left.right.repeat group -closed - Full of a bunch of winners...YEAH! (Page 17)

FBP - you asked about the charity event that Debbie and I were traveling to this weekend so here is a little more about me.  Many years ago through a company I was working for at the time, I was trained as an auctioneer - this is a really long story so I will just leave it at that.  A few years later, I thought it would be a good way to give back to the community so we started providing our services to a couple of charity events in the area that we supported.  It grew from there and we had many requests however we simply could not fulfill all of them.  So we made a decision to only do events that benefitted children and for the past 15 years or so have done anywhere from 4-15 auctions each year.  We have participated in raising anywhere from $7000 in an evening to $350,000, the last time we counted we had raised more than $2mm for various events.  That said, the event volunteers do all the hard work...I just beg people for money.  We also offer to consult with a group who is considering doing a live auction to try to give them the benefit of many years and many events.  This particular event is a private school and we have done their event every year of their existence.  By the way, this is our gift to these groups - we take no fee and in fact, when they try to give us a gift of appreciation, we simply auction it off as another item in their event....it is really cool as whatever it is, someone always pays a ridiculous amount of money for it and it is a marvelous thank you to us.  Also, something really cool about this school and event, the very first one I did for them, they gave me a thank you note that had been colored and drawn by a 2nd grader.  I was so blown away by this act of gratitude that when they called me the next year I mentioned that I still had the note and had it framed.  I didn't really think anything about it but got another one that year, and the year after and the year after....I still have them all, in my study at home and they remind me that what we give is much more important that what we get.  It's really funny, I am now known as the guy who wants a kid to draw a thank you note...that's all I ask for....  Regardless, it has been passed down from event chairperson to chairperson (it's actually written in their notebook that gets handed down) that Bryan wants a note of thanks - nothing else.

Debbie and I have really never shared this with anyone - only a few of our friends even know we do this - I am proud to be able to share it with you all and I appreciate you indulging my "tooting my own horn".

sTRIving to be the best I can be

B

Just wow, Bryan. You are my hero. And what we give, comes back to us 10 fold. You so obviously don't care about a reward, but I pray that you are blessed just the same. *ear to ear smile*

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. (Thank you Pete for asking!)

sTRIving to be more giving

Dan, Juanita and Leston,  You should all have an invitation to Google calendars.  Sign up and then look for the Left Right Repeat calendar and load your dates.  I think this will work.  Let me know if I screwed something up.

sTRIve

B

Bryan that is SO cool. My wife and I love going to auctions - she to buy and me because I love to listen to the auctioneer. At one time I had actually looked into auctioneer school (just for fun, not as a career move!) and when I first lived in Calgary I used to go down to the livestock auction yards - no foolin' around in there I'll tell ya.

Of course, even cooler is that you do this as philanthropy. Man, that is so great. Thanks for telling us about it.

Today at noon I went out for a short run and headed downtown to see where flooding is taking place. I borrowed a digital camera from one of my staff and hope to post some pics tomorrow. The river is above official flood stage now and threatens to go higher as the snowpack north of here continues to melt. 

OK, now I think you can all add your own events.  I changed a setting.

Mav, you should be on there too now.  I added your events....although please try to alter one just to be sure you are set up right.

sTRIve

B

Non Triathlon Related ...

Thought you might be interested to see some pics of the flooding we are now experiencing in Fredericton as a result of the spring thaw. The Saint John river normally spills its banks a bit but this year is considrably worse than most although not yet at the level of the "Flood of the Century" which took place in the early 80's.

In this second picture, the bank of the river would normally be just around the right-hand edge of the picture.

Now, about this last picture ...

I do a 10-minute segment on CBC radio every week on "workplace issues". The host of the show is a fellow named Paul Castle and they have created a "Bobblehead Paul" that they invite listeners to take with them on their travels, snap a pic and send it in to the CBC for their website. I took my "Bobblehead Paul" out yesterday for my run so that I could take a pic of him reporting from the scene of the flood ...

Busy weekend with a ride planned tomorrow and then on Sunday Mrs. FBP and I are heading to a 15k race that she is doing (I will probably run as a "bandit" as a prelude to her Half Marathon in May.

Just back from the "Le 15k de Grande-Digue". In 'merican that would be pronounced, "Lah canes kill-oh-met-ers duh Grand Deek" I ran this as a "bandit" to serve as a photojournalist for Mrs FBP.

The event takes place in a tiny town right on the coast in an area of the province that is Acadian. This is the place from whence your 'cajuns came when they were deported 400 years ago by the bastard English . Those that escaped the deportation are now a vibrant part of Atlantic Canadian society. Their forefathers literally hid in the woods for several years before emerging to start over again.

We left home at 6:30 for an 11:00 race. It was about a 3 hour drive but left lots of time in case I got lost and so that we could stop for breakfast along the way.

There were about 300 runners and roughly 100 or so in the 15k walk.

Jill ran a great race. She finished in 1:35 or so - official time not yet posted - and was strong throughout. She said she felt a blister coming on when we were at the 10k point. By the finish it was the size of a quarter with tons of fluid. Yuck !!

After the race the community hosted a spaghetti and chili lunch with cake, coffee, etc. It was great according to Mrs FBP (I didn't eat because I didn't pay for the race). She ate her fill and part way through the awards she dozed off !! Fortunately we decided to stay because she won a Timex Ironman watch in the door prizes. It's worth 3 times what the registration fee cost!

For the drive home she slept and I cranked up the country music tunes.

All-in-all a great day and weekend. I got a 20k ride in yesterday and I enjoyed the 15k today as a training run (even though I don't run much faster than Jill) and I got lots of great pics that I will post after I download the memory card.

Pete

FBP - your bobblehead is so cool....this goes to show we are all weird together.  We have a latex oven mitt that we refer to as "Donald the Deer" - he even talks as a hand puppet.  This is a ridiculously long story but suffice it to say he has appeared in NYC, San Diego, all over TX and several points in between including last years NBA finals - Go Spurs Go -  although those Celtics look really good this year...I don't think we have it this year.  Anyway, your bobblehead cracked me up.

Mav - wetsuit struggles - try this - many times the shoulder problem is caused by the suit not being on you correctly.  Here are a couple of tips:  Be liberal with bodyglide or Pam - yes spray yourself with cooking spray...I know you are all cracking up but get your mind out of the gutter....smile.  Don't use any sort of petroleum based product or it will eat the neoprene but any other lube will work.  This will also help in removal.  OK, when you step in the wetsuit pull the legs up about 4-6 inches above your ankles - we need to fit up high.  Then work the legs on like pantyhose - very thick and strong pantyhose....working the legs as high as you possibly can.  The suit will be pretty uncomfortable initially in the crotch area (sorry but I didn't know how else to say it).  Then, work up the stomach and chest area, continously pulling the suit up.  You want ample, ample room in the shoulders.  If the suit fits you right, it will give you pretty free range of motion.  Now for the sleeves, straight is the key.  Start with your arm straight over your head, work the suit up from your wrist 2-3 inches to be sure there is no pull or as little as possible in the shoulder.  After you are in it....feeling like a sausage in a casing, you can pull the legs down or arms down to wrist if you have excess room.  Hopefully a few of these help.  Also, if you go to YouTube you can see some wetsuit video....also check out Rocket Science Sports for a video.

What a great weekend I had....we had a great event that raised about $100,000 for the school fundraiser.  I rode 23-24 miles with two guys who also work for my firm and then swam 45 minutes open water - 68 degrees Mav - all on Saturday.  Today I took off.  Friday was a 70 minute run.  Today was just a 5 hour drive home.

Congrats to Mrs. FBP - great job....and a cool watch to boot....awesome.  I added her finish line on page one....have I missed any others?

see you at the finish line

B

Mav, one other thing for the cold.  Do you wear earplugs?  I understand that keeping your inner ear warm will make a difference in how cold you are.  Silicone are supposed to be better for this use.

As far as Pam....nothing new on race day...either before or not at all.  I have never used Pam so I don't know how it works but I am certain that it would feel miserable.

B

Who thinks I'm nuts for trying this? Family, friends, colleagues, so on and so forth ...

OMG - I'm looking at (bike) porn and it's only 6 in the freakin' morning here. Leston - you need to warn people when you're going to post porn

Great looking wheels and no doubt that the colour combo  is FAST. I'm going to start thinking of names.

BTW folks - I ordered a bike decal through www.bikenames.com and it arrived last week. It looks so great I ordered two more. They are cheap - about $5 for a matched pair. The first decal said TEAM DIABETES - the reason for riding you might say. It is fairly large and placed on the top tube. The two on order are smaller - one will say Sebastian (in script like a signature) and the other will say FreddyBeachPete. Seb is going to be totally pimped out !! I'm still working on whether I can get a couple of small logos made and "sTRIve" may yet end up on the bike somewhere.

After a couple of days of good weather whch caused the river to stop rising, we have heavy rain in the forecast for the next few days. Bad news for river levels so the evacuation of homes/businesses along the banks further downstream is starting today. Typical stoic country folk though when you hear them on the radio - they are so calm and figure it's no big deal. "It was worse in 19xx" "Gotta expect this when you live on the river" etc.

Peter 

Another suggestion - Lille (the french would pronounce it "L-ill" but you could have it as "Lilly" if you preferred)

Why? Because Roubaix is a town in France that forms part of the Lille metropolitan area.

Some other thoughts:

Madness, Folly, Lucifer, Zeus, Trident, Cheval Fer (the french words for Iron and Horse), Yertle (the turtle!), Zephyr, Slice,

While Yertle cracked me up I think I vote for Black Dart....that just sounds BBBBB-AAAA-DDDD!!!!!!

Mav - it is FUN...those folks just don't know what they are missing.  They may have never experienced a finish line and for that, I feel sorry for them.  I cannot imagine not having that feeling again....WOW!

By the way - FBP - I love the Nascar'd up bike idea with all the decals....and I think I speak for the group when I say we would all be a bit hurt if sTRIve wasn't on Seb somewhere.

Mav - the day off was EXACTLY the right thing to do....that is what you want to do when you feel like you need it....remember a little undertrained is MUCH better than any overtraining.

Leston - what a gorgeous bike....I gotta learn to post pics...

FBP - your 6am porn comments killed me

Leston - how about Jet?

Mav - thanks for the official speed "reading" from our resident colorist....

All - just a minor announcement - I signed up for the Longhorn Tri today...it is in October.  It is a Half-Ironman so I am certifiably Half-Nuts!

sTRIve

Since everyone else has exposed "themselves" - I thought I would post a little "porn" too....maybe I will give FBP another "wake up call" in the morning...smile.

This is my tri bike obviously, I will post one of my road bike another time....

Mav, Please tell me it is a fast color...I need all the help I can get....Longhorn has time cutoffs and I am going to need a good bike....

sTRIve

More 6 a.m. porn - I definitely have a problem ...

I'm off to a fundraiser breakfast for our UNB women's basketball program.

Bryan - wow, that's a great looking ride !! Hard to see from the pic what brand/model but after some searching I think it might be a Quintana Roo Seduza ???? Am I right that the colours are black with deep orange highlites or is it black/red? Name?