The new meaning of "EPIC"

I officiated today at the Virginia cyclocross champs at Darden Towe... great course, great promoter and finally, real little Belgian kind of weather. You know what I'm talking about, 30 something degrees, snow on top of slop, and a course the consistency of baby bad stuff.

Yeah, epic.

Good thing for me that I've replenished my truck after J hijacked it and cleaned it out. I had on tights, chinos, 3 shirts, a hat, a heavy jacket, gloves, wool socks and rubber rain boots. I still froze. Next time I'm putting those battery operated hunter's socks in the bike kit bag. I might as well have left the gloves at home as I couldn't write and wear them at the same time.

If there was ever a course where bike handling played a tremendous role, it was this one. If you could ride smoothly on slop, you had a great day. If you couldn't, you didn't. If you had a pit bike... you had a huge advantage. If you didn't you carried 10 lbs of ice, mud and "stuff" jammed into your brakes, deraileurs etc... There were some very talented riders out there that had a field day, and many who suffered big time. I salute you all. Just showing up on the line took a level of commitment that most racers didn't have.

First thing I did when I left the course was jack up the heat... then I stopped at the Everyday Cafe and ran my hands under hot water for a few minutes, then got a huge hot chocolate. Bet you most people did something similar. I may never be warm again.

And Glenda Craddock... you rock. You were so awsome out there and I was very, very proud of you. No way I could have kept up with you in the slop today. Gold star, girl. Big gold star.

Adventures with Karen & Gina, or why I will never stay at Motel 6 again...

Ok, I don't need much in a hotel. It has to be clean. It has to be safe. It can't have bugs. Just like with bike equipment pick 2 out of 3. Clean and safe, Safe and Bug free, etc...

Gina is my dog George's handler. We went on a typical Karen adventure to the Brittany Nationals in Ft Smith, Arkansas... yeah, on the Oklahoma border. Gina got to my house at 9:30 pm, and we drove straight thru, taking turns sleeping and walking dogs.

Thursday at 4 pm we arrived. Beat. We set up our equipment at the dog show site and headed to Cracker Barrel for a kick ass $8.99 turkey day dinner. Turkey, ham, veggies, stuffing, a drink and PIE! I may never cook again.

And then things got bad. Saturday night, after showing all day, we got back to Motel 6 about 1o pm. There were motocross racers in the parking lot getting a bit too wild. Two single women, 9 dogs, and a bunch of very drunk, and drugged up guys... It was not good. Then really not good.

At 10:30 they started beating on the van to make the dogs bark. Gina went out to see what was going on and one of the drunk slobs yelled at her..."What are you looking at, bitch!" They then told us that they could drink in public, they could do whatever they wanted and that I could get my liberal friends out and they'd shoot them...

So we called the front desk. The guys were not just harassing us, scaring the dogs, but also breaking glass everywhere... front desk said that they'd send a security guard...

Ten minutes later... no security guard so I called again. Finally an elderly man came, and when the guys told him that they didnt have to go in their rooms and that they'd get out a gun and start shooting people, he told us that we all should get along. Then he left. Fast.

So being dumb, I called the front desk again, and asked them to call the police. They told me they would. Not. Yeah, not.

So we sat up all night... afraid to pack up to leave as we would have to exit thru the very drugged up people. And the hotel did NOTHING to protect us.

At 5 am I went to the front desk to file a formal complaint. The receptionist looked at me like I was stupid. I guess that kind of behaviour is to be expected at Motel 6. We had planned on staying one more night before heading home, but I drove past Memphis, and got a little no-tell motel somewhere between Memphis and Knoxville.... it was quiet, it was clean, and no bugs.

Me, I'm never staying at Motel 6 again. They don't give a rats ass about their guests.

But George... made it to the very last cut at the Nationals... so close. I was so proud of him and Gina. The motel may have sucked... but Gina and George rocked the house.

Everyday is precious

Every once in awhile something happens to make you do a reassessment. On Saturday, my Bobdog started limping and couldn't put his left hind foot down. Sunday, it was worse. It wasn't broken, and I was convinced he had torn his ACL.

Ok, ACL surgery in a dog is about $2500... you suck it up for your buds.

So I asked Cliff to take him to the vets for me as I am swamped at work.

ACL? Heck no. The vet called me and asked me about Bob's prior surgery on that left leg. No clue. Bob was a rescue dog, and many of you have been charmed by Bobtricks during the cool weather races. Pins and plates? That was a new one for me....

Of course, that wasn't the problem. Seems that Bob has been over using his left leg to compensate for the problem in his right leg. And the over use irritated those pins and plates in the left leg. What was wrong in the right leg... yeah, the BIG C. No, the really big C. As in Bone Cancer. Bone Cancer as in if you can you amputate the limb for pain control, not a cure. Bone Cancer as in 2 months maybe before the pain gets so bad...

So now I'm working on pain management schedules. The idea of a life without Bobwaddle... Bob running thru every trick in the repertoire until he gets the one that gets the treat... Bob that makes everyone smile...

Yeah, pain management. Every day is precious.

Why yes I can find that date...

It's funny the little uses a blog has. Here is my latest use for a blog... a way to track when dogs try to bite me! No kidding!

I went out on the bike. Its friggin' beautiful outside, and about 70+ degrees. Amazing. I was having a great time, doing my usual winter alone ride.

And then...

See over a year ago I was repeatedly getting chased by this lab/border collie type dog. Then the dog started lying in wait for me, and there were several instances where I had close calls with cars trying hard not to get bit by "Blackie."

One day it got to be too much, and I saw someone up at the house and turned around and rode up the driveway and then used my bike as a matador's cape to keep the dog from biting me. I handle dogs. Don't try this at home.

The owner was obviously well to do and quite openly told me that she KNEW that the dog was going after cyclists. It wasn't until after I explained gross negligence, punitive damages and the like that she took more than a passing interest. All this time said dog was doing its darnedest to bite me.

They promised to keep the dog out of the road. And for about 6 months it worked.

Last April 25th the dog almost got me and I called animal control. How do I know, because I came home and wrote about it in the blog. I just looked up the date to give to animal control this time. Seems they have a new computer system, and wouldn't have the logs from the spring.

This info will at least help them determine if the officer who went out in the spring did his job and gave the owners a warning, if he did, they can file criminal charges against the owners. If he didn't... they have to give the owners a warning and then the NEXT time they can file criminal charges. What cant they do? They cant have the dog listed as a dangerous dog because so far my sprinting skills have saved me from actually getting bit.

I'd just as soon not get bit, thank you.

So just a word to the wise... if you are on Hanover Rd, just down from Pinhook in Goochland on the great bike way... watch out for "Blackie" at Windy Hill. But if you do get bit...

Sleepy Saturdays

The great thing for today was getting a disc of photos in the mail. Thats George winning the first of two groups last week. Damn, he looks good. Photos are fun.

Me, I got on the bike and about a mile into the ride, it started to rain. I thought about going back, but then decided that it was a warm rain, and I needed the ride. It ended up being a great ride, all the way up until I flatted with 2 miles to go.

I thought about just walking home, but the other thing about the ride was that I saw a tremendous amount of snakes out for their final hurrah of the year. Snakes, including water moccasins. Since the roads out here are too narrow to walk on, and I'd have to walk in the grass. Not happening with all snakes, so I called for the sag wagon.

The rest of the day... will be spent cleaning the bike. And maybe a nap!

Meet the new foster kid... Casey

Say hey to Casey, just a little tacker, at 4 months old. His owners were very nice people, who like a lot of people, didn't do research before buying a puppy. Brittany puppies are ACTIVE. As a hunting breed that is bred to cover large swaths of land to find birds, you really can't expect to have the just lay on the couch and be invisible.

Ok, you can expect it, but it ain't gonna happen.


I met his family in Fredericksburg, and soon we were off down the road. This puppy rings a bell to go outside. No kidding. At four months. The whole time we were talking, he sat in my lap very quietly. Hyper? Not on your life.

So Casey will be living at Camp Runamuck for the next few weeks until I find him the right home. I'll be getting him neutered, and I'm sure that my dogs will be teaching him all kinds of bad behaviors in no short order.

These two guys are Tom and Jerry... two Brittany brothers that were dumped in Atlanta. Brittany Rescue has a huge network, and a boarding kennel owner is fostering them right now. She says that they are two of the nicest Brittanys she's ever seen. Small, HAPPY, and just damn glad to be with you.

Got a lot of love in your heart? How about adopting Tom and Jerry together. They're like Double Mint Gum... double the pleasure, double the fun.

And sometimes you just go splat...

Today Cliff and I rode up to DC to do the Women Have a Heart 5 mile tt in DC. Yeah, we were wait listed, but guaranteed to ride. Maybe. Kinda sorta. Not. After having to dog jog all over DC to get to the Verizon Center, we finally made it only to be told that we would not be able to ride. And then, maybe we could ride. I was afraid of this. After driving 2.5 hours to get there, I didn't want to just go home though.

Plus I had already given the parking garage guys a show. Hey, you drive 2.5 hours, with the rest stops closed... Cliff kept telling me that it was fine, fine, then HURRY UP! When you gotta pee, you gotta pee. Sorry, that's the way it is.

So we went out and rode with the family ride on completely closed streets (completely closed except for people walking blind...) How cool is it to ride in your nation's capitol, in front of the capitol!! Seriously cool.

And then they let me ride. But Cliff couldn't ride. Ok, just one more nail in the coffin.

And then I looked at the wonderful start house that was built for this event... and thought, oh, this will be bad. Guaranteed someone is going to crash off that puppy. High, with a steep and narrow ramp. Oh, yeah. Someone is going down.

Poor guy in front of me... I was watching him in the house and he was kinda sorta really sideways as he was being held. I knew it was going to happen... and it did. He went off, somersaulted and did a facer. Oh, you know that hurt.

And then it was my turn. And yep, I went off, went off... tried to save it, but knew it was a lost cause, and somersaulted and managed to do a good tuck and roll. I understand from the spectators that it was a gnarly thing to watch. Film at 11...

Wouldn't you know, that my handlebars were bent down, and I couldn't jerk them up, so the officials said that they would give me a re-start. Then I was told that I couldn't re-start, and then I was told that I could. This as the paramedics were trying to convince me to go to the hospital.

So I did restart. From the ground. And I didn't use a holder. It was an awsome thing to ride a tt in downtown DC.

So Mimi, you are not the only one to cartwheel off a start house. I now have joined your illustrious company. And now I get to go see if I can get some of the grime off in the tub. If you are hearing a terrible shrieking noise... its probably me.

Cool event, but I now remember that I completely hate DC. Traffic is bad, scenery is great, and I always find a way to go boom.