It's A Bust

Cactus Jack's Saloon in Evergreen, Colorado has the Bust It Big challenge. Huge burger. Two enormous Coleman beef fresh-never-frozen patties, huge fresh-baked bun, and toppings. I completed this challenge a few months ago.

I went back to continue preparing for Las Vegas. I wanted to do the Bust It Big again, but with a few twists so it would be better preparation for Vegas. A couple of weeks ago I contacted the owners, Gary and Megan, about a customized Bust It Big: instead of a huge wide burger, make a huge tall burger. Nine 1/2-pound patties. White cheese. Bacon. And here's the big kicker: a couple of habanero peppers.

This was easily the best tasting challenge. Each patty was cooked perfectly medium, juices sealed in by a delicious crust. Melty cheese. Bacon: when does bacon not kick ass? Just the right amount of heat by the habanero slices. Yum! Megan and Gary, thanks for this!

Starting weight:


Photo of the Wall of Fame. That's me on the right. Some dude. And then some girl. She claimed to be "the #3 pro eater".


Here's the before shot. 4 patties were unbunned. 5 patties under the bun.


Each 1/2-pound patty was topped by cheese, bacon, and habaneros.


Very juicy. Very delicious.


How to begin?


Just dig in. Decided to eat 7 patties alone. Then a double cheeseburger to end it.



The fries were not part of the challenge. I ate them once in a while for texture change.










I hit the water too much. Ended up downing 3 glasses. Too much.












Officially there is no time limit on this Bust It Big challenge.

But at about 1:30 I called it with 1.5 patties and some bun left. Dangit!


Close!


Not finishing makes me sad.


Another picture of the Wall of Fame.


Full.

Ending weight with the food + water.


So I didn't get my picture on the Wall of Fame for the 2nd time. Oh well, I'll go back some time and do the Bust It Big under the menu rules. But again, Megan and Gary, thank you very much! Very, very delicious!

This was my 2nd challenge in my getting ready for Las Vegas. The stretch felt great. It was good too to try the habaneros. I came up a bit short, but that's OK. What's not OK is how unfocused I was. I never really got dialed in. Once the challenge begins I've got to focus on the challenge and not let anything else take me off the task. I did the burrito challenge last week, but I didn't get dialed in either but it was only 4 pounds so I could finish that one.

The goal for the next challenge: once it begins, keep the mind on the challenge and only on the challenge. Success would be great, but focus.

4 Pound Burrito

Until November 11th, I had taken a few weeks off from eating. To cleanse the colon and focus on the six-pack. T-bonz and I went to The Rock in Aurora to re-emerge.

Starting weight

The Rock has a 4 pound burrito challenge. It comes with a side plate of refried beans, lettuce and tomato. To complete the challenge you need to eat the burrito and also clean the side plate. I have completed this twice before so I thought this challenge would be a good stretch. And it was.


You can get it one of 3 ways: ground beef, chicken or bean. I went with the seasoned ground beef. And that's what was in the burrito: lots of ground beef. On top, hot green chile and lots of cheese.


And the green chile WAS hot. I didn't think it would be as hot as it was. And the spiced ground beef was steaming hot. But it was quite tasty.


After a while the ground beef became dry and tough to choke down. Going in I thought maybe 20 minutes to down the burrito first and then perhaps 5 minutes more on the side plate. I ended up finishing in 25 minutes but I do not know how that broke down between the two plates because I had to mix some of the sides into the burrito to cool down the temperature heat and the spicy heat.


It was a good stretch. I had not gotten a stretch since the Wing King Challenge at the West End Tavern in Boulder on October 14th so it felt good. I have a couple more challenges in the Denver area which should prepare me nicely for a few challenges in Las Vegas in December.



Ending weight

Afterwards, we stop by Sonic for some soft-serve...

And there's more: a full gallery of photos. And a good video.

Endless Ended

We went to Red Lobster for Endless Shrimp. I always have avoided shrimp because the last few times I ate shrimp I broke out pretty shockingly. Sure, that was in my teen years. And I had a huge acne problem. But still. Until Endless Shrimp called! And that's how I roll, bitches!

1st order came with mashed potatoes.

Each reorder came on a little bed of rice pilaf.

So actually what I ate was really not that nutritionally bad. Not good, of course, but relative to other things on the menu there not too bad. Except the sodium. Yikes!

I had 2.5 of these:
Cheddar Bay Biscuit
Calories: 150, Fat: 8, Sat Fat: 2.5, Sodium: 350

1 of these:
Home-style Mashed Potatoes
Calories: 180, Fat: 9, Sat Fat: 4, Sodium: 610

Probably one of these:
Wild Rice Pilaf
Calories: 180, Fat: 3, Sat Fat: .5, Sodium: 650
(each reorder had a bit, but I didn't eat too much)

4 orders of these:
Cajun Shrimp
Calories: 200, Fat: 7, Sat Fat: 1.5, Sodium: 1330

4 orders of these:
Teriyaki Grilled Shrimp
Calories: 160, Fat: 2, Sat Fat: 0.5, Sodium: 1250

So calories (2175) and fat (78), yeah well, not TOO bad. But sodium! 12455mg. Twelve thousand, four hundred, and fifty-five milligrams! HOLY CRAP!

My ending pile of 80 tails.


I stopped after 4 because the reorders came really slowly and this stuff was just plain boring to eat. Even T-bonz and Mommye commented along the boring line. And they have watched me eat a lot (almost too much) of stuff. So we left. Next!

Where Is This?

Does anyone know where this is?

Snow, No Snow & Tacos

Here is some stuff from the past couple of days:

First it snowed.


And kept snowing. For two days. We got about 18 inches. Pinecliffe scored big time with about 45 inches. Most places around here got 1 to 4 feet.


But a day later the snow was pretty much gone.


And Taco Bell was giving away a free Blackjack taco.

On the way back from dinner at a just-opened Tres Margaritas, T-bonz and I hit Bells on the way home.


4 Bells. 9 Blackjack tacos. The first Bell offered 3 tacos. Then two-a-piece at the other 3 Taco Bells.


And at the last one they had a BOGO scam for the free tacos so we actually had to pay. 96 cents for 9 tacos. OK.


9 Blackjack tacos. Hard shell. I prefer soft tacos. Who needs the calories and fat from 9 taco shells.

First bite:


Blackjack tacos are not bad. Not good either. I give them: meh. Here's a look:


Lettuce, "meat", two types of cheese (white and yellow), a pepper jack sauce, and that shell.

I ate the first two normally then just ate the insides.


Two of the Bells were pretty pinche with the fillings. The other two Taco Bells were much more generous with the fillings. Much more "meat", lettuce, cheese and sauce. I guess that could be a good thing, or maybe a bad thing.

Outfit Your Hog

It seems like everyone has a bike these days. No, I am not talking about bikes. I am talking about rides. Maybe it is a Harley. Maybe it is some other ride. No matter what kind you ride, you have to check out Realhog.com! Sure, they have a bunch of harley davidson accessories – over 30,000 – but they have much more! And brand names are up to 60% off! And the site is designed so well. It looks great. You can find exactly what you want to find. So stop by, have a look around, and pick up something you need – we all can find something we need! See you at Realhog.com soon!

Big Snows!

Denver and areas around it have been pounded by snow the last two days. It's winding down, but here are a few totals:

Aurora -- 16.3 inches
Centennial -- 15.5 inches
Parker -- 19.3 inches
Kittredge -- 30 inches
Conifer -- 34 inches
Broomfield -- 25.4 inches
Eldorado Springs -- 36 inches
Pinecliffe -- 43.8 inches

For many more totals, go to the Denver National Weather Service page.

The Monster Burrito

The Nascar Cafe in Las Vegas has a big burrito. The B3. The Big Badass Burrito:



The B3 Burrito Proportions:
Flour tortillas (4) - 20 ounces
Rice - 18 ounces
Refried beans - 20 ounces
Cheese - 10 ounces
Lettuce - 6 ounces
Shredded meat - 12 ounces
Ranchero sauce - 5 ounces
Diced tomato - 2 ounces
Guacamole - 4 ounces
Sour cream - 6 ounces

One Million Dollars

Today I had to go to serve Jury Doodye. I was selected. Trial ran late. Enough of that. But while we were waiting to go into court, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" was on the TV in the room. I knew a competitive eater had been on the show and was #4 in a list of winners who get to come back on the show for a chance at $1,000,000. Today I saw he had fallen to #5. The game has a few weeks to go, so only time will tell if Tim "Eater X" Janus has another shot at the big moolah.

Hot Hot Hot

There's a new burger challenge in Las Vegas. This is from a Las Vegas newsletter:

Do you need your spicy fix? LBS: A Burger Joint is adding the belly-busting “Extreme Burger” to the menu. The $30 burger comes with a twist - if you can finish it within an hour, along with the pound of French fries that accompany it, the meal is free!

The delectable monstrosity includes six half-pound beef patties loaded with American cheese, smoked bacon, Portobello mushroom, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, LBS burger sauce, spicy mustard, herb mayo and ghost peppers on a fresh baked sweet egg bun all served with a pound of fresh hand-cut French fries.

Ghost peppers, also known as naga jolokia peppers, were confirmed by Guinness World Records to be the hottest chili in the world, making this burger one of Las Vegas’ spiciest. The “Extreme Burger” customer will be given the opportunity to finish the 4 lb, scorching hot burger and a pound of fries within one hour to receive the grand prize of having the burger re-named in their honor and be the inaugural member of the Heroes of the Hamburger wall.

“We wanted to put forth this challenge to all of the hamburger enthusiasts in Las Vegas,” said Billy Richardson restaurateur and owner of LBS: A Burger Joint. “The ‘Extreme Burger’ is quite a feat, but we know that Vegas locals have the eating-power to rise up to the challenge.”

For more information on LBS: A Burger Joint, please call 702.835.9393 or visit www.lbsburger.com.

Wing King Challenge

Today it was up to Boulder to do the Wing King Challenge at the West End Tavern. 50 wings in 30 minutes. They began this challenge a month or so ago and 3 guys had completed it out of 10 or 12 that have attempted it. Make that 4.


They bring out a pail of wings. Not too big, not too small. And the wings were steaming just-out-of-the-oil hot. Coach had a great idea right away: take a lot of the wings out of the pail to cool, and keep doing that every now and then. There was a lot of sauce on the wings; not hot, not mild, somewhere in between.



I got out of the gate very well. Flying through the wings, I was about halfway complete in 8 or 10 minutes. Then I began collecting in my cheeks. So much so that I got all the meat off the bone in 29 minutes and took a few minutes to clear the stored meat. But the time stops when the last bone is cleared of meat.


The staff at West End was great. They were totally into it, and they got a kick out of how messily I ate. Big ups to Alyssa and Cotton Balls. The rules say I have to wait 12 months before doing it again but hopefully we can work something out so I can shave some time off my time.



In:

Out:


Check out a full gallery and more comments here.

The Shirt Off My Back

The photo above shows the shirt I wore at the hot dog eating contest in Frederick last month. The competition hot dogs were boiled. I thought nothing of course of the hot dog juice that ran down my shirt during the contest. I thought it'd be washed and be fine. But no. Not my favorite Life is Good t-shirt. It's trashed with the stains. What was in those hot dog juices? And what went in my belly? T-bonz tried soaking the shirt in Oxi Clean, but no luck. The stains on the shorts came out, but the shirt is gone. Any ideas people?

Mmm. Pie.

Four Mile Historic Park in Denver had a pumpkin festival, and there was a pie eating contest. Before the contest I thought 'pumpkin festival so naturally it'll be pumpkin pie'. Well, I was wrong.

It was fruit pie. Hands-free. But you could hold the tin, just couldn't use hands to eat it or shovel it in. And it was: Apple pie or cherry pie. I really don't like either. But we did get to choose. I chose cherry. In hindsight, terrible choice.

Contest length was 2 short minutes. The defending champion went with apple. He agreed that I ate more pie, but his apple pie was more sturdy than the juicy cherry pie so the judge made the call for the defending champ. I pulled 2nd. There were two other guys in the adult class.

Here is a video of the contest.

Lost 53.2 Pounds!

Since July 27th, when I began this experiment, I've LOST 53.2 pounds in 62 days! Is that great or what? Of course in that same time I've GAINED 47.6 pounds so I'm basically back to where I started. That's 34.954% of my body weight that I've lost in 62 days! I wonder how long it'll take to lose 100% of my body weight?

Ay Caramba!

The jalapeno eating contest at the 15th Annual Chile & Frijoles Festival is over. And my GI tract is back to normal.


Entering: the belly of the beast. There were 12 competitors. 3 gringos. 3 latinas. 6 latinos. Each of us were introduced and took our seats at the table. In front of each of us is a bottle of water and a bowl of 10 whole canned jalapenos. We'd get additional bowls of 10 as we neared completion of the current bowl.


The format of the contest was awesome. I thought it'd be a ten minute contest. It was, but in two five minute periods separated by a two minute break. So eat 5 minutes, break for 2 minutes, then eat for 5 more minutes. The break kicked my ass, but it's a great idea.


The eating began. I'm really pleased how it went seeing as I ate my first whole canned jalapeno two weeks ago. I got on a good pace, and kept it. I had the defending champ to my left. He downed a little over 20 or so in that 5 minutes. Dave Tafoya and I were leading at the break. I do not know his total, but I did 37. Then we hit the break. We could drink water, stand up, and maybe think about what we're doing. I didn't know about or plan for the break, and it showed. My 37 in the 1st five minutes was paired with my 15 in the 2nd five minutes. Wow, but now I know what to prepare for next year.

In the end, I was the only gringo who finished the 2 periods of eating. And 3 of the others dropped out too - only 7 of 12 finished. Maria Gallegos was 3rd with 20. I was 2nd with 52. And Dave won with 62.


A few minutes after the announcement of the results, I started to feel really bad. The jalapenos had to exit. I did not abort, but I didn't stop the boot. It felt good to lose some of the jalapenos. Then I booted again. After this 2nd time, I felt like there was ball of jalapenos halfway up my throat. After feeling really really bad and even thinking about an E/R visit, another boot. I wish I had video of me in process, that'd be awesome! And it felt incredible. At this point I think I might have emptied most of the jalapenos because I felt like I did before the contest. Let's play two!




Had some vanilla pudding and banana Indian fry bread, then high-tailed it back to Denver. Next year, look out guys!

Some results:
1st - Dave Tafoya 62
2nd - Me 52
3rd - Maria Gallegos 20 *
* she was awarded 3rd as winner of appearance/acting judges choice. The defending champ Larry Romero had 40.



You can view a gallery of all the photos here. I have more results and videos that will be posted soon.

Mas Jalapenos

Here is the final video of me preparing for the jalapeno eating contest. I eat through a can of La Costena canned jalapenos - 11 in about a minute. I'm going into the contest with a pace in mind. I'm probably going to use a two bite per jalapeno - bite at the middle, then a bite by the stem.

Jalapenos!

Here is a video of me eating a can of jalapenos. In this can of 10 chee-lays there are some normal sized, and some big boys. The jalapeno eating contest is in a couple days. It is 10 minutes long, so I am going in thinking set a pace, do not go balls out.

HD minus the B

The hot dog eating contest last weekend in Frederick was just that - hot dogs. No bun. Just the dog.

Usually going in to a contest I know some details like how long of a duration, what the food is, some idea of the rules, something. But about this one I knew nothing. And I didn't know what the prizes were. 1st place, among other things, won a sweet glass mug with "Hot Dog Contest" "Winner" "2009" engraved. That would have been nice - you know I'm all about hardware. The cash, t-shirts, are OK but the hardware is where it's at.





There were 10 competitors. 8 guys, 2 girls. The defending champ was in the mix, and a couple of guys who did it last year. Each of us got 10 dogs in our trays to start. And our own judge/hot dog refiller. You'd get two dogs at a time as needed. On GO and for the duration of the contest I was on an even pace of 5 dogs per minute. I thought 15 would get it done. It didn't. The guy next to me won with 18. My 15 was goof for 2nd. And one of the girls took 3rd with 14.

She was 3rd.

1st and 2nd.

I must say I didn't pay much attention to the guy next to me. The sun was so very bright so I was eyes closed. If I had I could have quickened my pace. And if I had known about the hardware that 1st would take maybe that would have made me pick it up.

At the end, I shoved one more in. There was a strict 30 second period to clear the mouth, and at the end of that time I still had another swallow in my mouth but I sort of covered that up.

Hot dog juice

No buns was weird. But it was good because there was no possibility of dunking. Dunking is gross and wrong. Krystal knows that. Maybe Nathan's will too.

The results from the hot dog eating contest:
18 Steve Chala
15 me
14 Abbie Rose
14 Nathan Lucero
13.5 Scott
13 Tim Aker
10 Mayor
10 Paul Skower
7 Jerry
7 Brian Mastiler
5.5 Jennifer Lees

There are two videos:
Contest rules being explained
Entire contest


The hot dog juice stains did not come out in the wash.

Hot Dog Contest

Tomorrow I will post pictures and video from the hot dog eating contest this past Sunday.

Checking In

Here's how things are going on the schedule of contests - as of late August - in September that I'd be doing:

Wings : postponed
Hot dogs : 1st
Ice cream : didn't do it - too headachy!
Hot dogs : 1st
Hot dogs : 2nd
Brats : canceled due to rain & snow
Jalapeno :
Corn dogs :
Jalapenos :

These Canned Jalapenos...

...Are making me thirsty. In the blurry picture above you can sort of make out the Double Choco Nesquik, the can of La Costena canned jalapenos, and the plate. But, where am I? I think I was on the can. The canned jalapenos that I've eaten the past couple of times have produced very explosive - but very satisfactory - results.

I had these for the 1st time ever on Sunday. At about 6pm I ate 7. Nothing explosive until Monday morning at 8 or 9. Didn't eat any on Monday. But Tuesday I ate 7 at 6pm. I felt the colon rollin' at midnight. Wednesday night I ate the 5 remaining. Not even an hour later things exited. Wow.

I'm experimenting to find the optimum method to please my colon. I've tried food then jalapenos. And jalapenos then food. So next I'll only have the jalapenos.

Jalapenos

Canned jalapenos are next.

Title Defended!

Fort Lupton has an annual town celebration to mark the anniversary of the town's founding. Last year I went and won the hot dog eating contest and I was third in the hands-free pie eating contest. I went back this year:

My starting weight.

A pre-Fall cold front swept in the day before. Temperature in the mid 50s and drizzly. Let's eat some hot dogs!

This is a picture of the 10 - 15 year old field.

The 15-and-up contest got started after the 10-15 year olds had their contest. It was chilly but dry as the 4 of us got set to go. We each had 10 hot dogs in the tray in front of us. It was to be a 5-minute race. Originally it was to be 10 minutes, but the organizers wanted to move things along what with the weather. I went in thinking I would bite-swig HDB #1, and then begin to dunk the entire HDB on 2+ if I needed to do so. I didn't need to do so as I was not pressed from the outset. Bear talked a mean game but managed to do 2. Larry, 3. Ramon finished with 4. I put down 10. I simply maintained a nice pace throughout the contest. Bite-swig the whole time. I could have slowed and finished with 5 to eek out the title defense, but I decided to stay at the pace I was on and treat it like practice for next weekend.

Next up: the pie eating.

The 7 to 10 group raced to eat one piece of cherry pie.

As last year, each of us in our 15 and over group had an entire creme pie in front of us. 5 minute time frame. Also as last year, I got hosed with a coconut creme pie. Unlike last year, the pies were sort of frozen. Well not thawed well. Ten people in our group. Last year I pulled 3rd place. This year, 2nd place. The girl who won had a chocolate creme pie. Probably because of the state of the pies the 5-minute time ran out before anyone finished their pie so the judges determined the places. I'll take 2nd. Anything to stop it.

So 1st in hot dogs and 2nd in pie. Not too bad.

Here is my weight after pulling the double.

Preparations

I noted to myself that for this month or so series of contests I would post what I do to prepare. I forgot to do so for the past 10 days, but I will do so from here on out.

In the beginning of the month there was to be a wing contest. I got 24 wings from the place, and ate them mainly to refresh on the technique to use. After brushing up on the technique the contest was postponed. It's now tentatively set for October.

Next up was the three-minute hot dog eating contest sponsored by Steve's Snappin' Dogs at the Taste of Colorado. Again for getting the technique (eaten without separating and without dunking) I ate a package of eight hot dogs & eight buns. I ended up eating 6 hot dogs & buns in the contest and ate a couple more after time expired.

I ate another package of eight in preparation for the hot dog eating contest coming up.

Early prep: I've eaten a handful of canned jalapenos for a contest later in the month. I have not eaten jalapenos in a contest before so this prep and contest should be something.

So far, for those counting: 24 chicken wings, 24 hot dogs and buns, and 5 jalapenos.

Hot Dog Contest Video!

Here is a link to video of the Chow Down for Charity hot dog eating contest at Steve's Snappin' Dogs. Jimmy Mares tied the 8-minute record with 13 hot dogs. No separating, no dunking. The finals were back at the end of July but I had not found this link until now. View the video here: http://vimeo.com/5805180

Results from Steve's

Here are the results from the hot dog eating contest sponsored by Steve's Snappin' Dogs at the Taste of Colorado:

Results for the six competitors

1st: Andrew "A-Bomb" Lane - 6
2nd: Rob Bolinske - 4.5
3rd: Dan Folsom - 4.25
4th Jimmy Stretz - 4
5th: Megan Roybal - 2
6th: Marie Carlsberg - 1

Hot Dog Eating Contest

Steve's Snappin' Dogs sponsored a hot dog eating contest at the Taste of Colorado. Jimmy Mares did not show - intimidated? - but I did, and so did 3 other guys and two women.


It was a quick 3 minute contest. As always, these hot dogs are the best. Thumann's. They put Nathan's to shame. Thumann's are bigger, taste better, snap louder, and are just really good.


Here is a link to the video. I do my Sonya-hands at the end. I forgot to do them when introduced.

This is a photo of my right index finger and the blood from chomping it. Zoom in on the photo.

Here's a big chair.