Frazz by Jef Mallett for July 18, 2013

Going down mountains if fun. Up? No way! I go with the flow of the river when I’m in my Kayak….

“NASCAR was invented by a guy who wondered what a box of Tide would look like if it was going 200 mph.” —Stephen Colbert

So, why did they have to climb it twice?

The cyclists worry about going down too fast on the wet road twice.

Love Frazz’s NASCAR comment in the last panel! I’ve tried to watch NASCAR, but I just can’t commit to 3 hours of left turns. I know it takes precision teamwork and athleticism from the drivers, but still.

MAD magazine had a section about making NASCAR more exciting: unmarked land mines on the track. Average speed 1.4 mph.

They only watch for the WRECKS!

Can’t really complainI watch pro Golf

Ah golf. the only televised sport to make NASCAR look exciting.

And 7.9% grades aren’t really that bad, we’ve got plenty around here. Of course, none of them are 8 miles long.

NASCAR cars can’t go the other direction. They put smaller tires on the inside, adjust the steering . . . it’s going *straight" that’s the hard part.

Don’t forget to drink your beer while watching Nascar! lol

The only exposure to NASCAR I can remotely stomach are the two road course races every year. I race sports cars at the club level and it’s interesting for me to watch them negotiate the same courses I race on. At a higher rate of speed, of course. :-)

I got talked into going to an early morning boat race at the beach decades ago. They raced out of sight, and my date didn’t want to miss them returning, so we sat and sat and sat, cold and foggy, no food or blankets…bored, cold and hungry..

Ya, I’ve always been confused why they call it stock car racing, too, because they aren’t even CLOSE to stock! I don’t think there’s anything about them that’s stock! nascar is appealing because it can fit into a stadium and everyone can make a weekend out of it getting drunk. That’s the only possible way to enjoy it, anyway. So drunk you can’t see straight. While people racing in real cars on real roads get unnoticed.

Here’s some input data from a program I wrote a few years back to calculate total effort for a given climb. The order indicates that ranking.

If I remember right, Brasstown Bald was part of the Tour DuPont back in the day.

Where Ave Rise / Run StartBrasstown Bald GA 11.26% 1808 ft/ 3.04 miles 2976 ftCroix de Fer-St Jean 4.88% 4960 ft/19.26 miles 1820 ftL’Alpe D’Huez 7.93% 3643 ft/ 8.70 miles 2427 ftCroix de Fer-St Marie 6.90% 5206 ft/14.29 miles 1574 ftMont Ventoux-Malaucène 7.14% 5036 ft/13.36 miles 1236 ftMont Ventoux-Bédoin 7.44% 5321 ft/13.55 miles 951 ftCol de la Madeleine 8.04% 5009 ft/11.81 miles 1551 ft

Great comeback, Frazz!

NASCAR…We’ll keep doing it faster and faster until we get it right!

Good comeback Frazz

It was 100 years old 10 years ago. This year was the 100th edition of it (missed a few years during WWI and WWII. Wonder why…)

John Valby?