Challenge #2

The 2nd day in Las Vegas meant my 2nd food challenge. The day before I had joined the 24" Club at Johnny McGuire's Deli by eating a 24" sub (I ate the Trucker) in 28:22 which stands as the 2nd best time at that location behind Rich LeFevre who downed his in 20 minutes.


T-bonz, Mommye, and 3M are along for the ride. We show up at the Sahara Resort and Casino a little after 4pm. I am not as hungry as I prefer to be going into a food challenge, but I am focused. As we enter the Nascar Café I notice two bar-height tables that are in a roped-off section by a chalk board listing the rules of the B3 Burrito Challenge. One of the tables is a normal table and the other one is an official "Man v.Food" competition table that was used by Adam Richman when he attempted the B3 a few months ago. Wasn't he clearly seated at a normal four-person table? But I digress…


There's a good crowd. Some sitting at tables, and some seated at the bar. The Pittsburgh-Cleveland football game is on the TVs. Lots of people there to watch the game. Little did they know they'd get a sideshow, too.


The burrito arrives. It's big. And there are HUGE mounds of sour cream and guacamole on top. I HATE sour cream and I HATE guacamole. And I HATE black olives (they are inside, and on top of, the burrito). But in competitive eating situations or food challenge situations, the target food item is what it is. The manager serves as official timekeeper. She was low-key about giving me time updates. I liked that a lot. Our waiter places it down in front of me.


I begin by using the knife and fork to cut off a bite on the left end of the burrito. I do not know if it was the knife/fork combo or me, but it was an awkward bite. I cut the burrito in half, put down the knife and fork and attack the burrito in Furious Pete style. Though I had to swallow. Our waiter would later tell us that of the burrito finishers all of them ate the burrito with their hands instead of utensils.


I am on a great pace. Consistent speed. The burrito is really good, too. I finish the burrito in just under 20 minutes. Phenomenal. The wait staff is digging it. The assembled crowd is in it. With the burrito finished, I have to clean up the droppings. Eating the burrito was really messy. Much fell out. Probably close to 3 pounds of stuff fell out onto the plate. I transition from burrito to droppings very well. For my first bite of the droppings I grab the knife and spoon. Again, using utensils is awkward. I decide to put down the knife/spoon and go at the innards with my hands.


That might have been a bad decision because the droppings are soft, almost mud-like, so with each handful I do not get too much in my mouth. I seem to be treading water. But I'm not treading water because each time I form the soupy stuff into a log it is smaller than before. Maybe not as small as I'd prefer, but smaller.


After over HALF AN HOUR of consuming the stuff this way, I have an urge. But I hold it back. A few minutes later, another urge. Again I hold it back. But I can't hold back the 3rd urge. Luckily there's a trash can right in front of me. Two boots. They had placed a plastic grocery bag behind me but I don't know if I would have been able to open it and shoot straight.


So at just under an hour, I am done. Maybe a half-pound remaining. That sucks. Looking at the Wall of Shame the people who didn't finish still had burritos intact - like they had not attacked. Or ate much more cleanly than I - which is not that hard to do. I only saw one picture on the wall where the guy seemed close to being finished. That sucks.

The B3 Wall of Shame
The B3 Wall of Fame (finishers)

748 people, well 749 counting me, had tried the B3 Burrito Challenge. 14 people have finished it in the allotted 90 minutes. With my failure I don the pink "Certified Weenie" t-shirt. That's fun that they do that. Vegas gets another $19.95 from me.

The red neon atmosphere made for tough picture taking conditions at times. But T-bonz got some great photos. And she was working the crowd. I do not understand why she gets so into me being stupid, but it makes me happy.


In hindsight, I am pleased that I switched up from using the knife and fork to using my hands to eat the burrito. Very good decision. But my decision to eat the droppings with my hands was not good. The manager did bring me a spoon, and I tried once using it, but didn't. I should have asked for a slightly bigger spoon.

Next time (hello March?), I will go in knowing to use my hands to eat the burrito, and then switch to a good spoon to clean up the dropped stuff. It would also be good to drop less stuff when eating the burrito but that might not be possible as the saucy shredded beef and the runny beans just do that, and the burrito is served as one long tube. Maybe I'll cut the burrito in half and consume each half from that middle cut to the end. I just thought of that. The not-too-well-closed-ends-but-better-than-open-ends would hold more of the innards inside. On my attempt I did cut the burrito in half, but then ate it left to right. Dumb.

I also won't eat a 24" sub sandwich before eating the burrito. I thought the sandwich would be a great stretch. It probably was a great stretch but my body did not process the sandwich fast enough.

I had not before tried 3 big eats in 3 days. Usually I like to have a couple of detox days between eats like these. But that's what I'm doing, so just do it.


There is a complete photo gallery here.

Next: the burger!

Club 36 is It

Before going on, I have to mention where we stayed. We had a very nice 2 bedroom unit at Club 36. It is located on Tropicana Avenue, between the MGM on the west side and Paradise Road on the east side. I'd call it a nice hotel - maybe in the class of a Marriott. There are much nicer places in Las Vegas, but you could do a lot worse, too. Big king-size bed, lots of bathrooms and lots of flat-screen TVs. On the ground floor there was an Einstein Bros. Bagels, Subway, Due Pizza, ABC Store, and more. Great location and convenient to everything.

Club 36 is one of Bluegreen Vacation Club's many properties. Bluegreen Vacation Club is unlike most vacation ownership programs because you do not just use vacation time at a specific resort but you purchase Vacation Points that allow you to enjoy any and all resorts in the Bluegreen family. And if you want you can exchange points out of the Bluegreen network.

My parents have been members of Bluegreen for over 5 years. They have been very satisfied with Bluegreen. And so have I. Check them out at bluegreenonline.com!

Challenge #1 Gallery

Here is the link to a photo gallery of my attempt to enter the 24" Club at Johnny McGuire's Deli in Las Vegas.

Challenge #1

Me, T-bonz, Mommye and 3M were in Las Vegas for 5 days. For the first 3 days, I was taking on 3 food challenges. Here's #1: the 24" Club at Johnny McGuire's Deli.

Up until the day before departure, my challenge schedule was BURRITO-SUB-BURGER. The morning of leaving Denver I changed up the menu: SUB-BURRITO-BURGER. More on that later...

We get to Vegas and we can't check-in until 4pm so we decide to get lunch. At Johnny McGuire's. It was a bitch to find, but we did. They have a great selection of soups, salads, and hot dogs. 24" Trucker for me: turkey, BBQ sauce, tomatoes, lots of lettuce, and cheddar cheese. On white. Hold the mayo, please.

After a few minutes, the sandwich is brought out. Man, it's BIG! Rich LeFevre holds the store record for the 24 inch club - 20:19. I was so shooting for that.


I begin. It's good. I mean really good! The chef loaded on the lettuce. Gotta remember that for next time. Maybe get less lettuce. The BBQ sauce is not only delicious, it also provides some good lube.


The sandwich is cut into 4 sections. I get through the 1st at 4:30. Second at a bit over 9. 3rd at 17. 4th at 21. Then I have a pile of droppings to consume. I do so and finish in 28:22.

2nd best for the location! Yes, there is a guy who finished his sandwich in 23 minutes, but the manager puts me in 2nd because that guys had a sub composed of just bread and tuna. Very dry, no doubt, so I applaud that eatfeat, but he didn't have the weight of the toppings. That's one weird thing about the 24" Club - the eater can choose the sub and customize it any way they want. For the challenge there should be a standardized list of ingredients on the sub. I wonder what kind of sub Rich ate.

It was a good eat. T-bonz coached me through it. She got me to clear a couple of times when I had to do so and start anew. She got some great photos. What a terrific athletic supporter she is!


With the sub down, I start preparing for the B3 burrito less than 24 hours away.

Weight a Minute!

I'll get the photos and stuff posted from my assault on 3 food challenges in 3 days in Las Vegas but I have to start with this: the morning we left Denver, I weighed in at 149.0 pounds. Then in Las Vegas I ate at least:

24" sub sandwich at Johnny McGuire's. Turkey, BBQ sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, cheddar cheese. Hold the mayo, please.

6 pound burrito at the Nascar Cafe in the Sahara. Shredded beef, refried beans, lettuce, cheese sauce, sour cream, guacamole.

11 1/2-pound patty cheeseburger at LBS. Each patty topped with bacon, cheese, and ghost peppers. Couple cups of whole milk after. Oh yeah, and 3 pounds of fries.

Box of stuff at Raising Cane's. 4 chicken fingers, fries, texas toast.

Much too much at the Bellagio brunch buffet.

How can my weigh-in this morning be 147.2 pounds?!?

The Whole Story

I am working on the photos and reviews from the 3 Las Vegas food challenges I attempted. Keep checking back!

B3 burrito

Day #2: after being successful on Las Vegas food challenge #1, the results of challenge #2 - the big badass burrito - were not as good.

I crushed on the 1st pass - under 20 minutes for it. But probably 2.5 pounds of the insides fell out in the 1st pass so I had to clean that.

At about 1 hour, I DQ'd. Under a pound of insides left. Damn.

Much more later. Today: day #3, challenge #3.

Doing It

I am in the middle of my eating challenges in Las Vegas.

Yesterday I successfully ate the big sub sandwich at Johnny McGuire's Deli. I ate a 24" Trucker sandwich in 28:22 to enter the 24" Club with the second-best time. Rich LeFevre is #1 with a time just over 20 minutes. It was lots of fun, and the sandwich was delicious.

Later today I am eating the Big Badass Burrito at the Sahara. The burrito is 2 feet long and it weighs over 6 pounds. Adam Richman on Man v Food tried it...and failed. That should be fun.

Tomorrow: an 11 one-half pound patty burger with bacon, cheese and ghost peppers at LBS.

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more immediate updates.

Ready.. Set..

Wednesday morning we go to Las Vegas. Over the past few days I've reviewed the three eating challenges I'll be attempting when we are there. 3 challenges in 3 days.

I think I'll get it started by doing the 24" sandwich challenge at Johnny McGuire's Deli. The next day will be the Big Badass Burrito at the Nascar Cafe in the Sahara. A day later you will find me at LBS taking the challenge to eat the Undertaker Burger.

I have not decided on the sub. I believe you can choose any of their sandwiches. They're just bigger than normal. Take a look at their menu and feel free to share your thinking about which one I should eat.

Getting Ready

Above is a photo of the two large cheesesteaks from Taste of Philly that I ate in preparation for an eating challenge I'll be doing in Las Vegas next week.

The challenge in Vegas is at Johnny McGuire's Deli. I'll have 40 minutes to eat a 24-inch sub. I can choose the sub. If I do not finish, I pay TWICE the normal cost, so $50.

At Taste of Philly I ordered two large Hoagie Philly sandwiches. Each one is 12". And 2 X 12" equals 24". The sandwiches were packed with chopped steak, onions, lettuce, and tomato. Melted provlone cheese. And that awesome Amoroso bread.

I wasn't going all out, but at a good clip. The timer was 4:15 after the 1st one cleared, 9:45 after the 2nd sandwich, and 10:30 after I cleaned up the droppings on the plate. Not too shabby!

Vegas #3

That is challenge #3 I am doing when we're in Las Vegas. Here's another view:




LBS: A Burger Joint is in the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa. And these photos are not the challenge. Kind of, but not. This is the Extreme Burger which is: six half-pound patties loaded with American cheese, smoked bacon, a Portobello mushroom, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, LBS Burger sauce, spicy mustard, herb mayo, "ghost" peppers (the hottest chili in the world, as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records) and a pound of fries.

But that was their Extreme Burger. This was the challenge when nobody had defeated it. But competitive eater Ron Koch finished it in late October. He got to rename the burger, and the management (who didn't think anyone could do the Extreme) decided to add five (yes, FIVE) more 1/2-pound patties and another pound or two of fries! Jesus!

So now the challenge is the Undertaker Burger. Ron's nickname. Eleven 1/2-pound patties. Again, ELEVEN 1/2-pound patties. And all the other stuff. Yikes.

Vegas #2

This is a picture of a guy eating a 24" sub sandwich at Johnny McGuire's deli in Las Vegas. That's not me in the photo, but it will be me next week when we're in Las Vegas. I'm doing 3 food challenges in 3 days.

Yesterday you met challenge #1. Here's #2. I don't know that much about the challenge, but I do know that the eater can choose to eat any Johnny McGuire's sub. Any way they want it. They have 40 minutes to eat it to enter the 24" Club. You get your name on a plaque and a good meal. If you don't finish, you PAY DOUBLE. That's their Vegas twist.

Their menu of subs looks incredible. I am leaning toward getting the Marley (no mayo) or the 220-B (again, no mayo). Or some other hot sub. Meh about the cold subs.

Tomorrow, challenge #3.

Vegas #1

You are looking at a photo of the Big Badass Burrito which is a challenge at the Nascar Cafe in the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.

We're going to Vegas next week and this burrito is one of three challenges there that I am attempting. Three challenges in three straight days.

Back to the burrito. It is 2 feet long. Over 6 pounds. Four tortillas. Lettuce. Rice. Beans. Cheese. Jalapenos. Shredded beef. Nacho cheese sauce. It is topped with sauce, more nacho cheese, tomatoes, olives, and big scoops of sour cream and guacamole.

Those taking on the burrito have an hour and a half to finish. Finishers get a t-shirt, their photo on the wall of fame, and the burrito is free. Those who do not finish get a stomach ache and a pink "weenie" t-shirt. And their photo goes on the wall of shame.

Hundreds have tried, and you can count the finishers on one hand. Even Adam Richman on Travel Channel's "Man v. Food" couldn't do it. If that means anything.

Tomorrow, meet my Vegas challenge #2.

Jack-N-Grill

Jimmy Mares and I meet up at the new Jack-N-Grill for some burrito eating. We took on the huge breakfast burrito not too long ago at the end of July.

Jimmy had to get permission before eating something. I didn't. I'm 38. If I want to eat, I am going to eat. I can understand how eating organizations may not want "their" eaters participating in non-sanctioned contests, but having to get permission to be allowed to eat something at a restaurant is just stupid. IFOCE not allowing challenges? Stupid. WLOCE not allowing challenges? WLOCE?!? Gimme a break!

To remind you, the burrito is: 15 potatoes, 12 eggs, some diced ham, green chile, cheese, 18" tortilla, smothered in green chile, red chile, and covered with more cheese. Jimmy replaces his ham with BACON. So do I.

His Mom and sister ordered one to share. They had leftovers.

As usual, my starting weight:


Talking before the eating:


This dude ordered a double hamburger topped with a SLAB OF HAM and a HOTDOG:


This is the guy who ordered the hamburger:


Jimmy before starting

And here I am:
My burrito was served on a smaller plate. I wasn't very happy about it because the extra room is needed because the burrito is so temperature hot & steamy. It is nice to be able to open up the tortilla to let out steam.

Powering through it

Jimmy got red & green chile

I got the green chile

He's fast

Really fast

Jimmy finishes in 13:51.

13:51?!?

C'mon.

Keep going

Last bites

Success!

23:34. Not too bad!

We both crushed our previous bests! My previous best was about 45 minutes. Jimmy's was just over 30 minutes. Main reason: the potatoes in the burrito. At the other location where we have eaten the burrito the potatoes are huge chunks. Here the potatoes are strips kind of like french fries (but not fried). That and the substitution of bacon for ham. The ham before was tiny bits. The bacon was in sizes like it was crumpled. When does bacon not kick ass?

Ending weight. As last time eating the burrito, I had to pee a bunch before the eating began so my starting weight was lower than pictured before.

I mainly went in to this as the next-to-last warmup for a few challenges in Las Vegas. In my prior challenges before this one, my focus was a problem. Not here. There were a few times that I momentarily lost focus on me and the food. But I got it back, was pleased, and it all went pretty well.

I took 3 challenges in my gear up for Vegas. Record in those: 2-1. Let's do this.

Video of the burrito eating at Jack-N-Grill soon.

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.