Allison's Blog

Shamus

2011-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

I was born into a family with pets. Growing up, we had horses, snakes, dogs, birds, rabbits, rats, fish, sheep, a tarantula, hermit crabs, and cats. I was always fondest of the dogs, horses, and cats. Living in Wyoming, we had a barn cat named Brownie-Bluey (I just realized that I have no idea how to spell her name) who was technically Rusty's. I was allowed to pick out a kitten to become our second barn cat, and I chose a kitten I named Blueberry (what was with the Beall kids and color-related names?). Our cats couldn't live in the house because Dad was allergic, so Blueberry's future with our family was uncertain when neighborhood cats were stealing her food. As a last resort, Dad said we could try having Blueberry in the house, but if his allergies were too severe, she would have to leave. It turned out that Dad's allergies weren't overly severe, and Blueberry became our indoor-outdoor cat. She was just a young thing when she got "knocked up" by some Tom cat in the neighborhood, and suddenly we had a litter of kittens, of which Rusty and I were each allowed to keep one. Our parents were nuts! Rusty named his gray kitten Rascal, and I named my black and gray kitten Bubbles. The kittens were lots of fun, chasing each other all around the house, until a sad day when they climbed some speakers. The speakers fell and Bubbles was crushed, leaving her with severe brain damage. From there on out, Rusty and I shared Rascal.

Our cats were always really nice, but they spent the majority of their time outdoors and had typical aloof, independent cat tendencies. Blueberry, in particular, was an excellent hunter, frequently showing up at the back door with some sort of "gift" for the family. Dad gratefully accepted her offer one day, and we had a dinner of fresh-caught pheasant that evening.

Though I had always loved cats, I really had no idea just how vibrant, social, and loving they could be... until I met a cat named Shamus.

When I moved in with Ted, Shamus had been his cat for over 10 years. Shamus welcomed me immediately, and greeted me at the door every day when I came home. I was shocked at his dog-like personality! He loved people and would seek attention from anyone who came to the apartment, trotting to them with a friendly meow. Every cat I had known previously would shy away from any stranger, but not Shamus. To him, the more people he had around, the happier he was. At a party we had once, he was on the food table attempting to get attention. At night time, he would straddle Ted's leg while we watched TV, and he would go to bed with us at night, lying on one of our chests.

Shamus thought my curly hair was awesome, especially during the middle of the night. He would paw, chew, and pull on it until I would cover my head with the covers. At that point, he would move to Ted, very gently pawing Ted's face until he was awake. He was too sweet to be too upset with. Afterall, he only wanted attention from his people.

Water was the greatest thing to Shamus, and he preferred to do his drinking from the bathroom faucet. This habit had begun early on when Ted had him at an apartment with a leaky faucet. He would sleep in the sink until one of us would walk by, jumping up quickly and meowing to ask us to kindly turn the faucet to a drip, and we would always oblige. Water glasses were not safe from Shamus, as he would knock them over at any opportunity.

Ted warned me early on that I needed to keep the bedroom door shut, and a long piece of plywood had to be placed on the living room sofa when I left the house. See, Shamus had a bit of a pooping problem. He would poop on the furniture when no one was home. It had been quite some time since Ted had even attempted leaving the door open or the sofa uncovered, so I decided it was time for Shamus to be given a fair chance. I petted his little head when I left, telling him I knew I could count on him. I arrived home to a poop-stained mattress. Gradually, though, Shamus did stop pooping on furniture. He was still quite particular about having a clean litter box, and would poop right next to the box if it was not up to his standards, but who could blame him? Everyone likes a clean bowl.

In 2005, we decided to get a kitten. I picked out a calico and named her Pazza. We were concerned about how an old cat like Shamus would accept a brand new kitten, but we were hopeful that things would work out okay for everyone. Ted drove over 8 hours to pick up Pazza, arriving home with a tiny, fluffy, ball of fur. As always, Shamus was there to greet Ted when he came in the door. Ted placed Pazza in the middle of the floor and she immediately ran to Shamus, playfully. Shamus took one look at her, hissed, and flew up the stairs. This was not what we had hoped for. We tried to comfort Shamus, but he wanted nothing to do with us or the kitten. He would not let us pet him, or even get close to him, and he refused to eat. Ted and I were both concerned and wondered how this was going to work.

After a few days, Shamus gradually began to warm up to Pazza, and they eventually began playing. Soon, he had adopted her as his little buddy, and they were curling up on the sofa together. We missed some of the old behaviors of Shamus, but it became obvious that the kitten was going to be good for him in many ways. It did not take long for Shamus and Pazza to be best friends, which is testament to what an amazing cat Shamus was. How many 12 year old cats welcome, and become best friends with, a kitten in a matter of days? Watching them play and wrestle was amazing, and Pazza was definitely keeping Shamus young.

In 2006, a test was thrown at Shamus and Pazza when we adopted Hitcher, the Coonhound. Once again, we were unsure how the cats would react to a new animal, and especially a dog. Both cats were unsure, but reacted pretty well to us. Being a Coonhound, Hitcher's instinct was to chase the kitties, but Ted quickly broke him of that, tackling him to the floor. As Hitcher realized he could not chase the cats, Shamus became more and more brave and began standing his ground. While Pazza would still flee at the slightest sound or sight of dog, Shamus did not run, letting Hitcher check him out. It became clear that Hitcher desired to cuddle with Shamus on the sofa, but Shamus would leave whenever Hitcher would join him. One day, some animal understanding was reached and we found Shamus and Hitcher sleeping next to each other on the sofa. It was awesome. To see the old cat trusting the boisterous dog who had "hunted" him was amazing. To this day, Pazza still does not trust Hitcher, but Shamus trusted him in a matter of months.

Shamus began getting obviously older in his last few years, but he kept ticking despite some health scares. He never lost his personality, his grace, or his joy for life, which is more than can be said for many people. I doubt I will ever know a cat as regal, laid-back, friendly, and personable as Shamus was. If I have that blessing again, I will be very lucky. He loved plastic bags, water from faucets, shoes, to play fetch, Pazza, cold floors, sips of beer, people, and, I'd like to think, Hitcher. Most of all he loved Ted.

November

2010-11-28T19:21:00.000-08:00

My blooming tea from Phil and Ellie

Hound dogs will sleep anywhere

November has been a busy month, and I'm kind of glad it's nearly over! The first half of the month was filled with stress, as I worked to finish up with my grad school duties. I defended my thesis November 16th, which was traumatic for me, given my severe dislike of public speaking. November 16th was also the two year anniversary of my dear cousin Jimmy's passing, so it was nice to end the day with the positive note of finishing up my defense. The evening before my defense, a conference call was made to toast Jimmy and his birthday. Ten relatives in different areas got together over the phone for a shot of Rumple Minze. My brother and I did the same thing last year, but it was better with a larger party!

A week ago our refrigerator began having issues, so Ted ran out Saturday morning to "get some ice" for food. I was talking to Rusty on the phone when Ted pulled up in the driveway. Imagine my surprise when Rusty walked into the kitchen! He and Ted set up a surprise visit. The three of us took part in Spokane's Holiday Wine Fest, tasting wine from 9 (of 17) Spokane wineries. Some favorite wines were Townshend's Tempranillo and Emvy's Devotion.

Ted and I hosted Thanksgiving for both sets of parents and Ted's aunt and uncle. We had lots of food, including what I would call an "ugly pie" and Ted would call a "dry turkey," but I don't think anyone left hungry.

In our attempts to embrace Winter, we went XC skiing from the house the past two days. Yes, we have lots of snow... and more is on the way. The skiing is fun, but I'm secretly ready for summer.

Cyclocross

2010-10-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ted and I are both officially healthy enough to race cyclocross, which is amazing given that neither of us thought we would be doing any cyclocross in 2010. We may not be super fit or fast right now, but we are happy to be physically able to at least participate! My back feels pretty good after today's race, which was bumpy and had a long climb, so I am highly encouraged that I can start to really train for racing in 2011. I feel better today than I did after any CX race in the last couple years. Yay!

2010-10-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

The last week in Spokane has been gorgeous - temps in the 80s and sun! We got out for a hard group ride this morning, which I followed up with a nap in my sunny hammock. My thesis is still not complete, so I am working on it each weekend, and as much as possible during the week. I started a new job two weeks ago at Commercial Creamery, so my thesis work time is restricted during the week.

Ted and I are both healing pretty well and back to riding regularly. I started PT several weeks ago and it has really been helping. Basically, the muscles on the left side of my back have not been efficiently recruited in quite some time, so they are very weak in comparison to the right side. My exercises are helping with these recruitment issues. For the first 2 weeks after starting PT, the left side of my back would fatigue within 30 minutes of starting to ride, almost to the point of cramping. That has significantly decreased in the last week or 2. I almost feel like I'll be able to train like everyone else this time around! Yay!

Yellowstone

2010-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ted and I drove to Yellowstone for Labor Day weekend, meeting Rusty and Deborah for a weekend of camping. The park was beautiful, and we saw lots of wildlife - elk, a bald eagle, river otters, deer, chipmunks, herds of bison, coyotes,and a black bear. Perhaps most prevalent was the breed of human known as "those to whom the rules do not apply." We could not believe how many people we saw who freely walked off of the boardwalks, ignoring the signs, and stupidly approaching wildlife. One woman tried to justify her proximity to the geysers by saying she was "only posing for a photo." Here are a few of my photos - very hard to choose which ones to post!

Fence

2010-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

The fence is officially complete now, including the gate across the driveway. I think Hitcher, for one, is definitely happy after 2 months of leashed outside play.

Summer

2010-08-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

We are having a fence put in to enclose the backyard. Here are two shots with just the posts up. It works out well because our neighbor also wanted to fence her yard, so we are sharing the cost of the common fence portion.

They came Friday and completed all of the fence, except for the gate that will go across the driveway.

Ted has been racing a little bit in the past month, including a couple Spokane weeknight races and a smaller road race on the western side of the state.

I'm back on the bike, having a bit of a breakthrough week last week. Prior to last week, my longest post-surgery ride was 15 miles. But, last week I jumped to 27, and then to 47. And, it feels okay. I have some sore muscles, but I am otherwise not feeling badly... and the left leg pain is completely gone.

I was actually contemplating trying the Spokane Tuesday night race this evening, but a dumb rule insists that you cannot participate in this race if you have not done another race in the series. It makes no sense at all, especially considering that this is a stand-alone race, not contributing to the series points. Call me crazy, but if I were promoting a race, I would want to encourage racers to participate. They call this race "The Best of the Bunch." As Rusty said, "Guess it isn't really Best of the Bunch then, is it? Perhaps it should be called the best of those who have already raced this year."

The Summer is nearly at an end, and I hate to say that it's been a pretty lame one. I have not left the Spokane/Pullman/Lewiston area in over 3 months! Ted and I do have a trip coming up soon. We are driving to Yellowstone to meet up with Rusty and Deborah for a few days of camping. Just thinking about it makes my itchy feet start to tingle.

2010-07-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

We are finally having real summer weather in Spokane, with temperatures in the 90s. Being unable to go outside and enjoy the nice weather on my bike is making me stir crazy. I do still go for short walks around the neighborhood, but otherwise I'm pretty much in the house right now. I need a change of scenery in the worst way! Who wants to take a trip somewhere? Anywhere!

I did start riding my bike last Friday, beginning with 2 miles on the trainer to test it out. I've since worked my way outside, with my longest ride being 7 miles. Later today I'm hoping to do even a bit more. I have to stay flat, as it is not comfortable to get out of the saddle. Otherwise, I really feel pretty good on the bike. The worst thing is actually the small area directly around my incision, as I appear to be allergic to the adhesive that was used to seal my incision with Steri-Strips. I had my strips removed Thursday, and began to have a reaction Friday, which is still continuing. Bike shorts, sweat, and heat really tend to irritate it, making it itch and burn.

Ted leaves tomorrow for a 10-day trip to the Midwest, so this will be a real test for me. I am still not supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds. Let me tell you, a lot of things weigh more than 5 pounds! I was thinking of driving somewhere to ride my bike, but I can't lift my bike to get it out of/into the car! And grocery shopping? The bags are too heavy. Thankfully, Ted's going to stock me up with stuff today before he leaves.

I haven't walked Hitcher since surgery because he is so strong and pulls so much. I did buy one of these harnesses, with hopes that it'll be enough for me to comfortably walk him. The real test will come when he spots a squirrel. We may also start with the shock collar on, so I can buzz him if he really starts to pull on me. The yard is going to be fenced soon, but not until Ted returns from his trip, so I need to at least be able to walk Hitch out to the yard for bathroom breaks. If all else fails, I'll go to Mom and Dad's for a few days, where Hitch can run around the yard as much as he likes.

In the meantime, I'm applying for jobs left and right, but haven't had any nibbles so far. And, there is still that thesis to write... I think the coffee shop up the street will become my office this week.

2010-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

A lovely pre-surgery shot.

I'm finally feeling well enough to sit at the laptop for a little while, so I thought I'd kill some time with a blog post. Mom and Dad came up to Spokane Tuesday night, and took Ted and me out for my last pre-surgery meal at the Downriver Grill. I was called Wednesday morning and told that my surgery had been postponed to 1:30 or 2, which meant that I could not eat or drink anything for most of Wednesday. I found myself looking at the dog's water bowl with envy.

I had an anesthesiologist who looked like the second-coming of Doogie Howser. I remember being wheeled into the OR, which was filled with lots of bright colors (Dad said maybe they gave me mushrooms by mistake), and that was all.

Apparently, I'm a slow "waker-upper" from anesthesia, as it took over 1.5 hours for me to wake up. I remember seeing that my heart rate was 42 and asking what pain medication I was receiving (Dilaudid).

Post-surgery, my left leg pain was immediately gone, but my back was severely hurting. I took hydrocodone for the first day, but I was incredibly queasy, and decided I'd rather have more pain than be unable to eat/drink, so I switched to Tylenol. I was finally able to stomach some snacks Thursday night, which were desperately needed since I was pretty weak.

Little walks have been a critical part of the recovery process. I started with a walk to the neighbor's yard, where I proceeded to dry heave on my knees in front of our nice neighbor and her granddaughters. I have since progressed to 25 minute, very slow walks... with no dry heaving.

Mom and Dad stayed with us until yesterday afternoon, which was a huge help. You can't ask for much better home care than a retired nurse and a retired doctor, especially when they are Mom and Dad. They shopped, cleaned, cooked, got me things, walked with me, helped me with wound care/changing clothes, and watched TV with me. It was great because Ted didn't have to take any more time off from work after losing all of his vacation time with his accident.

I'm desperately bored and may try to spin on the trainer for 1 or 2 miles in the next couple days (the doc said it's okay), but we'll see how I feel. Time to switch positions now - my back is telling me so.

Crisco, Panko, and Raisins

2010-07-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

We are officially moved out of Pullman, as of June 30th, and trying to get things all settled/unpacked in Spokane.

This week was an interesting one for Hitcher. We came home Monday evening to discover that Hitcher had gotten in the garbage. He had also found a dietary supplement, eating 30 to 40 capsules. Off to the emergency vet we went, where they had to induce vomiting. He was a bit groggy that evening, but seemed normal Tuesday morning.

We did ride and had dinner Tuesday evening, and came home to find that Hitcher had again gotten into things. A stick of Crisco and a box of Panko bread crumbs were demolished. Upon closer examination, I saw that there was also an empty bag of Sun Maid raisins. I'm glad I noticed the tiny closure sticker on the bag because the dog had left the raisin box where he found it - in a big bag of kitchen things.

Years ago, my friend Tammie told me that raisins, and sometimes grapes, are toxic to dogs. I called the vet ER and they said we should bring him in again. I asked the vet how concerned I should be. She said it would probably be okay if the raisins had not yet left Hitch's stomach, but it would likely not be good if the raisins had already been digested. Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear. They again induced vomiting (8 cups!) and found the Crisco, Panko, and lots of raisins. Yay! We took the groggy guy home again, and he could barely keep his eyes open in the car. Thankfully, the rest of the week was free of any more episodes.

Hitch is a smart cookie. He has figured out how to get into the new step garbage can without turning it over. He has also discovered that he can open the dishwasher if we do not latch it all the way, so we sometimes find dirty utensils (licked clean!) on the kitchen floor.

I go under the knife Wednesday, so there is a lot to get done before then. I really just want to get the surgery over with now. It's an outpatient procedure, so I'll be able to recover at home. Mom and Dad are coming to stay for a day or two, so Ted shouldn't have to take more than the actual surgery day off from work.

2010-06-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Lots is going on. Ted is walking again, and even went for his first outdoor ride today, so he is making lots of progress. He can't always see the improvements himself, but he truly is getting better daily.

Everything must be out of the Pullman house by the end of June, which gives us one week to get everything out and clean. Simultaneously, I am also in the throws of finishing my research, with two more days of panels to go. These are wine tasting panels, and my final panel will coincide with my final day in Pullman. Very apropos.

Ted's family is coming to visit this week, and mine is coming the following week for the 4th of July. Yes, the 4th will include a toy dog that wears diapers, a miniature Schnauzer with some degree of "little dog syndrome," and a hound doped up on Xanax.

I have made the decision to have back surgery, so I will be going under the knife in a few weeks. After years of dealing with back pain, and months of leg pain, it is time to try a surgical approach. It will mark the end of my 2010 cycling season (aside from some possible cyclocross), but then I can begin to work towards 2011.

June

2010-06-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's weird to think that my time in Pullman is coming to a close. I will surely miss the view of campus from the yard. Ted and I have to be out of our rental house by the end of June, so there is a lot to get done by then.

While I will miss the campus view, I will not be sorry to see these vials go! This is the set-up for one of my wine aroma panels. Each week I have labeled, organized, filled, capped, and washed (not by hand, thank God!) 900 of these suckers, along with conducting the panels. Occasionally I did 1800 of them per week, which was just too much, and really caused my back to ache! Tomorrow I will fill 900 of them for the last time, and Thursday will be my final aroma panel. Yay! Then, I just have to do three days of wine panels with my research wine, which means I will finish all of my research by the end of June.

I raced this past weekend in Hood River. I really wasn't competing, only participating. After getting dropped 8 miles into the first stage, and riding 45 miles solo, I confirmed that I truly had no personal expectations for the race because I truly was okay with it! And, I had a blast in the TT, even though I didn't do very well. I will admit that I considered dropping out of the Saturday road race because my back was not liking the climbing, but I had to finish. I did opt out of Sunday's crit once it was announced that it would not count towards GC. With my herniated disc, Ted's injuries, needing to move by the end of the month, and trying to finish my research ASAP, there was no real reason FOR me to do the rainy crit. Plus, I'm kind of a wuss!

2010-06-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

I had an MRI done of my back today. It confirmed that a protruding disc is causing my problems. At the L5-S1 level, the disc is protruding and compressing the nerve root, which fits with my symptoms of pain on the left side, and down the left leg. The L4-L5 disc is also protruding, though it is not compressing the nerve; this means that it is probably not causing me any symptoms.

My last terrible flare-up was a year ago when I could not walk to the bathroom (in a tiny house!) without assistance. Though I have not been completely incapacitated since then, my back continuously causes me trouble, often preventing me from doing the things I want to do. So, it has reached the point where it is time to see what options exist.

I am heading to Hood River tomorrow to do a four-day stage race. My only goal is to have fun, as I realistically cannot have any expectations for myself without becoming disappointed. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

I used to be kind of fast...

2010-05-16T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'm just back from my first larger race of the year. I had fun simply being on the bike, but my performance was far from satisfying. Ted reminds me that my training is very inferior to what it should be for me to be competitive at a 1/2 level, and I just looked back through my training times (total riding time, including races) in the past few months:

January - 37.5 hours
February - 34 hours
March - 26.5 hours
April - 21 hours
May through the 16th - 21 hours
Sum - NOT MUCH!!!

It's frustrating to be so significantly slower than I was even a few years ago. My back has just been preventing me from training for any significant periods of time. Looking at these hours, I see that I should have no expectations for myself right now. It would just be nice to be able to have some expectations, and to be able to put the time in that I want to. I hope I can someday train and race the way I used to, and that my fastest days are not simply in the past.

2010-05-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Our house could use some whimsy, so I made hound cupcakes today...

...and I've been wearing these slippers, sent to me by Mom and Dad.

Since my last update, Ted had surgery. His mom (Ellie) and I took him to Spokane to have ankle surgery. Once they wheeled him back, I went down to the cafeteria for breakfast, while Ellie stayed in the waiting room. While I was eating, Ellie received word that the doc felt he should also operate on the wrist. Surprise - you get two surgical procedures, not one! Ted was very groggy and they kept him overnight. I headed home to Pullman to work on my final exams and papers for the semester, and Ellie brought Ted home the following day.

I finished up the last of my graduate coursework a week ago, a few days after Ellie left. Before she left, she loaded us up with Chauvin spaghetti sauce, and we have a freezer full - 10 Tupper Ware containers of various sizes plus 4 quart-sized jars!

The weather is getting better here, so I've been doing some riding, and the Palouse is getting greener and more beautiful!

We head back to Spokane Thursday for Ted's follow-up appointment with his surgeon. Hopefully he will get some good news then. And, I may actually do a non-collegiate bike race next weekend in Wenatchee. That's all for now!

Long week

2010-04-22T22:09:00.001-07:00

It has been a long, busy week, and not in the best of ways.

Thursday, April 15th

I went for a short, easy ride last Thursday evening after conducting a day-long aroma panel for my wine research. Ted was going to come down from Spokane that evening after doing a short ride himself, and then we were going to get ready to head to Walla Walla for the Tour of Walla Walla Stage Race.

I was about 15 minutes from home when my phone rang. It was Ted, telling me he was lying on the side of the road after being hit by a car. When I asked if he was okay, he said, "No. I'm in a lot of pain and I think my leg is broken." He told me the ambulance was coming, but he didn't know which hospital he would be taken to.

While I rode home (quickly!), I made phone calls to family to let them know what had happened, and that I would be heading to Spokane immediately. I grabbed the dog, a change of clothes, and headed to Spokane, arriving at Sacred Heart at 8:15. After 23 x-rays and lots of wound cleaning (his elbows were completely thrashed... and filled with rocks - not pebbles - rocks!), it was determined that his left ankle and right wrist were broken. The driver had hit Ted from behind going 55 mph a couple miles south of Cheney. I left the ER at 2 am, and headed with Hitcher to a hotel to get some sleep.

Friday, April 16th

Up at 7, thanks to the dog, a quick bagel for breakfast (first food since lunch the day before), and back to the hospital. After a look at the x-rays by the orthopedic surgeon, Ted was told he would not be heading home that day. I hung out for a bit, ran to Rite Aid to grab him some things, and then headed back to Pullman to take care of the cats, grab clothes, and to take Hitcher to the kennel to be boarded.

Mom and Dad drove to Pullman to pick me up, and headed to Spokane with me. After a visit to Ted, we had a fantastic dinner at Sante.

Saturday, April 17th

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we headed back to the hospital to visit Ted. We were there for his PT session, which really showed just how limited his mobility would be. His PT also said that he would likely not be going home until Monday.

At this point, Ted had a roommate for the first time - an inconsiderate, old priest, who left the lights and TV on all night, and was rude to the nurses (Ted nicknamed him "Padre Prick). As this roommate limited visiting, we decided I should head back to Pullman for the night, so I stopped in Cheney to pick up Ted's car, and headed home to have a martini and salad bar, and to visit the cats.

Sunday, April 18th

Decided I should make myself go for a bike ride before heading back up to Spokane. The weather was beautiful, which helped my motivation, but didn't keep me from constantly looking over my left shoulder. After a shower and a light lunch (Haagen-Dazs Pistachio Ice Cream), I headed back to Spokane for a short visit. Left the hospital around 8:30, and headed home for a quick dinner of Safeway pizza.

Ted had been told that he would possibly leave the hospital the next day, so the plan was for me to head back to Pullman again, pick up Hitcher Monday morning, and wait to see if I would drive back up, or if Ted's uncle, Bruce, would drive him down to Pullman.

Monday, April 19th

Ted had more x-rays taken of his ankle to see if it was looking like he would need surgery. So far, so good. He was told he would be able to go home in the afternoon. Sure enough, things took far longer than they should have, and Ted didn't get home until after 6. Bruce very kindly drove him down, and our nice neighbor physicians helped to get him in the house (and gave him a welcome home Black Butte Porter complete with hot pink straw!).

Tuesday, April 20th

Ted's awesome sister, Corrina, flew over from Seattle to stay with us for a few days. Otherwise, not an eventful day, though sleep was hard to come by in our little house; this was due to pain for Ted, and due to cats for me (sidenote: tape used for wound care is apparently very fun to throw around in the middle of the night if you are a cat).

Wednesday, April 21st

A day at home. Corrina cooked and cleaned for us. I walked Hitcher and got my Stats project done.

Thursday, April 22nd

Woke up to rain, so opted for no bike ride again. Tomorrow will be a day for a ride. We got Ted settled in the car, folding down the back seats of the car, covering them with a moving pad and an unzipped sleeping bag, and propping his ankle with lots of pillows. Off to Spokane we went for two meetings - one with Ted's mortgage guy, and one with his orthopedic surgeon. Oh, and a stop in Cheney along the way. Bad news: Ted will have ankle surgery Wednesday. Good news: Ted is getting closer to having his house! After the appointments, we drove Corrina by the house, and stopped at Latah Bistro, as a treat from Mom and Dad.

Corrina leaves Saturday at 3:20. Her help has been awesome. Ted and Corrina's mom, Ellie, arrives Saturday at 2:55 and will stay for a week. And, I will be doing a collegiate road race and crit her in Pullman/Moscow this weekend. Time for one of us to get back out there. And now, time for bed.

Bike Fit

2010-03-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

I had my first race-specific bike fit done yesterday by Erik Moen. Erik, a physical therapist, agrees with my pt in Pullman that I likely have a herniated disc, so my position was altered to alleviate the nerve pain down my leg and to take the stress off of my lower back. In short, pretty much everything about my position was altered, including saddle height, cleat position, stem length, saddle position, and brake hood position. It feels completely different, but in a good way. After the fit, Ted and I went for a short ride and I had no symptoms down the left leg for the first time in months, so I already have to say that I highly recommend Moen for bike fits. In my 17 years of racing, I have been overly stretched on the bike, giving me a weak lower back, which only irks my likely disc problem.

For the time being, I will continue pt, with a goal of improving my symptoms. I do have symptoms 95% of the time, but I can live with it as long as I can continue to do the things I want to do. Other options may have to be considered if I reach the point where I cannot be as active as I would like, but hopefully this will not happen.

I raced the Tour de Dung today, which was my first road race of 2010. I did end up getting in 2 breaks, despite Erik's advice to take it easy with my new fit. I just couldn't help it! Tomorrow is the Mason Lake road race, and it is going to be rainy.

Photo before bike fit.

Photo after bike fit.

Mysterious Lurker

2010-02-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

Who are you, mysterious lurker, who googles several times a week for "Ted Chauvin" or "Ted Chauvin Pullman," leading you to my blog? Inquiring minds (not just myself) want to know! Your location is unknown, your latitude and longitude point to Kansas, and you use Firefox. Who are you?

2010-02-27T23:31:00.000-08:00

I rode my bike in Cheney this morning. The riding there is great, but I couldn't believe how much trash I saw on the sides of the road. To make it even worse, there were 100s of empty alcohol containers. Scary!

We went to our final Cougar basketball game as season ticket holders. It was a good game, except for the three twenty-year-old girls who sat behind us. They were wearing Cougar colors, but constantly ridiculed the Cougar players, and their language was foul! After listening to the one idiot girl scream at Klay Thompson that he "f-ing sucks," Ted turned around and asked her what her problem was. She proceeded to tell Ted he is too old to be in college, has gray hair, and is a "f-ing f-er." Her friends soon joined in, and they proceeded to kick the back of my seat for the duration of the game. They also bopped us on the head with their foam cheering things. I was just waiting for gum to be put in my hair!

The language never ceased, and the 3 girls just seemed to encourage each other. They were cursing at the players, us, the refs, the fans of UW, and they thought they were hilarious. It was disgusting and classless. Are kids not taught respect anymore? These girls were an embarassment to themselves, their university, and their families. Our country is in trouble with up-and-comers like these.

2010-02-24T10:26:00.000-08:00

My second PT appointment was yesterday. Unfortunately, it sounds very likely that a disc is to blame for my problems. My PT has ruled out Piriformis Syndrome because I fail the Slump Test. When I extend my left leg and drop my chin to my chest, I get very strong shooting pain in my left leg/hip. Apparently, the test does not bother those who have Piriformis Syndrome. Plus, when I look at the symptoms of a disc problem, it sounds just like me and what I have experienced over the past 5 years. I would say I am now at the Grade II stage. The good thing is that I have been able to ride my bike overall. I can live with this, annoying as it may be, as long as I am able to be active and do what I want to do.

2010-02-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

Hitcher and I have continued to take the GPS with us on all of our walks. After one month of walks, we have done 59.08 miles. There were also 6 days when Ted walked Hitcher without me, and 1 day when (heaven-forbid!) Hitcher got no walk. So, after 24 days of walking, our average per day is ~2.5 miles/day. Keep in mind that our walks also contain LOTS of stopping, smelling, marking, and pooping, so a short distance can turn into a fairly long walk time-wise.

Old Man Shamus enjoyed a few sips of Guinness before his afternoon nap yesterday.

The semester is about to get very busy for me, as I will be conducting a minimum of 24 aroma and taste panels before the end of April. The panels, papers, tests, and my fine talent of procrastination are making me one stressed chica right now. Then again, it's only 2 months, right? Or, 120 miles of dog walks. That's nothing!

Breaking?

2010-02-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

Am I breaking? I started physical therapy again today, seeing the same guy I saw last year for my back. After a prelimary examination, he suspects I have either a herniated disc or something like Piriformis Syndrome that is affecting my nerve. I have a whole new set of exercises and stretches to do, and I will be in PT 2x per week for a minimum of a month (sounds more like 10 weeks). I can only hope that it does not affect my racing season too much. I have a lot more fitness this year than I had last year, but that's not saying a lot since I barely rode/raced last year! I am not even 30 and I appear to already be falling apart.

2010

2010-02-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

I just got my new ride for 2010, courtesy of Vertical Earth in Coeur d'Alene. Loving the black and red, and stoked to take it for a spin tomorrow. The Riverstone Women's team is going to kick ass in 2010!

As for the race car poll, I found the Ferrari to look faster, while Ted thought the McLaren looked faster. Yes, this means I owe Ted a drink.

I will be back in PT next week, though not for the back this time. This time it will be for my left leg, which has been bothering me since October. Hmmm.... maybe I should have used the PT referral I received in November, but I was stubborn and thought it would get better on its own. It hasn't. A very sore area near the fibular head, along with lots of tingling down the leg, has me thinking it's a nerve problem.

In any case, I am determined to get a real season of racing in this year. Last year was incredibly frustrating, as I was forced to spend half of April, nearly all of May, and half of June off the bike. Needless to say, no results were seen.

Scotch

2010-02-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ted and I went to our first Scotch tasting party last night. Six Scotches were sampled by twelve people, and it was fascinating to see how different they were. At the end of the evening, some bottles were empty, while others were barely touched. So, here they are, in my personal order of favorite to least favorite.

The Balvenie was my favorite. It had lots of honey notes and was less peaty than some of the others. This appeared to be the favorite of the women at the tasting.

The Laphroaig was my second favorite, although it was quite different from the Balvenie. It was very peaty and smokey, and gave that wonderful warm feeling going down the throat.

A close third was the Oban. I went back and forth between the Laphroaig and the Oban, debating which I liked more. I think the Oban belongs behind the Laphroaig, though. With my very limited Scotch expertise (none!), I found this to be middle-of-the-road for all of the attributes, making it very balanced.

Fourth in line was the Talisker. For me, this one was okay, but not a top favorite.

The Glenkinchie was very thin and light. It just didn't stand up when compared to the other four ahead of it. However, as our resident Scotch expert, Karl, pointed out, this could be an ideal Scotch for a hot Summer day.

The Highland Park was by far my least favorite, and, judging by the half+-full bottle at the end of the evening, this was the consensus. It lacked character and frankly was boring.

So, there are the rankings of 6 Scotches per the tastebuds of a Scotch newbie who will freely admit that she knows nothing about the subject. After last night, I would definitely like to learn more.

"You won't be like a man. You'll just pee like one."

2010-02-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

The most unique gift I received during the holidays was from my Aunt Suzanney. Mom and Deborah were also fortunate to receive a Go Girl. The Go Girl is silicone, allows women to pee standing up, and coincidentally looks very similar to the sausage stuffer Ted received for Christmas. Go figure. The manufacturers highly recommend that practice sessions be conducted (performed?) in the shower at home. Apparently, FUDs (Female Urination Devices) have been around for years. Have I tried it? No. Will I? Of course! I have to try it at least once!

2010-01-31T21:12:00.000-08:00

My cat loves laundry day. She spends the day on the hot water heater, and then heads to the clean laundry.

After a rest week, I'm ready to put in a few more weeks of good training. Now, I just have to find the time to do so! Thursday afternoon I have to give a 30 minute seminar on a published, scientific journal article, which is pretty much my worst nightmare. Public speaking is not my forte. Mom asked what will be contained in the flask I'll carry in my purse. Ha!

I will be heading to Salt Lake City to visit Rusty and Deborah for part of my Spring Break. I wlll have to take the new, unused snowshoes Ted got me for Christmas, as the weather in Pullman has been far too nice for snow sports. Not that I am complaining... but, in a way I am.

And, now, on to watching the rest of The Dark Knight.

Which car looks faster?

2010-01-30T00:07:00.000-08:00

Which F1 car looks faster? Ted and I have opposing opinions. Based on comments on this blog, loser buys the other a drink. So, which car looks faster - Ferrari (red) or McLaren (silver)?

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/image/7702.html?page=1

Starting Up the Ol' Blog Again

2010-01-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

I kind of miss updating my blog regularly, so perhaps it's time to start it up again. Afterall, I'm in my final semester of grad school, the racing season will soon be starting up again, and well, surely there must be some things to write about.

January in Pullman has been awesome this year, which, I have to say, I needed after the last two Winters from hell. Trainer rides in January 2010? Zero. Enough said. And, knock on wood, my back has been relatively happy, so I may actually be able to train and race for this season. I hope so!

I am definitely approaching the point when I will be ready to be done with school. Three more full months of classes and research, and then I will be nearly done. After that? A move to Spokane will happen soon after the semester ends. After my time in Pullman, I am definitely ready for a change. With Ted living/working in Spokane during the week, I am only more anxious to finish up.

Hitcher and I walk together nearly daily. For one year, I want to see how many miles the two of us walk together, so we will be carrying the GPS with us on all of our daily walks. So, until January 23, 2011, how many miles will the hound and I walk? Maybe I should have a contest with the nearest guess winning a small prize.

I am really craving a post-dinner dessert, but alas, there is nothing in the house. Must keep the goal in mind: get to race weight by the season!

2009-06-08T18:53:00.000-07:00

Wow... 2 months since I last did a blog post. It doesn't seem like it has been that long.

I have been plagued with back trouble since April 26th, making this by far the worst back pain episode I have had. There have been a few days here or there when it has been okay, but otherwise it has been fairly consistent. One evening a few weeks ago was particularly horrible, as I was unable to even walk down the hall to the bathroom without help. With nothing stronger than Tylenol, I downed a bottle of wine, just to be able to sleep.

I have been going to PT for the last few weeks, and things have definitely improved, so I am really hopeful that I will able to complete a race soon - preferably this weekend!

Follow-up on the experiment

2009-04-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

The experiment with the nasty girls continued in the weeks following Spring Break, with me arriving early to class to steal their seats. The first occasion resulted in lots of whispering and glares, which gave me secret pleasure in knowing I had "gotten" to them.

For the next couple of classes, they arrived after me, forcing them to sit on the other side of the classroom. I have given up with getting up early just to spite them (30 more minutes of sleep!), so they can have their seats. The point was made and it was surely satisfying.

Experiment Update

2009-03-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

The experiment did not work today... bummer. I set my alarm early, and arrived to class 25 minutes early, thinking this would be more than enough time. Nope. The girls were already in their seats. They still scoffed and scowled as I walked past, whispering like junior high school cheerleaders.

Since Spring Break is next week, the 2nd attempt at the experiment is going to have to wait, but I am not giving up. Tuesday after Spring Break, I will arrive in class even earlier - perhaps I'll enjoy breakfast and coffee there. Results to follow...

The Experiment

2009-03-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

I was floored yesterday when I walked into my biochem lecture, which is held in a large lecture hall with stadium seating. I was a couple minutes late and looked for the seat that would cause the least interruption to the class. The back row is split, with a cluster of 3 seats nearest to the entrance I came through. The left seat was unoccupied, while 2 girls sat in the other two seats (they always sit there). This seat was the only open aisle seat. I walked over to the seat and asked the girl to move her coat and backpack so I could sit. She shook her head and refused. I could not believe it. She would not let me sit there, instead forcing me to crawl over people to get to an open seat. I could not help but make a comment to her when I saw her on my way out of class (comment not to be repeated here).

I am setting my alarm early for class tomorrow. I plan to get there 30 minutes early to enjoy the paper. I am thinking the middle seat of those 3 seats is where I shall place myself tomorrow morning. Hmmmm... those girls are going to find their routine disrupted, and I have a feeling they are not going to like it. I have noticed that the left seat of those 3 seats is always held by this girl's belongings, so I have a feeling I am not the first to be denied the "right" to sit there. I am taking back that right tomorrow, and I can't wait to see their reaction.

Boo!

2009-02-07T19:39:00.001-08:00

In highly disappointing and unprofessional fashion, my team sponsor from last season, Bob's Bicycles out of Boise, Idaho, decided to spontaneously yank their sponsorship of our women's team. Never mind that we had finalized our roster months ago, or that we had all signed contracts. Needless to say, I will no longer patronize this business. If they had made this decision prior to the signing of contracts, that would have been one thing; to pull out when the season is a month away is despicable. In some ways, I am actually glad that this has happened, for I would rather not represent a business that acts in such a poor manner. Plus, I have a feeling that things are going to turn out fantastic!

Photos

2009-02-01T14:33:00.000-08:00

Lily, my neighbor cat, loves to come over and harass Pazza. She'll take a running start, launching herself up to the bedroom window where Pazza is sunbathing. She'll hang from the screen by her claws, which is really funny, but she is also ruining my screen!

Psycho Lily.

Lazy Hitcher after a walk.

2009-01-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated my blog for quite some time because I really have had nothing cheery to write about. To put it mildly, it has not been a happy several months. The death of Jimmy was incredibly hard, and simultaneous relationship problems made it only that much more difficult.

Lots of changes for me. Ted decided to end our relationship 3 weeks ago, and moved out today. After 5 years of living together, it is incredibly sad and surreal. Many of his things are already gone, but he'll get the last of them in the next day or so. It seems quieter. One of the worst parts is the splitting of Shamus and Pazza. Who knows what the right thing is to do with them? They adore each other, and it pains me to think of separating them, but I selfishly also want Pazza to still be with Hitcher and me.

Hitcher is doing his part to keep me from staying too "down in the dumps." One particularly blue day, he and I headed out for our afternoon walk. I had realized a nap would be impossible when I caught him standing on my chair drinking my soup, so out we went. Hitch did his standard precursory laps around the house, sporting his spiffy black and red coat, of course. I patiently (well, kind of) waited by the front gate, leash in hand. It was at about that moment that I saw the squirrel, and realized just how close H was to it. Too late. As he violently shook the squirrel, incredibly thrilled with himself, I ran across the yard to capture him. I let out a pathetic "damsel-in-distress" scream, which caused the group of camouflage-wearing, football-playing men to come running from the park across the street. How embarassing. They asked what was wrong and I had to tell them my dog got a squirrel. They were highly unimpressed. It gave me a much-needed laugh for the day once I was sure the only blood on Hitch was from the squirrel.

Other than that, school is progressing. Since I'm in school again, I may as well throw in a few collegiate races.

2008-12-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

Not a bad way to spend Christmas break.

2008-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's very cold in Pullman, so we put some of Ted's bike socks on Hitcher's paws. It didn't go over very well, but it was entertaining!

We have lots of snow here now and it is currently 6 degrees outside. It's sunny, so it looks pretty through the window, but it's just way too cold. It's not even fun to play in the snow at these temps, but I take Hitch out for little play sessions; when he starts "dancing" I know his feet are getting too cold and we head back in.

I finished my first semester of grad school yesterday, and I am relieved to be done. One of my finals was in the last possible slot of the finals schedule, which could have been good if I used the entire week for prep. I didn't.

It still doesn't seem to me like Christmas is just a few days away. We don't even have a tree! I do hope to get one in the next couple days, though. Just a little bit behind the curve this year.

Seeing as it's vacation time, I'm off to take a nap with my warm pup. After that, a trainer session is in the plans. Fun, fun, but it has to be done.

Little Me

2008-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

Jimmy

2008-12-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest people I will ever know.

I have had the fortune of knowing many good people in my life. I will never again have the privilege of knowing someone like my cousin, Jimmy. Jimmy was the rarest of people, an amazing combination of humor, caring, and fun.

I have one true brother, Rusty, but Rusty and I really grew up with two other big brothers, our cousins David and Jimmy. Our family is very small, with the four of us as the only grandchildren for our maternal grandparents. Summers were often spent at Grandma and Granddaddy's in Baltimore, often with a stop-off at Aunt Suzanney's in Milford, Delaware. As the baby in the family, and the only girl, I was often annoying to Rusty and David (understandably so). Jimmy, however, never ceased to include me and play with me. I have memories of him chasing me around Grandma's house.

When we were at Aunt Suzanney's, Jimmy, Rusty, and I would "stake out" in Jimmy's room and wait for David to come home from his dates. We'd heckle him through the window, infuriating and embarassing him to no end. I thought Jimmy was the coolest thing.

I remember being very little and riding in the car with Jimmy and Aunt Suzanney. Jimmy said to Aunt Suzanney, "Allison will be pretty when she's older, won't she?" He always had a way of making me feel special. For as long as I can remember, Jimmy gave hugs unlike any other. He didn't give the half-assed hugs most of us give. No, he gave you the kind of hugs that lifted you off the ground, spun you around, and made you know you were loved. He gave the best hugs ever, and he gave them unabashedly. Few of us let our loved ones know what they truly mean to us as often as we should, but Jimmy never failed to let us all know.

As we got older, we all saw each other less and less, but things never changed when we all got together. David and Jimmy were still like big brothers to Rusty and me. Jimmy and I both had a tough time at Granddaddy's funeral. We went into the viewing room arm-in-arm, and we were chosen to take the offering to the altar. Though Jimmy was having a hard time himself, he was constantly watching out for me, more concerned for how I was doing than for himself. When we all went our separate ways, Jimmy picked me up and hugged me, telling me to take care of myself. I wrote Jimmy a letter and told him about how lucky I was to have him in my family, and I stuck it in his duffel bag. I don't know if he ever got it, but I like to assume he did.

Four years ago, Jimmy called to tell us all that he would be a father. It was obvious that he was nervous, surprised, and scared. I first saw him with his baby, Taylor, at Grandma's funeral. Taylor was just an infant, but it was easy to see that Jimmy adored her.

At Jimmy and Jessica's wedding a couple years later, which was a huge party in the Florida Keys, I got teary watching Jimmy with his daughter. You could not have asked for a better father. You could tell by the way he looked at Taylor that he could not love that baby more. I told him that night how amazing it was to watch him with his baby, and I am so glad I got the chance to do that. The wedding was such a fun time.

Rusty and Deborah's wedding in August was the last time I saw Jimmy. Our entire family: Dad, Mom, Rusty, Ted, Barbara, Cote, Aunt Suzanney, Jim, Jimmy, Jessica, Taylor, and me all rented a cabin in the Smokey Mountains. Rusty's friends Adam and Tom also stayed with us.

The eve of Rusty's wedding was spent in the hot tub with Rusty, Jessica, Jimmy, Ted, and me. Many childhood stories were told, along with things our parents would prefer not to know. Somewhere in the middle of our hours-long sweat-out, and after a few drinks, I told Jimmy how much I love him (I won't say "loved" as a past-tense because I will always love him). We shared an embrace that I did not think much of that night. He proceeded to tell Ted that he liked him, but should Ted ever hurt me he would kick Ted's ass. He told Ted, "I love this girl."

Taylor was Rusty and Deborah's flower girl, but she didn't want to go down the aisle without Daddy, so Jimmy walked along the side the whole way, urging Taylor to drop her flower petals. At the end of the aisle, little Taylor turned over her basket and shook it violently. Poor Jimmy was at his wit's end, trying to get little Taylor to wear her crown of flowers. He gave her every bribe under the sun, handing her juice cups and grapes, and shaking his head, smiling the entire time with Granddaddy's blue eyes.

It was sad for us all to part at the end of our wedding celebration in Tennessee, but it was such a fun time that it was hard to be too sad over it. The last time I saw Jimmy was on the front porch of our cabin. He and Jessica got Taylor into her carseat and said goodbye to everyone. As always, Jimmy's hug was the best, just like when we were seven and thirteen.

Grandma told me once that God gives everyone something and "he gave Jimmy personality." Jimmy had more personality in his ear lobe than most people have in a lifetime. His eyes sparkled and he brought joy to everyone he encountered. He had the rare gift of being able to converse with anyone on any topic. The other person always knew that Jimmy was interested in what they were saying, regardless of whether the topic was truly of interest to him. He just cared about people, and Aunt Suzanney can be credited with raising two very amazing men. I know with certainty that they would both agree with me that they would be nothing without my lovely Aunt Suzanney.

Two weeks and four days ago, I received a call I never wanted to get. One of the greatest people in my life had died on his 34th birthday. My big brother died on his 34th birthday. Once again, the whole family congregated, this time in Orlando. The most painful days of my life, to this point. The one person who always made such unbearable circumstances tolerable was the one person who was not there, and I seemed unable to handle it without him.

Few of you will ever have the fortune of knowing one person as wonderful as my brother, Jimmy. While my time with him was cut far too short, I can say that I was one of the lucky ones for getting to spend any time with him at all. Jimmy, I was so lucky to have known you. I know you loved me. I love you. You will never be replaced.

2008-10-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Pazza and me.

Over the barriers

Ted going up the run-up.

I caught this shot of Louie Fountain from Moscow

Racin'

After the start of the women's race last weekend near Coeur d'Alene.

A view from a recent mountain bike ride at Moscow Mountain.

Blueberry, the Bealls' old cat, died this morning. If you recall, a few months ago we all thought her time had come, so Mom and Dad drove her to the vet, only to have her suddenly revive. Home she went for a few more months. Over the past week, she had a massive down-turn, so an appointment was made for this afternoon. Crafty Blue decided to take care of things herself, dying this morning before she could be taken to the vet's. She had a long life - in cat years she was 102.

School has been brutal this semester, so I am already counting down the days to the end of the semester. I am becoming a trained wine panelist, so twice a week I attend training sessions. It's really pretty fun, though it takes more of the free time I do not have!

We have been attempting to stay fit in this off-season, so running has become a bigger part of our repertoire. It takes so much less time than riding, so it's better for me during the week. We are not taking cyclocross as seriously this season, only having done three races so far, though we are heading to Walla Walla this weekend for back-to-back races. I may be unable to race, as my back is once again gracing me with major pain. The culprit this time? I think it was my first weightlifting session a couple days ago, though running this morning probably didn't help it either. I'm crooked and bent, and trying to move as little as possible. Hopefully the massage tomorrow will help - usually they do.

We raced near Coeur d'Alene last Sunday, and the weather could not have been better. The A women's field was very small, with only 4 of us at the line. My road teammate, Jenni, took off from the rest of us on the first lap and rode to the win. I thought I might be able to hang for a little while, but then my lack of fitness became evident, and I couldn't do it. I had fun, though, and it felt good to ride really hard for the first time in a while. I'm still optimistic that I'll race this weekend too, but we'll see! If nothing else, we should have a good dinner!

Ted's race last weekend went really well, with him riding near the front for the whole race. He ended up feeling good and finished in the top 10. He has been running a lot more than I have... and I guess it's working!

We have yet to solve the Hitcher/garbage problem, though a solution may be on its way. Ironically, I was recently invited to test some pet products, and my survey answers qualified me to test a product designed to keep your pet out of areas where you do not want them to go. It sprays some sort of liquid at the pets when they approach the area. I should be getting it any day now, and I get to keep it at the end of the test period, so hopefully it works!

School and Cyclocoss

2008-09-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Mud!

Ted heading up the run-up.

Hanging out at the races.

Up the run-up.

School is keeping me far busier than I anticipated. It will be a big relief when this first semester is out of the way. I will be starting my research in October, rather than a year from now, so that will just add more to the plate. I'm not sure how much cyclocross I'll end up doing this year, but we did two big races in Seattle a couple weekends ago.

Starcrossed was first, which is always really fun. The combination of tons of spectators, a beer garden, and racing under the lights makes it a unique race experience. We have done Starcrossed four times now, and this was the first time we had rain... and boy did it rain. It did not stop all day, leaving what was a grassy course a mess of slippery mud. I had never raced in those conditions before, so it was a new experience for me! I crashed several times, but the mud just let me slide. I quickly found myself at the back of the field, which was not a huge surprise, and I wound up finishing last.

About halfway through the race, I felt like I had a fat lip and like my cheeks were swollen, but I tried to ignore it. After finishing (in last place!), I asked Ted if my face was "fat," and he said it was! No idea what happened, but I had an allergic reaction to something. My face was completely symmetrically swollen. It gradually went down throughout the evening (maybe the beer helped?), but I couldn't help but feel self-conscious.

Ted also had the pleasure of slipping and sliding in the mud, arriving at the car with a mud-speckled face. His sister and nephew made it out to watch, which I think just reinforced their opinions that we are somewhat crazy.

Sunday's race at Steilacoom was much drier and warmer, which was a pleasant surprise. Ted's lungs were bothering him, so he backed off of his race pace, and just rode it in. I rode as hard as I could, finishing near the back of the field. That 80 meter run-up is brutal!

Last Week

2008-09-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Me with my beautiful TT bike.

The swim-to-bike transition.

All of the bikes on the rack, including mine, #189.

The running leg of the sprint triathlon.

First off, I just want to say that my thoughts are with Jen.

Ted was in Chicago last week, visiting his parents and his grandmother. While he was away, I continued settling into my new routine as student, and also tried my first sprint triathlon. Mom and Dad came up to watch and take photos, and the weather could not have been better.

I did not train for the running or swimming portions at all, and I wasn't optimistic about my time since I was sick for 10 days beforehand. But, I figured it would be fun, so why not? A guy I have worked with is an avid swimmer, so I asked him what sort of time I would do for a 500 yard swim (they seed you by your swim time). He estimated that I would swim in the range of 7 to 9 minutes, so I put down 8:15 when I registered, which put me in the final swim wave, of 6. I shared a lane with 3 other women, swimming within our lane counter-clockwise. It did not take long for me to realize that I had WAY underestimated my swim time, as I was lapped 3 times! Oops! I guess someone needs to work on her upper body strength, eh?

Anyway, it ended up taking me over 12 minutes for my swim, and I was the absolute last person out of the pool. I was so relieved to hop on the bike and be back in my element. I did not realize that my transition times would end up counting toward the splits of my individual legs, which is something I wish I had known since I was not fast in the transitions! I ended up catching a ton of people on the bike, putting me back ahead of all the women I swam with, and giving me the course record for women.

I decided to run at a decent, but not overly hard pace, with hopes of avoiding too much soreness. It turned out that it didn't matter, as I woke up the next morning to screaming Achilles tendons. I wound up finishing 2nd in my age group and 5th overall for women, with a time of 1:05:00. It was definitely fun for something new, and triathlons are a hard effort!

We still have not solved the garbage problem with Hitcher, so we have stuck to our temporary plan of putting the garbage in the "cat room" every time we leave the house. We no longer even have baby locks on anymore, as he completely snapped them off last weekend. Suz suggested putting the garbage in the tub since dogs don't like to get in the bathtub. Of course, my dog absolutely loves to get in the tub, climbing in several times a week. He once even peed in there! Yes, he's weird. He's also the only dog on the planet who won't touch peanut butter.

I am going to be doing a wine project for my masters degree, starting next year sometime. I am doing the wine processing lab on Fridays, which is going to be really fun. Now if I just didn't have to take organic chem...

Dog-proof Garbage?

2008-09-02T21:32:00.000-07:00

Hitcher has been posing a new problem recently and we're not sure what to do about it. We keep our kitchen garbage in a normal can in the cupboard under the sink, and he has discovered that it holds wonderful food scraps. We have tried baby locks - 2 different kinds - but he can still break in. Ours are at the top of the cabinet door, requiring that you press down on a piece of plastic to release the door. The other kind we have tried is also plastic and requires that you push two pieces of plastic together to pop the door open. Apparently, my 2 year old Treeing Walker Coonhound is smarter than the average 3 year old human because he can open both kinds.

We have resorted to moving the garbage to the back room (behind the baby gates that safeguard the litter boxes) each time we leave the house... which is a royal pain. Last week, Ted put a kitchen chair in front of the cupboard, but we still came home to trash, in addition to finding that he had eaten a chocolate cake retrieved from the ABOVE-counter cupboards; oh, and a loaf of bread. Yep, not sure how he got those cupboards open either. Next, Ted put a new 35 pound container of kitty litter in front of the cabinet, but he somehow managed to move that too, leaving garbage scraps strewn on the floor.

While it's super annoying to come home to garbage, the real concern is that he'll eventually eat something that makes him sick, so we have to figure something out. Until then, we'll be trying to remember to put it in the back room. Any suggestions?

Back in school

2008-08-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

My first week of grad school is officially over. It's strange to be a student again, and I can tell it will take a while to get used to it. This semester has me taking organic chemistry, microbiology, and a wine microbiology lab where I learn to make wine. I am also a TA for a "Vines and Wines" class, which is a class I would have enjoyed sitting in on anyway, so it's a pretty good deal.

My task now is to officially determine which direction I want to take within the Food Science department. I have to choose between doing a wine project that involves making my own wine (hence the wine lab) and product development/dairy science. Both directions interest me at this point, so I'm not sure which way to go. The wine lab would be super fun. I have already met with the potential advisor with whom I would work on the wine project, and I will meet with the dairy/product development advisor this week. Then it will be decision time.

I have been encouraged to look more at the skills I hope to have when I complete graduate school than at the actual commodities. Afterall, I will be able to spin my job title any way I would like, but my skills are what truly will be evaluated.

I was hoping to spend much of my first long weekend on my bike, but it's not happening. I have amazingly already gotten sick! I came down with a sore throat during our Wednesday ride, which has progressed to a nasty cough from my chest. I haven't been on the bike since that Wednesday ride. It's not worth pushing it and getting worse, so I'm waiting (and sleeping!) it out. Yep... 12 hours of sleep last night, followed by a huge breakfast (?) around noon at Old European.

Next weekend I plan to do my first sprint triathlon, followed by a mountain bike race the next day; not sure how either will go, considering that I haven't been on my mountain bike since February, and I don't even know the last time I swam. I have, at least, done two 10-minute runs in the past couple weeks, but considering that the run will be over twice as long, that may not get me all that far!

Mmmm...

2008-08-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Homemade s'mores cupcakes with toasted marshmallow frosting.

Rusty and Deborah's Wedding

2008-08-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

This is long overdue, but here is a photo update of Rusty and Deborah's wedding in Tennessee. Mom and Dad also threw a pre-wedding party at their house in July. Ted and I were scheduled to take separate red-eye flights to TN, in order to make it for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and both our flights were simultaneously canceled. So, I spent one more night in Orange County and Ted was in downtown Spokane. We made it for the dinner, but not for the rehearsal. It was a great wedding, with lots of family and friends. I'm sure more pictures will come.

Mom and Dad threw a pre-wedding party in Clarkston for those who would be unable to make it to the wedding in Tennessee. A surprise bagpiper played some tunes, so, of course, Rusty had to have a try...imagine a dog stepping on a cat and you can hear Rusty's beautiful music.

In town for the pre-wedding party: Cote and Barbara (my cousin and Dad's niece), Ted, me, Rusty, and Deborah.

Rusty Beall is officially riding his bike again. He and I rode together when they were home for the pre-wedding party in July. I dropped him, of course. First sibling ride in a few years.

Mom and Dad after their party in Clarkston.

Ted Chauvin a.k.a. Secret Service.

Ted and me.

Dad and me.

Mother of the groom/groom dance.

Mom, Dad, Rusty, and me, not long before the ceremony.

The new bride and groom.

The day after the wedding was spent relaxing on the river. Here I am with Adam Umber, Dave Lawson, Tom Nelson, and Ted.

Floating down the river in Townsend, TN with friends Dave and Dinorah Lawson, Ted, my cousin Jimmy, and Jimmy's wife Jessica.

I was the 6th kid to have a go at the pinata.

Next, it was my turn to spin my new sister-in-law and let her have at it.

First Up: National TT update

2008-08-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

I flew to Orange County, California two weeks ago to compete in the elite national time trial championship. There were about 50 women registered, including some very fast time trialists, so I knew I would have to have a fantastic ride to really compete. Pre-riding the course last Tuesday, I found a hilly, very challenging course, with numerous rolling hills. I was very happy with the course selection, given that it had a little bit of everything: rolling climbs, fast descents, and a few flat sections.

I awoke Wednesday to a very hot day, so I knew I would need to stay hydrated up until my race start. I opted not to take a bottle with me for the actual time trial, as I figured I would lose time every time I took a sip. I started out well, keeping a hard, steady pace. I knew I had some very fast ladies immediately behind me, so I was hoping to hold them off as long as possible. Three miles into the race, I was caught by the woman (Alison Powers) who started one minute behind me. I felt a twinge of demoralization, but it quickly passed when I told myself she would surely finish in the top 3; she ended up being the national champion.

My effort felt hard to me, with each progressive roller hurting my legs more than the last. I kept Alison Powers in sight until I reached the turn-around, but then she started to pull away more and more, and I started to lose more and more time. I had very little left for the last few miles, and I found myself greatly fading. I finished feeling as if I had done all I could do for that particular day. It turned out not to be a good result at all, but I am still glad I did it. For whatever reason, it just was not my best day.

Time Trials and Tribulations

2008-08-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today was the WA state 40 km TT. Neither Ted or I had a great ride, but we're okay with it. I have no excuses, other than the fact that I did not put in a great effort. I simply did not push myself hard enough today. It was my first 40 km TT in three years and it was definitely good to get one in before the nationals TT Wednesday. I cannot allow myself to put forth such a shoddy effort there.

Back to School

2008-07-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

I will officially be back in school in just about a month. I applied to graduate school at WSU in the department of Food Science, expecting to start in January, but they accepted me and invited me to start in August. My personal chef business just wasn't taking flight in our little town, so it was time to think of something new to do. I guess I'll be the "old lady" in my classes!

Another long-overdue update

2008-07-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Me with Sarah Barber who is sporting the climber's jersey at Cascade after her bold attack.

This family of deer hangs out right by Mom and Dad's house.

Ted attacking in Sunday's Idaho State crit.

Blueberry, the 21 year old cat.

The racing season is drawing to a close and I'm ready to soon have less time traveling. Ted and I went to Bend, Oregon two weeks ago for the Cascade Cycling Classic, which ended up being a good race. The highlight of the race was a daring move made by my teammate, Sarah Barber, which resulted in the winning break of the first stage, and gave Sarah a 6th place finish. She also earned the honor of wearing the polka dot climber's jersey for stage two, which was huge for our little team. My personal best result of the week was 13th in the time trial, which I was reasonably happy with; I had really hoped for a top 10, but I suppose it was not a great course for me, so I'm content with 13th. I am mad at myself for my performance in the crit (I was a huge wuss!), which caused my G.C. placing to plummet. I would have been close to the top 20 overall if I hadn't been such a chicken. Ted had an okay race, but still wasn't thrilled with it.

Rusty and Deborah flew into town last Thursday for an engagement/pre-wedding party thrown by Mom and Dad. Dad's niece, Barbara, and her significant other, Cote, also made the trip from Memphis for the occasion, so we had a few days of family time. I took Thursday and Friday off from working and spent the time at Mom and Dad's. The party was great, with lots of food, alcohol, and interesting conversations (bestiality...enough said). After a night of partying until 2 am, it was not easy for Ted and me to leave Clarkston first thing in the morning to head to Boise, but we did it somehow.

Saturday saw us doing the Boise Twilight criterium. Our race was a bit of a mess, as we had been told in advance that lapped riders would be pulled. When Kristin Armstrong lapped our group, we thought we were pulled out, but it turned out that we could have stayed in. Oops. Ted attacked a couple times in his race, which he described as both "squirrely" and "easy."

We had some fun Saturday after the crit, going out for dinner and drinks with Sarah and Brian Barber, our teammate Ally Stacher, and our good friend, Daimeon. The evening ended with a few beers at the Barbers... and another late night!

The Idaho State Criterium was Sunday and there was a decent turnout. For the Bob's women's team, it was just Sarah Brown, Jenni Gaertner, and me. They started the ladies with the Masters 45+ men, and the pace was fast from the gun. I was hurting for the first part of the race, spending the first several laps near the back. Jenni was great, riding near the front and chasing down attacks. I eventually took a flyer off the front, getting in a break with Bob Hoene. I did too much work and couldn't stay with him after a few laps, getting sucked back into the pack, but at least Jenni got a little break. I had completely burned all of my matches with my little move, so I had nothing left at all for the finish. Ted again did some attacks off the front, but his race also came down to the final lap.

So, that's it for racing news right now. We'll be resting at home this weekend, which is such a nice thought! The following weekend we're planning on going to the western side of Washington to do the state time trial championship. The day after that, I fly to Orange County, California to do the national time trial. I'll take a red-eye flight from Ca to Tennessee for Rusty and Deborah's wedding (Ted will meet me there), and then I think I'll actually be home for a little while!

During our family time last week, we all came to the consensus that it was time for Blueberry, our 21 year old kitty, to be put down. She has been unable to groom herself for quite some time, and she was spending the majority of her time cowering in her litter box. So, Mom and Dad made an appointment for her this afternoon. In the hours leading up to her time, she suddenly became full of life, enjoying the sunshine outside, chasing the Schnauzer around the kitchen, and eating food. Nonetheless, they loaded her up for the ride to the vet, but she meowed the entire drive there, causing them to question their decision. Sure enough, they turned the car around, giving Blue more time. You've gotta figure she's well over 100 in human years, so she's gotta be getting close, but she just won't stop ticking! I picked her out to be my kitten when I was 5. Guess I picked a good one.

On that note, I'm going to watch the rest of today's Tour de France stage.

The happenings

2008-07-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

Shamus turned 15 yesterday.

Hitcher's friend, Lily, has been coming over almost daily to play. She surprised him in the middle of his nap yesterday, and came up to the front door meowing this morning.

Hitch and Lily.

Ted and I were riding to our local TT last night when my seat clamp suddenly cracked all the way through. I had to call and get a ride home, so no TT for me. Thankfully, two sources, Bob's Bicycles and my friend Daimo, are hooking me up with seat clamps, so I'll be ready to race at Cascade next week.

Sights from our ride on the Palouse today.

2008-06-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Two things you can say about the Palouse are that it is beautiful and the riding is fantastic. Here are a few shots I thought I'd share from a regular old ride we can do any day of the week. What did you get to see on your ride today?

Quick Elkhorn Update

2008-06-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

While I wait for some samples to finish their time in the water bath at work, I figured I'd write a quick update about last weekend's Elkhorn Classic. The first stage, a 70 mile road race, worked out very well for the Bob's women, with Jenn Halladay, Sarah Barber, and Ally Stacher getting off the front in the lead group of four riders, which also included Alice Pennington. Jenni Gaertner was not far behind, while I managed to lose several additional minutes. I don't know what it is about the first stage of Elkhorn, but I seem to have a bad day there every year! The cat 3 Bob's women also had a strong showing, finishing in the lead group for their category. Ted had a day similar to mine.

Saturday morning was a 10 mile time trial. I was relatively happy with mine, finishing 2nd, but I didn't feel it was my best effort. All of the Bob's ladies finished high up in the TT, so it was a good stage for us all. Ted had a rough TT, finishing a few minutes slower than he did last year. All in all, it's been a frustrating TT season for him.

Saturday evening's crit was crazy! Dark storm clouds rolled in for the start of our race, following thunder and lightning that had struck for some of the earlier men's races. I had heard rumors that the course was slippery when wet, but I had no idea how bad it would be. When the rain started coming, I decided I did not want to be in the pack, so I attacked off the front, gaining a small gap. Going into the first corner, I felt my rear wheel slide, thinking for a second I would hold it up. Nope. Down I went. Unable to unclip from my right pedal, I looked back to see a large chunk of the pack suffer the same fate, sliding and crashing. We first heard that our crit had been neutralized, but minutes later heard that the race was called. Our poor teammate, Jenn, was taken to the hospital by ambulance, having fractured her pelvis. There were lots of bruises, but everyone else was okay.

Following our "race," the cat 3 men took to the course for some easy warm-up laps. Sure enough, just riding easily, numerous riders crashed out in the same corner. The rain poured part way through the 3's race, so their race was also called, and the 1/2 men's crit was outright canceled. There would have been serious carnage if the races had continued. It was like riding on an ice rink.

Going into the final 100 mile stage on Sunday, my teammate Sarah Barber was the leader on G.C., so our main objective was to defend her placing. The race mostly stayed together until the final 6 mile climb, with Sarah successfully maintaining her G.C. lead and Ally Stacher finishing 4th. Aside from Jenn's unfortunate crash, it was a great weekend for Bob's. Now, for the next two weekends, we actually get to stay home. What a novelty! I don't think we'll be going anywhere.

Methow Valley Omnium

2008-06-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Here's an actual bike race report - the first in a while!

Feed zone crew.

Ted, trying to bring back the lead group.

Ted, taking a drink in his crit.

Mixing it up in the crit.

Last weekend's Methow Valley omnium was a bit rough for Ted and me, after having taken about 10 days off the bike in Canada. If you have not been to the Methow Valley, it's a beautiful area.

The race started off with the time trial, which is a nice 9.5 mile course with rolling hills. Ted was highly disappointed with his result, but I don't think he should have been, given that he was having horrible stomach issues all weekend; he finished in the top half, but was over a minute slower than last year. My time trial, for some reason, ended up being pretty good. I finished 2nd, one second behind Robin Secrist. I checked with the official because I had timed myself and my posted time was several seconds slower than what I had timed, but it turned out that all of the times were off by the same amount, so it did not matter. I was told I was not even considered to be any competition heading into the weekend, so it was nice to prove some people wrong.

Saturday evening was the criterium in downtown Twisp. Jenni and I were the only two Bob's women, and we were highly outnumbered against some of the larger teams. Jenni rode really aggressively, getting off the front a couple times, and scoring some primes. Nothing managed to stay away, so it came down to a pack sprint. Neither Jenni or I had the greatest finish, but we were in there somewhere.

Ted's crit was kind of strange, with the pack splitting. Ted was in the second group, trying to chase down the leaders, but very few would work with him, so the gap grew. Ted's group ended up being pulled out by the officials when they were lapped by the front group, but with points still on the line, there was a lot of confusion. No one in Ted's group heard the announcer say they were pulled out, so they literally rode until after the leaders had lapped them. This caused a split in the leading group, so Ted told the official he should have pulled them earlier.

Last up was Sunday's road race. This year's course was far better than the one used last year, which was painfully boring. I raced early in the morning, so Ted dogsat for the morning. A couple of non-threatening breaks went up the road, so we let them dangle out there for a while. It was obvious that there were some alliances between teams, with one team not chasing down another. What's the point of that? They might as well just form one team. On the last lap, a break went up the road with Robin Secrist and Suz Weldon, along with one other. I knew we couldn't let Robin and Suz go, so I chased them down, knowing another Wines woman would counter-attack immediately. Sure enough, Suz attacked. After my monster pull, I was not ready to go with her, but Jenni was on her. No one really chased, so their gap increased. Suz eventually popped Jenni, but Jenni managed to solo in for 2nd. I hung in the pack for the sprint, finishing in the middle somewhere. Jenni moved up on G.C., which was awesome. I fell back, but overall we did well, especially considering how outnumbered we were.

It was super hot by the time Ted raced, so Hitcher and I spent some time in the feed zone. The first time through, Ted was off the front in a break, but it was eventually reeled back in. It stayed pretty much together for a while, but Ted began cramping terribly, which ended up killing his race. He finished it out, but felt horribly afterward because of his seizing legs and cramping stomach. His legs are still not feeling good.

Overall, neither Ted or I had our best race, but it's a fun race to do. Up next is one of the best races in the Northwest - Elkhorn. The women's field is pretty big, with thirty 1/2 women and over forty 3/4 women. Bob's will have a full team there, so it should be a lot of fun.

Canadian Grand Prix

2008-06-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here's the final update from our trip to Montreal, with lots of pictures from our days spent at the race track. First up we watched the practice sessions, which are the least interesting of the three. Next was qualifying, which can be pretty intense, as the drivers fight for faster times to get them a better position on the starting grid for the race. Finally, we had the race itself, which went by way too quickly.

Even for the practice sessions, the stands were almost full.

Removing a damaged car from the track.

A spin-out in our corner.

There were also Ferarri races.

The Canadian Snowbirds flew overhead before the qualifying sessions and the race.

I think the Red Bull cars are the best looking cars.

There were other types of races also, including these little cars driven by 15-20 year old boys. They have motorcycle racing engines.

A variety of cars were on display, including an F1 car, an Indy car, and a Nascar car.

In the practice and qualifying sessions, several people took trips across the grass.

The panoramic view from our seats.

After the practice and qualifying sessions, many of the drivers were complaining about the track surface, which was breaking up terribly, causing slippery, dangerous corners. A group of race officials gathered in our corner shortly before the race, obviously examining the surface. Moments later, a crew appeared with some sort of mixture they painted onto the track - must have been some sort of sealant. It must have worked fairly well too because we saw no one slide out in our corner during the actual race, and the complaints from the drivers seemed to decrease. The consensus still seems to be that the track needs to be paved for next year.

The parade of nations before the start of the race. The flag bearers were all Budweiser girls. We never did figure out what the girls with the umbrellas were supposed to represent. More entertainment for the men-folk, I suppose!

Sitting in the stands. Our seats were in the first corner.

The throngs of people leaving the race. We heard that 121,000 were in attendance for Sunday's race.

The Montreal skyline. After the race was finished, we opted to follow the crowd and venture across a bridge, which appeared to head straight to downtown Montreal. It turned out that the bridge curved in the distance, taking us to the industrial old port. We were lost, but eventually found our way to our hotel... after 2 hours of walking.

There was the parade of drivers before the start of the race, with all of the drivers doing a lap around the track in vintage Austin-Healey convertibles.

The crazy start of the Grand Prix. Hmmm... I bet these guys would be killer crit racers!

Montreal

2008-06-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Ted and me in Montreal.

The famous smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz's Deli.

The cobbled streets of Old Montreal.

Horse-drawn carriages were all over in both Old Quebec City and Old Montreal.

A bronze in Old Montreal.

This almost made us feel guilty for taking 9 days off the bike. Almost.

Much of the Montreal portion of our trip was centered around the F1 Grand Prix, but we also did a bunch of other things.

Ted had decided in advance that he wanted to treat us both to some fantastic meals in Montreal, and he did just that. Our first night's reservation took us to Laloux, which was a wonderful French bistro. We opted to order from the a la carte menu, rather than trying the tasting menu, and we were very happy with all of our dishes. The highlight of the meal was definitely Ted's pan-seared foie gras, which was the best foie gras either of us had ever had. It was delicious. Really, the whole dinner was great. Our waitress seemed a bit pretentious, but the sommelier more than made up for it with his great attitude.

The following night we went to Raza, which was fun because it was completely different from Laloux. Raza is very modern and tiny, seating a max of only 24 people. In all there were only 4 people working in the restaurant: 2 for the front of the house and 2 in the kitchen. Since neither Ted or I had ever done a tasting menu with wine pairings before, we opted to do the 7 course tasting menu. The wine pairing was a good decision because all of the wines were from South America, and we were not familiar with a single one! It was a super novel, fun menu. The foie gras here was far from as good as that at Laloux, simply because the chef was trying too hard to make a neat presentation; foie gras is so good on its own that he was doing too much to it. After a dinner of ceviche, fish, foie gras, duck, beef, a pre-dessert, and a dessert, we were stuffed!

Sunday was mostly devoted to the race, though we did get a simple Italian dinner and a few drinks downtown. Although the Grand Prix was over, the downtown was still crazy. It was amazing to see how huge of an event the race was for the entire city, with several downtown blocks closed exclusively for F1 parties. There were concerts and boothes everywhere you looked, and it made for fantastic people-watching. We sat at an open-air bar that overlooked the street, and it was highly amusing to watch the passing traffic. We truly saw all types, from women dressed like prostitutes to old couples.

With the race over, Monday was our day to really explore Montreal. Our day began with a visit to Schwartz's Deli, a Montreal landmark. I had read online that it is considered a sin to order anything but the smoked meat sandwich, so that is what we both went with, and it was great.

We walked our lunch off with a long walk to Old Montreal, which has less of a European feel than Old Quebec City, but still feels very old. We wandered in and out of shops before winding our way back to the hotel for a nap.

That evening we headed to the Dieu du Ciel microbrewery, which was recommended by our friend Dave. I really enjoyed two of the beers I tried, one brewed with hibiscus, and one a vanilla chocolate stout. I'm pretty sure Ted liked them all!

This pretty much concluded our trip. I will, of course, have to do one more entry devoted to the Grand Prix itself, so that will be coming!

Quebec City

2008-06-11T11:15:00.001-07:00

Fresh after arriving in Quebec City.

Ted got acquainted with one of the locals.

We saw this cute kitty in Old Quebec.

The Frontenac.

This street performer was a hit with the kids.

A view from the Citadel.

Ted fit right in with this fresco in Old Quebec.

The famous Frontenac.

A window in an old tower.

Of course I thought I would end up doing some blog entries while we were in Canada, but we were constantly out and about, so I'm only now getting to the updates.

We started our trip by flying into Montreal. Arriving late, we got a couple drinks and a sandwich at the hotel bar and called it a night. We picked up our rental car and made the 3 hour drive to Quebec City last Wednesday, where Ted had made reservations at a B & B. If you ever need a place to stay in Quebec City, we highly recommend this place. It is in a super convenient location, within walking distance to Old Quebec City, and the woman who runs it makes a killer breakfast.

With limited time in Quebec City, we did not waste any time before heading out to explore, walking to the old part of the city, which is fantastic. We were starving and had no set dinner plans, so we ended up just picking this place. We finished our first night at the Irish Pub Galway near our B & B, which featured a fantastic cheese plate.

As I mentioned before, Isabel, our hostess fixed us up with a breakfast (breakfast is followed by dessert) that left us without appetites for hours, which gave us lots of time to walk around and explore. We headed to Old Quebec again, and made a quick visit to the famous Frontenac. Lunch was a picnic of cheeses, bread, salami, and lemonade in a park recommended by Isabel.

Dinner for our second, and final, night in Quebec City was at another place Isabel recommended. Chez Victor is a local favorite, featuring gourmet burgers. Ted had a duck burger that he said was fantastic. It is far from just a "burger joint." We found our way back to our Irish pub after dinner to finish our night. Isabel's breakfast the following morning was the end of our stay in Quebec City.

An update on the Montreal portion of the trip to follow...

A few photos....

2008-06-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

I may be biased, but I have one pretty kitty.

After an hour of walking a couple days ago, Hitcher chose to lie down in a flower bed, rather than opting for the soft grass.

HItcher, like me at Hood, was having a hard time with our new-found heat!

We're packed (mostly) and head to Montreal first thing tomorrow morning. With any luck, I'll do a couple blog entries during the trip.

Heading to Canada

2008-05-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ted requested homemade Chicago-style deep dish pizza for his birthday dinner, so we loaded it up with pepperoni, green and black olives, artichoke hearts, and Italian sausage.

...and for dessert we had birthday cake.

Hitcher and one of his many girlfriends, Lucy, from across the street. They stare at each other across the street like star-crossed lovers, with Lucy often caving and coming over to visit Hitch.

Ted and I are getting super psyched for our trip to Montreal and Quebec City next week. We leave Tuesday morning, arriving late that night in Montreal. The next morning we'll pick up a rental car and drive to Quebec City, where we will spend the next couple of days, before heading back to Montreal.

Our tickets for the F1 race include practice, qualifying, and the actual race. We'll definitely watch all of the qualifying and the whole race, but we may only catch portions of the practice, depending on what else we discover in Montreal. We plan to have some good meals out, and to spend lots of time exploring. We'll be sure to hit up the Dieu du Ciel brew pub, which appears to have a huge variety of beers (thanks for the recommendation, Dave!).

On our easy spin this evening, we decided to have a coasting race on the trail. Surprisingly, I won. I coasted for just about 1 km, with Ted not far behind. The numerous recreational riders who passed us going the opposite way must have been shaking their heads at us - all decked out and in our lowest tucks, coasting at 6 mph! I found myself laughing outloud, picturing what we looked like, and then I could hear Ted chuckling behind me.

Three more busy days before we head North. Hitcher will have a long stay at the kennel, but after this trip we won't have too many more trips where he cannot come along. If only we could find a trustworthy, hound-proof dog sitter. Now back to watching Fast Food Nation. On the movie note, I will definitely be hitting the theater for Sex and the City at some point this weekend.

2008-05-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty negligent in updating my blog lately... but really there hasn't been too much to write about. Last weekend we went to Boise to do the Treasure Valley Stage Race. It was a fun, well-organized race. Unfortunately, the fields were very small for all categories. It would be nice to see more Washington racers travel to the Boise area for races.

Ted and I have decided not to travel to Enumclaw to race this weekend because it would be a lot of travel, especially right before we head to Canada. Plus, Ted and I never seem to have great races there, and with gas around $4/gallon, it just doesn't seem worth the trip! Instead, we'll stay home and get some good, hard training in, so we can be guilt-free on our bike-free vacation.

Ted turns 35 tomorrow, so I'm making a cake. If it turns out okay, pictures will follow.

Hood

2008-05-19T09:56:00.001-07:00

Moriah MacGregor and I couldn't resist getting our photo taken with Jeannie Longo, the greatest female cyclist ever.

And, here's Ted with Jeannie.

The past week at Mt. Hood was not a great one for me at all on the bike. Not sure why really because I thought it would be. All I can figure is that I don't have enough racing in the legs. The other Bob's ladies did awesome, so that made up for my personal disappointment.

I timed myself for the prologue, which is something I do not normally do. When the results came out, my time was 7 seconds off of what I had gotten for myself. In a 1.7 mile event, lasting about 3 minutes, 7 seconds is a lot! I disputed my time with the judges, but to no avail. Two days later, however, they corrected my time, along with the time of another woman, and I was much happier. I guess they must have discovered a glitch. Not that the prologue really matters anyway, but it was the principle of the fact that I knew I had gotten a much better time.

The rest of the stages were rough for me. I just had no snap in my legs. I called it a day after 25 miles Saturday. They did not enforce time cuts that day, so I could have hung in to do Sunday's crit, but my legs were feeling so bad anyway that I don't think I would have lasted long in the crit.

It's nice to be home after being gone for a week. Hitcher is completely hoarse after being in the kennel. The only problem is that we think we have a yellow jacket nest somewhere in the house - we have killed 4 of them in the house this morning. Yikes! After being stung 17 times a couple years ago, I have a bit of a phobia.

Mystery Vacation

2008-05-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

This is Pazza's newest perch.

Lily, the neighbor cat, comes over to play almost every sunny day.

Shamus still loves to straddle Ted's leg.

Several weeks ago, Ted and I were discussing traveling to New Mexico to do the Tour of the Gila, along with my teammate, Sarah. Ted eventually said that he could either travel to Gila, or he could do a "mystery trip" he had up his sleeve. I had no idea what he was up to, but the unknown adventure sounded really interesting, so we opted for that.

One day not long ago Ted and I were talking on the phone, planning lodging for races this summer, and he accidentally slipped, telling me where we are going. He was bummed about telling me, but then decided to fill me in on all of the trip details. So, in June, we will fly to Montreal. We will drive to Quebec City and spend a few days there, before driving back to Montreal to watch three days of Formula One: practice, qualifying, and the race. We have become big F1 fans over the past year, so it will be awesome to see the Grand Prix du Canada in person. Ted got us tickets in the grandstands by the first corner.

Obviously, F1 is going to consume a large portion of the trip, but we'll also have some spare time in Montreal and Quebec City. If anyone has any recommendations on things to do/see in either city, let us know.

We are spending this weekend at home, which I think is the first weekend at home in about two months. We're doing a long group ride tomorrow morning that has a ton of climbing. Mt. Hood is just around the corner, so it'll be good to get some climbs in the legs.

Tour of Walla Walla

2008-04-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

Team Bobs-bicycles.com warming up for the crit. Left to right: Jeanne Rumps, me, Sarah Brown, Kimberly Turner, Ally Stacher, Sarah Barber, and Mike Gaertner.

Mixing it up in the crit. Blue and white Bob's kits throughout.

One stage race down. The Tour of Walla Walla took place over the weekend, and it was a great weekend of racing. The race has gotten huge over the years, seeing about 550 pre-registrants this year! And, that is without junior and masters categories, which surely would draw even more racers.

Our team had 7: Sarah Barber, Sarah Brown, Jeanne Rumps, Jenni Gaertner, Ally Stacher, Kimberly Turner, and myself. It was our first weekend of racing as a team, and it was a great start. After the time trial we had four ladies in the top 11, giving us the lead in the team competition. Personally, I was not thrilled with my time trial; I wasn't so much unhappy with the placing, as I was with the effort I put out. My power output was, for whatever reason, not at all where it should have been. For a 6.5 mile effort, my output was significantly lower than what it has been for the local weekly 10 mile tts I've been doing. Still, my in Walla this year was far better than last year!

Saturday afternoon we had a 60 mile road race. Poor Jeanne flatted early on, leaving her to chase solo. Sarah Barber attacked and kept the pressure on the first time we raced up the climb, causing the field to split. After the summit, we had a group of maybe 15, including Jenni, Ally, Sarah Barber, and me. The pace was not kept high, so most of the other ladies caught our small group, which left the race to the final climb. Sarah again threw down some attacks, which were countered by other teams. Sarah, Ally, Jenni, and I all finished within seconds of each other, leaving us with 3 in the top 6 overall after stage two, and maintaining our lead of the team classification.

Sunday we had the crit. Both Jenni and Sarah Barber had riders who were very close behind them on the overall results. With time bonuses available in the crit, we really hoped to keep Sarah and Jenni in their respective places. Our plan did not work flawlessly, with Jenni being leapfrogged in the results, but we were one of the most aggressive teams out there.

Overall it was a great weekend for Bob's. We ended up with 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 18th in the 1/2 women, and 4th and 10th in the cat 3 women. We also held on to first in the team classification. Not bad for our first weekend of racing as a team. We worked well together, had a lot of fun, and showed that we will be a force to be reckoned with.

Ted's time trial wasn't what he had hoped for. It didn't help that he had a stretch where he could not get into his big ring, so he definitely lost time there. He got in an early break in his road race (within the first couple miles), and they ended up staying off for about 30 miles. The guy he was with was super strong, and Ted basically worked until he had nothing left. He said he barely knew his own name because he had ridden so hard! He ended up calling it a day, but was happy to have tried the move.

We, along with Mom and Dad, had some great meals in the Walla Walla area. Friday we went to Whitehouse-Crawford, which was good, but not as great as in the past. Saturday we went to CreekTown Cafe, which was really good. Finally, the best meal of the weekend was after Sunday's race. We had a late lunch in Waitsburg at the Whoopemup Hollow Cafe, which is definitely worth a visit. Make sure to get dessert if you go there.

This weekend we're heading to the western side of the state to visit with Ted's family; his parents will be visiting his sister. We'll probably throw in a race or two for good measure.

Sneezing Panda

2008-04-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

I love this!

Gusty Chicken Dinner

2008-04-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hitcher has a new best friend in the form of our neighbor's cat, Lily. She comes over into the yard and the two of them play. It is the cutest thing to see this tiny cat playing with our 50 pound dog.

We've had a couple beautiful days lately.

We headed south to Boise for the Chicken Dinner road race yesterday. It was another opportunity for me to race with my teammates - Sarah Barber, Sarah Brown, and Jeanne Rumps. The 1/2/3 women were grouped in with the cat 3 men and the masters men, and the race started up a decent climb. Ted and I arrived too late for a warm-up, miscalculting how much time we would have, so we started with cold legs. Not so great for a race starting on a climb. Thankfully, there was a horrible headwind of 30mph up the first climb, keeping the pack together. Without a warm-up, Ted and I both got popped when the winds turned into crosswinds at the top of the climb. I was stuck out of the draft and was not warmed up enough to maintain contact. Ted fared slightly better, but still was popped long before he should have been.

All four of the Bob's girls were separated on the course, so we were unable to help each other. Sarah Barber was the furthest up the road, riding some of the time with Ted. I ended up solo for almost all of the next two laps, which was brutal in the wind. I definitely did get a good workout.

Ted turned around part-way into the third (of four) laps, and joined me. We decided to call it a day and headed home. With the wind as it was, it took the winning 1/2 man almost 3.5 hours to do 65 miles, and for our field, the winners finished 56 miles in about 3 hours! Needless to say, I don't think many would say that yesterday's race was exactly fun, but at least it was sunny and warm!

It ended up being a fun weekend. We stayed with Sarah and Brian Barber, and they fixed us a fantastic dinner. It was great to get to know Sarah a little better. The sun and warm temperatures made the drives pleasant, so overall it was a good weekend.

We did witness one very troubling thing yesterday afternoon as we were leaving Nampa. We saw a car pull over by a wildlife preserve, dumping something over the fence. As we got closer, we could see that the man had dumped two small dogs. We continued driving and came upon the car at the next intersection, so we jotted down the license plate number. Ted was irate and walked up to the man's window, telling him we knew what he had done and it was inexcusable. He offered some lame excuse of how the dogs weren't his, and eventually said he would go back to get the dogs. Ted said he did show some remorse, but I don't buy it. He did head back to the preserve, as did we. If the dogs were there, we were going to take them to a shelter, but they were nowhere to be seen, as was the car. I'm sure he probably did pick up the dogs. He also probably drove to some other remote street where he could dump them.

I called and reported the whole thing to the Nampa sheriff this morning, so hopefully they'll at least look into it. With Hitcher being a dog that was potentially dumped, it disgusts me to see someone doing such a thing. Horrible person.

Frozen Flatlands, literally

2008-04-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

This guy was assembled near Saturday's race start.

Ted won the sprint.

Michael Costello snapped this side shot of Ted's winning sprint.

The women's field was larger than in years past.

I received an email from Martha Friday telling me I was smart, weather-wise, to stay close to home and race Frozen Flatlands. As we headed to Spokane early Saturday morning and saw at least five cars off the road in the 15 mile stretch between Pullman and Colfax, I began to question my judgement. Not long after, big white flakes began to fall and the hills turned white. Hmmmm... would Ted's race really be going of at 10? Or, at all?

The call was made to delay the start of the first race (Ted's field) by two hours. This would allow for the snow plow (!) to get there and clean off the 2.5 mile circuit. It's April, people. What is going on?

Sure enough, the plow was there at 11, and Ted's race started right at noon. Ted is normally very frisky and aggressive at this race, so I was surprised to see him sitting near the rear of the pack for most of the race. At one point he yelled to me that he was feeling "awful." Needless to say, I think he was a bit surprised when he took the finishing sprint by a large margin, coming up with the win.

The track was actually pretty dry by the time the women's race started. I had one teammate, Jenni Gaertner, and it was our first time racing together. All the women raced together, giving us a field of about 25. Jenni and I decided to be aggressive and make the race hard to get a good effort. None of the other women were very aggressive, seeming mostly to key off of us. We attacked and couter-attacked, working very well together and having fun. I got the prime I wanted for metabolic testing, and Jenni won the final sprint, taking the win. It was a good race for our team.

Sunday was wet and cold, but better than Saturday. Ted was hoping to have a good finish to take the overall omnium. Someone broke away early in his race, and very few people were willing to work to chase, so the breakaway rider ended up winning. The race came down to a sprint and Ted got a little boxed in, so he wasn't as happy with his day as he had hoped.

Jenni and I decided to take it easy for the first portion of the race, hoping some other people would take a more aggressive role. Plus, it was good to keep the cat 4 women with us for a while, rather than just trying to dump them from the gun, as I have seen other 1/2/3 women do. Our plan was for me to attack on the hill and try to get away. If that didn't work, Jenni would be there to sprint at the finish. Our pack splintered around mile 30 and we had a small group off the front. A couple miles later, I got a rear flat. The wheel change was not fast, as the car was not right behind me, and I had to do my own change. I chased for a while, catching some women, but I could never regain contact with the leaders. Thankfully, Jenni was able to win the final sprint again, making it a double win weekend for her!

Weird racing and a dog cake

2008-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

We did two races last weekend, starting with the Tour de Dung in Sequim. This race was put on by Ted's team, so it was good for us to be able to go and volunteer. The fields were small - the 1/2/3 women's race had 8! Ted attacked from the gun in his race, and ended up in a 36 mile break that was eventually caught.

The women's race was weird. An attack went in the first few miles, leaving four of us off the front, and all four teams represented in the break, if you could call it that. None of the ladies behind were chasing, so it was pretty boring. It was not long at all before we had minutes on the others. Three of us in the break were working very well together, rotating through and keeping the pace fairly high. We also had one woman who sat on and refused to work. I have never really raced with her before, but apparently she did the same thing a couple weeks ago. She offered up a variety of excuses, including the fact that she has a job and goes to school, which prevents her from training a lot. I could not believe she said that! None of us are professionals, all having jobs and lives.

She told us she was going to throw up and was not strong enough to pull through. Our repeated attempts to drop her showed that she was definitely strong enough to be up with us, so we knew she was capable of pulling through. I had no doubt that she would sit on for the whole race and sprint at the finish. No understanding of etiquette at all. We eventually forced her to pull through by sitting on her wheel, but she continued to sit on regularly. If she only would have tried, I think we all would have been fine with it, but she thought it was fine to just sit on and do nothing. We were all incredibly annoyed and worked together against her, eventually dropping her. She is definitely creating a bad taste in the women's peloton, and will soon have very few friends to race with.

The race came down to a sprint for the three of us, and I ended up at the front for the final kilometer. Oops. I knew I was the weakest sprinter out of the three of us, and I ended up 3rd.

We headed south to Woodland, Washington for the Piece of Cake road race on Sunday. I woke up Sunday morning with a horrible sore throat and was not enthusiastic about racing. I opted to do the cat 3 men's race with Ted in the morning, rather than waiting until the afternoon for the women's race. I try to support women's racing, but it was very appealing to get home at 7:30 pm, rather than 11:30 pm, so I did the men's race. It was a pack of about 70, and I opted to sit in. With how I was feeling, I was just happy to hang in. Ted attacked a couple times, but found his legs unwilling to respond, so he sat in too. This weekend we have the luxury of racing close to home in Cheney, which will be really nice after a few weekends of driving.

Monday marked one year since I adopted Hitcher, so I had to mark the occasion with a cake, of course. I also say it is his birthday, since we really don't know how old he is. He even got a small slice of cake, and he almost never gets human food. Speak of the devil... I think someone needs to go for a walk before I head to work, as I have now been brought two shoes and a sunglass case. That's my cue.

Early Races Hurt

2008-03-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

The first road race of the year for us was last Saturday, and I'm not sure my legs were quite ready for it. I'm not really disappointed or surprised because it's so early, and almost everyone else has more racing already in their legs. I know I just need to get some race efforts under my belt and then I'll start to come around pretty fast. Ted fared slightly better than I did, but he still feels the same way. Good thing we have back-to-back road races this weekend!

The Cougars did so well against Notre Dame Saturday. After not having a great race, at least I got to listen to them win! I was working in a lab on campus today and overheard someone saying that people were lining the street outside. Sure enough, a crowd of people had formed, many with Cougar signs. Word had spread that the Cougar bus would be driving by shortly to take the team to the Lewiston airport. So, of course I had to go out and join the crowd, despite Ted's comments that I was a "dork." It's cool to see how excited Pullman is for this team.

Mom and Dad have become quite the fans too, and they headed to the Lewiston airport to see the team off today. Even Dad asked Kyle Weaver for an autograph! The next game is Thursday afternoon against North Carolina, which is arguably the "best" team in the country. It will be fun, but stressful, to watch.

One race down

2008-03-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

The 2008 racing season is officially underway for Ted and me, having done our first race in Boise last Sunday. It was a long trip to make for a 10 mile time trial, but it was also an opportunity to get to meet all of my teammates and the great sponsors at Bob's Bicycles.

Sure enough, Kristin Armstrong, the former world time trial champion, was slotted to start just behind me, raising the questions of just how quickly she would catch me, and how much total time she would put into me. Pretty quickly, I could tell I wasn't having my best time trial, so I was a bit confused when I reached the turnaround and Kristin had not caught me. No, I had not put down a world championship-worthy first half; Kristin had decided to sit up because she did not want to risk crashing in the horrible cross winds.

Ted and I both ended up winning our categories, so it was a pretty cheery drive home. With any luck, these first results were just foreshadowing of what is to come in the season ahead. It was awesome to have the Bob's women's team capture the top 4 slots in the results, and I'm excited to have this great group to race with.

For those who haven't heard about Rusty's proposal, he flew over to Japan to surprise his girlfriend, who was flying back from New Guinea. She had been out of the country for a few weeks and they had barely had any communication, so he totally shocked her when he showed up at her hotel room with flowers and a ring.

Hitcher's super antsy and my tummy's growling, so that's it for now. Time to walk him up to campus to meet Ted, so we can come home and have some homemade Pozole. My Cougars play their first game in the NCAA Tournament tomorrow afternoon, so send good karma their way.

2008-03-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my big brother who is officially an engaged man.

Ready to Race

2008-03-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

My new Bob's team kit.

A typical beautiful view we see on our Palouse training rides.

It took a while for me to get adjusted after my return from Paris. I immediately hopped back on the bike after taking quite a few days off, and it has felt great to be back in the swing of things. Most people have already begun their racing seasons, but Ted and I have yet to race. I think we're both getting antsy now, which is good since we'll be racing the next 8 or 9 weekends in a row.

Our season will begin this Sunday with a time trial in Boise. A five hour drive is a long way to go for a time trial, but it'll be good to visit with the team, especially since I missed the team training camp to get ready for France.

Ted told me last night that there is "no way" I'll win Sunday's time trial. I was slightly offended until I realized why he had made such a comment... none other than Kristin Armstrong (the former world time trial champion) is registered. At least I'll get to see how I compare against the best!

Half time is almost over in the Cougar vs. Ducks game, so I'm off to root on my boys. All of the home games are now over and I already miss them! I think we'll have to get season tickets again next year.

Paris Recap

2008-03-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

Rusty and I flew home Monday from Paris. From the time we left the hotel in Paris to the time I walked in my front door in Pullman, I traveled for 24 straight hours, so I was pretty much useless yesterday. We saw a lot, including the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Musee D'Orsay. We also had some fabulous eats...crepes, onion soup, foie gras, sandwiches, pastries, etc. Here are some photos...

My first crepe (of several) with Nutella and bananas. Good stuff.

We went to the Louvre our first day in Paris, which was perfect since it was rainy and grey. Here's Rusty with our lovely morning coffee.

Rusty and me with the famous Mona Lisa.

Louis XIV's coronation crown. Crazy to think that this sat on his head!

This is a photo of the Pyramid from inside the Louvre.

Having a couple drinks at a sidewalk cafe just off the Champs Elysees.

Rusty by the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees.

This oddly painted building near the Champs Elysees made for a neat black and white photo.

Pastries like these could be found on almost every street.

Your standard grocery store bakery in Paris.

A variety of pates in the Grande Epicerie, a huge French grocery store.

We went all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, which has 3 floors to visit. I have to admit that it was a little too high above the ground for my taste, but it did have amazing views of the city.

Rusty in front of Notre Dame, which is the most amazing cathedral I have ever been in. It was packed with people, but well worth the trip.

We took a boat tour on the Seine, which took us past the Eiffel Tower, among many other major Paris landmarks.

We could not resist taking a picture of this French bum. It just seemed so French for a bum to be passed out with a bottle of wine, rather than some unnamed alcohol in a paper bag.

Street food in Paris is amazing. We often got sandwiches from carts along the streets, and they were fantastic. Here I am with my salami sandwich and Rusty's pizza.

We visited the Musee D'Orsay on the final day of our trip. The museum used to be a train depot and this is a view of the inside. It houses mostly impressionist works, including Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin, and others.

The Eiffel Tower is fabulous at night.

Me with the famous Paris landmark.

,
Black and white shot of the Eiffel Tower. At 10 pm each evening, strobe lights flash along the tower, from top to bottom, for 10 minutes. We had no idea this would occur and just happened to be there our final night.

A night view of the Seine near Notre Dame cathedral - our final night in Paris.

An alley shot close to our hotel.

2008-02-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Rusty and I head to Paris tomorrow. I fly out of Spokane first thing in the morning, meeting him in Detroit tomorrow evening. We'll then take an overnight flight from Detroit to Paris, putting us in Paris around mid-day Wednesday. We'll head back March 3rd, which should give us a decent amount of time to explore. It will be very interesting to hear how Ted's solo week with Hitcher goes! I plan to take lots of pictures, so I'll post thme when I get home.

Riding Outdoors and France-bound

2008-02-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

The weather has finally turned up, allowing us to get outside for some good rides. Saturday saw 6 of us doing an 80 mile loop from Pullman, down Wawawai grade, and back up the Lewiston grade to Pullman. See photos from that ride below.

Today we got out for 3 hours. It was sunny with blue skies, and I was actually warm on the bike. What a novelty!

Me in my new Bob's Bicycles team kit.

Left to right, front to back: Kris Stanton, Ben Rhodes, Adam Southerland, and Stephen Howard.

A self-portrait of Ted.

Here we have Ben Rhodes, Kris Stanton, Stephen Howard, Adam Southerland, and me.

The river was completely flat.

In other news, Rusty and I are heading to Paris next week. He'll get his official schedule for March in two days, so then we'll know exactly when we're going, and for how long. Most likely, we'll be leaving on the 25th or 26th and coming back in the first couple days of March. It won't be a long trip, but we plan to cram as much in as possible. I have emails out to two of my former French professors, so I'm sure I'll get some good feedback from them. All I know is that I plan to have some wine, cheese, bread, gelato, onion soup, crepes, pastries, chocolate, and on, and on...

Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day gave me a good excuse to make tea cakes with buttercream frosting. A four hour ride is also in the plans, so I figure I can eat quite a few of these babies.

Shredding cardboard boxes is so much fun.

Then and now

2008-02-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

Then...

and now...

We were able to ride outside in Pullman today! The thaw has finally started, and the up-coming 10 day forecast has temperatures above 40. Spring is finally on the way. Four of us rode today, getting four hours in the saddle. It was windy, but we were all so happy to be outside that we didn't really care. Tired legs are all around now.

Homemade bagels and smelling the flowers

2008-02-08T09:48:00.000-08:00

I received flowers last week from Mom and Dad. Ever since, Pazza will not leave them alone.

Homemade bagels are really the way to go. They're so much better than store-bought bagels, they're easy to make, and you can make any flavors you want. Today we have salt bagels, bagels with Italian seasonings and salt, and...

...cheddar bagels, and bagels topped with freshly shaved parmesan.

Fainting Goats

2008-02-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

Riding, goodies, and Paris

2008-02-03T18:50:00.000-08:00

We capped off our long weekend (thanks to the closure of WSU) with a long outdoor ride. The road to Lewiston has been closed off and on all week, but we were able to drive to Moscow and then cut down. Can you tell that we're desperate to ride outside? Today's ride was far easier than that of last weekend, but we all said we could feel our legs more at the end of today... I guess that big week of training is starting to hit me.

We have several goodies in the house right now and, thanks to today's hours in the saddle, we can enjoy them guilt-free! Fresh cornbread with crumbled bacon, homemade English muffins, and chocolate creme brulee will all be munched on in the coming hours. I love days when you ride enough that you don't even have to worry about what you eat.

With any luck, Rusty and I will be taking a trip to Paris at the end of the month. He's still waiting for the final word on how many days he will have off, but it's looking like it should work. It'll be a relatively short trip (5 or 6 days at the most), but we should be able to pack a lot in. If you have any suggestions of things to do or see, let me know!

You think your winter is bad?

2008-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

They predicted a big storm would hit Pullman today. We awoke to a TON of snow on the ground this morning. We have more than a foot and a half on the ground and it is still snowing. Hitcher was able to escape from the yard for the first time today because there is so much snow along our fenceline that he was able to easily bound out; Ted has spent the morning shoveling a line along the fence, with hopes that the hound will stay in the yard. WSU is closed for a snow day today... for the first time since 1985! It will be very interesting to go to the Cal/WSU game tonight (they say it's still on schedule) because I imagine the crowd will be much smaller.

Just as I finished typing that last sentence, I looked out the window to see Hitcher jumping over the corner of the fence. Thankfully, he just ran across the street to the park where his girlfriend from across the street was playing with her owner. Now I just really hope that this behavior does not continue. If it weren't for all this snow, he would not have figured out he could escape.

Snow Ride

2008-01-29T18:44:00.000-08:00

Rather than riding on our trainers today, we decided to brave the cold and snow on our mountain bikes. We got more snow last night and today, giving us a thick coating all around, and an even larger storm is coming Thursday. When we began our ride, the snow had ceased falling and parts of the sky were a bit blue. The roads were slushy with snow, but overall not too bad since the temperature was above freezing when we left the house. We were riding during the sunset, and with the drifting snow, it was really pretty; I'd still trade it in an instant for warm sunshine, though!

We turned around after about 40 minutes of riding, with a headwind in our faces and falling temperatures. Sure enough, the roads began to grow icy, and I suddenly found my front wheel yanked from underneath me. Down I went. I've got some bruises, but nothing too bad at all. Not more than a couple minutes later, Ted suffered the same fate, tumbling and rolling across the ice. Thankfully, he didn't fare any worse than I did.

Although we both crashed, I think we're both glad we got out. It was just nice to do something outdoors, rather than sitting on our trainers in front of the TV. Winter, winter, winter!

Another good weekend ride

2008-01-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

Busted!

I made these cinnamon raisin bagels last week.

I bought a couple of these marzipan penguins from Huckleberries in Spokane a couple weeks ago. Marzipan is just one of the best things ever.

Hitcher and Shamus are getting along better and better all the time. This was the first time they had ever curled up together.

My car is finally home, after about 7 weeks in the body shop. Ted and I drove to Spokane Wednesday to pick it up, trading in the loaner for the RAV 4. Everyone told me my car would look brand new, but it's really amazing when you see it in person after seeing what it looked like after the deer. You would never know anything happened to it. It seems to drive fine, which is all that really matters.

We got another long ride in yesterday, doing the same route Ted and I did last Saturday. This time, however, we had seven starters, with five of us doing the whole ride. And, we rode all the way to the top of the Lewiston Grade, our final grade, giving us six more miles and 1200 more feet of climbing over last week. The grand total was over 8800 feet of climbing over 77 miles. We were all pretty blown by the end of it, but it was a really good group ride... one of the best group rides I've been on in a while. There were no hammerheads or super slowpokes, making for a nice, evenly-paced ride. With three grades and two other significant climbs, people had plenty of opportunities to go faster or harder if they felt so inclined.

Yet again, we have more snow today in Pullman. It's been snowing since early this morning. Enough is enough! Where is Spring?

Long Ride

2008-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

We may still be unable to ride here in Pullman, but at least we have the Lewiston/Clarkston valley nearby. It really is amazing to see the climate differences between here and there, even though there are only 35 miles in between. We headed down to ride this morning, inviting others to join, but having no takers. I guess no one was "up to" our planned ride.

We managed to get five hours of riding, 70 miles, and almost 7600 feet of climbing... and we stayed dry! The forecast called for rain or snow, but the skies were kind and held off until 5 minutes after we returned to the car. Thank goodness we opted to only go halfway up the Lewiston Grade or we would have been very cold and wet. It never went above 39.

We rewarded ourselves by sharing a Fazzari's Shotsy pizza with my parents (excellent pizza!), and now get to take tomorrow off. It was so fun to get outside to ride today, but I am tired from my first long ride of 2008.

Cycling Art

2008-01-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ted gave this commemorative poster to me for my birthday. It is really cool visually, but it also has a neat story behind it. The artist, Hannah Kirshner, also happens to be a cyclocross racer, and I have raced against her a few times. Ted and I briefly chatted with her at one Seattle race several months ago.

Around my birthday a couple months ago, Ted saw an article online, advertising Hannah's posters. She was making and selling the posters to help fund her own trip to cyclocross nationals in Kansas. Ted thought they were really cool, and also wanted to help her make it to nationals, so he bought a poster for my birthday, and had it neatly matted and framed. The mat color is a perfect match for the red in the print. So, we now have this cool print hanging on our wall, and it commemorates our trip to Kansas.

to Chicago

2008-01-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

Ted and I ended up spending our weekend in Chicago after his grandfather died last week. I just returned home this afternoon, and Ted will be home late tonight. We were only there for a couple days, but we did manage to pack a lot in.

My car is still at the body shop in Spokane. Originally, it was scheduled to be done December 21st. With my weekly calls to check on the progression, the date has been pushed back time and again. I called last week and was told the car would be done for me to pick it up on Friday, so Ted and I were going to head up to get it. Sure enough, I got a call Friday morning saying one more part is needed, and the part is nowhere to be found in the U.S. The guy "hopes" the part will be in Spokane by tomorrow. For some reason, I'm not getting my hopes up!

I took the body shop up on their offer of a loaner car since they have had mine for 7 weeks now, so I took a taxi to the shop today from the Spokane airport. I had called from Minneapolis to remind them I was coming and they said the car would be ready to go. Of course, when I got there, the car was not ready to go and no one could find the keys. I waited for 20 minutes before they managed to find the key, but at least I have the car. It's a sweet Chevy Lumina.

The pets are definitely glad to be home. I arrived home to find the rugs askew and overturned, the toilet paper and paper towels shredded to bits (hmmmm...Miss Pazza must have been on the kitchen counter since she's the only one with claws), and the cat grass plant overturned on the sofa. Yes, the kitties were busy.

Hitcher has done nothing but sleep since I got home. He gets so stressed at the kennel. This time he also had his vaccinations, which they say makes the animals not feel well, so he's under the weather too.

Ted and I had our hopes up that the snow would be melted enough for us to ride outside this week, but the Pullman streets are a slippery mess. I just attempted to do a short run and came home early after nearly falling several times. Ted discovered Yaktrax this year and they are fantastic when it's slippery outside. The only problem is that my pair is with Ted on the way home from Chicago. That's okay, though. I'll get a good trainer ride in tomorrow. Time to start counting those calories again after a couple days of misbehaving!

We're going to be riding indoors for a while, I think!

2008-01-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

We have about 8 inches on the ground right now.

Yard full of snow.

back on the bike

2008-01-05T17:15:00.000-08:00

After taking eighteen full days off from training and exercise, it has felt wonderful to ride the past two days. My coach planned for me to take some time off after cyclocross nationals, but I ended up taking a bit more off than planned when I got sick. I cannot remember the last time I took so much time completely off from training. It was nice, but I was getting pretty itchy to get back into it. I don't know how "normal" people do it. I just don't feel good when I don't exercise almost daily. I guess I've been doing this too long to be normal anymore, in more ways than one!

I got a new trainer for my birthday, which makes riding indoors much more tolerable than it had been for the past year. My old trainer was given to Rusty for Christmas probably ten years ago, and it was sounding worse and worse. I had to turn the TV up to its max volume just to hear during an easy spin. An interval workout? I just accepted that I wouldn't hear a thing during those. Hitcher would sit behind the baby-gated threshold and whine, letting out an occasional howl. I don't think he understood what that horrible sound was, and what it was doing to his mother. For the past six months I would hop on the trainer, half expecting my resistance unit to explode a la Ben Rhodes. I just hoped my unit wouldn't put a hole in the wall or ceiling.

When I rode inside yesterday, I couldn't believe how quiet my new trainer was. It is fantastic. The volume on the TV was not even half of its max!

Today we even got to ride outdoors, and we're riding outside again tomorrow in Lewiston. I will say that taking some time off makes you really motivated to get back out there. Now, if the snow would just stop coming...

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Hitcher, Raichle, and me.

Pazza and me.

This is the only action my trainer has been getting lately!

Merry Christmas! There is absolutely nothing bike-related to report, as I have not worked out in over a week. Not once. It's good to take a little break, and then I'll start up after New Year's.

Our Christmas celebration is going to be shifted by one day, so our Christmas Eve will be tomorrow. Rusty is on a work trip right now and doesn't get back to Memphis until tomorrow. He'll immediately hop on a flight to head here and Ted and I will pick him up at the airport in Spokane tomorrow evening. We're hoping it'll work! I guess there have been a lot of delays in the midwest this week, so we have to cross our fingers that he can make it. He only has a few days off, so he really needs to make it back soon, if he's going to come.

We're going to make deep dish pizza tonight and hang out with the animals. I am dog sitting for my friend Laura, so Hitcher has a brother for a week. Raichle (pronounced Rikely), a Border Collie, is several years older than Hitcher, so he gets a bit annoyed by Hitcher's incessant begging to play. It will definitely be interesting to get the Border Collie, Treeing Walker Coonhound, and Miniature Schnauzer together at Mom and Dad's house tomorrow. I don't think you could have three more different dogs.

Happy holidays to everyone!

Cyclocross Nationals Day 3

2007-12-17T16:29:00.000-08:00

Crashes like this were a common sight throughout the entire weekend of racing.

Kevin Bradford-Parish of Spokane, on the right, finished 21st in the elite men.

Todd Wells and Jonathan Page led for much of the elite men's race.

The start of the elite men's race, with eventual race winner Tim Johnson in the center of the photo.

Riding the frozen ground.

Getting ready to head to the start line.

The conditions for my race yesterday were far better than for Ted's the day before. It was at least in the 30s and sunny, so some of the frozen ground had thawed. There was still, however, a great deal of ice! I had never before even ridden on snow, so it was a completely new experience for me to race on a course like that. Grooves a tire width across were carved out from previous races, but the ground was frozen; if you did not get your tire perfectly in the groove, you would slide all over. It was very disconcerting for a roadie like me. I was eventually caught by the race leaders, but it was a good experience. It made me realize that I need to experience many more types of course conditions.

We hung around after my race to watch the elite men. Even more of the course had thawed for them, so it was a pretty muddy race. It's amazing to see how much faster and more fluid they are than all of the other categories. They really do make it look easy... but it's not!

To finish up our experience in Kansas, we went to the post-race party at Dave and Buster's. Lots of people were there and lots of beer had already been poured by the time we arrived. We chatted with a few people, had a couple beers, and played some arcade games. We're home now and pretty tired after our 5 hours of sleep last night. All in all it was a good trip and definitely a learning experience.

Cyclocross Nationals Day 2

2007-12-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

Mark McCormack led Ted's race for most of the day, but collided with a lapped rider before the finish.

Climbing a very slippery, frozen hill.

Winter.

Battling in the snow.

The start of Ted's race.

The conditions at the start of Ted's race.

Ted pre-rode the course early Saturday morning; I was originally going to go with him, but opted to sleep in when I heard the conditions were 17 degrees and snow. By one o'clock when his 35-39 Masters race was set to start, conditions really had not improved much, so he knew he was in for a slippery ride.

There were large numbers of no-shows in every category. Ted's category alone had over 70 registered racers who did not start. There were lots of bobbles and lots of guys went down on the frozen ground, but Ted managed to keep it up for the duration of his race. He says he isn't thrilled with his result, but loved the experience. He was smiling and laughing each time I saw him go around. Afterall, we're from dry eastern Washington, so we aren't used to these frozen conditions!

Day One in Kansas

2007-12-15T08:07:00.001-08:00

We watched a few races yesterday, starting with the 17-18 junior men in the morning. The ground was frozen rutted mud, taking out at least 6 racers in 2nd corner. It was great to see the junior men from Seattle, as they finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Later, we watched the 30-34 and 35-39 masters women race, followed by the 45-49 masters men. By that point, the ground had thawed into a thick, soupy mess. There were still crashes left and right as tires would slide out, but at least they looked less painful than in the morning.

Of course, we did get the called-for couple inches of snow overnight, so the races today will be very interesting! Ted pre-rode the course this morning and crashed twice. Once again, the sludge is frozen, but it is now also covered with a layer of slippery snow. The high today is supposed to be in the 20s, so it probably won't thaw out as much as it did yesterday. Thank goodness we bought those knee-high rubber boots at Wal-Mart yesterday!

More snow is expected throughout the afternoon and evening. Wish Ted luck in his sloppy mudfest this afternoon! I'll be out there with my camera.

The Many Faces of Hitcher

2007-12-12T20:19:00.001-08:00

Off to Kansas

2007-12-12T20:16:00.001-08:00

We are off to Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City tomorrow. It looks like there will be about 170 men in Ted's category, and about 100 women in mine. There are over 2000 riders registered across all categories. Ted races Saturday, while my race is Sunday; it should be interesting since they're calling for snow Friday night. The course is predicted to be very muddy and mucky. We'll try to snap some photos since we don't race at the same time.

Lactic Acid

2007-12-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

Having blood taken from my ear during my lactate threshold test.

Ted racing in Boise.

The cats love the Christmas tree.

We had a good, although short, trip to Boise. Corey Hart, who has worked with Kristin Armstrong, Tina Pic, and Kimberly Baldwin, among others, did the lactate threshold testing. My results ended up okay, but not as high as I had hoped. Corey said I am currently a bit lower than most of the female U.S. domestiques, which made me disappointed at first, but then I realized that I really have not been training all that much over the past 6 weeks, so I am definitely lower than I will be after some good training. We will have the opportunity to have the testing done again in a couple months to measure improvement. Ted didn't feel great for his race yesterday, but he did say he had fun and liked the course.

Corey said we'll have to get Ted tested too the next time we go down. If you have never had a lactate threshold test done, it's not a lot of fun. You start out riding at a steady pace on a trainer. Every 3 minutes, they add resistance to the trainer to increase the difficulty, ask you to rate your perceived exertion, and take blood from your ear (or finger). They measure the lactic acid in your blood each time to measure how well your body is able to utilize it. Everyone reaches a point where they can no longer utilize the lactic acid produced by the body; the goal is to get this level as high as possible. You basically ride until you cannot turn the pedals over anymore. The whole test only takes a matter of minutes.

We have another short week here, as we leave Thursday to go to Kansas for cyclocross nationals. Lots to get done in the next few days!

Headin' South

2007-12-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

Boise is the destination tomorrow. We're heading down for me to visit with some of my new Bob's teammates. The team also has a deal to get some physiological testing done, so I'll be getting my lactate threshold tested Saturday. I've had these tests done before, but it has been a while, so it will be interesting to see how the results compare.

Ted will get to do a 'cross race while I'm being tested, so it should be a worthwhile trip for us both. You can bet we'll be driving in the daylight tomorrow to make those pesky deer a bit more visible!

Weekend at home

2007-12-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

We were originally planning on spending this weekend in Portland, but we opted to stay home, for several reasons; we were both tired of travel with just getting home on Wednesday. Plus, neither of us is super fit right now. My car is in the body shop and I think we both worry a little about taking Ted's car on longer trips, considering it has ~265,000 miles on it.

Our weekend consisted of getting a Christmas tree, having lunch with my parents at their house, and making a batch of Christmas cookies, along with a tiny bit of Christmas shopping. Not a super exciting weekend, but it was nice to get some things done.

I'm hoping/planning to hear the insurance company's decision on my car in the next day or so. The body shop's estimate is complete, so it's now just up to the insurance company as to whether the car is repaired or replaced. If they decided to repair, it'll be at least a couple weeks until it's done, which is just one more reason to hope they decide to let me get a new one. Fingers crossed...

Home

2007-11-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

We are home from our trip to Chicago. Aside from hitting the deer, the trip was otherwise good. Thanks to everyone for their comments and concern. The car is being taken to a body shop today to be evaluated. We're all crossing our fingers that it is deemed ruined, but it will likely be fixable.

While in Chicago, we squeezed in some Christmas shopping, some good meals out and in, visits with Ted's family, and a couple of races in Iowa. All in all we were pretty busy. We had a good time, but it's also really nice to be home.

Ted picked Hitcher up from the kennel this morning and he's a little under the weather. He's curled up in my lap as I type. It's probably just stress from the kennel, but the poor guy is exhausted and has some digestive problems.

Ted's fixing a fondue dinner for my birthday tonight, so that will be a real treat. Plus, it's cold here (30 degrees), so fondue seems fitting.

2007-11-22T20:39:00.000-08:00

Thankful

2007-11-22T20:14:00.001-08:00

We left Pullman at 4 am this morning, so I took a little snooze on the way to Spokane, while Ted drove. I awoke to a pounding sensation in my chest, the smell of gunpowder, and my own screams. I had no idea what had happened. We had hit a large male deer. We both jumped out of the car to find the front end of my new RAV4 ruined, and a large deer carcass on the road ahead. Debris was everywhere.

The front end of the car is totaled. Often, when drivers hit deer, you hear of them driving away from the scene. Not the case with us. We are seriously lucky to be uninjured, let alone alive. We hit the dear at 60+ mph, and it could have gone through the windshield. My side of the windshield has a large fracture. The driver's side hit the deer, which we think rolled across the top of the hood, hitting my side of the windshield. Both airbags deployed and we both have sore backs/chests as a result.

We made it to Chicago after all of this, getting in 4 hours later than originally planned. But, at least we're okay.

2007-11-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

This is the new Vanderkitten cyclocross team kit, which I'll be sporting for the first time this weekend.