Freefall dizzying for viewers as well

Being a motorhead, this is what I find most amusing about Felix Baumgart-ner's record skydive over the weekend.

The current world land speed record is 763 mph, set in 1997.

The speed of sound is 768 mph.

And Baumgartner, according to details released by his Red Bull team, hit a top freefall speed of 833.9 mph, or Mach 1.24.

Are you kidding me!

I consider myself basically fearless — except for heights and snakes and fire — and I love to go fast, but what Baumgartner did is absolutely insane.

He jumped from 24 miles above the Earth, which makes my hands sweat just typing that fact. I want to know how he kept his bearings, what he did for navigation, how he managed to land where he took off from, Roswell, N.M., considering crosswinds and all that stuff you can't anticipate.

As for me, I'm happy if I can get down off my 8-foot stepladder without getting dizzy.