I was able to head home this past weekend for a great weekend of biking (Clover Leaf Century) and some sailing. My parents just got a Flying Scot. It is a small 19-footer but is significantly bigger than the Lasers we’re used to sailing. It is a good sized boat for inland lake sailing or even for Lake Michigan in not too bad conditions. We really lucked out on the weather this weekend. Last year it was in the 40s for the bike ride and we didn’t even think twice about going sailing. However, it was perfect this year: in the mid-80’s for the bike ride and pretty much the same for the sailing.

Please click the photo below to visit my Flying Scot Smugmug gallery.

Very interesting article talking about a 93-year-old with a marathon time of 5:40 and a 73-year-old with a sub-three-hour time of 2:54! I hope I’m this healthy and fit when I’m 73.

Aged to Perfection: Excellence At Any Age Is an Inspiration

I’m a big Badger fan. I’ve lived in Wisconsin my entire life and graduated from Wisconsin in 2006. I was extremely relieved to see the Badgers finally start playing at the end of the first half and part way into the second half. If we had shot as poorly as we did in the first half against ANY Big Ten team, we would not be walking away with a victory. Overall, I feel that we played remarkably well to hold Texas A&M-CC to significantly under its season average. Fortunately, we shot very well the second half. If the real Badgers had showed up in the first half, this game would have been a blow out.

Here’s a funny comment that I found on espn.com:

tstote (3/16/2007 at 6:15 PM)
In case you missed the game, here’s what happened. The hotel the Badgers stayed at last night hadn’t gotten the memo about daylights savings and their clocks were all an hour behind and therefore the team got to the arena an hour late. However instead of forfieting the game some quick thinking Badger fans in Badger attire, some of whom bore a passing resemblance to actual players on the team, took to the floor and took on the Corpus Christie Islanders. Unfortunately since none of these Badger fans had any actual basketball experience they quickly fell behind, eventually by the score of 25-7. Fortunately with about 5 minutes left in the half the real Badgers straggled in. They quickly assessed the situation, took over and started climbing back into the game. Kamron Taylor was running real late having missed the team bus and didn’t get to the arena until about 10 minutes left in the 2nd half; however once he got into the game he calmly scored 24 points in 10 minutes, leading the Badgers past the Islanders 76-63. Bring on UNLV!

The suggestions below were taken from the article, December pittle-paddling, in SilentSports.

“Instead of a permit system for hikers, the Forest Service needs to reduce worldwide population growth to limit the number of visitors to wilderness.”

“Trails need to be wider so people can walk holding hands.”

“Too many bugs and leeches and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the area of these pests.”

“Please pave the trails so they can be plowed of snow in the winter.”

“The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please medicate these annoying animals.”

“Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.”

“Chairlifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.”

“Need more signs to keep the area pristine.”

“A deer came into my camp and stole my bag of pickles. Is there any way I can get reimbursed? Please call.”

“A McDonald’s would be nice at the trailhead.”

“The places where trails do not exist are not well marked.”

“Too many rocks in the mountains.”

This guy is insane! Check it out!

In this piece from 1921, PopSci subjects the Sultan of Swat to a battery of scientific tests hoping to discover the secret behind his superhuman swing.

Link to Popular Science article

Wow…Babe Ruth was amazing, and he did this all on a diet of hot dogs and beer (or at least not steroids!)

My dad has a really nice website for some Tuesday/Wednesday rides. I especially like the Wednesday rides because we go out to eat after the ride. Also, if you are unfamiliar with the area, make sure to check out the Maps section…the Sheboygan-area has some terrific rides. (Let’s thank the farmers for keeping the country roads paved!)

Sheboygan Country Bike Rides/Maps

Thanks for the memories!

BBC Sport has a great photo tribute: Andre Agassi’s career in pictures

I don’t think so (and hope he didn’t). Testosterone (or a misbalanced ratio) would not improve athletic performance over a single day.

Here is a good site with a similar viewpoint to what I have:

What if Floyd Landis were innocent?

We all have every reason to believe that the American cyclist Floyd Landis cheated to win this year’s Tour de France. Not only have his tests come up positive for high testosterone ratios, but damning evidence of exogenous, or synthetic, testosterone has been found as well.

…

Yet I believe that Floyd Landis is innocent and that we are witnessing a terrible injustice. I’ve lived this sport for 35 years and know the European professional cycling circuit intimately, and I feel strongly that in this case something is wrong.

…

Whenever an athlete tests positive for banned drugs, you look to see who is close to them. Landis’s trainer, Dr. Allen Lim, an exercise physiologist from Colorado, is an expert in the use of power meters, devices that attach to racing bicycles and measure power output. According to Lim, the “improbable” stage 17 victory on July 20 was a triumph of strategy, science and Landis’s vitality. Landis averaged 280 watts over the five hours of the ride, but he has averaged 320 for six hours in training - documented proof, according to Lim, that the performance was well within Landis’s capability.

(go to the main site to continue reading)

Also, here is a site with more information about the biochemistry of Floyd’s cortisone treatments:
Floyd Landis: Could His Cortisone Treatments Exonerate Him?

The 2005 Ironman Wisconsin took place on Sunday, September 11th, 2005 in Madison, WI.

I have 112 biking photos and 85 running photos and 9 misc photos. Photos were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel XT with the Canon 28-135 IS lens. These photos were for purchase but are now all free! Ironman Wisconsin participants can be searched for on my site by their number. Photos are also somewhat organized by number, ie a runner with a number of 40 should be after someone with 1200. Also, the last photos in each gallery are captioned “Unknown” because the participant’s number was hidden.