Lean Look Challenge Meets Fat Tuesday

This is, admittedly, going to be short, sweet, and to the point! Well, I'll start with this; I did my measurements and whatnot for the Lean Look challenge that I am doing with Harp and Bluenoser. My measurements for today are:

Weight: 183.4
Waist: 36.5
Neck: 15.5
Body Fat % Calculation Estimate: 21

So this puts me at my lowest weight, waist size and body fat % calculation for this year. I hope to God my neck size doesn't change, I really don't want to have, like, a six inch neck.

Anyway, I hope that come tomorrow those numbers will hold up. After all, today is Fat Tuesday, and that of course means Pączki!
For those of you who don't know, Pączki is a Polish treat! Originally they were made for Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before lent, in Poland. In America they've become tied into the whole Mardi Gras deal, and are a celebrated part of Fat Tuesday. They came out of Polish families trying to use all of the fat, eggs, sugar and fruit to prepare their homes for Lent. They look like a jelly doughnut, but they are far more rich than just any old plain jelly doughnut. They're simply the most delicious invention ever.

Well, that's about all I have today. Happy Fat Tuesday, catch you tomorrow!

One Of The Greatest Women To Walk The Earth

1912-2009
I know it's a pretty big statement, and I'll admit that I'm totally biased, but what you are looking at is possibly one of the greatest, coolest women who has ever walked this blue and green orb. What you have here, is my Grandma!

I kicked around long and hard whether or not I wanted to write this. You see, when it comes down to serious issues, I usually am quite introverted. I don't like to share much about my family, or personal life. I pretty much keep the blog to biking, I don't have pictures of my kids on facebook, I'm even a bit cryptic about the things I write, generally. So I mentioned to my wife that I thought I wanted to write something about my gram, and she insisted it would be a great idea. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it, so here goes.

There is a reason that I have been kinda off the map for the last week, I haven't really had it in me to be funny or cheerful. You see, a week ago this past Wednesday I found out that my grandmother had taken I'll. She come down with Pneumonia, and had to be hospitalized. For the average person this is a setback. To grandma, a spry woman of 97 years, it is potentially fatal. I knew this was the case, I was not going to deny that. The first day or two were bad, not horrible, but bad. The third day was just plain awful. I talked to my mom who was with her out of town, and she was extremely cryptic (wonder where I get it from) about what she said. She was careful to ask, "where are you right now?" My answer of, "what does it matter? How's grandma?" Was what she had been fishing for. She asked if I was in the car, I told her I was and the conversation shut down. When I got home, almost the first thing out of my mouth was that I thought grandma was not well. "Ma won't say anything about how she is, so it can't be good."

The following day, Saturday, and the rest of the weekend were pretty good. In true fashion for grandma she took a positive turn. You see, I would swear the woman is bulletproof! Through various bouts with illness including pneumonia, cancer, and Lord only knows what else, she had always pulled through. In some ways, some times, it seemed like she was better each time. So I was pretty convinced that she would likely pull through again. But this time would be different.

Early that week, she took another turn for the worse. The doctors did what they could, and then she went to Hospice. Quick Sidebar: I cannot begin to say enough good things about Hospice. I thoroughly encourage you to support your local, and national, Hospice organizations. The Doctors and Nurses who work with hospice are angels! Through my fathers ordeal with cancer, now my grandmother, other family members, friends... I just can't say enough good. She would go into hospice late Tuesday afternoon, and would pass on Wednesday afternoon. I couldn't be there, as she is out of state and there was not time and resources to do so, but from what I am told it was the most peaceful way one could ever want to go. One of my cousins said it best, "once more she's shown us all how it's done. She went out on her own terms. We're so lucky to have called her our grandmother."

She was truly amazing in every way. My father left my mother in my early childhood. My grandmother and grandfather were here every summer raising me. Not that they had to. They could've said no, my mom could have found a babysitter, and that would have been fine. That was just the kind of people they were, the kind of person she was. She gave, and gave, and gave, and all she asked in return was that I "be a good boy." Sometimes I was and, admittedly, sometimes I was not. When I realized the err of my ways, she was always there, waiting, willing to let me find the right way on my own, and encouraging me once I had. She taught me self sufficiency and, my favorite of all, how to cook. She sat the grandkids on her lap, or gathered them around sharing stories of times before there were cars, when they had iceboxes that were iceboxes, when they got their first TV, the ever so many cool things that a 97 year old would see in their lifetime.

Now, she has gone home. She has gone to be with the Father, her husband, her dad, mom, some of her sisters who have gone, and all of those that have gone before her. The world has, in my humble opinion, lost a saint of sorts. The Heavens, they've gained and angel. I wanted to write this, mainly, in hopes that someday my kids will see it. That they'll remember the good times with grandma. That they'll ask for elaborations of these stories, and that her memory will never die.

She was loved, and will be greatly, and deeply missed.

Weekly Roundup February 19, 2009

I want to take a quick minute to thank everyone who has donated to my Livestrong Challenge fundraising efforts, and let new readers know that I will be participating in the Philadelphia LIVESTRONG Challenge this year. If you’re reading this and you able to help by donating to LAF on behalf of my fundraising effort, you can go to my secure LIVESTRONG Challenge Page HERE, and make a secure donation. You can also track how I am doing, and there is a link to donate on the right hand sidebar of this blog. My next goal is to have $1250 (50%) of my $2500 goal in by March 31, 2009. Thanks again

The weather is great (sarcasm)! What makes me so sarcastic? The weatherman said “look out!” If you know anything about Cleveland you know this is not a good thing. They’re calling for a pounding! It’s with that bad news that I give you the Weekly Roundup.

50K Loop NS: Bluenoser is sort of stuck in neutral for the Lean Look challenge this week, as referenced by the Stress that he is currently feeling. Apparently he has been feeling less than stellar, and went to the doctor, turns out the stress has got him by the… Well, you get it. Stress sucks! I hope you feel better soon, Blue. His measurements are currently at:

Weight: 194lbs.
Neck measurement: 16"
Waist measurement: 38"
body fat %: 23%

Harp Rider: Harp, on the flip side, sucks! I’m just kidding Harp! I’m jealous of how far along Harp is. I do want to warn though, he started better, but soon I plan to be on his rear wheel, just waiting to overtake him! (wink) Week 2 is looking good so far. Harp is coming in at:

Weight: 162 lbs
Neck: 16 ”
Abdomen: 32 ”
Body Fat %: 14%

There have been a slew of updates on the Internet surrounding the MIA, er, stolen LIVESTRONG TT Bike. You can find great blog posts about the missing bike at:

Cozy Beehive: Ray had some BREAKING NEWS: Inspector Clouseau Finds Lance’s Bike. Apparently it wasn’t a Sacramento Officer after all… Silly me.

Travels With A Tin Donkey: Sprocketboy is also dropping a few posts on the once missing bike. Pointing out that Lance’s Bike Is Back. Also, big congratulations to Sprocketboy on post 250! It seems like there were so many more! Always an enjoyable read, keep up the great work.

Fat Cyclist: Finally, Fatty has been liveblogging the entire Tour of California so far! It’s been a rather enjoyable read so far, you can recap all five days of the race thus far, and read more about how Fat Cyclist readers have raised $6500 for Bob Roll shave (what’s left of) the hair on his head. It’s a riot, I recommend keeping up with it if you haven’t already.

Well, that’s it for this week. As usual, I’m the Phun Cyclist, you stay classy Cleveland.

The Damned Weight Loss Challenge

Quickly before I start, things will be a bit hectic around here for the next week or so, due to some unforeseen circumstances. I apologize for this. My best suggestion will be to subscribe to the RSS if you haven't already, or check back a couple times during the day to see if I have a first thing AM post, a lunch time post, or an after dinner post. Thanks for your understanding. OH! Also, I will do the Weekly Roundup Thursday this week... cool?

So here is where the problem arises. Much like I mentioned yesterday, Monday is going to be a bad day to measure. I woke up this morning and weighed myself as I do every morning, but this time I also measured. Here's what I got.

Weight: 184.2
Waist: 36.5
Neck: 15.5
Body Fat % Calculation Estimate: 21

See the problem? I don't see how i could possibly lose four pounds overnight. Now, Sunday I did indulge in a glass (read: three) of wine. Oh, and I guess I should point out that what I consider a "proper glass of wine" may differ slightly from most. This
is what I consider a proper glass. Yes that is a pint glass... and yes, seriously, three. In fairness, that was over the course of the night, from dinner on. So that may be a problem. Also Monday was great eating. Breakfast and lunch was Muesli, dinner was awesome too!
Baked Tilapia, Brussels Sprouts, and brown rice with spicy (as hell) black beans. All homemade, all mmmmm.

Ugh... This weight loss thing is going to kill me until summer comes around.

Bored? Watch The Tour Of California Live Online

Incase you're interested, and maybe don't know about Google, they are streaming the Tour live over at http://tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/.

Enjoy!

Lean Look Numbers

Well, we're done with week one! I', beginning to think that I need to do measurements on Tuesday or something. It seems that every Monday I have an inflated number that drops by Tuesday morning. An example of this? Here are today's numbers:

Weight: 188.2
Waist: 37
Neck: 15.5
Body Fat % Calculation Estimate: 22

That's right, according to this time last week I'm up .1 pound. However, Tuesday of last I was at 185.4 so I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. I do seem to drink less water on Sunday, for some reason, and wonder if that might have to do with it. Oh well, we'll see tomorrow.

As for today's post, check back later, and I'm sure I'll put something up this afternoon.

Tour Of California - Sunday, Stage One

*Most if not all times are pretty rough. I'm curious how close to Fatty's observations this will be? For fun, I will avoid his posts and compare later. maybe it'll actually make this kind of fun.

18:00 EST (15:00 PST): It is wet

18:20: Cancellara is out. He has a fever.

18:25: Lot's of "BS talking". The rain is keeping the choppers and planes out of the air. No RF feeds.
Sidenotes: Dave Zabriskie doesn't have the wicked handlebar mustache. *sad*
Lance is back riding on US soil after 3 years.

18:30: Recap of the top ten after the prologue, since this all seems to be going nowhere fast.

Fabian Cancellara SUI 4:32:909
Levi Leipheimer USA +1.204
David Zabriskie USA +2.648
Michael Rogers AUS +2.790
Thor Hushovd NOR +3.132
George Hincapie USA +3.342
Tom Boonen BEL +3.432
Mark Renshaw AUS +4.053
Svein Tuft CAN +4.155
Lance Armstrong USA +4.264

18:35: Bob Roll asks Lance if he was pleased be the positive results so far. Same bike from Australia 1274 The number of days from last stage of the 2005 TdF to the first day this years Tour Down Under, and 27.5 is the approximate number in MILLIONS of people who died in those 1274 days. Lance chuckles at his bike being one of the bikes that Astana had stolen out of their truck. He took a minute to point out that he has a back up TT bike, and that this bike is a (basically) one of a kind. Thatg unless you keep it in you bedroom and never let ANYONE see it you'd get busted and they will get the bike back.
*This poses an interesting question in my mind. What the hell do you think you'll do with a one of Livestrong TT bike? Why even bother stealing it?

18:40: they are showing the womens race. I really need to break my promise and see what the heck Fatty has to say. I'm about to fall asleep. Sorry, but I have to look at what he's saying. I'll be back. By the way, is anyone keeping up with this?

18:50: They just announced, Mancebo, of Rock Racing fame, is in the lead.

18:55: Fatty confirms that Mancebo is, in fact, the leader. Also, I think Fatty would agree that $170 is way too much (Rock Racing) for a jersey. Also. Bobke lost more hair! You could tell in his Landis interview.

19:00: Seriously. If no one is reading this blasted thing, I'd LOVE to stop. I hate live blogging. OH! We just saw Mancebo's ass. The "A" on the ass of the Rock Racing shorts is an anarchy sign. How punk rock Mike Ball! Can I call you Mike?

19:05: First shot of the 25 or so in the chase group. Mancebo has cut his lead to just over four minutes.
Sidebar: Does anyone else thin Michael Ball may be behind Lance's bike turning up missing?

19:10: Sidebar, again: Does anyone else think the Rock Racing Cadillac's are just plain tacky?

19:15: Apparently Mancebo broke away at, about, mile five of 108. By the way, Sidebar: We're in the States... Why all the Keelometer (Km) talk? I understand that we should just go metric, but c'mon!

19:20: Gap is now three minutes. So far my fantasy standing are in the toilet!

19:25: Now the fun begins. Mancebo is in the final ten miles, and he looks like he is going to die. Into the first of three laps of the final circuit. Gap was seriously overrated! They think it was in the minute to minute ten second gap.

19:30: Yea! Only thirty more minutes, then I could be productive. This has been a bit painful. I promise that I will not do this again this week... At all!
Landis is leading the main Peloton, after dropping off the back of the chase group. OUCH! What a silly name for a team.

19:33: Mancebo crosses the finish in the first of three circuits.

19:34: The chase group dropped to a minute forty behind Mancebo as they cross the line for circuit one of three. Lance is at the back of the chase group, likely getting ready for a big finish.

19:38: They are suggesting that the chase group has actually "stopped racing". They brought the lead down enough that they are going to "let Rock Racing take this stage" and have to fight here on out. Maybe "Astana was sick of fighting", that they laid back thinking, "we're doing it all" and "if you want to catch him go". Ugh... I need more wine.

19:42: The Mancebo gap is now two plus minutes. Lance is on the front end of the chase, save Vincenzo Nibali. Nibali is right on the back wheel of Mancebo.

19:45: Now, time for a dumb comment: They should use fenders.

19:48: Mancebo wins the Yellow for the day.

19:50: The chase comes in with Lance Armstrong in the lead of the Chase group. This moves Astana to the top of the team standings.

19:54: The main peloton crosses the line, about five minutes behind.

Alright, that's all for today. A shout out to Fatty for calling Van de Walle "Vandewarladfaksldfasdfklll". Nice Fatty! I dig it. Tomorrow is Sausalito to Santa Cruz live at 12:30PM ET, 9:30AM PST. See you all tomorrow. Have a good night.

(Fairly) Real Time Commentary Of The Tour Of California Sunday!

So, since I'm going to be watching it anyway, I think I'll leave some (fairly) real time commentary of the Tour of California today. Com back at 6:00 pm EST (3:00 pm PT). I've got noting better to do tonight.

Some Quick Observations About Tour Of California

18:39 EST - Lance Armstrong just started his ride in the prologue of Tour of California, and is looking quite like a brick sh__ house!
Is it me, or do the Rock Racing guys look like douche bags? Further, do they need Cadillacs?
Is Floyd Landiseses beard going to create drag?
Am I the only person who is gleeful saying Vandenelde?
Is Levi Leipheimer a man or machine? He was in a perfect tuck the entire ride.

Prologue Top Five:

Fabian Cancellara SUI 4:32:909
Levi Leipheimer USA +1.204
David Zabriskie USA +2.648
Michael Rogers AUS +2.790
Thor Hushovd NOR +3.132

Lance Armstrong came in 10th.

An Extremely Cool Topic To Leave You With For The Weekend

I want to start with a cool Phan Boy Update! (crap... now I have to add the 'Phan Boy' tag and re-update) Anyway, I'll give everyone one guess where I will be this weekend... Give up? OK, here:That's right, Spin Bike Shop has their yearly winter clearance sale. What's on sale? What do you mean? Click the picture above and see for yourself. Better yet get in your car and get out to the Willoughby, Ohio store at 4144 Erie Street in Downtown Willoughby, or if you're west get to the Lakewood, Ohio store at 14515 Madison Avenue in Lakewood. Everything is on sale anyway, so you might as well just go. Tell them I said hello, or maybe I'll see you there...

Now, for something to leave you with over the weekend. Consider it homework, but fun, er phun. While messing around in the world of the interweb, and looking around the www.com stuff I came across something extremely cool. Extremely cool, and mind numbing this is. Apparently there is this ridiculously cool family doing a ridiculously cool thing. I'll try and give you the gist of it without ruining the story, but you have to check it out for yourself.

The Vogel's are on a journey. They have take their two kids, a tandem, two single bikes, their packs and on heck of a journey and turned it into something special. You see, as a family, they will journey from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina via the Pan American Highway. A journey that will take them approximately 20,000 miles over thirty months (two and a half years).

The Vogel children will, upon completion of the ride, will go into the Guinness World Records as the youngest persons ever to complete the journey. But that's not all, far from it really. You see, they will learn valuable life lessons along the way, and through Reach The World they will be able to take their journey into classrooms. They will be able to provide amazing, firsthand, real life lessons to children as they travel.

I encourage you to check out their site, and follow their journey. They left Alaska on June 8, 2008 and are already in Mexico City! Seriously. They are leaving regular updates, some photos, some videos, and lessons we can all take from. God speed, Vogel's. Hope your having a heck of a ride!

Weekly Roundup February 11, 2009

The weather is great! It’s in the fifties and the snow is melting, let’s just hope it sticks around for a bit. For the sake of, at least, getting out on the road! I felt so good with the weather that working out today felt not only like a pleasure, but like a treat! So nice in fact that I can’t wait to give you the Weekly Roundup.

50K Loop NS: Bluenoser and I have once again started the Lean Look Challenge. He started his weigh in and measurements with his Finding Your Sport Part II And Lean Look Challenge post. Finding your sport has been an interesting journey into how Thom, er Bluenoser, got interested in cycling. I recommend it, it’s been a rather enjoyable read. Blue’s measurements are currently at:

Weight: 194 lbs.
Neck: 16"
Abdomen: 38"
body fat %: 23%

Harp Rider: Harp is also participating in the Lean Look Challenge this time around, though I’m not quite sure why. I could only WISH to be in such good shape. Harp is coming in at:

Weight: 165 lbs
Neck: 15 ½”
Abdomen: 32 ½”
Body Fat %: 13%

As a quick reminder I am sitting at:

Weight: 185.4 lbs
Neck: 15 ½”
Abdomen: 37"
Body Fat %: 22%

Highwaymunky: Munky got his brand spankin’ new Specialized Langster Monaco. It’s his New Bike 1st Ride Review and it seems like day one was a great one. I’m left wondering how flat his ride is. I know that I’m in pain just thinking about riding the hills around me on a SS, let alone a fixie. The ride? It’s a beauty, but unless you’re going across the pond, you’re not easily getting one.

Fat Cyclist: Fatty also got a A Little Something To Tide [Him] Over. His first glance at the Gary Fisher Superfly 29” SS. Complete with, very sexy, pictures of the bike. This thing is crazy hot! I would love one, in time, when it won’t kill me.

Well, that’s it for this week. I’m going to go do some more exercise, and drop some Advil to soothe the pain of working out today… pushed it nice and hard today, and it felt good.

As usual, I’m the Phun Cyclist, you stay classy Cleveland.

As I Suspected

Yeah, so like I said yesterday, "I think [my weigh in] is skewed by a metric ton of salt, a load of carbs, and a couple beers and some wine with the wife before bed." Well, apparently I was correct. That or I lost nearly three pounds in one day?! As of Tuesday morning, my weight was down. I didn't remeasure, but I am weighing daily. Tuesday was core work, and I weight lifted today. I am hurting fiercely and loving it! I've really been focusing about 2/3 of my time on
Weight: 185.4
--Monday Measurements--
Waist: 37
Neck: 15.5
Body Fat % Calculation Estimate: 22

A New Year Means The Lean Look Challenge Re-revisited Again...

Alright, this may seem like déjà vu. I assure you, it seems like déjà vu to me too, so I assume we are OK. For those of you who are regular readers, you might remember back to A New Year Means The Lean Loon Challenge Revisited or if you really keep up you may remember back to Weekly Roundup June 18. At that time I purchased the bookThe Lean Look: Burn Fat, Tone Muscles and Transform Your Body in Twelve Weeks Using the Secrets of Professional Athletes by Paul Goldberg and Matthew Fitzgerald. Full title, yada yada, über long, etc., keep reading please.

Anyhow, I slacked off a bit, again, lately and need to get a bit more serious now to get in shape for my ride in the Philadelphia LIVESTRONG Challenge in August. Also I just generally need to be a brick shit house as soon as possible.

Once again my friend and neighbor to the (extreme) North Thom aka: Bluenoser will be joining me. But this time we'll both be joined by the one and only Harp! I will be posting my measurements and the like on Mondays by about 9:00 am. I'm not sure about Bluenoser or Harp, so be sure to keep up with their blogs.

So there you have it, the Lean Look Challenge® 2009, again! I encourage you to keep up, not only, with my progress but Bluenoser's and Harp's progress as well. it should be pretty cool, especially since Bluenoser and I are about the same height, weight, etc, I'm not entirely sure of Harp's stats right now, but I'm excited to start up again, and who knows, maybe I'll get around to getting the weight bench I've been meaning to pick up for about four months or so now, courtesy my 'lil sis'.

So here's what the numbers look like this morning. Fair warning, I'm going to redo them for tomorrow and will repost them if there is a big change. Admittedly I think there will be a pretty big drop once I get some fiber (yeah, low fiber weekend), and water. I think this is skewed by a metric ton of salt, a load of carbs, and a couple beers and some wine with the wife before bed. So, again, if it's a pretty drastic change tomorrow I'll update. For now...

Weight: 188.1
Waist: 37
Neck: 15.5
Body Fat % Calculation Estimate: 22

Blech!

Twin Six Gives Us The Best Reason To Buy New Gear... As If You Needed A Reason To Buy Twin Six Gear, Right?

Holy Twin Six gear Batman! So apparently Fatty got a call last night from the Twin Six guys. If you don’t know the Twin Six guys by now, you need to! Consider this an invite to check them out and do some good at the same time. Brent and Ryan (Twin Six) have already donated $6600 of their profits on their own Team Fatty LiveStrong Challenge page, but they felt as though that wasn’t good enough. What does this mean?

What this means is that today, Friday February 6, and today only they will be donating half of all our sales to the Lance Armstrong Challenge. Not half of their net, half of their gross for the day to their Team Fatty Page!

These guys are insane! They’re also incredibly cool. So, what can you do? You can help give Twin Six the biggest day of sales ever! To reiterate: Today, Friday, February 6, you spend ONE DOLLAR at the Twin Six site, they give a FIFTY CENT donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation via their Team Fatty Page.

What’s included? All jerseys, t-shirts, socks, wool jerseys (including the Fat Cyclist Wool Jersey, they will make 25 available tomorrow), cycling caps, everything. It also includes all Fat Cyclist merchandise: t-shirts, socks, wool jerseys, shorts, bibs, cycling caps and bottles.

Also by the magic of the Twin Six crew – Stuff That Was Out Of Stock before will magically reappear. According to Fatty Twin Six will bring back some items that have not been available for some time. “In other words, if there’s something you’ve wanted from Twin Six that hasn’t been available, check the site tomorrow. There’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

So, get your spring gear, something to wear when you ride the Livestrong Challenge, or a gift for that special someone (my birthday will be coming up in mid March), and half of what you spend tomorrow going to the fight against cancer! I can’t wait to see the results!

Campagnolo Announces 22-Speed Groupset

05 February 2009
Cycling Phun Phake News
Italy

The cycling world was rocked today by the announcement that Campagnolo will once again put it's competition to shame by introducing the worlds first and only 22-speed groupset! The set, due out in late 2009 for the 2010 season is rumored to be called the Campagnolo Über Super Record Compe Plus Carbone.

Campy has redesigned every bit of the transmission for the 2010 group from the levers, front and rear derailleurs, chain, cassette and crankset. Engineers from Campagnolo said, "This had to be done. once we found out that we could not make the hub twenty two inches wide to fit the likes of the 11-speed chain, we knew we had to cut something down somewhere." They continued, "This lead to the realization that the cassette would need to contain near paper thin sprockets, and the chain thickness would need to be roughly that of one side of an average link."

The new cassette, which only comes in one size 9-30, is just that. The small ring is a 9, which builds to a granny gear of 30. The chain is just under a miraculous 1/16" and resembles that of a cheep bracelet. When asked how these components will hold up under the pressure of rides like the Tour de France Campy engineers had no comment, though reporters did vaguely make out one engineer mumble, "I told you we should've tested this thing before announcing it..." in Italian.

More information is sure to follow, but rumor-mills are saying we are likely to see the 22 speed on pro bike as soon as the TdF.

Weekly Roundup February 04, 2009

I want to take a quick minute to thank everyone who has donated to my Livestrong Challenge fundraising efforts. As you know, my goal is to raise $2,500 for Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) through participation in the 2009 Philadelphia leg of the Lance Armstrong Challenge. While I didn’t hit 25% of my goal by the end of January, as I hoped I might, I managed to raise $430 (17%) of my goal so far. I owe a debt of gratitude to my family, to friends, to readers of this blog… people whom I’ve never met and may, or may not, have spoke to. Thank you for your generosity.

If you’re reading this and you might like to help by donating to LAF on behalf of my fundraising effort, you can go to my secure LIVESTRONG Challenge Page HERE, and make a secure donation. You can also track how I am doing, and there is a link to donate on the right hand sidebar of this blog. My next goal is to have $1250 (50%) of my $2500 goal in by March 31, 2009. Thanks again, and I give you the Weekly Roundup!

This week I’m going to give Bluenoser, and Harp a bit of a break. I’ll be mentioning them in upcoming weeks, likely a lot, as we will be doing the Lean Look together. If you want more info, read yesterdays entry. We go live, again, Monday February 9th!

Travels With A Tin Donkey: Sprocketboy is a wealth of knowledge. Not only when it comes to muesli, apparently, but also in aiding me with More On Winter Biking. Our friendly, and chilly, neighbors to the north had an online story about winter biking. Also, it seems as though Toronto (great city!) recently had a winter bike festival! Check at his post for more on this.

Miles And Madness: Judi seems to have the same death wish as I do. Only difference? She seems to think Rollers Are Way More Fun Than The Trainer I, on the other hand, would love to get a trainer. I’ll write more about my trainer experiences soon, but for now go and check out how well Judi is doing. Tear it up sister!

Cozy Beehive: Ron had an awesomely frightening post, I think it might be foresight into what Judi’s legs will be looking like soon. Ron touches base on the key to power: Serious Cycling=Serious Legs, Serious Legs=Serious Power. Man, I have to say, these are some serious legs! I can only hope to have this muscle tone someday.

Two congratulatory notes before I leave you…

Highway Munky: Munky just got the down payment on his first SS/Fixie. Munky says, “Nothing To See, Move Along”, I’d beg to differ. Get over to his blog and check it out.

Fat Cyclist: Too many congratulations to go out here! First off, congrats to Fatty, and his awesome team, who together raise a whopping $106,000, as of February 2nd! That’s about 25% of ALL the Livestrong Challenge money raised. The team is the top team in EVERY city! It’s amazing, and you can see more at HERE. OK, there were also the Winners Announced… for the awesome Gary Fisher Limited Edition Superfly, and Lance signed picture. Congratulations to those winners! Last but not least congratulations to Fatty, who it’s likely will soon live up to his name, for getting a certain hookup! Occasionally A Single Image Tells The Whole Story, and this is one of those stories! Fatty, take it easy man, OK? Congrats to all, and I can’t wait to meet as many fellow Team Fatty Members in Philly as possible!

Well, that’s all I got for now. Gonna go drop some Advil to dope up from the pain of working out today… pushed it a bit hard. As usual, I’m the Phun Cyclist, you stay classy Cleveland.

Snow Problem, And The Lean Look Revamp

I don't feel as though I've complained about Cleveland's weather enough. That or I just haven't got my point across how much snow we have.What is this? You ask. I'll tell you. Somewhere in that picture is a bicycle. Seriously! You don't believe me? Go on, look harder. Yup, That's a wheel sticking up perfectly straight in the more than a foot of snow that feel in one day last Wednesday. Mental note to me: Get an interview with that crazy Jill chick Up In Alaska. Find out how the hell she does it.

Anyway, it's kept me in quite a bit. I haven't been able to ride outdoors, seriously, in I can't even tell you when. OK, lie... I did New Years Eve. Regardless. I cracked out the rollers, busted up both elbows, my knee, ego, and a door. OK so I didn't fall intot he door, I hit the door but... Anyone know a good anger management treatment? If I keep the rollers, I'm sure to spend thousands on doors. I need to make some crazy cash [legally] so I could just buy the damn fluid trainer. You remember, the one I put off to buy the MTB.

Finally, the Lean Look Challenge is back on... sort of. Bluenoser, and now Harp are both in on it, and it's a go Monday February 9th! So, if you're interested in being in on it go, like, now and get The Lean Look: Burn Fat, Tone Muscles and Transform Your Body in Twelve Weeks Using the Secrets of Professional Athletes by Paul Goldberg and Matthew Fitzgerald. Damn, I just love how verbose they made that title! As far as my weigh in for this week, let's just say starting from scratch. I'm back to my January 5th stats. The goal this time: Actually try.

What Pissed Me Off About The "Game That I Cannot Mention It's Real Name For Fear That NFL & NBC Will Sue The Crap Out Of Me"

First off, Happy Groundhog Day! Let me just start by saying if I don't get my way with this freakin' rodent, I might have to find, kill and eat him! That's right, I want spring! I'm ready to ride. Hell with this "six more weeks of winter" crap! Yeah, you guessed it! I'm fired up! Why? I'll tell you...

Wow, where on earth can I even start today. I guess I've kinda stuck myself with commenting on what I hated about the "Game That I Cannot Mention It's Real Name For Fear That NFL & NBC Will Sue The Crap Out Of Me", aren't I? Ehh, OK. I have so much to work wit if I go in that direction anyway. The first thing, I guess, could be considered what pissed me off about the "Game That I Cannot Mention It's Real Name For Fear That NFL & NBC Will Sue The Crap Out Of Me" pregame. You see, one of the high points of my youth was listening to Steve Perry and Journey. Well, it's dead! Yeah, Steve is gone and so is Randy "Yo Dawg!" Jackson. As a matter of fact, the ONLY two original members are Neal Schon, and Ross Valory! I hardly call it Journey. For God's sake, the new guy is some dude who doesn't even sound remotely like Perry. At least Steve Augeri sounded kind of like Perry while he was in the group!

OK, secondly, and I might be outing myself here a bit but..., Keith Olbermann?! Seriously?! I'm throwing a WTF card on him! What could Olbermann, the douche bag, bring to the table in a sporting event? To be fair, Olbermann annoys me as Limbaugh. There I said it! WHAT!? Seriously, I realize it's NBC, but what could the guy possibly bring to the table?

Half time, well, kinda. What was the final call of the half. Am I seriously the only person who saw that as a down for Pittsburgh? I mean, his knee was down at the one! Mind you, it's almost a moot point, but it's the difference between 10-7 and 17-7.

The commercials. Ugh, where to start with the commercials. People paid upwards of $3 Mil for this crap! Seriously! (God I hope Roy had nothing to do with any of the commercials I hated.) Dare I say that the highlight may have been the Doritos commercial. He threw the crystal ball through the vending machine, then the guy hit his boss in the hoo-ha with it! Wow... that was my hi-light? Ugh. Am I the only one who was left thinking: We have the most craziest nuts debt (or something similarly incoherent) that we've ever had, and these d-bag advertisers are paying what?! How much are these idiots being paid to play tonight? What did these people pay for tickets? Houston, we have [more than] a [few] problem[s].

An old friend of my wife pointed out, what I noticed, in a wicked funny way. "There are more flags in this game than at the united nations!" Couldn't have said it better myself. Admittedly, this might have been the highlight of the game for me. If not that, the safety called at 2:58. "The [aforementioned] Game XXV" was the last time a safety was called in the... you know. But back to the flags, they were a bit one sided against Phoenix.

All in all I was left less than blown away by the Supe... Er, "Game That I Cannot Mention It's Real Name For Fear That NFL & NBC Will Sue The Crap Out Of Me". HA! NFL & NBC, you thought you had me, huh? Not this guy! This guy is too smart or you. Bottom line is my boys, Phoenix, put on a hell of a game, and I still hate Pittsburgh. I think there's a lot to be said for Phoenix. A team that was the red headed step kid of the game. The underdog who, by everyone's best estimates, had no shot in hell of even getting there made me proud!

Hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did.