Check out this email we received from a customer that entered our Turds for Gold contest. Pretty amazing story...

Hi All at Chrome,

I'm actually writing this submission to your photo contest on behalf of my boyfriend, Evan. We both participated in your Turds for Gold promotion, but in the end his story is way more important to tell then mine.

Everyday since Saint Patrick's day, Evan and I have been talking about how much we can't wait to see our new shoes from your company.  Both of us were ready to take them out on the road, put them to the test, and then kick back after a long day of riding with a six pack of High Life.  It goes without saying we were psyched that you guys were doing this.  It wasn't just the concept of new shoes, lord knows we both needed them, but it was another sign that warm weather biking season was just around the corner.  We were ready.

Or, well, so we thought.  About one week ago, Evan got into a bad accident while doing some early morning riding along the bike path that edges next to the Charles River in Boston.  He took a corner too sharp onto a floating bridge, clipped his riser bars, and the force of the clip was strong enough to throw him over the side, 10 feet down into the water and unfortunately the rocks.  This is where I am thankful for two things:  1)  He was wearing his helmet [please guys, if you don't these days, consider it, it was one of the few things that kept his accident from being fatal] and 2)  His Ranchero backpack.....the waterproof lining kept his phone dry.  He was on the rocks half-submerged in the water.  After a half an hour with no passerbys he was able to take off the backpack, grab his phone and call me.  I then called 911, and he was quickly rushed to the hospital.

After multiple CAT scans and x-rays, it was determined that he didn't break or severely damage anything, but suffered ligamental damage in his neck, left shoulder, and most of his back. Subsequently, for the past week he has been confined to our futon in a neck brace, watching all the bad movies I could find him [well, and bike videos on Vimeo], and eating non-solid food.  He was MISERABLE.  Not just because he was in pain, but because the EMTs in the ambulance couldn't get the knots of his Onitsuka Tigers undone and as a result, had to cut his shoes off of his feet.  He really loved those shoes, and now he had no decent pair to go riding in.

....until this morning.  We got a rude awakening at 7AM [seriously, WTF] from FedEx, and IMMEDIATELY I knew it was our shoes.  I raced down in my sweats, swiped the boxes from the delivery guy, then tip-toed into our apartment and gently woke Evan up.  "Baby, look, a good morning present!" I whispered and put the box in his lap.  I swear from here to high heaven, in the days after Evan's accident, I have not seen him even nearly as happy as he was when he realized it was his new shoes.  He made me put them on him, and he sat there, at 7:30 in the morning, with a stupid grin on his face.

So along with this submission, I mostly want to say THANK YOU.  THANK YOU for doing such a fucking amazing promotion that gets us two crazy bikers beyond excited for new shoes.  THANK YOU for making a backpack waterproof enough to keep a cell phone dry so a girlfriend can know that her love is hurt and needs her.  And an extra huge THANK YOU for sending Evan the first thing to have gotten him excited to get back up on the two wheels since his accident.

Unfortunately the photo isn't of Evan on his bike, and in a sense isn't humorous or ridiculous, but he wanted to at least show you his appreciation.

Hope you all have a terrific summer, and that your office is a little less crowded without all those turds!

Sincerely,

Emily [and Evan]