BIG IDEAS for 2008

Give Peace a Chance




"Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile, blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars."
—Carl Sagan

Everything working out...

No pun intended


Ironman Louisville is August 31st next year. I have been telling all my family and friends that I would love to take my little girl and Brittany up to Chicago afterwards to catch a game at Wrigley field and check out the option pits.

The Cubs just posted their 2008 schedule and they will be at home Monday through Wednesday after Sunday's Ironman in Kentucky.

bike parking, Copenhagen on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

bike parking, Copenhagen on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I could only hope and pray that this will be Chattanooga, TN in a couple of years!

Yogurt vs. Gasoline

Yogurt vs. Gasoline

Click here to see the movie.

I thought since Christmas Day was the busiest time of year for theatres, I would post some short films here, so you wouldn't have to fight the crowds.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Transportation Ethics

Clarence Eckerson at StreetFilms presents this provocative conversation between Mark Gorton, executive director of the Open Planning Project, and Randy Cohen, author of The Ethicist column in the New York Times Magazine and occasional commentator for NPR. As shown in this interview, Cohen is also an intelligent and articulate voice for Livable Streets.

Fun Holiday Pics

I love this headline

Higher Fuel Prices Bring CARTA More Riders
from the chattanoogan.com


"a total of 164,662 people rode CARTA buses - more than 10,000 more than the 154,327 who rode buses during November 2006."

Goals !

I'm really excited!

Tonight I'm meeting up with my best friend and we are going to talk about our goals for the next year.

I will post about all of my goals for next year in the next week or two, but one thing I have already decided is to learn more about marketing - and yes for you witty people out there - I am going to focus on some specific parts of marketing. I have been doing an enormous amount of reading lately on marketing, success, history, etc... and one of the major trends is:

Successful people know a lot people (they network)
Unsuccessful people don't know a lot of people (they keep to themselves)

So this morning I came across this great post and thought I should share it with everyone, if you want to create more buzz out there.

Another thing I'm really excited about for next year is a men's bible study I just started.

Lastly, I guess a congratulations is in-order. My friend Chris's goal was to get the same google page rank as me and he recently accomplished this as mine has been on a slippery downslope and his has been accelerate ting. But just so everyone knows, I'm really not that impressed since there are a heck of a lot of more people out there who care about internet marketing than my ironman training and my daily commute by bike!

A Tale of Two Countries

Congressman Earl Blumenauer introducing the
Bike Commuter Act on Capitol Hill last March.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

Bike commuter benefit does not survive Senate vote on Energy Bill

The bike commuter tax benefit — which was introduced to Congress by Earl Blumenauer last March and passed a House vote last week — has been stripped out of the Energy Bill by the Senate.

The U.S. Senate passed the Energy Bill yesterday, but not before removing several “green initiatives” included in the bill by the Blumenauer-led Ways and Means Committee.

Along with removing Blumenauer’s effort to close the “Hummer tax loophole” (which sought to end the additional tax incentive for business purchases of luxury SUVs weighing over 6,000 lbs), the Senate removed the part of the bill that would have expanded the existing transportation fringe benefit to include bike commuters.

The bike commuter provision was based on The Bike Commuter Act and would have given a benefit of $20 per month to employees who biked to work “for the purchase, storage, or repair” of their bicycles. It would have brought bike commuters in line with existing tax benefits for transit users and car drivers.

Addressing National Bike Summit attendees on Capitol Hill last March, Blumenauer said the bike commuter benefit was simply a matter of equity and it would have stopped, “The discrimination against people who burn calories instead of fuel.”

=================================================================

Danish cities go high-tech for bike safety

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on December 14th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

Flashing lights when
a bike is present.
(Photo: Zakkaliciousness)

From Cycleliciousness (the “Copenhagen Bicycle Culture Blog”), comes word of two interesting bike safety measures.

Given that we are in the midst of making some major bike safety improvements at dangerous intersections, I thought it might be useful to take a look at new technology being considered by the Danes.

The first is being tested in Copenhagen to reduce the number of right-hook collisions between bikes and trucks. It’s what the blog’s author calls, “a new system of diode lights” (similar the one in their photo at right) that would potentially reduce bike/car conflicts at dangerous intersections.

All of this is from bikeportland.org

It's officially winter in Chattanooga, TN. At the end of my bike ride into work was a sign that said it was 28 degrees outside - which means it was around 25 degrees when I started.

The wind wasn't alive so it really only felt like it was in the mid-to-high 30s.

For all of you who prefer cycling to running - Now there are no more excuses

http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php

Americans are broad-minded people. They'll accept the fact that a person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater, and even a newspaperman, but if a man doesn't drive, there is something wrong with him.

Art Buchwald, "How Un-American Can You Get?," Have I Ever Lied to You?, 1966

INTERESTING...

Al Gore just accepted the Nobel Peace Price for his work on Global Warming and here in Chattanooga, TN the temperature is around the high 70's.

Other interesting environmental news from Chattanooga's American Hiking Society:

Today, Wilbur Smith Associates released a long awaited Economic Development and Transportation Summary related to the Corridor K project. While I have not yet had time to review this report in detail, I am making it available for concerned citizens to look at here.

Corridor K in a Global Economy: A Summary of the Economic Development and Transportation Study. (113 KB)

Stay tuned for more information about Corridor K as studies related to the project, including the development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are completed. This process will take several years to unfold, but we will follow along closely until our concerns are resolved.

Bill McKibben speaks about Chattanooga, TN's environment and community, touring the city and speaking about its green efforts.

"It always seems impossible until it's done" Nelson Mandela

I had to tell my friends over at commutebybike that I have officially switched to running. This morning I actually thought I was going to bike in because of the lack of water and the excessive amount of brownies I ate last night. I even hit the snooze button. But the second I felt the brisk 30 degree weather with a nice morning breeze, I grabbed my mp3 player and me and Bono went for a run.

Goals

I have been doing some serious thinking about my goals for 2008. Next year will be a pivotal year for me personally and professionally. I will elaborate on this issue later, but one of my goals will definitely pertain to educating others and myself on alternative energy.

It all comes back to the simplicity of biking to work. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you are a nature-lover, health fanatic, or just plain cheap-skate - the bottom line is the bottom line, and that is = you have more money in your back pocket if you bike to work as opposed to if you drive your car to work.

In the next couple of years I believe this movement will transgress into our aging power grid and companies and individuals will be more creative when thinking of their home power, rather than just paying your local power company whatever they tell you to pay.

I will be the first to admit that I'm not the smartest knife in the drawer. However, neither are many of the individuals on the Forbes 400. The difference is they are hard-working individuals that were very perceptive in looking at long-term growth trends.

So today we have google, the most progressive corporation in the world investing heavily in alternative energy to get off the power grid, because they think they can generate it cheaper themselves and Kleiner Perkins, arguably the most successful venture capitalist firm in the world investing very heavily in alternative energy.

Additionally, another individual I highly respect, Vinod Khosla is solely focused on alternative energy. Other individuals that are more controversial that have publicly stated alternative energy is the next big thing is Sir Richard Branson and Bill Clinton. Regardless of your personal feelings towards these individuals, it would be hard to argue that these individuals are not successful.

Alas, I challenge all of you to take a step back and think about your impact on the world. I am very blessed to have a handful of really great friends in my life. One characteristic they all share, is that they all want to be VERY successful, but perhaps more importantly, they all want to make a difference in the world, AND this is the reason they are my best friends.

What is your impact on the world?

Weekend Recap

I had a great weekend hanging out with a good friend on Friday and then watching the Ironman World Championships Saturday night. The good news is if you missed it ironman.com is telling everyone it will be on today at 4:30. If this is the result of the writers strike I wouldn't mind if they didn't come back!

Also, Ironman Australia is up on ironman.com for all who are interested.

The lottery is also open. Although I have heard from other bloggers that the passport club really improves your odds, I'm not ready to pony up the extra coin for it this year.

Will Bicycling to Work Get You Killed? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

Will Bicycling to Work Get You Killed? - Freakonomics - Opinion - New York Times Blog

I HOPE NOT!!!!

Don't worry, I definitely won't be in to Christmas as much as these guys are!

I had a great run in this morning. It was a cool 38 degrees but oddly I was never cold and even got pretty hot towards the end. This got me to thinking. With all of the running I will be doing this winter, why don't I do another marathon?

The only real reason is the money. But, it would definitely give me so e motivation and I would love to run one in late February so I could carry my "yet to be born" daughter across the finish line. Although, her mother, who has never seen me finish a marathon, may be a little sceptical about letting me hold her after 4 hours of running.

I'm browsing my favorite marathon site for some cool events this winter, but if any of you have any suggestions please leave a comment or send me an email.

If I lived in NYC I would definitely live here

trifit

trifit

Going to the Grey City

Hopefully I can get some good running in at Central Park to work off some of the great food I plan to partake in.

"I once met three guys named pain, suffering and sacrifice. Now we are inseperable. We are best friends." - Lance Armstrong

I need to step-up my cycling in a major way for these targets.

I have been biking only around 100 miles a week and running around 20 miles a week.

From endurancecoach.com

General Guide to winter Mileage Targets for Different events

	Junior	Elite Junior	Age Group	Elite
Sprint	20	n/a	40	n/a
Triathlon	40	70	60	80
1/2 Ironman	n/a	n/a	90	120
Ironman	n/a	n/a	180	200

http://trifuel.com/training/bike/winter-bike-training-target-specific-areas-to-improve

Corner the Market

Corner the Market

Very weird...

I ran in this morning and it was the very frigid temperature of 58 degrees

My google page rank has gone from 5 to 2 in the past week...

Are there any small business owners out there familiar with free CRM software?

Chattanooga is an awesome town.


Every year I like it more and more. However, Portland's bike scene seems pretty nice too. I'm sure in a couple of years Chattanooga will have the same type of scene.

One thing that is particularly interesting is that we don't have any hand-made bike manufacturer's in Chattanooga. I guess that is because we are in the land of Litespeed.

I'm currently on a quest to find a great headline banner for my blog so if there are any suggestions please leave a comment.

In my research, I think trigeekdreams.com has the best banner.

As for training, I keep biking more than running, but I think that is about to change with the recent weather changes.

Hope all is well out there i tri-land!

Since my wife became pregnant we are emphatic on eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup from our diet.

Here is a great link to a list of foods that are free of this evil juice!

Another tattoo for me!

When I first saw this tattoo I thought it was the coolest thing ever from PaceTat. However, about half of my time in a marathon is spent figuring out what pace I'm running at so now I don't know if this is such a cool thing after all.

Gym Jones - Power, Speed, Endurance, Suffering and Salvation

Freak Gym

A co-worker recomended I go to gymjones.com

This place is awesome! Check out the videos and quotes from these freaks! It takes a while to go through the site but is well worth it for the motivation.

Congrats - to everyone who finished in the recent Florida Ironman

In Portland, Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels

Hopefully, this will be Chattanooga, in a couple of years.


Check out the article here

Doing what Detroit says is impossible

Doing what Detroit says is impossible
by kos
Tue Oct 30, 2007 at 11:50:06 AM PDT

This story is so incredible, I had to do additional research to confirm that it was indeed true. It centers on Kansas City auto mechanic and inventor Johnathan Goodwin.

Two years ago, Goodwin got a rare chance to show off his tricks to some of the car industry's most prominent engineers. He tells me the story: He was driving a converted H2 to the SEMA show, the nation's biggest annual specialty automotive confab, and stopped en route at a Denver hotel. When he woke up in the morning, there were 20 people standing around his Hummer. Did I run over somebody? he wondered. As it turned out, they were engineers for GM, the Hummer's manufacturer. They noticed that Goodwin's H2 looked modified. "Does it have a diesel engine in it?"

"Yeah," he said.

"No way," they replied.

He opened the hood, "and they're just all in and out and around the valves and checking it out," he says. They asked to hear it run, sending a stab of fear through Goodwin. He'd filled it up with grease from a Chinese restaurant the day before and was worried that the cold morning might have solidified the fuel. But it started up on the first try and ran so quietly that at first they didn't believe it was really on. "When you start a diesel engine up on vegetable oil," Goodwin says, "you turn the key, and you hear nothing. Because of the lubricating power of the oil, it's just so smooth. Whisper quiet. And they're like, 'Is it running? Yeah, you can hear the fan going.'"

One engineer turned and said, "GM said this wouldn't work."

"Well," Goodwin replied, "here it is."

And what's the bottom line for Goodwin's modified vehicles? Stuff like this:

Goodwin's feats of engineering have become gradually more visible over the past year. Last summer, Imperium Renewables contacted MTV's show Pimp My Ride about creating an Earth Day special in which Goodwin would convert a muscle car to run on biodiesel. The show chose a '65 Chevy Impala, and when the conversion was done, he'd doubled its mileage to 25 mpg and increased its pull from 250 to 800 horsepower. As a stunt, MTV drag-raced the Impala against a Lamborghini on California's Pomona Raceway. "The Impala blew the Lamborghini away," says Kevin Kluemper, the lead calibration engineer for GM's Allison transmission unit, who'd flown down to help with the conversion.

Remember -- Detroit tells us it's impossible to increase gas mileage without taking a hit on horsepower. Yet here's Goodwin -- with an eight-grade education -- able to design motors that blow the doors off the conventional (and obviously bullshit) wisdom.

His latest project?

Goodwin leads me over to a red 2005 H3 Hummer that's up on jacks, its mechanicals removed. He aims to use the turbine to turn the Hummer into a tricked-out electric hybrid. Like most hybrids, it'll have two engines, including an electric motor. But in this case, the second will be the [jet] turbine, Goodwin's secret ingredient. Whenever the truck's juice runs low, the turbine will roar into action for a few seconds, powering a generator with such gusto that it'll recharge a set of "supercapacitor" batteries in seconds. This means the H3's electric motor will be able to perform awesome feats of acceleration and power over and over again, like a Prius on steroids. What's more, the turbine will burn biodiesel, a renewable fuel with much lower emissions than normal diesel; a hydrogen-injection system will then cut those low emissions in half. And when it's time to fill the tank, he'll be able to just pull up to the back of a diner and dump in its excess french-fry grease--as he does with his many other Hummers. Oh, yeah, he adds, the horsepower will double--from 300 to 600.

"Conservatively," Goodwin muses, scratching his chin, "it'll get 60 miles to the gallon. With 2,000 foot-pounds of torque. You'll be able to smoke the tires. And it's going to be superefficient."

He laughs. "Think about it: a 5,000-pound vehicle that gets 60 miles to the gallon and does zero to 60 in five seconds!"

And here's the punchline:

Goodwin's work proves that a counterattack is possible, and maybe easier than many of us imagined. If the dream is a big, badass ride that's also clean, well, he's there already. As he points out, his conversions consist almost entirely of taking stock GM parts and snapping them together in clever new ways. "They could do all this stuff if they wanted to," he tells me, slapping on a visor and hunching over an arc welder. "The technology has been there forever. They make 90% of the components I use."

The problem with Detroit isn't the laws of physics, it's the fact that a guy who never even went to high school can do things -- with stock parts -- that Detroit's auto executives and their armies of engineers claim is impossible. Good ol' American know-how and ingenuity is alive and well, just not where we need it.

Update: From the comments, video of that Impala smoking the Lamborghini on MTV:



Link: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/30/14161/066

A devotion for inspiration

Iron Man
by Jon Walker
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIV)
Although I don’t recall anyone ever specifically teaching me this, somewhere along the way I embraced the idea that “You have to play hurt.” It’s the philosophy in sports that your commitment in competition is such that you don’t let the pain from injuries – even some of the major ones – keep you from playing, and playing to win.
Brett Favre, the long-standing quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, who we discussed yesterday, is an extraordinary model of this “play hurt” mentality. Often called an iron man, Favre has played through broken bones, sprains, concussions, and a myriad of other injuries – major and minor – making him one of only two NFL players to start every game his team has played over the last 15 years (and the other guy is a punter, not the heart-and-soul quarterback of a team who plays on every offensive down). And Favre is still at it even though he just turned 38, which in the dog-years of 9-to-5 work is like 68.
He certainly doesn’t stay at it for the money because he’s made plenty of it, and he doesn’t do it for the records because he’s already broken most of them. You get the sense from Favre that he’s chasing one more championship, but that he also stays in it for love of the game.
In a similar way, Coach Paul (of Tarsus) teaches us to push past the pain of becoming like Christ. For now, we carry this eternal treasure in fragile in jars of clay as we learn to be wholly and fully dependent upon the all-surpassing power of God.
Therefore, Paul sees our pain and heartache – the difficulties in life – as a way to identify with the pain and heartache Jesus faced when he died on the cross for you and me. It is a suffering as close as skin that allows us in a small way to experience, through the glass darkly, what Jesus experienced when he took in all the brutality, ridicule, and abandonment that was meant for you and me. This is how we carry the death of Jesus around in our bodies, allowing the life of Jesus to be revealed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIV)
No matter how well intentioned we are – no matter how Brett-Favre-Iron-Man-like we are – we incapable of carrying this death of Jesus within us without being desperately dependent upon God. But the Good News is that our pain, our heartache, our confusion, our doubts, our mountain-sized difficulties can push us – if we allow it – into the very center of God’s all surpassing power.
And this supernatural strength allows us to say, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIV)
What now?
• Your problems help you become like Jesus – When you experience pain or heartache, talk it out with God, but also thank him that he is making you more like Christ. Let God encourage you – that this pain has a purpose: “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV)
• God has his Father’s eyes on you – Yes, your pain and heartache are real. In fact, the increasingly complex struggle to keep you family together, pay your bills, and live out your faith can be overwhelming. Paul’s message of pressing on is not meant to minimize the challenges you face; rather, it’s to give you perspective: “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:4 NIV)
• You’re weakness opens the door to his strength – Even as you feel yourself hard pressed on every side, crushed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, you can boast all the more about your weaknesses, allowing Christ's power to rest on you; for when you are weak, then you are strong in his power and protection. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV)
• Ask God for a vision of what you would be like if you were more like Christ – Ask him to show you his purpose and his plan for your life. Ask him to make you more sensitive to the difficulties of those around you. Ask him to show you how to encourage them as they feel hard press, crushed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down. Finally, pray for Brett Favre, who appears to be a very good man, but still a man in need of a Savior.

My good friend Chris just finished The Four Hour Work Week. I read it a couple of months ago, but just found the guy's blog. I highly recommend it as it will help all of you triathletes and commuters with time efficiency which is the main struggle for all of us.

I found an awesome commuting story on his blog. You can read it here

Combining my two favorite hobbies - skiing and cycling!



A 33-year-old Austrian hit his prime last week when he smashed the world bike speed record by 14mph and set the new one at 130.7mph. Apparently snow makes an ideal surface for these kinds of downhill runs. The whole thing reminds me of the year they had speed skiing as an Olympic exhibition event. The guys would dress up in speed suits with mushroom hats and get in a tuck until they either blew apart halfway down or threw the brakes on at the bottom. They all had the same equipment except for the guys from small countries who would outfit their skiers with bike helmets.

via Wired
By Rocky Thompson

"Vermont ... Just Stay Away. Don't Bother."

This is Awesome!

This is Crazy!

Great Quote!


“Once a man has made a commitment to a new way of life,he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing can stop him short of success!” (Vince Lombardi)

Motivational Quotes for the next year!

Yes, I know it's early but you should at least be thinking about them right now in my opinion.

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action
always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.
- Frank Tibolt
Genius is one per cent inspiration; ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931), Harper's Monthly, 1932
You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
Jack London (1876 - 1916)
Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change
the outer aspects of their lives.
William James (1842 - 1910)
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter
his life by altering his attitudes of mind.
William James (1842 - 1910)
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort.
Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
Things do not change; we change.
Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862), Walden (1970)
They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change
them yourself.
Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987), The Philosophy of Andy Warhol
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)
Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for
change.
Ramsay Clark
You have to recognize when the right place and the right time fuse and
take advantage of that opportunity. There are plenty of opportunities out
there. You can't sit back and wait.
Ellen Metcalf
There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity.
General Douglas MacArthur (1880 - 1964)
Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.
Henry J. Kaiser (1882 - 1967)
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and
looks like work.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)
Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
George S. Patton (1885 - 1945)
The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 - 1964)
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than
the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
Milton Berle (1908 - 2002)
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of
strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
Vince Lombardi (1913—-1970)
If you think you have things under control, you’re not going fast enough.
Mario Andretti 1940—-
Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.
E. Joseph Cossman (1918—-2002)

Atomic Man Results


The results are in:

I finished 105th overall and 8th in my age-group. By way of reminder, I would be just as happy being last overall and last in my age group as my goal is just to finish the race in an honest manner.

Swim Time: 41:48 - not bad considering it was the first time I have ever swam in a wetsuit
Bike Time: 3:23 - not the worst, but definately not the best - I can do better going forward
Run Time: 2:56 - Ouch! This is my goal time for a marathon - NOT a half-marathon time. Obviously I was not acclamated to running in the heat like I should have been. This is definately the place for improvement.

Total Time: 7:06:24

Cold...

It was cold outside this morning on the bike ride in. At one point I was biking up a hill with my hands in my pockets so they could be protected from the wind. I will definitely be starting the traditional "transition" from biking to work (summer) to running to work (winter). The reward of-course is this is as easy training as it gets for marathons and maybe an ultra-marathon?

I gave a speech today titled: "What is your ironman?"

Hopefully you can see the slides below

Quote to live by:

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
- Jack London

FINISHED...


Yesterday, I completed the longest event I have competed in - the Atomic Man Half Ironman. My lovely wife and best friend & his wife were all there to see me in probably the most pain I have ever been in. I finished in 7 hours - my personal goal was 6 - but at the end of the day I was looking for the big finish and I got it.

Swim
The swim wasn't that bad. I obviously should have tested the wetsuit out before I used it in a critical event, but it definatley helped more than hurt. I did get a massive headache from my goggles, but that's ok, this is the first triathlon I have competed in where they didn't leak!

Lesson Learned: Do an all out test (even that nasty swim cap) with all your gear at least twice

Bike
Bike was fun. The rolling hills didn't provide any monotony which I was a big beneficiary of. Everyone competing had awesome bikes which kept me entertaining myself wondering how much each bike costs.

Lesson Learned: I need to be riding with the fast group here in Chattanooga - as they all had awesome times.

Run
DEATH - the first 6.5 miles were tough steep hills. The last 6.5 miles were long-straight and had no shade. There was a brief interuption on mile 10-12 where it was a trail next to the river which was awesome.

Lesson Learned: Do at least a couple hard-core BRICK workouts and even suck it up and run in the sun in the afternoon. I know I would have trimmed at least 30 min. off my time if I was acclamated to to running in the sun - and not the nice shade that my 5:00 a.m. training runs provided me with.


Summary
Great race. Organization with the officials was a little scarce but I was fully expecting this from the web-site and how many people competed in it, so no worries. The volunteer support by the boy scouts was awesome. Special Note: I am a proud Eagle Scout and even got a couple of "hooh-rahs" when I told them at the aid-stations.

Hopefully I can post some pictures up tommorow.

Tapering...

Atomic-Man is only a couple of days away so for the first time in a long-time I didn't ride in and had my wife take me into work.

It's funny - every time I don't ride in - it makes me appreciate my rides even more. Driving to work I dealt with - 1)having to wake my pregnant wife up; 2)listening to all of the wrecks on the interstate and ads on the radio) and 3) dealing with traffic - With riding I really don't deal with any of these

Great article on a whole family in L.A. who ditched their car for bikes.
Read it here

Personal Navigation Assistent For Cyclists By Garmin

Personal Navigation Assistent For Cyclists By Garmin

Personal Navigation Assistent For Cyclists By Garmin


It used to be such an elitist technology that was either deployed by rich people in their expensive luxury vehicles or by geography buffs who needed the tech for work purposes. Garmin has become the number one personal navigation device seller in the United States and they pushing along for an even bigger market share with the Garmin Edge 705 and Edge 605, both of which designed for cyclists.

Both units get 2.2-inch color displays and standard turn-by-turn directions, as well as detailed street maps, topography of the region (seek out and/or avoid major hills), and the company's ANT+Sport technology. This last bit is meant to interface with fitness devices like heart monitors. What sets the two devices apart is the fact that the Garmin Edge 705 gets a barometric altimeter. It's also includes a wireless heart rate monitor that delivers real-time data to the on-screen display.

The Garmin Edge 605 is priced at $400. The Edge 705 starts at $500, getting bumped to $550 if you want the heart rate monitor and speed/cadence sensor, and getting bumped further to $650 if you want the ANT+Sport bundle. Look for these to drop in December 2007. Just in time for prime-time riding season?

Just a couple of places I was swimming at last week...

I can't believe in a couple of weeks I will be a half-ironman. CRAZY...


My vacation just ended unfortunately. I had an awesome vacation, spending time throughout the entire southern caribean. I swam a mile pretty much every day. I do see now why everyone likes the ocean for swimming in triathlons. First off, the buoyancy is a major advantage and weirdly it's a little cleaner to me than the freshwater back in the states.

O well, I'm going to be doing a little riding and running this week and do a major tapering next week. Honestly, I'm ready for this thing to be done with and start training for the real thing next year!

It's official



I am an official registrant in Ironman Louisville

As the fat kid, growing up I never in a million years dreamed I would be participating in an Ironman event.

It has been 1 year and 4 months since my first triathlon in Hilton Head with my training buddy Kevin

I want to thank all of my friends and family for their support and above all - I would like to thank my wife Brittany for giving me the freedom to pursue this dream!

Why do they always have to be from the South?

My wife and I have some friends teaching in Korea right now and their blog is a must read!

I love working and living in Chattanooga, but it would be fun to travel the world one year as they have done. Additionally, I can only dream of "soft red bicycle paths on every sidewalk"

Sweet Jacket!

Adobe Slideshow

Adobe Slideshow

This is what happens when you run barefoot in 100 degree heat after a mile swim.

More on this later...

Silly Rabitt...




I had a great swim over the weekend. Who would have guessed that when I swim in water that is surrounded by protected National Parks that I can breath and don't blow snot for the next two days?

Trueely this really has put the fear in me, and today I'm swimming in a new location so we shall see how this goes.

On Monday I woke up at 5:00 and as I was running I ran right past this rabbit. The thing didn't even move on the trail. Simple things like this make the early mornings really enjoyable. And you know other small things like there is no humidity and its around 75 degreees compared to 100 degrees with 100% humidity in the afternoons.

I woke up at 5:00 this morning planning on running my usual 13 miles but my left knee had other plans!

This is very weird. On sunday, I plan on suffering through some heat and doing some serious training.

Outside Magazine has a story headlined: "Swim. Bike. Run. Shoot. Kill." It's about how the Navy SEALS have discovered that while their graduation rate is 26%, among triathetes its 40%. So, the Navy is trying to recruit athletes into the SEAL program.

The author of the piece, Tim Sohn, says that triathletes make good recruits because they are "wiry all-arounders who tend to be focused, good both on land and in the water, and largely indifferent to physical discomfort."

Oregonian offers video profile of two commuters

Team Discovery Video

The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Slide Show > Physical Culture | Gear Test > Slide 1 of 6

The New York Times > Fashion & Style > Slide Show > Physical Culture | Gear Test > Slide 1 of 6

Training Redux

This week has been a surprisingly good training week. Waking up at 5:15 this morning was not fun; but enjoying this awesome view and many others did make it worth it.

Monday: 1/2 mile swim / 33 mile bike
Tuesday: 1.35 mile swim / 33 mile bike
Wednesday: 13 mile run / 6 mile bike

House passes energy plan despite ridicule over bike commuter benefit

I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to politics, but Republicans aren't helping themselves when they make comments like this:

“A major component of the Democrats’ energy legislation and the Democrats’ answer to our energy crisis is, hold on, wait one minute, wait one minute, it is promoting the use of the bicycle.

Oh, I cannot make this stuff up. Yes, the American people have heard this. Their answer to our fuel crisis, the crisis at the pumps, is: Ride a bike.

Democrats believe that using taxpayer funds in this bill to the tune of $1 million a year should be devoted to the principle of: “Save energy, ride a bike.”

Some might argue that depending on bicycles to solve our energy crisis is naive, perhaps ridiculous. Some might even say Congress should use this energy legislation to create new energy, bring new nuclear power plants on line, use clean coal technology, energy exploration, but no, no.

They want to tell the American people, stop driving, ride a bike. This is absolutely amazing.

Apparently, the Democrats believe that the miracle on two wheels that we know as a bicycle will end our dependence on foreign oil. I cannot make this stuff up. It is absolutely amazing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Democrats, promoting 19th century solutions to 21st century problems. If you don’t like it, ride a bike. If you don’t like the price at the pumps, ride a bike.

Stay tuned for the next big idea for the Democrats: Improving energy efficiency by the horse and buggy.” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)

As I have posted several times - the bike is still the most energy efficient mode of transportation out there.

The guy even had the audacity to make a joke poster and post a video on his web-site.

Ford Ironman World Championship Broadcast Re-air Sunday - IRONMAN.com

Ford Ironman World Championship Broadcast Re-air Sunday - IRONMAN.com: "re-air of the Emmy-awarding winning 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship broadcast this Sunday on NBC from 2:30pm – 4:30pm EST. The show, taped on location in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on October 21, 2006, received an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Special, one of the highest honors."

BIG IRONMAN NEWS!

There is going to be a new IRONMAN CHINA

It will be in April 20, 2008 in Haikou, the capital city of Hainan Province. I would have already signed up but my wife and I are expecting our first child 2 months earlier so I think it might be smart just to do my first Ironman here in the states.

The re-air of the Emmy-awarding winning 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship broadcast this Sunday on NBC from 2:30pm – 4:30pm EST. The show, taped on location in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on October 21, 2006, received an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Edited Sports Special, one of the highest honors.

An inspirational bike ride!

This is one of the most inspirational stories I have ever read. Particularly, because I have a baby on the way and this guy is taking his one year old and his two other kids (ages 8 & 9), and the wife on a bike ride across Canada!

I think my family should be up for a bike ride across America!

Check out the slick bike

His web-site is here

from BikePortland.org -
Local family embarks on cross-Canada journey

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on August 2nd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
DSC_2519
Kurmaskie family just hours before take-off.
(File photo)

Crazy bike adventures are nothing new to local author and nationally known speaker Joe Kurmaskie. The man who is known by his fans as the “Metal Cowboy” has biked all over the globe, but his current adventure might be his most daring yet.

This time he’s taking the entire family along.
DSC_2500
Joe packs the trailer.
(File photo)

Yesterday afternoon, Joe, his wife Beth and their sons Quinn, 9, Enzo, 7 and Mateo (will be one next week), embarked on a two month, 3,000 mile journey across Canada. Bicycling magazine is already on board (they plan to publish regular updates and track the journey via GPS) and a book will likely follow.

I caught up with them just before they left.

The first thing I noticed was their “stretch limo” set-up . They’re rolling a triple tandem, connected to a tag-along bike, connected to a trailer. Most of the gear has been strategically packed into the trailer (leaving just enough room for little Mateo of course), but I was surprised at how little they seemed to have.

Joe says he limited the kids to one toy and one stuffed animal each saying, “there are no extras on this trip,” as he secured two panniers to the rear of the trailer.

They had considered putting Beth on a single bike, but she wanted to be “part of the team” and this way, she’ll be closer to the action.
Kurmaskie family send-off
Joe and Beth Kurmaskie.
(File photo)

Beth is going into this with a positive outlook, and looks forward to how the trip will bring the family closer together, “Riding in this arrangement takes a lot of communication,” she says. She’ll have a chance to share how it all goes in the upcoming book. The plan is to let Beth write a rebuttal after each chapter to act as counterpoint to Joe’s re-telling of events.

As for the route, Joe says they’ve planned for anywhere between 2-3,000 miles but that he doesn’t have every mile planned out,

“We’re starting on Vancouver Island and ended up in Nova Scotia…I don’t believe in over-planning because it takes the adventure out of it… but don’t get me wrong, I plan to stay safe… I won’t do things with the family that I’d do on my own.”

Kurmaskie Family send-off
Quinn seemed unfazed about
the upcoming odyssey.
(File photo)

While Beth is busy keeping the family in good spirits and Joe is making sure they’re headed the right direction, Enzo and Quinn will just be having fun. They’re used to bike adventures. Last year they joined their Dad on a trip across America that resulted in Joe’s latest book, Momentum Is Your Friend: The Metal Cowboy and His Pint-Size Posse Take on America.

While I was there yesterday, Enzo and Quinn were busy having a squirt gun fight and there was talk of how to put some holsters on the frame for easy access while riding.

And of course we can’t forget about little Mateo. He’s not quite one year-old, and he’s got the best seat on the trip. He either loves the trailer, or he’s just resigned to the fact that it will be his home for the next two months.
DSC_2508
Mateo loves his spot in the trailer.
(File photo)

For a few more photos of the Kurmaksie family, check out my gallery. To stay in touch with their progress, read the Metal Cowboy blog and watch for updates in Bicycling Magazine.

This is my swim route!

1/3rd of the way there

I woke up at 5:00 this morning and ran 13 miles into work. After work I plan on swimming 1.25 miles and cycling 56 miles.

The run in was nice and peaceful. I got a touch of a stomach cramp around the half-way point but I think it was because of my water-belt being too high up on my stomach.

I'm excited about the bike ride - the ClifShot mix is mixed in my water bottle and currently in the freezer.

Another great reason that my first Ironman will be Ironman Louisville

The swim is in the Ohio River!

I'm used to swimming in polluted rivers in Chattanooga

Good News & Bad News

The good news
I found a fast group that swims at the Dam on Monday nights.
I also had pretty good form for the whole swim, even with the waves.

The bad news
It only took me 20 minutes to go buoy to buoy and back, which means I have only been swimming around a half mile, when I was thinking I was swimming a mile!
I found the free Atomic Man Training Schedule - and I think I'm slightly behind

I have a twin brother in L.A.

Not really, but this just said what I've been saying for almost 2 years now!

Instead of training yesterday, I was pretty tired so I hung out with my wife and another couple and we did "pint night" at Taco Mac. I had a great time but was feeling a little guilty on the three PBR's - until I found this list of calories burned during the given exercises.

From TriGeek:

Tour de France rider Alexandre Vinokourov tests positive for blood doping. NFL star quarterback Michael Vick is indicted for allegedly fighting dogs and killing those canines that aren't good enough fighters. An NBA referee is under investigation for fixing games for the mob. Steroid-user Barry Bonds is about to break the major league career home run record while allowing his "best friend" and trainer (who won't testify against him to a grand jury) to rot in jail.

TriGeek is by far the best triathlon blog that I have found. Here is a great article on him.

It's official I have registered for the Atomic Man Half Ironman.

I had to: represent that (i) I am in good health and in proper physical condition to participate in the Event; and (ii) I am not under the influence of alcohol or any illicit or prescription drugs which would in any way impair my ability to safely participate in the Event. I agree that it is my sole responsibility to determine whether I am sufficiently fit and healthy enough to participate in the Event.

How drunk or high would you have to be to register for such an event?

I thought I was going to get a good deal since I went through "SportsWare" ghetto web-site until the final page where they charged me almost $10 for processing.

O,well. I'm really excited.

Many of you know I am an avid reader. I just finished one of the best books I have ever read. The kind of book that you want to buy for all of your closest friends, but if your like me, you just tell them to check it out at the library like you did!

The book is The Long Tail.

I was going to write a rave review on this blog. But then I found a better review at SustainableWork so here it is:

Borrowing The Long Tail rules

Chris Anderson closes his wonderful book, The Long Tail, with a set of rules he says comprise the secret to creating a thriving Long Tail business.

Please read the book. Don't rely on my summaries. Because Mr. Anderson is the Editor at Wired and is a Silicon Valley guy, a fair amount of his text relates to enterprises he's familiar with. These often represent really cool breakthroughs in the world of digital commerce.

With self-appointed artistic license, I'm going to cite Mr. Anderson's Long Tail rules and fill in my own take on why these concepts are vitally important for us micro enterprise, citizen entrepreneur types.

Big picture (1): Make everything available.

My take: Within your niche you need to be as open and transparent and as educational as you can possibly make your enterprise. It is in your self interest and the self interest of your enterprise. It also provides the first steps to providing appropriate solutions for the right customers... where all your marketing and commercial efforts should be taking you.

Big picture (2): Help me find it.

My take: Your enterprise and your web site need to glow with usefulness. Make yourself easy to do biz with in every aspect of your organization or perish. This isn't hard. Obfuscating and trying to trick people is far harder, as well as dumber and less efficient.

Then we get the Long Tail 9 rules.

Rule 1: Move inventory way in...or way out.

My take: Knowing what you need to handle and what you need to outsource is mission critical. Surely this will change over time, but it needs to be in the front of your brain at all times. Keep asking yourself, "What is critical that I handle and what can others do better?" What value added piece do you bring to the table? Focus your resources there.

Rule 2: Let customers do the work.

My take: In the digital world they get huge numbers by crowdsourcing. Micro enterprisers can use the same phenomenon to get customers to educate themselves on our web sites first and then provide testimonials after our enterprises have provided them with value.

Rule 3: One distribution method doesn't fit all

My take: Your distribution channels and methods significantly define how you market your enterprise. Draw it out on paper. Think through the consequences. That said, I believe you need to go to market through as many non-competing sales channel as are appropriate. Be transparent and honest with everyone. Start your marketing and distribution research yesterday.

Rule 4: One product doesn't fit all

My take: Make your offering available across a range of needs. Some people need a little bit of your stuff. Some need a truckload. The Long Tail uses the term "microchunking" for breaking up your offer into appropriate pieces. It will help you, and it will help your end users self select their own appropriate entry point.

Rule 5: One price point doesn't fit all.

My take: See above. Making yourself easy to deal with on price and content increases your chances of selling stuff. Multiple price points for entry invite the widest range of potential customers available. You can sort them and grow with them once they are in your world.

Rule 6: Share information.

My take: Your job is to make your end users wish they had more waking hours to absorb all the good info and help you want to share. Do it through every venue you can use, many of which are free or close to it.

Rule 7: Think "and", not "or".

My take: "And" is easier to choose from than "or". Once your new customer has chosen your solution, there are additional benefits you want to be able to offer. Do not pile on here. Just have a good, short list of upgrades to your basic offering available.

Rule 8: Trust the market to do your job.

My take: Society rewards useful solutions. The world is wired up to instantly deliver information, reviews, alternative solutions, and all the other digital word-of-mouth conversations taking place on every subject all the time. You will be put out of business if your offering does not make a valuable contribution to your customer. As you launch, carefully note where those contributions are having the greatest impact. Follow those results, not your assumptions.


Rule 9: Understand the power of free.

My take: Understand that you will do many demos, presentations, product placements, life juggling heroics, distributor circuses, and seminars, all for free. This is your entrepreneurship hazing ritual. Welcome, and get over it. We all do it. Free stuff is a component of what we all do at the beginning of new enterprises. That said, remember that smart marketing leads to cash flow, my friend.


Chris Anderson is in fact, working on a new book tentatively titled, 'Free'. It's a really intriguing concept. The most popular working subtitle discussed on the Long Tail blog is 'Free: How Companies Get Rich By Charging Nothing'. The scuttlebutt I've heard on the radio is that Mr. Anderson may be giving this new book away to people who will accept advertising placed in the book. Copies without advertising would be sold through traditional channels. Not sure if that's true.

That's it for The Long Tail for now. Read or listen to this book.

What wants to kick back...When you can SWIM!!!!

I'm pumped! I did a mile swim on Saturday and then did a 50+ mile bike ride. I would have gone for a nice run, but the blistering sun had other plans for me. Owell, next week I will be fully prepared with some BullFrog Sunblock!

This week I am going to register for the Atomic Man and find a way to get a fast, light, CHEAP bike! How will I do that - I don't know, but I'll keep everyone updated. Until then, if anyone has any Half-Ironman tips - LET ME KNOW!

Cyclist, Dog Collide during Tour de France

During Stage 9, rider Marcus Burghardt ran into a spectator's dog that wandered onto the course. The bike fared worse than the dog and rider.

Going to church on Sunday I past all the runners in the Waterfront Triathlon and was insanely jealous! But it did motivate me to start training for the Atomic Man. Saturday is looking pretty open, so I think I may go for an ultra-long (for me) training triathlon to see how far I can go.

And for anybody that works for the City of Chattanooga: Please pass this along:

Portland’s green policies add $2.6B to local economy


Economist Joe Cortright has just released a white paper titled “Portland’s Green Dividend” that claims our city’s land use and transportation policies, combined with our high rate of transit and bike use contribute $2.6 billion to our local economy every year.

This economic impact, Cortrights says, flies in the face of critics that say our economy will be stunted by encouraging public transit and non-motorized vehicle travel,

“Skeptics view biking, transit, density and urban growth boundaries as a kind of virtuous self-denial, well meaning, but silly and uneconomic. Critics see the seeds of economic ruin. They claim planning, policies and regulations that restrict use or access to resources impede growth and lower household income.

Both the skeptics and the critics are wrong. Being green means Portlanders save a bundle on cars and gas, and local residents have more money to spend on other things they value, which in turn stimulates the local economy.”

According to Cortright, one of the primary drivers of this economic boon is that Portlanders travel an four miles less per day than the national average. Four miles doesn’t sounds like much to you? Cortright does the math:

“The Portland metro area has roughly 2 million residents. If Portlanders traveled as much as the typical U.S. metro resident, that would produce 8 million more vehicle miles per day or about 2.9 billion more miles per year.

…the cost of driving is about 40 cents per mile…All told, the out-of-pocket savings work out to $1.1 billion dollars per year. This works out to about 1.5 percent of all personal income earned in the region in 2005.”

And where does this money savings go?

“Because this money gets re-spent in other sectors of the economy, it stimulates local businesses rather than rewarding Exxon or Toyota.”

And, since Portlanders are twice as likely to use transit and seven times more likely to commute by bike, Cortright says we save time (which he equates to $15 an hour), and we save 400,000 gallons of gas per day (which in turn means 1.4 million tons of greenhouse gases are not being emitted each year).

Download the PDF here

From: TreeHugger

Bike City Berlin
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07. 1.07
Cars & Transportation (bikes)
Two years ago, the Berlin Senate decided that bikes should make up 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Results released from the newest traffic study of the Berlin Development Administration show that the goal could be reached early: the number of bicyclists has more than doubled in the last decade to 400,000 riders daily, accounting for 12% of total traffic.

Some attribute the gain to habits formed after measures that encouraged bicycling during the 2006 Football (soccer) World Cup. High gas prices undoubtedly also play a part. But a clever investment strategy in biking infrastructure is more likely the primary facilitator of the migration to human powered vehicles.


Measures initiated by the Berlin Senate have doubled the network of demarcated bike lanes on city streets in the past three years. According to the Senator for City Development in Berlin, last year 2.5 million Euros were spent on improving and expanding the Berlin bike paths and bike lanes. The program also targeted improvement of connections between train stations and bike paths,and over 3000 bicycle parking places have been built on 40 stations. Unfortunately, the carrying of a bike on the public transport will continue to require purchase of an extra ticket.

The current situation in Berlin is the envy of many a city: Berliners have access to 620 Km of bike paths, 80 Km of bike lanes in the streets, 70 Km of bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, 100 Km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 Km of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks. The Berlin Senate Bicycle Traffic Strategy foresees pulling all these routes together into a network with primary routes running from the city center out to the suburbs and two traffic rings by 2016. Park-and-ride facilities will be added at 20 additional U-bahn stations in the coming year.

Additionally, 16 million Euros were invested in expanding intercity bike paths for bicycle tourism. Tourism by bicycle has seen a strong increase according to the German Bicycle Club (ADFC), especially on the route along the former Berlin Wall and for trips on long distance bike paths such as the Berlin-Copenhagen route.

Everyone say it with me: "Ich liebe mein Fahrrad!" (I love my bike!)

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

LINKFEST!!!!

I thought since I haven't been giving much commentary lately, the least I could do was offer some of my favorite links and why I like them.

Tom Peters - Innovation rules

Khosla Ventures if your interested in the technical/economic aspects of alternative energy

TreeHugger - by far the best overall site on helping out the environment

TED = technology + innovation = helping the world (at least here anyway)

Great Place for the accidental activist!

CarFree - the name says it all

ibike - great bike statistics here!

Ouch! Last post was June 21! Obviously a lot has been going on. Most of which I won't bore you with.

I decided not to register for the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon for these reasons:
1) I'm not in-shape enough :-(
2) $95 registration fee?
3) It's maxed out!

I have honestly had a funner time with my friends just doing mock triathlons with them and saving my money (and waking up when I want to on Saturday)!

Did you know the average American eats 5 pounds of pesticides a year!!! Does anyone else want to sign up for the organic challenge?

1. Nectarines – 97.3% of nectarines sampled were found to contain pesticides.
2. Celery – 94.5% of celery sampled were found to contain pesticides.
3. Pears – 94.4% of pears sampled were found to contain pesticides.
4. Peaches – 93.7% of peaches sampled were found to contain pesticides.
5. Apples – 91% of apples sampled were found to contain pesticides.
6. Cherries – 91% of cherries sampled were found to contain pesticides.
7. Strawberries – 90% of strawberries sampled were found to contain pesticides.
8. Imported Grapes – 86% of imported grapes sampled were found to contain pesticides.
9. Spinach – 83.4% of spinach sampled were found to contain pesticides.
10. Potatoes – 79.3% of potatoes sampled were found to contain pesticides.
11. Bell Peppers – 68% of bell peppers sampled were found to contain pesticides.
12. Red Raspberries – 59% of red raspberries sampled were found to contain pesticides.

Source: usda.gov ; http://www.ewg.org/

Finally I have something to blog about. Training has been ok as I did a mock triathlon on Saturday. The heat is definately coming on strong here in the south.

As for some inspiration. Check this guy out he is racing across America in 12 days on a FIXED gear bike! His speed is definately slowing down, but I think he will make it!

Spurgeon is no stranger to challenges. Last year he became the first person to ever complete the 538 mile Race Across Oregon on a fixed gear (that event has 40,000 feet of climbing).

Interesting Quotes
"Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live." ~ Mark Twain, Taming the Bicycle
--
"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart." ~ Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green
--
"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." ~ Ernest Hemingway
--
"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world." ~ Grant Peterson
--
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of mankind" ~ H.G. Wells
--
"Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling."~ James E. Starrs

Sometimes a disappointment is a blessing. I say this as last night I didn't win the lottery into the NYC Marathon

I say this is a blessing because everyone that knows me knows I'm a complete tight wad and know that I can now save more money going into the Christmas season.

I haven't been training like I should and haven't even registered for the waterfront triathlon or the atomic man half ironman, but things should kick into gear once I start paying to use the pool, which is next month!

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Signal Mountain man to be in ultimate triathlon
Friday, June 01, 2007


By Jaime Lackey
Staff Writer

For the past 15 years, Sheridan Ames' dream has been to compete in one of the world's toughest athletic events.

He found out in April that it would finally become a reality, but the 46-year-old Signal Mountain resident still can't believe his name was one of 200 selected from a drawing to choose competitors for the Ironman World Championship triathlon.

"It was excitement beyond belief," Ames said. "It's the luck of the draw, so I've just been biding my time. I'm still beside myself. This is the Super Bowl of triathlons. No other race is more prestigious. Plus, the setting isn't bad either."

The event consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run will take place Oct. 13 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. More than 6,500 triathletes from around the world submitted their names for the random lottery that selects participants to join the more than 1,500 who qualify through their finishes in other Ironman events.

Ames was the only athlete chosen from Tennessee this year, but his longtime friend and training partner Bruce Novkov competed in 1999. Also selected through the lottery, Novkov said the Ironman is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"The average person that has a wife, kids, job, all of those things, is not going to be able to put the time in you would need to be able to qualify," Novkov said. "The everyday man is probably only going to get there via the lottery. They created this way in so there's always the hope that anybody can compete.

"It's absolutely unbelievable. You literally get to start and compete with the best in the world. The average person doesn't get to go catch a pass from Peyton Manning. There aren't a lot of sports where a regular person gets to go compete in the world championship. But it's still highly competitive."

Ames is spending about 20 hours a week training to make himself as competitive as possible. He began his regimen the day after getting the news, and his training will increase steadily as October approaches.

"It seems like a long way off, but realistically, the last couple of weeks before the race you can't do much of anything," Ames said. "The race takes anywhere from 10 to 18 hours. That's a long time to be out there, so it takes a long time for your body to get ready for that duration of an event."

To prepare for the intense physical demands of the Ironman, Ames said he runs, swims, bikes or does some combination of the three six days a week. In a typical week, he does at least two six- to eight-mile runs and 3,000-yard swims, plus two bike rides of up to two hours.

He does even more training on the weekends but said none of it would possible without the flexibility in his job as a project manager with the Hudson Construction Company.

"In the job that I do, it's not about the hours, it's about getting the job done," Ames said. "That's the luxury I have, and I have a very accommodating employer who has helped tremendously. Without that, it would be difficult."

A New Jersey native who moved to the Chattanooga area 16 years ago, Ames started out as a youth swimmer and high school runner, picked up cycling in college and has done triathlons regularly since 1986.

Since then, the Ironman championship race has been the pinnacle of his hopes, and Novkov said Ames will relish every moment of it.

"It could not have happened to a guy that wants it any more than Sheridan does," he said. "There's nobody more deserving who will embrace the whole event any more than he will."

E-mail Jaime Lackey at jlackey@timesfreepress.com