beggars can't be choosers

Just finished sending out begging e-mails to all my friends. No, I haven't blown the family savings on a new bike, I'm kicking off my fund-raising for the MS150, and everyone has been incredibly generous in the past. If you're reading this and considering a donation, please think about all the people with MS in Texas that get help from the society, and dig deep. Here's my virtual begging bowl -
And here is my online donation page. Thanks!

Naughty or Nice in the Noughties

Here's the Brickell's 2010 New Year's Day quiz about the last decade. See how much you can remember!


Sports

Nice: who was the winning pitcher when the Astros beat the Cardinals 5-1 to win the 2005 National League Championship series?

1. Roger Clemens
2. Roy Oswalt
3. Chad Qualls
4. Andy Pettitte

Naughty: who was the losing pitcher in the last game of the White Sox four game sweep that followed?


1. Brad Lidge
2. Wandy Rodriguez
3. Ezequiel Astacio
4. Brandon Backe


Nice: what was the score when the Texans beat the Cowboys in their first regular season game in Reliant Stadium in September 2002?


1. 14-3
2. 10-0
3. 17-14
4. 19-10


Naughty: how many regular season games did they win that year ?


1. 4
2. 5
3. 3
4. 2

Entertainment

Naughty: match these one-hit wonders from the Noughties with their song


1. Inside your heaven
2. Bad day
3. Lollipop
4. Butterfly

1. Daniel Powter
2. Bo Bice
3. Static Major
4. Crazy Town


Nice: match these Oscar-winning movies with the year they won:


1. Chicago
2. No Country for Old Men
3. A Beautiful Mind
4. American Beauty

1. 2000
2. 2002
3. 2003
4. 2008


Politics

Nice: who put "about 18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling?

1. Michelle Bachman
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Sarah Palin
4. Nancy Pelosi

Naughty: who, according to Politifact.com, told the "Lie of the Year" in 2009?

1. Michelle Bachman
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Sarah Palin
4. Nancy Pelosi

Nice: which of these "statements" are genuine Bushisms?


1. "There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."
2. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
3. “If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for the children of Texas"
4. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

Naughty: which of the following are accepted modifiers of the term chad?

1. Hanging
2. Swinging
3. Dimpled
4. Tri-


Science and Technology

Naughty: How did a baguette break the LHC, the world's largest machine?

1. A bird dropped a piece of it into the power supply
2. An engineer chose the wrong place to eat his lunch
3. Re-starting the machine disturbed the earth around a forgotten French resistance food store, which then needed to be examined by archeologists

Nice: Around the time of that bread-related incident, interest resurfaced in a paper by theoretical physicists Holger Bech Nielsen and Masao Ninomiya suggesting what?

1. Creating the hypothetical Higgs boson particle, the aim of the LHC, will both explain how all particles get mass and attract carbs
2. The sheer size of the LHC - which includes a 16.8 mile circuit - means even the very small statistical probability of fault becomes significant
3. All such machines will be sabotaged from the future

Naughty: what was hit at 5,600 mph during the LCROSS experiment?

1. the Sun
2. the Moon
3. North Korea
4. Antarctica


History

Nice: Three Somali pirates were shot dead in the rescue of US captain Richard Phillips, a use of force authorised by Barack Obama. This made him the first US president to kill pirates since who?

1. Washington
2. Van Buren
3. Madison
4. Theodore Roosevelt

Geography

Naughty: What became Greenland's official language in June when it took control of its own natural resources, judicial affairs and law enforcement from Denmark?


1. Danish
2. Greenlandic
3. Icelandic
4. Inuit


Nice: How else did Greenland mark home rule?


1. Announce a referendum on changing its name to something more realistic
2. Distributing two tonnes of whale meat among the people
3. Register a bid with the International Olympic Committee for Nuuk to host the 2020 Games

Duck!

Off to Zube again this morning, a bit warmer than last weekend but pretty thick fog on the way out. I park up, unload, pump up my tires, put on my gear, stretch - where the hell is everyone? It's 7.30 and I'm all alone. I head out rather grumpily and then remember that yesterday was the company Xmas party (Susan and I didn't go, it's usually a dud). Paddy, Jason, Gregor and the rest are all probably sleeping off their hangovers.

One advantage of being a lone wolf is that you can pick my route and set your own pace. Obvious disadvantages include being much less visible in the fog, and there's no-one to drag you along when you get tired. Anyhoo, I opted for the route that goes north on Hegar road, then follows the regular route, for a total of about 43 miles. I felt a bit exposed in the fog but the few vehicles that passed were very considerate.

Turning off Kickapoo and onto Castle, I passed four Muscovy ducks who were splashing about in the ditch. I spooked them and they decided to run for it. Unfortunately ducks aren't the best fliers and I was keeping pace with them quite well. It occurred to me that if they veered across the road in front of me I'd be looking at a rare case of a duck strike - probably less painful than the more common deer strike. They managed to get enough speed and elevation to leave me behind but we were quite cosy for a while. Apparently any duck with this much white is almost certainly domesticated, which is probably why I couldn't find this dude in my bird book.

My encounter with the waterfowl was probably the most exciting part of the ride. I got a tail-wind for the run in down Business 290 and got back to my car pretty comfortably. As I pulled out of the lot I imagined Paddy rolling over in bed for another hour's doze - he hasn't heard the last of this.

Foggy Bottom Boys

Off to Zube on a beautiful Sunday morning, one of those Fall mornings when you're not sure how much to rug up. Standing around in the parking lot I felt pretty comfortable in cycling shorts and a jersey, but some of the other riders had opted for tights and jackets. Paddy looked particularly fetching in a sleeveless jersey and arm warmers. You might almost have fancied he was wearing long evening gloves, on his way to the Opera.

We were definitely an international group, with two Brits, one Australian, two Hispanics, an Anglo-American (Paddy claims to be more American than most real Americans) and an Australian-Scot (Gregor, looking pretty pleased about Scotland's recent rugby win over Australia).

Off we went, with me questioning the wisdom of my wardrobe selection every time we rode through shade. I warmed up soon enough, until we ran into some pretty thick fog, and stayed in it for a good five miles. Not only did the temperature drop by several degrees, we were also really nervous about traffic and for once observed good lane discipline.

We broke out of the fog just at the turn-off for the gas station where we take a break, and stayed in the sunshine for the rest of the run. With about ten miles to go Alex took the lead and set a cracking pace. I was number two man in the line and velcroed myself to his rear wheel, knowing that if I lost touch I'd never get back on again at that speed. Alex pulled us for a good three miles before peeling off. Soon after that, Gregor flatted and we pulled over to stand around and watch him change out the tube. Mike pointed out that changing a tube was a bit like sex - it's hard to do it well when there are a lot of people watching.

We got rolling again with only a few miles to run. The pace cranked up once more and I decided to let the speedsters have their heads. Gregor was hanging back, too, because he wasn't sure his tube was up to pressure and didn't want to corner too hard for fear of rolling the tire off the wheel. Back at Zube for some photos like this one. Paddy is actually trying to show off his Mules tattoo, not just his impressive biceps.

Mules and Wannabes

A great start to the training season this morning, with a 45 mile run out of Zube in a big group. Paddy was there of course, with Gregor, Brooke and Alex from work, and a few others too. Pretty good conditions when we started and it was fun to meet and chat with new riders in the early going. A bit further on the group fragmented as some of the chaps stopped for what is called "un besoin naturel" in French cycling. Gregor, Brooke, Scott and I kept going at a pretty good clip but were eventually reeled in. The chasing group proceeded to kick up the pace and I found myself working very hard to stay on the lead rider's wheel. Fortunately we reached the Exxon pretty quickly. A good break and the usual exchange of war stories and examinations of each other's bikes (always looks like two dogs sniffing each other) and then we were off, with a head wind to fight. I was feeling my oats a bit and decided to challenge the group on one of the climbs. I blew past Paddy with a big smirk but eased up too soon and lost the King of the Mountains points to Gregor. The group got fragmented again but this time we decided to re-form and rode in together. One last sprint in the final mile left me gasping as the others vanished into the distance but all in all it was a great day.

Back home to a great lunch prepared by my wonderful spouse, a quick nap and then off to IAH to collect James, who's in town for a few days. Not too long before we have a house-full again -

On St.Crispin's Day

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

and they're off -

Registration for the 2010 MS150 opened last week for top fundraisers, so here we go again, registered up with 6 months to raise money, lose weight and train. To cap it all, this year I will also be eligible for the USPGA Senior Tour and AARP membership (American readers can help any Brits puzzled by these last benefits).

Thanks to the generosity of my supporters (and my employer matching my fund-raising), I made it into Club 300, the 300 highest fund-raisers from 2009. I get a special yellow rider's bib with my position in the Club as my rider number, shorter shower lines in LaGrange and Austin, and a chance to go to the head of the line for the Sunday morning start.

Yesterday was my first ride of the season and I rode with the Katy Bike Barn group on their Pool Hill route . 60 degrees when we started and not a cloud in the sky, but a nasty wind out of the north made things a bit challenging. Great fun, though, and a very social group of riders. Best of all, the rides start at 8.00am, which means I can to leave the house at 7.30am. Much as I love riding with the Mules, getting out to Zube for a 7.00am start means leaving no later than 6.30 am, and I do enjoy the extra hour in bed.