Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Hitch man is feeling a bit under the weather and moping around a bit. While Ted admits he likes this calmer version of the pooch, he also says it's too bad that the guy's a bit sick. Anal glands... we think they're the problem. We'll know for sure tomorrow, as Hitcher and I have a vet appointment in the afternoon, but the internet seems to think he needs those pesky (and smelly!) glands expressed. Too much information, I know.
Instead of racing last weekend, we filled our time with a visit to the new wine bar in Moscow, homemade ice cream, burritos for dinner, and of course a couple bike rides. It was the first weekend at home in about 6 weeks, and I almost didn't know what to do with myself. During the summer, I get so used to leaving every weekend that it is strange when I am actually home. We'll actually be home next weekend too, though that will be followed up by a full week in Hood River.
Mom and Dad are the official owners of their new house, so they are very busy with planning their move next month. After two years of looking for a house, they finally found one that would work, and jumped on it before it was too late. They've never been very fond of the house they're in now, so they're very happy to have found a house with the things they want... a nice, roomy kitchen, open floorplan, small yard, and a deck with a fantastic view. Of course there will eventually have to be a big housewarming party with lots of wine, food, and people (not necessarily in that order).
Anyone have any tips for how to keep dogs out of kitty litter boxes? We have two boxes, one lidded and one unlidded, but that is necessary because Shamus is particular about his box. We can't put a cat door in since we are renting this place, and can't shut the door because the cats need to get to the box. Do they make baby gates with built-in cat doors?
Going to really start advertising locally for the business here soon. Hopefully it works!
Instead of racing last weekend, we filled our time with a visit to the new wine bar in Moscow, homemade ice cream, burritos for dinner, and of course a couple bike rides. It was the first weekend at home in about 6 weeks, and I almost didn't know what to do with myself. During the summer, I get so used to leaving every weekend that it is strange when I am actually home. We'll actually be home next weekend too, though that will be followed up by a full week in Hood River.
Mom and Dad are the official owners of their new house, so they are very busy with planning their move next month. After two years of looking for a house, they finally found one that would work, and jumped on it before it was too late. They've never been very fond of the house they're in now, so they're very happy to have found a house with the things they want... a nice, roomy kitchen, open floorplan, small yard, and a deck with a fantastic view. Of course there will eventually have to be a big housewarming party with lots of wine, food, and people (not necessarily in that order).
Anyone have any tips for how to keep dogs out of kitty litter boxes? We have two boxes, one lidded and one unlidded, but that is necessary because Shamus is particular about his box. We can't put a cat door in since we are renting this place, and can't shut the door because the cats need to get to the box. Do they make baby gates with built-in cat doors?
Going to really start advertising locally for the business here soon. Hopefully it works!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Wenatchee recap
The racing in Wenatchee was good for me. I felt the best I've felt on the bike this year, so that was very encouraging. With all the forced time off I've had this year, it's exciting to finally be coming around.
Boy, was it a windy weekend. I think most peoples' time trial times were about 1.5 minutes slower than in years past. It was just a horrible headwind on the way back, making you feel like you were crawling home. I had my best time trial of the year, coming in first. Unfortunately, Tricia Bailey missed her start time by a large margin, so I don't feel that I can honestly say I beat everyone - you cannot ever count Tricia out. Still, it was a good TT for me, in any case.
I did not manage to get a single point in the crit, so it was tough going into the road race. One woman was in first place with 17 points, while 3 of us were tied for 2nd with 15, leaving the road race to decide the overall placings. This road race is totally centered around its 10+ mile climb, as the fields shatter every year on the climb. Sure enough, as soon as we started going up, some of the women started pushing it hard. I hung with them for a while, but realized quickly that I would not be able to maintain their pace on such a long climb. I backed off and watched a group of about 10 leave me behind. I thought to myself, "Well, the points are all up the road. Hopefully I can pick off at least a couple people before the top."
I was shocked when I began passing woman after woman. I got in my rhythm and just kept it steady. I caught the two leaders right at the top of the climb, and then we started the long descent. I started out leading, and turned around to see that I had a gap over the other women, so I just decided to attempt to increase my lead. I time trialed down the descent (very windy!) and was told I had over a minute when I reached the bottom. Thankfully, it was a fast tailwind for the last section to the finish, so I was able to fend off the chasers and take the win. I truly thought I had lost the overall after the crit, and then surely when I backed off on the climb. Who knew?
A friend of Ted's is kindly helping me to design my company logo, so I am very excited about that. He works for a major company in Chicago that works on designs for major national companies, and here he is helping out little ol' me. This part should be fun!
Boy, was it a windy weekend. I think most peoples' time trial times were about 1.5 minutes slower than in years past. It was just a horrible headwind on the way back, making you feel like you were crawling home. I had my best time trial of the year, coming in first. Unfortunately, Tricia Bailey missed her start time by a large margin, so I don't feel that I can honestly say I beat everyone - you cannot ever count Tricia out. Still, it was a good TT for me, in any case.
I did not manage to get a single point in the crit, so it was tough going into the road race. One woman was in first place with 17 points, while 3 of us were tied for 2nd with 15, leaving the road race to decide the overall placings. This road race is totally centered around its 10+ mile climb, as the fields shatter every year on the climb. Sure enough, as soon as we started going up, some of the women started pushing it hard. I hung with them for a while, but realized quickly that I would not be able to maintain their pace on such a long climb. I backed off and watched a group of about 10 leave me behind. I thought to myself, "Well, the points are all up the road. Hopefully I can pick off at least a couple people before the top."
I was shocked when I began passing woman after woman. I got in my rhythm and just kept it steady. I caught the two leaders right at the top of the climb, and then we started the long descent. I started out leading, and turned around to see that I had a gap over the other women, so I just decided to attempt to increase my lead. I time trialed down the descent (very windy!) and was told I had over a minute when I reached the bottom. Thankfully, it was a fast tailwind for the last section to the finish, so I was able to fend off the chasers and take the win. I truly thought I had lost the overall after the crit, and then surely when I backed off on the climb. Who knew?
A friend of Ted's is kindly helping me to design my company logo, so I am very excited about that. He works for a major company in Chicago that works on designs for major national companies, and here he is helping out little ol' me. This part should be fun!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
It seems like turnouts for some NW races are going to be a bit down this season. Not sure why really. The start lists are up for this weekend's omnium in Wenatchee and the fields all seem smaller than in years past. Since there really is no other northwest racing going on, all I can figure is that people aren't up to driving 2 1/2 hours to Wenatchee from the west side of the state. Most teams in the women's field only have one or two people so far, so that's really too bad. Cheers to my teammates for all coming over, as we have 8 already registered for the 1-3 women's race.
The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic also appears to have decreased registration so far, especially in regards to northwest racers. It's a great race, so I really hope more people opt to do it. Yes, I know I don't yet show up in the registration (I put mine in the mail several days ago), so I'm hoping there are many others whose registrations simply have not yet been received.
I walked Hitcher up to campus a few days ago because some more of Ted's co-workers wanted to meet him. Plus, more walking = more peace for me when we get home! It was a warm day - the hottest one we've had here yet, and all Hitcher wanted to do was lie down on the grass when we reached our destination. That was, until he met a friendly (and much larger!) Labradoodle to play with.
Next up, Ted and I walked Hitcher over to Ferdinand's (http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/ferdinands/ferdfront.htm) to pick up some cheese. If you have not tried Cougar Gold cheese, it is absolutely wonderful. Consider ordering some, as it is definitely worth it. Ted bought a scoop of vanilla for Hitcher, and Hitch loved it. The problem was, Hitcher seemed set on taking a nap then and there. Soon after we left Ted to walk home, Hitcher laid down on the grass and refused to get up. I tried everything to get him up, including pulling, pushing, lifting, and waving cheese in front of his nose (too bad it was vacuum-sealed, or that one probably would have worked). I seriously could not get him to budge and was not sure what I was going to do. Right about then, a man came over and asked if we were okay; apparently, this man had seen us and thought Hitcher had maybe been hit by a car since he was lying so still on the grass. I had to explain to him that I simply had a stubborn pup and could not make him move. A little embarrasing. Thankfully, Hitcher jumped up to greet the guy when he came over, so that got him on his feet... and I did not let him even think about lying down until we reached home!
The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic also appears to have decreased registration so far, especially in regards to northwest racers. It's a great race, so I really hope more people opt to do it. Yes, I know I don't yet show up in the registration (I put mine in the mail several days ago), so I'm hoping there are many others whose registrations simply have not yet been received.
I walked Hitcher up to campus a few days ago because some more of Ted's co-workers wanted to meet him. Plus, more walking = more peace for me when we get home! It was a warm day - the hottest one we've had here yet, and all Hitcher wanted to do was lie down on the grass when we reached our destination. That was, until he met a friendly (and much larger!) Labradoodle to play with.
Next up, Ted and I walked Hitcher over to Ferdinand's (http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/ferdinands/ferdfront.htm) to pick up some cheese. If you have not tried Cougar Gold cheese, it is absolutely wonderful. Consider ordering some, as it is definitely worth it. Ted bought a scoop of vanilla for Hitcher, and Hitch loved it. The problem was, Hitcher seemed set on taking a nap then and there. Soon after we left Ted to walk home, Hitcher laid down on the grass and refused to get up. I tried everything to get him up, including pulling, pushing, lifting, and waving cheese in front of his nose (too bad it was vacuum-sealed, or that one probably would have worked). I seriously could not get him to budge and was not sure what I was going to do. Right about then, a man came over and asked if we were okay; apparently, this man had seen us and thought Hitcher had maybe been hit by a car since he was lying so still on the grass. I had to explain to him that I simply had a stubborn pup and could not make him move. A little embarrasing. Thankfully, Hitcher jumped up to greet the guy when he came over, so that got him on his feet... and I did not let him even think about lying down until we reached home!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
No photos yet from Memphis, as they're all on Rusty's computer, but hopefully I'll have some eventually. We saw most of the Memphis standards - Graceland, Beale Street, the ducks at the Peabody, barbecue, etc. We packed a lot into our time there and had a lot of fun.
Since we got back, I had my first cook date for a client and we did the state road race championship on Sunday. It wasn't a great day for me, but I'm fine with that. I put in a bit of a tough week last week since I took so much time off for Memphis, so I was pretty much expecting to be tired. Sure enough...
This weekend we'll be in Wenatchee. It'll probably be too hot for Hitcher to come along, so he'll be staying back in Pullman. He and I went to the dog park yesterday, which was really amusing. I had not been to a dog park before and it was fun to watch the dogs interact. At one point, there were 7 dogs all playing together and Hitcher loved it. The dogs ranged from a 2 1/2 month-old Bloodhound puppy to a huge black furball... and Hitcher loved every one of 'em.
Since we got back, I had my first cook date for a client and we did the state road race championship on Sunday. It wasn't a great day for me, but I'm fine with that. I put in a bit of a tough week last week since I took so much time off for Memphis, so I was pretty much expecting to be tired. Sure enough...
This weekend we'll be in Wenatchee. It'll probably be too hot for Hitcher to come along, so he'll be staying back in Pullman. He and I went to the dog park yesterday, which was really amusing. I had not been to a dog park before and it was fun to watch the dogs interact. At one point, there were 7 dogs all playing together and Hitcher loved it. The dogs ranged from a 2 1/2 month-old Bloodhound puppy to a huge black furball... and Hitcher loved every one of 'em.
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