Comeback, schmomback!

I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove a thing.

Mr Deny everything has made no comments on the specific accusations, instead focusing on attacking the character & supposed intent of Floyd; might have some esplaining to do.

Friday update: you must've known this was coming.

Ch chi chi chil chil - uh cold!

Man what I put myself through to do a Tuesday night practice race - 53F and a passing rain shower dousing the course at the start - with the spray from the wheels making myself thoroughly soaked by the start of the 2nd lap. Thankfully we were doing the anti-clockwise loop (verses the flats as advertised) which had a little climbing to keep the body temp up (though why we were still doing points a lap is beyond me).

So the forecast for the 1st race of the cascadia crit series is looking slightly promising, with Sunday looking the best for race #2. I'll be there, hopefully on dry courses, but either way - hey it's an outdoor sport right?

Ads

Wonder why all the Mesothelioma Ads on TV all of a sudden for something you rarely heard about before they aired?

Each year 2,500 -4,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed. It has a long latency (inactive) period of anywhere between 15 – 50 years. As many as 8 million people in the U.S. have already been exposed to asbestos. Most victims die within 18 months of diagnosis. Mortality is swift not because the cancer is fast-growing but because it usually is far advanced by the time it is detected. Over half a million asbestos and mesothelioma injury claims have been filed to date. This means a lot of swift $$ for injury victims and/or families (IMHO rightfully so in most cases) & their lawyers.

Lawyers would have a much harder case to bear against big livestock, cattle, poultry and dairy companies for offering cancer-causing, heart clogging, stroke inducing products and whose consumption per capita is on the rise; and whose latency period lasts a (shortened) lifetime. But I think it would be worth the fight - look how long it took to win against big tobacco.

Then imagine the TV Ads for all you carnivores?

hands on at TT start

Many of us watching on Verses recognized those countdown fingers as that of local a certain NW USAC Official/UCI Commissioner - shown here after getting snubbed for asking Levi for a ride on his aerobars.

Floyd

I often wonder why idiots go on a killing rampage of coworkers, friends, and/or relatives prior to killing themselves when they have the sequence wrong & they should have just started with themselves first and leave it at that. This is another example - though in a professional sense.

Do as I say...

...not as I do.

That should've been the addendum to the bumper sticker on the lady's car that cut off me escorting my 3 kiddo's in the grocery store parking lot. Lucky for me (and her) that she had her side window rolled up or the key fob would've hit her square in the side of her hollow head.

Also my other bumper sticker philosophy observation is that the likelihood of you having the one that reads "slow down - this isn't the mainland" the faster you actually pass me.

Saturday's dominance

If you're bike racing on the weekends in WA, Saturday continues to dominate.

This last weekend the Michelob Ultra CR at the Port Orchard Airport had 310 participants with generous cash & prizes, while the draw of championship medals at the Masters/Juniors State Championship RR in nearby Longbranch had only 193.

Cost of participation may also be a factor with Saturday's CR at $25, while entry to the State Championship cost an additional $5 (premium?).

Heading into Crit & Stage Race season this won't be that big a factor. But race promoters should examine two things - is it really a Saturday phenomenon, or rather a cost/prize package ratio? I would surmise the later.

No Fly List - 2 hours is still too long!

When updates are made to the no-fly list (NFL), notifications are sent to airlines instructing them to check the updated list. Until now, airlines have been required to check for updated lists every 24 hours. Effective immediately, airlines will have to check the updated list within two hours of being notified of changes. The TSA says airlines could be fined if they don't comply. Fined? They could lose an airliner and hundreds of lives simply because they didn't check the list; how safe does that make you feel?

The no-fly list has been one of the government's most public counter terrorism tools since it went into effect after the 9/11 attacks. But the list is only as good as the airline employees & other officials who analyze it and match names against it. I would imagine that if red flags, flashing lights, and loud bells clanging are not enough to alert everybody about a matched name, then they shouldn't be in that type of position.

If an intelligence lead is not shared, or if an analyst is unable to connect one piece of information to another, or if an airline decides not to look at an updated version of the list, someone on the list can board an airliner.

Though even with the best of intentions the time lag for reviewing the updated NFL is still troubling. If somebody does something bad or has bad intentions they can still jump in a cab, subway or drive themselves to the airport & purchase a ticket and leave the country even if their name was placed on the NFL immediately after their bad deed - presuming that they were known immediately - because the airlines and others can still wait to connect the dots for a full 2 hours.

You'd think in this day & age of fast tracking computers able to link each other immediately that it wouldn't even take 2 hours - that an updated NFL would simply be available and automatically preempt the previous. We deserve better.

Harm

Gets PEZ'd