Resolution

Well, here it is the last day of 2006, and I ended the year only 5 pounds lighter than I was at the end of 2005. I was actually doing fairly well at dropping some weight until July, and then a number of changes in my life conspired against me... I really have no excuse though. I know I am just putting more into my body than I should be.

I have had a number of friends who have experienced some fantastic weight loss through cycling over the last 18 months, and it is my publicly stated intention to join them. I have committed to a number of people that I am going to succeed at reestablishing a healthy weight.

As of yesterday I was 238 lbs. This isn't the most I have weighed, but it is getting close. I also did a 3 mile time trial on my bike yesterday. My time was 10:13. I will be using this site to publicly report my progress as I as I move toward the following goals to be reached by August 1.

Weight < 193
TimeTrial < 8:30

This represents weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week on average for the next 30 weeks. The time trial goal would mean that I will be able to maintain a speed of 20-21 mph for 3 miles.

Wish me luck.

Classic Rock

I took a fun test on Classic Rock last night - it told me I was...
The Veteran
You scored 78%!

You've picked up the majority of the classic rock basics. You probably have a classic rock collection and can sing along with most of the songs on your local radio station.

This is not the highest score, but it is arguably the best: that subtle combination of impressive knowledge and not being a pretentious geek.



My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on notes

Link: The BASIC classic rock Test written by allmydays on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Jerry! Jerry!

Congratulations to Jerry Sloan, head coach of the Utah Jazz on becoming only the 5th NBA coach in history to reach 1,000 wins.

Some links:
Special Report(.pdf)
Article from the SL Tribune

Sloan has his critics, but he's had a fantastic career. He's been coach of the Jazz for 19 seasons, longer than any coach, not only in the NBA, but the NFL, MLB and NHL as well. His winning percentage is over 60%. And as a youth coach, I appreciate having Sloan as a proponent of disciplined, team-based basketball to serve as an example to the kids I coach.

Outrageous!

I cannot believe how you can hit and kill a cyclist because you were downloading ringtones while driving and the worst you are charged with is Improper Lane Usage.

Here is a quote from the article:

[Matthew Wilhelm] 25-year-old former Champaign resident, a University of Illinois mechanical engineering graduate working for Caterpillar in Peoria, died on Sept. 8 from head injuries he received Sept. 2 when Stark hit him with her car because she was downloading ring tones to her cell phone instead of paying attention to driving.

And about the (completely inadequate) punishment:

State's Attorney Julia Rietz made the call not to lodge any more serious charge than improper lane usage against Stark, saying that the legal definition of recklessness, to sustain reckless homicide or reckless driving, did not fit her actions.

But Rietz argued for the maximum sentence of six months of conditional discharge a form of probation without reporting to an officer a $1,000 fine and traffic safety school.

"This is a tragic case and one which has demonstrated to us there are many things we can't adequately resolve in this building, unfortunately. The law doesn't give us an adequate remedy to address the loss to the Wilhelms and society," she said.

I can't believe how the State's Attorney could say:

...it would be hard to prosecute 'willful and wanton' (behavior) and the driver could have 'no reasonable expectation of a bike on the side of the road,'

This is just one more example of how we as cyclists have less than second-class status on America's roadways.

Careful out there.