookies out and said, “These are from MomCycfan on Twitter and some other twitter people in the note.” She said that Jens smiled really big and said, “Thank you, she saved my life” or “She made my life” she wasn’t sure because of his accent. Either way, he was happy and she had delivered his cookies for us.

Her first time being at a race and meeting a cyclist, she meets one of the most famous of all time and a true legend. We all love Jens because he is a hard worker, loyal, funny and a wonderful family man. This is truly a well respected man and a huge legend. So fun to have a small part in this fun story!

* This blog is delayed because I had to wait until Mom could send her pictures. After two weeks of waiting, she finally sent them today. She got a lot of great shots of the Ontario start but none of Jens with the cookies! I must say she did a great job of getting this done and I am grateful.

Jens saw Mom first but stopped to sign for this little boy. The little boy asked Jens about the bee

Jens taking the cookies

#cookiepower sent Jens into the break that day

"Jens was thinking hard while waiting for the stage to start" was my mom's quote on this picture.

Where are the cookies Jens?

Chris Horner. Mom met his sister while waiting.

New US Road Champ Timmy Duggan ( a week before his big win)


Here is the Thank you tweet from Jens that came about a week later.
@thejensie: To answer some left over question from @ATOC - hell yeah i enjoyed my cookies!! And i did get all the equipment for my sons Lacrosse !!