Life's not Fair...(but, who ever said it was?)

Working for a Sheriff that's a good boss and concerned about the "wellness" of his employees has a few perks. In addition to free flu shots at work and annual blood work the Sheriff decided to provide those of us over the age of 40 with a Cardiac CT - for Calcium Scoring. Basically it's a 10 min, non-invasive procedure that takes pictures of your heart and assigns a score, which throws you into one of five categories...

Calcium Score........Pressence of Plaque
0.....................................No evidence of plaque
1-10...............................Minimal evidence of plaque
11-100.......................... Mild evidence of plaque
101-400........................ Moderate evidence of plaque
Over 400......................Extensive evidence of plaque

Anyway, in keeping with recent blog themes of "Why do bad things happen to mediocre people?" and "Crap Sandwich Month"...I scored a 23 and have been advised to see a cardiologist. This after watching co-worker after co-worker most of who live sedentary life styles, smoke, and carry around an extra 20 to 80 pounds score "0" consistently. GENETICS SUCK!

A good ride....

Had every intention of riding yesterday, however, in the process of waiting for it to warm up a little... I decided to straighten up my study by purging and shredding all the old "stuff" (bills, credit card statements, mutual fund statements, check stubs etc. etc.) At the same time Char decided to tackle cleaning out her closet...the day was gone.

Anyway, since we skipped yesterday and the wind looked like it was going to cooperate and stay in the single digits, we decided to do the loop today (70 miles).

It was a good day and a good ride, we saw the sports car enthusiast again today. Leading the pack was a red Ferrari Enzo followed by an orange Lamborghini Murcielago. Bringing up the rear was a pair of Ferrari 308's (one black, one red). While the old "Magnum PI" Ferrari is a nice car in it's own right...considering the company they were keeping, let's just say they were suffering by comparison.

One small bit of history from the "little known and less cared for" file...Char and I were at the Paris Auto show in September of 2002, which is where the Enzo was "officially unveiled".

Exotic cars aside (after all this is the second time I see this crew on River Road)...strangest and coolest part of today's ride was a guy playing the bagpipes on the levee...I promise, I can't make this stuff up. Anyway, if the sun and temperature hadn't been dropping so quick I would have had to turn around to go talk to him, or at least stop and listen for a while.

The "F" Word!

Got this for the Doc...
Thought it was Blog worthy!

There are only eleven times in history where the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use.

They are as follows:


11. "What the @#$% do you mean,we are sinking?"
-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912

10. "What the @#$% was that?"
-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945

9. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"
-- Custer, 1877

8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."
-- Einstein, 1938

7. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!"
-- Picasso, 1926

6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"
-- Pythagoras, 126 BC

5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"
-- Michelangelo, 1566

4. "Where the @#$% are we?"
-- Amelia Earhart, 1937

3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"
-- Noah, 4314 BC

2. "Aw c'mon. Who the @#$% is going to find out?"
-- Bill Clinton, 1998

And a drum roll please............!


1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad."
-- Saddam Hussein, 2003

THE WIND...My friend? My @ss!

Had hopes of taking advantage of the unseasonably pleasant weather and riding both Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. Unfortunately, a leaking water pipe in the wall of my house ruined yesterday's plans...I'll skip all the boring details, lets just say it's now fixed but it was an all day project.

Therefore, Char and I talked about making today a long one and maybe doing the loop (about 70), that was until we checked the weather and saw what the wind had in mind for the day, so we decided on Yousef (about 40). My goal for the day was to, think positive and take SuperDave's advice and make the wind my friend.

Lets just say it was a love hate, relationship. When I was doing 24+ mph @ 69% of my mhr, it was a beautiful relationship. On the other hand, when I was doing between 11-12 mph @ 90% of mhr, it wasn't that great :) :)

However, I did realize one thing...either direction is better than fixing leaking pipes. It was a good day!

One-Pete!

A friend sent me this, figured everyone sick of the national media kissing up to USC would enjoy...especially all the LSU and Texas fans!

Even though according to Leinart, they're still the better team...what an idiot!

LAF - Livestrong Ride

Saw where the paceline posted updated information concerning the Livestrong Rides. Looks like the format has changed quite a bit from the days of just having the ride for the Roses in Austin.

Basically, from June 25th to October 8th there will be 5 "livestong" rides in various parts of the country, each requiring a $50 registration fee plus raising at least $500 (OUCH!). Anyone raising at least $15,000 will be invited to participate in the Ride for the Roses on October 15th in Austin. (Kind of Pricey!)

It'll be interesting to see how the significant increase in minimum "fund raising" required for participation will impact the size of the event.