Can I ever go back?

So, last weekend, my 10-ish year old panasonic 27" CRT tv died (does that seem like a short life for a TV to anybody else)...

Now, I don't watch as much tv as I used to - crap, back in my youth, I can remember coming home from school and watching loads and loads of TV - it might start with the Phil Donaghue show, or Star Blazers, battlestar gallactica, and end with the Late Show with David Letterman...

whoa, that's a fair bit of tv, eh? d'oh!!!

So, I didn't do much research on the new TV I purchased last weekend... My approach was pretty much, "let's go to Costco and buy a tv...". so, we went to costco, looked at some tv's and plunked down too much cash for the lcd vizio we are the owners of now.

I dig NASCAR, a sport I grew to love during my years in Virginia...



I am currently watching my first NASCAR race on ESPNHD (racing at pocono, nonetheless!) - yeah, that'd be the special HD TV flavor of ESPN. It's pretty crazy to flip back and forth between ESPN and ESPNHD -> there's not really a comparison in terms of picture quality. I wonder if they do that on purpose? y'know, to limit "buyer's remorse" and whatnot...

but really, the feeling I have now is kind of like the feeling I had when I made the leap from a dialup internet connection to a cable modem...

y'know, "can I ever go back?"

Nah, I don't think it is possible -> NASCAR on the HD format is pretty awesome! :-)

With 15 to go, I say "go mark martin" you and your "steak-umm" chevrolet will fit in quite well with my fond memories of years past -> y'know, phil donaghue, star blazers, battlestar gallactica, and whatnot!

mmmmm, steak-ummm sandwiches and "kudos" brand granolo bars rock! :-)

Bike Racin', Pocono's, and NASCAR

The NASCAR Nextel Cup road show rolled into Long Pond, Pennsylvania this weekend. Long Pond is the home of the Pocono Raceway. What the heck, this is supposed to be a bike related blog, eh? Don't be alarmed, you're in the right spot for bike stuff!

Well here's one tie-in for bikes, NASCAR, and BTR: back in 1996, or 1997 or sometime around then, I did a stage race at the Pocono raceway. It was a one lap TT, then a circuit race that wound it's way around the infield after taking in turns 1 and 2. I don't recall much from that weekend (maybe someone else out there did this race and can fill in some more of the details for me!), but one thing I do remember is the piece of raceway between turns one and two - more specifically, the fifteen inches of pavement adjacent to the concrete retaining wall...

There was a cross-tailwind on raceday IIRC, and we were strung out single file groveling for the wheels on that portion of the course (well, at least I was!). We had to have been goin' something like 50-55kph on that section (wait another ten years and ask me - I'll probably say we were going 60-65 kph! :-) )...

Anyway, from a car racin' perspective, Pocono is a crazy fast tri oval that probably has two of the most difficult left hand turns of all the super-speedways (if not all racetracks!). Turn one sees the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jr. rippin' it down the front stretch at 200mph before haulin' their cars around the banked turn 1.

Turn 2 has it's own name on the NASCAR circuit - they call it the "tunnel turn", and I reckon it's pretty hairy at the speeds these guys are going - not much banking on this turn.

Turn 3 at Pocono is also flat, but lots of speed has been scrubbed off.

The "optimal" setup required to go fast on the tunnel turn is a different one than the one needed to go fast around turn 1 which is different than the setup needed to go fastest around turn 3. These three dynamically different turns, or demands, of this track create a real challenge for the teams and drivers. How is that? I mean, all these guys have to do is push on the gas and turn left, eh? ;-)

I think the challenges of bike racin', whether it be from a TT, or a stage racin', or a single day racin' perspective are similar to those that these NASCAR teams see every week. Whether it's bi-cycle racin' or auto-mobile racin' both teams have to identify the demands, prepare for those demands, determine the correct equipment and setups, and then ultimately blend in the human element.

That's some tough and challengin' bidness, if you ask me.

So, the next time one of y'alls bike racin' buddies wants to poo-poo NASCAR, I'd recommend considering the perspective that in the end, the disciplines have far more similarities than differences.

PS - in true NASCAR fashion, this blog entry has been brought to you by Craftsman: not the official tools of ...-