Daytona 200

I had a follow-up appointment with the radiation doctor (Dr. Kendall) a couple of days ago and he was just really checking that I'm doing okay health-wise and I don't glow too brightly in the dark.  He told me some good news which is that I can gradually go back to my original foods like whole wheat bread, apples, oranges and raisin bran.  This is great news and I've already eaten some of it already.  I'd been getting pretty sick of white bread and, although I'm not a salad lover, it's strange how I've missed lettuce these last two months.

My operation has also been scheduled for April 12th.  It's bittersweet.  I'm looking forward to the cancer being removed but I feel almost normal now and there will be changes coming with the surgery.



Miguel Duhamel has won the Daytona 200 five times, tied
with dickhead Scott Russell (or Ru$$ell as he arrogantly
labels himself).  He was three times close to setting the all-
time record of 6 wins exept for crashing in one race (blame
himself), running out of gas in another (blame the mechanic)
and having a fuel pickup problem in another race (blame the
equipment).
Miguel retired a couple of years ago at
approximately 40 years old.  I don't think we'll see his record
broken in the next ten years.  He's tops in my books.



Well, enough about cancer.  Tomorrow marks the first day of spring in the motorcycle world as the first race of the year happens tomorrow.  It's always a long winter when you're a motorcyclist which is why I've travelled south a few times to spectate at the Daytona 200 motorcycle race.  Normally races are about 30 to 40 minutes long but Daytona is a season-opener 200 mile race so it's about two or 2.5 hours long.  Riders actually have pit stops and they need to change tires and tank up with gas.  It's actually exciting to watch.  Plus, the weather is usually warm in Florida and bike riding in Ottawa is just around the corner when Daytona happens.  In this case, motorcycle riding weather in Ottawa is already here but I'll be squirrelled away in the basement on a sunny day watching the races with friends.



Cost-cutting measures a couple of years ago eliminated
Qualifying tires that would only last for two laps but they
stuck like glue so you could set one really fast lap time in
qualifying.  Com'on people, at least all other tires will last 20 to 30
laps (half an hour to 40 minutes).
After they were eliminated, Dunlop jumped on the
bandwagon and released a street tire that you could ride all
summer on.  Ironically, they call it The Qualifier.