Today

'nuff said

How much is a Ba-zillion?

A Billion? Hmmmm, let's see...

If you sat down to count from one to one billion, you would be counting for 95 years.

A tightly-packed stack of new $1,000 bills totaling $1 billion would be 63 miles high. In comparison, jet planes fly at 30,000 - 40,000 feet (5.7 - 7.7 miles high).

About a billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was in full swing. (One billion minutes is about 1,900 years.)

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases..

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes,
at the rate our government is spending it.


While this thought is still fresh in our mind...
Consider New Orleans.... with some simple division and a little sarcasm…

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) asked Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. What does this number mean?

A. If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.
B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.
C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012.

How much is $700 Billion?

My idea to finance the Bailout

Let the oil companies step in and put up a loan to Wall Street.
I'm not an economist and I tend to see things rather simply. Like most men.

There are 5 big American oil companies out there that have billions in equity and revenue.

2007 Equity
Shell (Royal Dutch Shell), - $124 Billion
ExxonMobil, - $122 Billion
BP - $93.6 Billion
ConocoPhillips - $89 Billion
Chevron - $77 Billion

Total --- $505.6 Billion

And you know these numbers will be much higher for 2008.

Let these guys offer a low interest loan and handle the whole deal. Leave the Federal Government (read as all of us) out of it.
I don't think it would effect the price at the pump so it's a win for us and the oil companies. We get indirectly involved by already having paid at the pump the past 3 years and these oil companies can get their profit from their loan to Wall Street instead of us. Heck, the price at the pump may even drop a bit...maybe.

Where's the down side? Seriously?

Autumn off season

Ah yes, here it is the first day of Autumn and my off-season starts today. Well, I think I really started a couple weeks ago but now I have a plan. A very loose plan but a plan none the less.
I've not done any structured training or racing since IM Canada. Just staying active and doing whatever I feel like doing.



My running needs work. No secret here. I've griped about my weak running a few times and now is the time to curb my whimpering a bit and do something about it. So for the next few months I'll be running and mountain biking and if I happen to be near a pool somewhere, I may throw in a little swim or water running. Oh sure, I'll be doing some strength training and yoga along the way too.
What do I mean "if I happen to be near a pool...?"
Well, I have a new work assignment coming up for the next 2 months and it's in a remotely populated area in NW Colorado. Lots of dry, rocky terrain. Perfect for running and mountain biking. If it snows, I may even ski a bit.
Imagine those scenes from the Rocky IV movie where Rock gets sent to Siberia for training before his fight with Ivan Drago (Dolf Lundgren).
Keep it simple but keep it quality.



Well, I gotta pack up the truck, load up my dog, spend my paycheck on a tank of diesel, and head west.
Hi yo!

Ya gotta read her blog

Cuz I got nothing new right now.
I know some of you read Speedy Speed Racer's blog and if you haven't, you are missing some great stories of adventures in multisport chocked full of inspiration, tons of humor, biting sarcasm, and laced with plenty of cursing.
Her recent post about a little bike ride in New Hampshire is captivating and will make you want to join her on the next one.
I've told her she should publish her stories as a book. Lucky for us, her blog is always open to drop in on and read. So go ahead.
There's a possibility that she'll hate me for this prop. I've never met her, and maybe that's best, but can't wait to read more.

Here's a couple lines from her blogs. You can't help but like this woman:

“The good kind of crazy," they say. I say, "You got yourself into this stupid mess, so now you have to get yourself out of it." Just get to the finish or die trying, but always finish what you've started!

I came home so sick of myself, that I swore that I was going to quit for a year. I was going to spend a whole year NOT drinking and doing whatever the hell I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. I was going to train as hard as I could, and then I was going to do an ironman. And for once everything seemed to be going right. I raced all the time, and all over the place. This was my fourth marathon in a calendar year. I even started winning some stuff, taking a handful of age group wins and even a course record.

...I do this stupid shit to myself all the time, and I have that confidence that I can fall back on knowing that I’ve survived my own stupidity before, so I can survive again

And she has survived...and she keeps getting better, stronger, faster...a badass triathlon/biker chick.

Testing...1....2....3

I spent the past week doing nothing physical and the inactivity was beginning to get me a tad bit stir crazy by Friday and I thought I better do something to stave off the jitters.
And just as I had this thought, I got an email from the bike shop that Cervelo was going to be on site with a truck load of bikes to test ride.

OH JOY! a fix for my restless body syndrome.

I suggested this opportunity to girlfriend and she was up for it so on Saturday morning, we got on our bikes and rode an ez 12 miles to the bike shop. A perfect warm up ride.

Here's what I found.
I took each bike on a 5 mile loop that had some hills and flats.

First up:

The P3C is a solid TT bike and everything about it is straight foreword efficient speed. Every pedal stroke sent me ahead with solid responsiveness. Imperceptible side flex and like a stealth arrow on fast descents...scary fast, the way I like it.

Second:

The SLC-SL is a snappy small framed and responsive switchblade that responded to my subtle movements and immediate take offs from every pedal stroke. Stiff and strong. A think this would be a great criterium bike that could jump through the smallest gaps and leave the rest blinking at what just happened.

Third:

The R3-SL is the stiffest thing on 2 wheels. You talk about a billy-goat for climbing hills. Every gram of pedal power propelled me up the hills and the Sram Red groupo is the shnizzle. If I were ever to do a mountain stage, this would be my first bike choice. Stiff, strong and LIGHT! I was told that the R3, medium size frame, could be built out under 14 pounds and one has been built out at under 10 pounds. WTF!? less than 10 pounds!? Somebody call a lumberjack, I've got wood.

Oh sure, my legs were still a bit tired from being only 6 days past IM Canada but I hardly noticed it on these great bikes.
The 12 mile ride home on my old Kestrel 200 was when I noticed my cooked legs...

Can I get a beer and pizza here please? I'm a recovering ironman and need my fix.