In praise of St. Christopher

Last fall, when I was out shooting a couple of commercials in Los Angeles, I brought the bike along to do some early morning training. To get to work on time, I had to get up at 4:00 am and be on the bike by 5:00 am.

That time of day, the cars on the Pacific Coast Highway are barely aware of a cyclist's existence. So I got some lights, then went looking for a little help from above.

In a funky surf shop outside of Venice, I found a St. Christopher medal, which is pictured above. Originally, it had a red sphere in the center, and black type on the outside edges that read, "Saint Christopher Protect Us."

I asked the punked out, tattooed surf shop owner to pick it out for me, and he did. $12 later, I was riding up and down the road with a bit of good karma around my neck.

Well, I have to say, knock on wood, St. Christopher does good work. Not only did he take care of me on the Tour de France Challenge, he also took care of Jimmy Railley, who had St. Christopher working for him, too.

If you're doing something sketchy, I highly recommend you get St. Christopher on your team. He doesn't weigh much and he can't do you any harm.