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!

A Yellow Bike On Black Friday

After researching several different road and hybrid bikes during the past few weeks, I finally went and test rode several of them today after work! I settled on a new 2007 Felt Z90. After riding several, this one stuck out as feeling the most comfortable! Also, this was the last of the 2007 models that they had in the store, therefore, it was on sale so they could make room for the newer models. Here's a picture of the model that I bought! Hopefully, I'll get some time this weekend to give it a spin! My old mountain bike will finally get to take well-deserved vacation!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!

Trivia: On average, how much turkey meat is consumed by each American per year?

To make up for the pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes that I'll have later this afternoon, I decided to go for a bike ride this morning. I left the house about 8:20 and finished my favorite 10.0 mile route in about 62 minutes. Click on the map shown in the 11/11/08 entry below for a picture of the route I took.

Clicking a few buttons on the calculator tells me that I've cruised a total of 112.4 miles since I started on October 21!

Well, I better wrap up the entry for today. Afterall, like all other Americans, I have 18.7 pounds of turkey to eat during the next 12 months...and I'm going to get a head start today!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I Biked The Bend For Literacy!

TRIVIA QUESTION: What percentage of Americans are 'functionally illiterate', meaning that they read below a 5th grade level?

I participated in my first official group ride over the weekend. It was in Rosenberg, TX in Fort Bend County (about 45 miles straight west of where I live). The ride was called "Bike The Bend For Literacy." The ride was an official training ride for the MS150 and lots of money (over $30,000) was raised for the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County. There were about 400 riders in the event. Three different ride distances were available: 19 miles, 32 miles and 59 miles. I joined the 19 mile ride since I don't yet have my road bike. It may not sound like much, but 19 miles on an old inefficient mountain bike with solid rubber tires is quite a work out. As mentioned below, I rode about 20 miles last weekend as well. When I started this adventure a little over a month ago, I told myself that when I get up to doing 2-3 20 miles rides with my old bike, then I'd buy a road bike. I expected that I'd be ready for that in mid-to-late December. Well, by that measure, I'm about a month ahead of schedule. I'm definitely looking forward to getting the new bike within the next week or two.

The picture shows the route for the Bike The Bend For Literacy ride. Click it for a larger view!

ANSWER: According to survey results on www.ftbendliteracy.org, 21-23% of Americans are functionally illiterate. However, if we all support groups like the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County that number can be much lower!