Queueing Q&A

Q: How many years during the average lifetime does a person spend standing in line or waiting?

I had to buy new tires for my vehicle today. This job usually requires a 2-3 hour BORING stay in the waiting room as the mechanics do their magic. Instead of reading a book or newspaper while sitting around with other similarly bored customers, I decided this would be a great opportunity to sneak in another bike ride; afterall, the weather was perfect! After 19.4 miles of riding, I pedaled into the parking lot of the shop just as my vehicle was being backed out of the garage...perfect timing!! As I was paying for my new tires, I noticed several customers, bored as could be, thumbing through the the kinds of magazines that litter waiting rooms everywhere! It felt good knowing that I had managed to find a way to make good use of time that would otherwise be wasted!

A: According to this webpage, the average person spends 3 years of their life waiting in various lines.

Snow In Houston!!

Ok, ok, so I'm violating my self-imposed rule of ONLY making entries in this blog that are related to biking and me preparing for the 2009 MS150. The reason for this exception is because of the rarity of snow in Houston. The last time it snowed here was Christmas Eve, 2004. The time before that was........who knows!?!?!? Well anyway, here we are on December 10th, 2008 and it's snowing...and snowing rather steadily and intensely (at least for Houston). It started snowing about 6pm tonight and its still snowing 6 hours later!

I'm currently brainstorming about ways that I can mount a snowplow on the front of my bike so I can put in another 30 or so miles this weekend!

Enjoy the pictures of a rare Houstonian Snowfall!

Here's a strange sight - A snow-covered banana tree!

Same Route - But MUCH quicker!

I decided to spend my Sunday morning cruising 19.6 miles (the same route I rode on November 15th...see map below). This is my first long ride with my new bike. I finished the route a full hour quicker than I did with my old bike! Wow! Way to go, me...and my new Felt Z90 bike! I'm now looking forward to more organized rides like the "Bike the Bend for Literacy" ride I participated in a few weeks ago in Rosenberg, TX! During that ride, I was among the very few out of approximately 400 riders who were riding mountain bikes. Needless to say, I got passed by nearly everyone. But with my road bike, hopefully I'll be the one doing the passing and yelling out "Passing on the left!"

Zoom-Zoom!!!

In spite of the reference to a television commercial in the title of this entry, my new Felt Z90 bike is not a Mazda! However, it sure is FAST! I didn't have much time on Sunday, but I did get a chance to get out and take my new bike for a spin. It was a very windy day, but in spite of significant wind, I was able to nearly double my speed compared to my mountain bike! I only had time for a ride of just under 7 miles along Highway 96 (from highway 146 to Louisiana Ave. and back), but WOW, what a difference it makes to be riding a real road bike!

Now, that I have my road bike and I'm well on my way to being ready for the LONG bike ride in the Spring, I guess this is as good a time as any to encourage all of you to donate a few dollars to help cure Multiple Sclerosis. At the top right of this page, you'll see a link that says "Click Here To Donate And Sponsor My Ride in the MS150". All of the victims of the nasty disease would be very grateful for any donations that you make....and so would I!