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1:11 am by co-admin in Horse
Ten Of The Finest Thoroughbreds, In This Man’s Opinion
by John W. Russell
THE COLTS
To a greater degree than his equine friend, mankind is a capricious animal that will always have widely divergent opinions on any given subject. It is unlikely, therefore, that many people will agree with me on which were the finest horses to race in America over the last 50 years, but I hope you will not find the following 10 — five males and five females — at great odds with your opinion. One criterion for selection was that I had personal knowledge of each. I had the privilege of watching many of the races in which these horses ran and, in some cases, trained horses that ran against them. I make no apology for prejudicial judgment in selecting for this elite group one that I trained, Susan’s Girl; she won three Eclipse Awards. As for the others, I only wish that I could have trained them too.
Episode 1 – SECRETARIAT
To observe Secretariat standing or to watch him move, and especially to watch him race, was a memorable pleasure for anyone so fortunate. It can be reasonably said that there never was an animal that captured the hearts of so many people as did Secretariat. He made the cover or front page of virtually every magazine or newspaper in
Hatton, having lived through the years of such greats as Exterminator and Man o’ War, went on to write: “Impressions of long standing tend to become fixed and presume a prescriptive right not to be questioned. But Secretariat is the most capable horse we ever saw, and geriatrics defeat any thought of seeing his like again.”
The splendid chestnut was regal in every bone, muscle and fiber. He justified every superlative that was attributed to him. Standing 16 hands, one and one-half inches when retired at the age of 3, the copper chestnut was a mass of powerful muscle tipping the scales at 1,555 pounds at the beginning of that year, only to be reduced to 1,154 pounds at the end of a strenuous campaign. Two of his final three races were at a mile and a half with the other being a mile and five-eighths, all run within 30 days, which would account for his loss of weight. But his conformation was as faultless as nature would permit; he was the quintessential horse. Massive of hindquarters coupled to a short back, his length of hip and slope of shoulder stood him over a lot of ground. His forearm and gaskin were as powerful as any I have ever seen, with a masculine, handsome head set upon a powerful neck, and a large eye showing equal strength of character. All of this combined to give him a stride with power and rhythm unlike any other animal on earth.
Voted Horse of the Year for each of the two years that he raced, and the first of only two horses ever to be so honored as a 2-year-old, he shattered either track or world records in more than half of his winning races, including all three of the Triple Crown events. Not only did he shorten the time of so many races, he also won by incredible margins with consummate ease. Due to his daunting speed, horsemen everywhere were skeptical of his stamina at the end of his juvenile year, and wondered if, as a 3-year-old, he would stay at longer distances than a mile. Stay he did. As one race-caller succinctly answered the question, he “stayed like your mother-in-law!”
Although retired at the end of his 3-year-old year, as a measure of his dominance over his peers in the Marlborough Cup at one and a quarter miles, he defeated four older champions carrying less weight than he, and set a new world-record time for the distance. But his racing record needs no embellishment here, it is one of the most remarkable in the annals of racing.
Bred by the Meadow Stud of Christopher T. Chenery in
In another ironic twist of fate, Roger Laurin also was denied the honor of training Secretariat when he accepted the training duties for the Phipps family in 1971, relinquishing the same position with the Meadow Stable, and turning over the yearling Secretariat to his father, Lucian.
Despite these fortunes of racing, the image of Secretariat is indelibly imprinted into the hearts of millions who had the pleasure of being racing enthusiasts at that time, and only the most fortunate will ever see in the next century another to equal or compare with his brilliance.
3:08 am by digitalmbul in Automotive
From: “Rio DTC 0136″
Subject: [FYI] Sharing Tertib Di jalan lagi yuks…#2
Date: 25 Juni 2007 10:03
Sharing Tertib Di jalan lagi yuks…
Buat motor
1.. Berdoa
2.. Helm, Kita gak bisa tutup mata, negara kita memang tidak memperhatikan nyawa dari pengendara motor, terlihat dari tidak adanya kualitas baku untuk Helm yang baik dan aman, gunakan minimal helm Half Face dalam berkendara, dan gunakan dengan benar, helm cetok hanya menyayangi kantong anda tapi bukan nyawa atau kepala anda.
3.. Masker, polusi yang melewati batas toleransi di ibu kota, mewajibkan kita menggunakan masker, minimal kita tidak menghirup langsung udara di saat berkendara.
4.. Jaket, untuk melindungi anda dari angin, dan benturan langsung ke aspal.
5.. Sarung tangan, untuk melindungi benturan langsung ke aspal
6.. Celana panjang, bukan celana pendek, berfungsi untuk melindungi bagian kaki anda dari goresan bila terjatuh
7.. Sepatu, sebisa mungkin gunakan sepatu yang menutup mata kaki.
8.. Jalur anda adalah di jalur yang telah di tentukan untuk kendaraan bermotor, panas, macet, atau hujan adalah resiko dari pengendara motor, jadi bikers jangan cengeng!, mau cepat dengan tidak memperhatikan kenyamanan dan keamanan masyarakat lain adalah hal yang dilakukan para “bikers cengeng” tersebut (salah satu contoh, naik trotoar pada saat macet..)
9.. Di Traffic light, Berhenti dibelakang garis putih (kecuali bila ada dispensasi dari petugas yang mengatur), dengan berhanti dibelakang garis putih, anda akan lebih aman. Jika pada trafffic light garis putih telang hilang (biasalaah…), berhenti pada posisi traffic light terlihat/terpantau oleh anda (merah kuning atau hijau) agar tidak mengganggu kendaraan lain.
10.. Tidak merokok sewaktu berkendara
11.. Tidak menerima, atau menelpon, apalagi ketik sms dalam keadaan motor jalan.
12.. Pernah gue liat, ada oknum bikers nyemil sambil jalan.hahaha.bodoh..
13.. Selalu Saling Menghormati Antar Pengguna Jalan, Semua Pengguna Jalan Mempunyai Hak Yang Sama
14.. Group touring, harus selalu mengutamakan keselamatan dan kenyamanan pengguna jalan lainnya.
15.. Gunakan pasal konvoi dengan bijak
16.. Apabila kendaraan anda bukan motor dinas dari, Polisi, Pemadam Kebakaran, atau Ambulan, jangan pasang strobo atau sirine, apalagi hanya karena anda ingin bergaya, atau gila hormat.
17.. Jangan saling menyalahkan, koreksi diri sebelum mengatakan orang lain salah berindak dalam lalin, kuasai dan amalkan peraturan lalu lintas terlebih dahulu. Kebodohan roda dua juga dilakukan oleh para pengendara roda empat, begitu juga sebaliknya.
18.. Konvoi klub motor (besar maupun kecil), jangan terlalu arogan, hak prioritas anda dalam ber konvoi memang dilindungi undang-undang, tapi mohon perhatikan juga pengguna jalan lain, mungkin anda bisa membayar patwal, tapi anda tidak bisa membeli maaf kami bila melakukan perjalanan yang mengganggu pengguna jalan lain. Blocking arus adalah hal yang bodoh pada saat sekarang ini, sudah lumayan banayak klub yang menentang hal ini.
Buat Mobil
1.. Berdoa
2.. Selalu gunakan seat belt
3.. Selalu gunakan lampu sign anda bila berubah haluan
4.. Jangan gunakan lampu Hazzard pada waktu hujan, akan membahayakan diri sendiri dan orang lain
5.. Jangan melewati bahu jalan di TOL
6.. Bila anda berada di jalur paling kiri, jangan pernah memberikan suara klakson, atau lampu beam pada mobil yang berjalan pelan di depan anda dengan maksud mendahului, karena hanya membuat anda terlihat seperti orang idiot.
7.. Selalu Saling Menghormati Antar Pengguna Jalan, Semua Pengguna Jalan Mempunyai Hak Yang Sama
8.. Dijalan raya, anda adalah hanya salah satu dari ribuan pengguna jalan lainnya, jangan merasa istimewa hanya karena anda mempunyai jabatan, masih banyak langit diatas langit
9.. Gunakan pasal konvoi dengan bijak
10.. Apabila kendaraan anda bukan mobil dinas dari, Polisi, Pemadam Kebakaran, atau Ambulan, jangan pasang strobo, rotator atau sirine, hanya karena anda ingin bergaya, atau gila hormat. (pasal 34/1993)
11.. Jangan saling menyalahkan, koreksi diri sebelum mengatakan orang lain salah berindak dalam lalin, kuasai dan amalkan peraturan lalu lintas terlebih dahulu. Kebodohan roda dua juga dilakukan oleh para pengendara roda empat, begitu juga sebaliknya.
12.. Selalu merawat mesin mobil anda, menghindari pencemaran lingkungan
13.. Perlengkapan standar kendaraan adalah telah melalui perhitungan keselamatan berkendara anda dan yang lain, berpikirlah kembali untuk melakukan perubahan-perubahan pada perlengkapan standar tersebut.
14.. Berusahalah untuk tetap pada lajur yang disediakan, jangan pindah haluan apabila tidak terlalu mendesak, bila ada keinginan anda menyalip mobil di depan anda berusahalah melakukannya tanpa mengganggu kenyamana kendaraan lain.
15.. Selalu gunakan spion dalam melakukan semua aktivitas yang mengharuskan anda melihat situasi terlebih dahulu.
16.. Periksalah rutin kondisi head lamp anda, jangan terlalu tinggi dalam keadaan normal, karena bisa mengganggu kendaraan lain, dan jangan terlalu rendah, karena akan menyulitkan anda pada malam hari.
17.. Bagi perokok, usahakan jangan membuan abu rokok keluar dari mobil anda, gunakan ash tray di dalam mobil, karena masih ada kendaraan lain yang tidak menggunakan windshield untuk melindungi dari bara api rokok anda yang ikut dalam abu rokok.
18.. Alasan terlambat dalam perjalanan adalah alasan yang sudah teramat sangat kuno di ibu kota, lebih berdisiplin dalam waktu, dan tidak terburu-buru selama dalam perjalanan.
19.. Macet adalah hal yang rutin di ibu kota, tetap patuhi peraturan lalin, tetap memperhatikan marka jalan.
20.. Gunakan klakson anda secara bijak, jangan terlalu banyak membunyikan klakson, karena hanya mengganggu kendaraan lain.
21.. Khusus untuk mobil-mobil pejabat pemerintah, mohon perhatikan warga pengguna jalan lainnya, jangan gunakan pengawal untuk memecah antrian dalam keadaan macet, gaji anda dibayar dari pajak yang kami bayarkan kepada pemerintah, anda sebetulnya adalah pelayan kami. (andaikan saja para pejabat yang sering melakukan ini membaca artikel ini)
22.. Konvoi klub mobil, jangan terlalu arogan, hak prioritas anda dalam ber konvoi memang dilindungi undang-undang, tapi mohon perhatikan juga pengguna jalan lain, mungkin anda bisa membayar patwal, tapi anda tidak bisa membeli maaf kami bila melakukan perjalanan yang mengganggu pengguna jalan lain. Blocking arus adalah hal yang bodoh pada saat sekarang ini, sudah lumayan banayak klub yang menentang hal ini.
Sekian dulu sharing dari saya. Ntar disambung lagi yaa.mohon maaf bila ada kesalahan, saya juga masih belajar, hanya mencoba berbagi, mohon koreksi bila terdapat kesalahan.
Pada dasarnya, kendaraan lain tidak berkeberatan bila disalip/didahului, asal dilakukan dengan cara yang baik, sopan, dan elegan.
Rio “digitaLmbuL” Octaviano
Daihatsu Taruna Club
Forum Safety Riding Jakarta
contribute by members of FSRJ
Brigade Motor – Tiger Thunder Megapro
Di tulis dengan bahasa informil
www.digitaLmbuL.com
3:04 am by digitalmbul in Automotive
Share Tertib di jalan,
1. Marka Jalan garis putih terputus adalah marka pembatas bisa dilewati
2. Marka Jalan garis putih tidak putus adalah marka pembatas yang tidak boleh dilewati, kalo yang di tepi jalan buat pembatas jalan
3. Marka Jalan garis berwarna kuning, hati-hati bila berhenti pada garis tersebut, (dulu ada di jalan Sudirman Thamrin)
4. Marka Jalan garis ganda putus-putus dan utuh, kendaraan pada garis utuh tidak boleh melewati lajur, tapi kendaraan yang pada bagian garis putus-putus boleh melewati/pindah jalur.
5. Marka Garis serong, mendandakan kendaraan tidak boleh memasuki areal tersebut.
6. Marka Jalan berwarna merah, jangan berhenti di atas marka tersebut BERBAHAYA (marka Busway)
7. Bila berjalan dalam kecepatan yang sangat rendah, harus berada di lajur paling kiri dari lajur tujuan, (kalo mao cepet pindah ke lajur kanan, dengan sopan dan elegan)
8. Lajur Kanan hanya untuk kendaraan lebih cepat atau mendahului (jangan sengaja memperlambat kendaraan, karena hanya mengganggu kendaraan lain, apapun jabatan elu, tetep sebagai warga negara yang patuh lalin)
9. Bila dalam keadaan jalan kosong, bukan berarti dapat bermanuver dijalan raya, karena lebih berbahaya dibandingkan dengan jalanan yang sedang ramai.
10. Perhatikan jarak antar kendaraan, bila sedang beriringan atau menyalip kendaraan lain
11. Bila bukan aparat, jangan letakan stiker berbau instansi yang anda tidak bekerja di tempat itu, hanya lebih menonjolkan kebodohan diri sendiri.
12. Jalur lurus/jalan protokol pada persimpangan adalah PRIORITAS
13. Bila bertemu dengan persimpangan, perlambat kendaraan.
14. Bila anda merasa mempunyai jabatan yang tinggi, anda harus lebih tahu MALU dibandingkan dengan mereka dengan strata di bawah anda.
15. Untuk Motor pada U Turn, jangan mengambil sisi dalam dari antrian. Untuk Mobil, jangan melewati jalur yang telah di tentukan untuk U Turn
Sekian dulu, mungkin kalo ada tambahan bisa langsung di berikan.
Rio “digitaLmbuL” Octaviano
Daihatsu Taruna Club
Forum Safety Riding Jakarta
Brigade Motor – Tiger Thunder Megapro
Berdasarkan PP 43/1993 dan Pengalaman.
1:58 am by digitalmbul in Safety Driving
Rain creates demanding conditions for drivers. Here are some tips for driving safely in the rain.
First, the biggest things you need to do to ensure you’ll be safe when it starts raining have to be attended to before your trip even starts. You need to ensure that you have good wipers on your car for visibility, and good tires on your car so that you’ll be able to maintain contact with the road.
Wiper blades wear out, and often the original wiper blades on new vehicles are of poor quality. I recently rented a car for a week long trip and, because I expected rain I replaced the wipers with new good quality ones even though the rental car had less than a five hundred miles on it. It was worth a few extra dollars to ensure I’d be able to see when the rain started coming down.
Tires are just as important. If you feel your car shimmy when you hit a puddle at highway speeds, it means that the tread of your tires isn’t doing its job of channeling water away. Either you have cheap tires, or they’re too worn to be safe, or both. You need to replace them with good quality tires with a tread pattern that will channel water away and keep your car in contact with the road.
With good wipers and tires, you’re ready for a safe trip in the rain, provided that you adjust your driving to accommodate the rain conditions. Even with good tires, if you go too fast you can start hydroplaning, which is a term for what happens when your car’s tires lose contact with the road surface and instead “hydroplane” on the thin surface of water that coats the road.
Hydroplaning deprives you of steering control – you can turn the wheel and nothing will happen because your tires aren’t in contact with the road – and you can end up in the ditch. The best way to avoid hydroplaning is to reduce your speed.
Don’t be fooled by a road that is only a little bit wet. Often roads are slickest when they receive a light coating of rain, as this rain lifts up the oil on the road and makes the road surface very slippery. Reduce your vehicle’s speed as soon as rain starts to fall.
Finally, if the rains are torrential, don’t attempt to cross areas where water is running over the roadway. Moving water is tremendously powerful. Even a few inches of water can carry a vehicle off the road and into a watercourse. Many drivers have drowned by finding themselves in swollen rivers or creeks after having tried to drive through what appeared to be only a few inches of water.
If you follow the above tips for driving safely in the rain you’ll be well on your way to handling the demanding driving conditions created by rain.
Author : David Riel
1:32 am by digitalmbul in Safety Driving
A sudden tire blowout can be a frightening thing even for the most seasoned driver. I had a tire blowout several years ago. I was driving a large car and cruised easily on the highway at speeds around 115 km. per hour.
I was in the process of passing another car when my rear passenger tire exploded, so I was actually going faster then 115 km. at the time.
The tire really did explode. It was not a slow leak but a true blowout that was caused by a couple of factors. As the tire dealership explained to me, the tire had become under inflated and the air inside became super heated and eventually the tire exploded from the stress. Had I been driving in the city it most likely would never have happened, but because I was traveling at a high rate of speed the stress on the tire was too great. It was the high speed that caused the over heating. There was a large hole in the tire and the edges of the hole were all shredded.
There are several things to be aware of if you have a high speed tire blowout.
THE TRAFFIC AROUND YOU:
I have heard it said that a good driver should be looking in his rear view mirror every 8-10 seconds. It is a great habit to get into, because instinctively, you will always be aware of your escape routes should something unexpected happen. It is much to late to start looking around once a dangerous situation unfolds. In my particular case, I was in the highway passing lane and had just accelerated to pass a slower vehicle. I also noticed another vehicle enter the passing lane behind me to pass the same slower vehicle. Just as I signaled to go back into the driving lane, my tire exploded. Fortunately I knew exactly where the traffic was around me.
YOUR FIRST REACTION:
Instinctively, the first reaction might be to slam on the brakes. It would be very wise to restrain yourself from this course of action. Steering slightly in the opposite direction that the car wants to veer will help keep the car under control. That would be the time to start applying firm steady pressure on the brakes as you make your way to safety on the side of the road. By slamming on the brakes right away you could actually accentuate the initial reaction of the vehicle and lose control completely. Much will depend on the speed you are initially traveling. Most likely it will be quite fast because serious instantaneous blowouts often happen at higher speeds.
ROAD CONDITIONS:
Much will also depend on the condition of the road surface at the moment of the blowout. Snowy or icy surfaces will most likely make the reaction of your vehicle much more unpredictable. Rain slicked roads will also cause added problems, because the surface of the tire will be separated from the road by a thin layer of water. In other words you will most likely be hydroplaning if you are traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the tire failure. This could also cause unpredictable and dangerous vehicle reactions that you should be aware of.
WHAT TO DO:
First of all, there is a good chance the drivers of the vehicles around you have no idea what is going on at the instant a blowout occurs. It all depends on how your car reacts and how attentive the other drivers happen to be. If you are not in the driving lane closest to the shoulder of the road, let your car drift over toward that shoulder if it is safe to do so. You can signal, honk your horn, or activate your brake lights by pumping the brake pedal lightly. Do not turn on your emergency flashers until you have changed lanes. All these will serve as warnings to any cars behind you that something is amiss. Your first priority is to get away from the lane nearest the oncoming traffic. You do not want your car swerving in that direction.
If you have a standard transmission you can gear down as the vehicle begins to lose speed. If you have an automatic you can go from drive into second gear. All these will serve to slow your vehicle down and you have “not” slammed on the brakes to achieve this.
If you feel your car is seriously out of control, your best option if all else fails is to head for the ditch if you can’t maintain enough control to bring the vehicle to a halt on the shoulder of the road in a save manner. At all costs, you want to avoid any sort of collision with other vehicles. You may damage your car by steering it off the road and into the ditch, but cars can be easily fixed.
In my case I was fortunate enough to resist slamming on the brakes and was able to bring the car to a halt safely on the wide shoulder of the road without any contact with other vehicles or damage to my car.(other than the tire)
Every situation is different. You could be on a 2 lane highway, a divided highway, or a freeway with 6 lanes going in each direction. There might be a wide shoulder or a narrow shoulder. When driving on “any” highway, the safest place to be is the lane closest to the shoulder or edge of the road if it happens to be one of the few instances where there is no shoulder. No matter how many lanes of traffic there are, that is the lane you should try and stay in unless you are passing someone.
Ultimately the key to a safe outcome in the event of a blowout is being aware at all times of what is happening with the traffic flow around you and doing most of your highway driving in the lane closest to the shoulder of the road.
Being aware of the other traffic will help you avoid them in case of a blowout and being in the proper lane will always provide you with an escape route.
author : Ray Fauteux
Oldies, but Goodies!
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This is a rare opportunity to join an award-winning team working on a high profile news agenda, supporting HSE’s work to reduce the number of people killed, injured and made unwell by their work.
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