Lately I’ve been amazed at the leaps and bounds automotive manufacturers have been making the last few years in regards to fuel economy, at least in relation to engine power. A few examples? A 2010 Chevrolet Camaro V6 rated with 305 horsepower and 29 miles per gallon (highway), and a 2011 Ford Mustang V6 also with 305 horses, but 31 mpg highway. These are just the base models with automatics, and yet their performance would put just about any Ferrari from the 80s or 90s to shame — all while sucking half as much fuel.

In light of this, I’ve been reassessing just how efficient my 2001 Audi TT Roadster Quattro really is. Once considered almost state-of-the-art, the 1.8-liter turbocharged engine puts out just 225 hp — a pretty amazing 125 hp/liter, but just two-thirds the output of the new pony cars’ larger-displacement base engines. And an EPA rating of 26 mpg highway. Not so impressive.

However, it seems like with any manual-transmissioned car, I can easily beat the EPA numbers. My TT does have a stick, so I wondered just what gas mileage I could get if I “tried.” Continue reading »

With college kids arriving in town by the truckloads and Labor Day quickly approaching, one gets the sense that summer is winding down. If there was any doubt, all you had to do was go to Fort Collins’ City Park on the 15th of August when the pool was being shut down. FC has a particularly unusual way to mark this occasion: they allow people to take their dogs off-leash to let them run amok. Swim amok, too.

“Hey, look at that dog!” Leah exclaimed. There were about a hundred here, but the one she was wagging her finger at was not hard to identify. This is because it was wearing a bikini. Continue reading »

“One of the fitness standards that I set for myself a long time ago,” I said to Tori, “was that on any given day, I could bike 200 miles. I guess this would be a real test of that.”

Indeed, as a side effect of a high-mileage year for running, I’ve had the lowest-mileage year for biking ever since I started doing long-distance cycling events 17 years ago. I’ve actually run three times more than I’ve biked this year distance-wise. The number of times I have pedaled could be counted on my digits; my long ride in 2010 was a mere 40 miles.

But since the summer is winding down and the amount of daylight hours is decreasing, I figured I’d better squeeze in a 200-miler now to continue my annual double-century streak. Besides, I figured it would be a good way to whip me back into cycling shape. I call it the shock-and-awe approach. Continue reading »

We were walking towards Gallery Underground to kick off First Friday Art Walk when we noticed something was a little different about Old Town Square tonight. Instead of its usual mix of musicians performing live or kids hopping on bear statues with a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone, there were a couple people bent over tying their shoes. No, wait, they were doing down dog. You know, one of the basic yoga poses. On yoga mats. In the middle of the square.

“Hey, take a picture,” I exhorted to Leah while handing her my cell cam. I jumped in while doing a similar pose. Not sure if my five seconds of yoga did me much good health-wise. But it did get me in an even cheerier mood for viewing art. Continue reading »

“Grand Mesa is the largest flat-top mountain in the world,” said Phil, the organizer of the inaugural Grand Mesa 100-mile run at the pre-race meeting, “but you will find it is not flat.”

Phil then presented more information calmly and matter-of-factly as if it were the seven o’clock news. We probably should have interpreted the details, however, more like a warning that the Titanic was about to sink. Continue reading »

Everyone seems to have a household chore that he finds about as enjoyable as stabbing himself in the gut with a chopstick. In my case, it is not hauling out the trash, stripping the bed of its sheets and tossing them into the laundry machine, or even running around with a deafening vacuum cleaner while terrorizing the kitties.

Instead, my pet peeve is weed. No, not the smelly stoner sort of weed (although I’m not exactly a fan of that either), but rather the pernicious type that invades and takes over one’s yard like gophers with an extended family the size of Bin Laden’s. The type that demands pulling, digging, or doing something about lest the neighbors and passersby conclude that I am the biggest eyesore creator since the time some folks in the adjacent ‘hood propped an inflatable Martian on their lawn. Continue reading »