Photos

Pullman Cyclocross Race

Ted and I are promoting a cyclocross race in Pullman on October 7th. It will be the first race in the Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series. Let us know if you want to come and do it, and we can try to find a place for you to stay. Here's a copy of the flyer:

2007 Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series Race #1 – Pullman, WA

Military Hill Cyclocross

October 7, 2007

Held under USCF, permit #s in progress

Organized by Allison Beall and Ted Chauvin, with help from Emde Sports LLC




CATEGORIES / START TIMES / CYCLO-CROSS 700 cc (mass start)

Men A 12:00 noon - 55 minutes (+/-)
Men B 12:01 pm
Master Men 40+ 12:02 pm
Women, Juniors 18 under 12:03 pm
"Total Rookie" 12:04 pm "NEW" Female "Rookie" Category!

Mountain Bike Categories (Men A, Men B, Juniors and Women) 12:05 pm



Directions to venue: Take WA-195 south to Pullman. Once in Pullman turn left on N Grand Ave and proceed to NW Stadium Way and turn left (Dissmores IGA will be on your right side). You then will immediately veer right on Hall Street and drive all the way up the hill to Military Hill Park. Parking is at the Pullman Aquatic center which is at 500 NW Larry St. Do not park at the high school.


For more information or questions see:

http://www.emdesports.com/Race_Flyers/2007_cyclocross.html

Moose Marbled

We successfully completed our mountain bike race today, which was Ted's first mtn race in 6 or 7 years, and my second ever. We both finished with all skin intact, though I don't think the same could be said for our pride. Thankfully we both entered the race with just the right level of expectation... none!

Ted and I can both catch people on the climbing sections, but even more people seem to pass us back on the singletrack sections. Frustrating at times, but a year ago I would not have even considered trying the race, so I have definitely improved. I remember a ride I did a few years ago with my good friend, June. It included some of the trails from today's race, and I literally walked 3/4 of it. She was such a good sport and waited for me. I can honestly say I rode at least 3/4 of it today!

I did get into a little "tiff" with a guy in the race today. I had come to a sudden stop, so I allowed at least a handful of people behind to pass. I knew I couldn't let everyone pass, so I finally attempted to jump back into the race. The guy coming up behind me yelled at me for not letting him pass. I thought of what Ted and Lorena had told me at the start, which was to hold my own, and to remember that it is not my responsibility to stop and let everyone pass. I told the guy that I was racing too, to which he gave a somewhat nasty response. It wasn't my finest moment, but I told him to shut up. By this time he was past me, so I just made sure to pass him back on the next uphill section. This went on for the rest of the race. I caught him at one point when he had a flat and he said, very sarcastically, "Congratulations, you finally got me." Sure enough, the final section of the race was descending singletrack, so he beat me to the finish. I'm sure it made his day to beat me. He should be so proud - he beat someone who practically walks down anything even remotely technical, and a girl, no less. Okay, rant over.

Seriously, though, it was fun to do a mountain bike race for something different. It was a beautiful day too!

Moscow Mountain Madness

Two nights ago we headed up to Moscow Mountain in an attempt to find the course for this weekend's Moscow Mountain Madness mountain bike race: http://palouseroadrunners.org/RunningRoutes/MMM-Map.htm.

Since the trails on the mountain really are not marked at all, we managed to get ourselves a little lost, and darkness was coming quickly. We found a descending gravel road, which at least got us off of the singletrack, and was definitely taking us to the bottom of the mountain. We got to the bottom and ended up on back roads, but it was so dark that we could barely tell where we were. In any case, we were not near our car. A few miles on dusty gravel roads brought us to familiar territory, and we made it back to the car well after 8 pm.

We were starving after our adventure, so a stop at Patty's (http://www.pattysmexicankitchen.com/) for burritos was in store. FYI: Patty's has the best, and most authentic, Mexican food on the Palouse. Their tamales are particularly good!

We never did get to ride the whole course for Sunday, but we're still going to give it a try. It's practice for cyclocross, right?

It's cyclocross time!

The first cross race of the season was yesterday at South Seatac, which is definitely not a venue that suits me. With several sandy sections and some twisty singletrack, I would lose ground every time things got a little more technical. On the plus side, I would make up lots of ground on the run-ups and pavement. Both Ted and I finished the race with burning legs and heaving lungs. It was, afterall, the first race in weeks for either of us. We both had fun, but also realized that we need to really get in shape and work on our technical skills, especially me!

Tia and Andy's wedding on Sunday was very nice with a lakeside ceremony, good food, and lots of conversation. We were very glad that we could make the trip over to be there, and the opportunity to do a cross race was just a bonus.

I am riding for the Vanderkitten cyclocross team this fall, which I'm very excited about. More to follow on that.

A Few Photos

Here's a photo from the little cocktail party we had at our place last night. Here we have me, Ted's boss, John, and our friend Karl.

It didn't take the animals long to check out the new sofa/futon.

Shamus has always liked to sleep on plastic bags. This is where Ted found him a few mornings ago.

A Very Random Assortment of Things

These little buggers hang out in our trees each morning, causing Hitcher to spend hours looking skyward, and, of course, to howl.

Mmmmmmm.....uffaletta. We had some authentic New Orleans-style olive salad on hand, so I made this muffaletta for dinner one night last week. Well, actually, it lasted for more than 1 meal - more like 3.

I finally met our 98 year old neighbor two evenings ago. She said, "Your dog is the best behaved dog. He never barks at me." Ted says her comments are proof of her senility.

Hitcher came darn close to eating my parents' parakeet yesterday. The poor bird was all ruffled and worked up. Apparently, later that evening, the bird got loose in the house after biting my dad, and both the dog and cat were chasing it around.

I've never really been allergic to anything before, but I am certainly suffering from seasonal allergies right now. I had a bad reaction in the middle of our group ride last Saturday, so I'm now taking OTC Claritin. It seems to help a bit.

We're having a cocktail party on Friday night. I think we're both hoping it will force us to organize the spare bedroom/office, along with being fun, of course. After having a few weekends at home, we're heading toward Seattle this weekend for Tia and Andy's wedding (http://cannondalegirl.blogspot.com/) and a cross race.

Today is Pazza's birthday. She's 2!

We've been doing a fair amount of mountain biking lately. Lord knows I can use all the practice I can get! The nice thing is that I can actually see the progression as I get better and more confident. Don't get me wrong - I'm still a wuss, but I'm less of a chicken than I used to be.

We went up to Moscow Mountain yesterday morning with Chris and Lorena, who offered to show us some trails. We had been doing the same loop over and over, so it was fun (and a little scary!) to try some new trails. Seeing as my first cross race is probably a week from today, I need to get myself heading into off-road mode... and fast.

Lots of people walk by our house since it is in a neighborhood full of families and is directly across the street from the park. Hitcher howls at anyone passing with a dog, and even quite a few without, which is what the bark collar is for. There is only one person at whom he never howls - our 98 year old neighbor who walks to the park with her walker. We have yet to meet her, but other neighbors have told us that she lives alone and walks all over town with her walker. Hitcher will quietly watch her, or walk along beside her as she passes our fence, but he has never howled at her. It's almost as if he knows better than to bother this old lady.

Rafting

Rusty and his girlfriend, Deborah, came back for a few days to visit this week.
Since Rusty and Deborah were in town, we all decided to take a raft trip on the Salmon River. Mom sat this one out. Left to right we have: me, Ted, Dad, Rusty, and Deborah.

Ted was first up in the kayak since he was the one who was most enthusiastic about it. He ended up kayaking when the sun was directly overhead and forgot to put sunscreen on the fronts of his legs, so he has some very red shins right now!

Rusty was sure that Ted was going to end up in the water, so we were all waiting for Rusty to have his moment of glory. Surprisingly enough, he made it through without turning it over.

Finally, it was my turn in the kayak. I had never gone kayaking before, and it turned out to be really fun. Our guide forgot to mention that I would have two rapids to go through, rather than one. The 2nd one sure looked big to me, but I made it through without capsizing. My arms and torso were very sore the next day, as were my legs from running, so I was pretty much sore all over!

Greedy scammers

We knew there would be a lot of cleaning to do when we moved out of our old apartment. Ted lived there for eight years, so almost nothing had been replaced or tended to in that time. We both cleaned the place for several hours during our final day there, and Ted continued cleaning until 3 am that morning. We had received our list of what we needed to clean and we made sure to do all of those things.

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of trusting our apartment managers. We have dealt with them a lot in the past few years and always thought they were great people. When Ted talked with them on the phone, they told him not to worry about cleaning the blinds because they would all be replaced. They also said the walls would be primed and painted, so we got the major scuffs off, but not every little mark. Finally, they told us we only needed to vacuum the carpet, as it would all be replaced. We trusted them when they told us all of these things.

When Ted got his damage deposit check in the mail, he received a whopping $8.64 out of $500! They charged us for every little thing, including the unclean blinds, the marks on the walls (they supposedly spent 12 hours cleaning the walls alone), and the carpet. Ted immediately called the apartment owners and complained about the charges from the managers. The owners completely backed up the managers, but Ted got them to back down a bit when he threatened to take them to small claims court. We did have in writing that we did not need to do a thing to the carpet, so we knew we had a great case for court.

While we could not prove the cases for the blinds and walls, we did at least get them to refund the money for the carpet. We also discovered that the managers keep whatever money is not refunded to the tenants. Conflict of interest? Hmmmm.... Scammers. I will never again trust people in this position. The owners also said that they are no longer willing to give us a positive recommendation. It's hard to believe that people are so deceptive and greedy.

Um, it's a CAT tower, not a dog tower!

Our little house that we are renting.

Here's a lovely photo of my brother from a few years ago. He was trying to get rid of his tan lines before his trip to Europe.

And, Miss Pazza is starting to feel at home too.

Shamus is feeling at home in the new bathroom.

home and ready to exercise!

This is the result of Ted going through his T-shirt drawer after we moved.

After a week of way too much food in Chicago and Wisconsin, it's nice to be home and getting back on the exercise track. I let all dietary caution go out the window and enjoyed cheese, cheese curds, frozen custard, deep-dish pizza, wine, and Chicago-style hot dogs. I guess that explains why light salads have tasted so good the past few days.

We got back on Friday, which ended up being a very long, frustrating travel day for me. I used my family perks for Rusty being a pilot, which meant a free ticket, but also put me flying standby. I was unable to get on Ted's 9 am flight out of Chicago because it was overbooked. Nor was I able to get on the 11 am flight. I finally got the last seat on the noon flight, which took me to Minneapolis. By that time, Ted was long gone on what was supposed to be the last leg of our trip. After searching around for someone who would actually be willing to help me find a new flight to Spokane, I ended up getting the last seat on a flight to Seattle, with hopes that I would then catch a flight to Spokane or Pullman.

Since the only flights out of Seattle were Horizon or Alaska, and my family benefits are through Northwest, I was essentially stuck. In order to get on a flight to Spokane or Pullman, I needed to have a paper ticket, which I did not have! I was told to call Rusty and have him get me some sort of pass, which he had never heard of; with some research, he discovered that he needed to order the pass two weeks prior to the flight, and it would then be mailed to his house. Obviously, that was not going to work. My options were to rent a car and drive 5 hours home (I had already been traveling for 10+ hours), or purchase a ticket to Spokane or Pullman. The only Pullman flight had left by this time, so I had to buy a ticket to Spokane. This meant that poor Ted had to drive up to Spokane and pick me up.

Ted had gotten into Spokane at 1 pm, so he drove home to pick up Hitcher and do some stuff around the house. I didn't arrive in Spokane until about 7. Long day! We had a good dinner in Spokane at the Latah Bistro (thanks to Mom and Dad for offering to treat us) and then drove home.

It was really nice to have nothing planned for Saturday and Sunday since my clock was so thrown off. We went mountain biking both days at Moscow Mountain, which is something I really need to do consistently to help me get ready for cross season. There's still a lot to get done at the new house here too, but it's slowly coming along.

While in Chicago, I was emailed by a potential personal chef client. The woman is a recent widow, who is pregnant and has a five year old. She is also Jewish and Vegan. If she ends up hiring me, it'll definitely be a challenge; all meals will have to be Kosher, Vegan, and kid-friendly! I also have a new business idea in mind, but I'm not going to divulge any info until I research it further.

That's all for now!

We passed this lady one day in Pullman recently and just had to take her picture.

In the past couple weeks we have squeezed in:

- one trip to Philadelphia for both of us

- one trip to San Antonio for Ted

- one short visit with our friend Naomi in Spokane

- one trip to the Seattle area for Kari and Dan's wedding, along with a visit to Ted's sister and her family

- one move across town in Pullman

- one evening with my parents in Clarkston

- one trip to the movie theater for The Simpson's Movie

- and... we leave for Chicago tomorrow morning

The house is still full of moving boxes, but everything is slowly getting put away. Shamus is adapting surprisingly well and has already made himself at home on the bathroom rug. Ted's hopes of breaking him of his habit of drinking from the bathroom faucet have been dashed, as it only took a matter of hours before Shamus was sitting in the sink asking for the water to be turned on.

Of the animals, Pazza is having the hardest time adjusting. She's such a meek little kitty to start with, so she has spent most of the past few days under the covers on the bed or inside a closet. She seems to be getting a little more adventurous, though.

Hitcher could care less that we moved out of the old place. He's loving his new fenced yard, as are we. Who needs to take him for walks when he runs laps around the house at full speed?

It'll be a nice break to go to Chicago tomorrow. Ted's parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary, so everyone's heading back to visit. It will be a relief to get away from the moving process for a few days!

This adorable little bunny was in the yard a couple days ago.

This is what happens when Hitcher gets bored.

I absolutely love having the daily Tour de France coverage, though it does cause me to spend much more time in front of the TV than I normally do. It's been really hot here lately, so we've kind of been stuck indoors for the most part. I can't wait for a cool down.

Ted's in San Antonio this week for a conference, so I'm just hanging out here with Shamus, Pazza, and Hitcher. We move in a little more than a week, so there's going to be quite a lot to get done around here soon, including a major cleaning. Ted has been in this apartment since 1999, so a lot of living has happened here.

The racing season is pretty much over, aside from a few small local things. Time to start getting ready for cyclocross season! Well, this has been a boring update. Hopefully there will be more exciting things to write about here soon.

Philly Trip

Back from Philly. We had a great time with our good friend Tammie and her boyfriend, Carlos. We drank some good beer, had some fantastic food, rode our bikes a little, and visited a lot. Oh yeah, and I did a bike race.

The problem with one day races is if you have a bad day, your race is over. I felt awful on the bike. My legs just didn't want to turn the pedals over. Why? Who knows? Ted has been sick for over a week, so perhaps I'm getting that. I've had a sore throat for a few days now. After I dropped out of the Nationals road race, Ted commented that I reeked of ammonia. I've never had that before. Ted had it happen once before and it was also at a race where he felt awful. A Google search basically says that no one really knows why it happens.

If you go to Philly and like tapas and martinis, this is a good place to try, but be prepared to drop some $: http://www.continentalmartinibar.com/

Ted's win in Boise

Treasure Valley

The past weekend found us in Boise where it was really hot! Ben, Ted, Hitcher, and I drove down to do a stage race, which turned out to be the most horribly organized race any of us had ever done. The race "packet" pickup was really just number pickup; there was no race information or anything else given to us. If we had not had access to a computer, we would have had no way to know the directions to any of the stages, let alone any other race information.

When we arrived at the start of the first stage, we were greeted by the lovely fact that there was one porta-potty... for over 100 people. They had to start the races late because so many people were still in line for the bathroom! On top of that, the race organizers had made no provisions for water to be at the start/finish area, and it was nearly 100 degrees. Unacceptable.

There were even more problems, but I'll stop there.

Ted had an amazing criterium on Sunday. He made a perfectly-timed attack and got a good gap ahead of the pack. His gap grew to nearly 40 seconds and he stayed off the front for the last 10 km of his race. He scored his first win in impressive style and made some money in the process, so that was really fun to watch. Pictures will follow at a later date.

Ted and I are leaving on Friday to go to Philadelphia where we'll spend a couple days with our good friend Tammie and her boyfriend. Then, on Monday, I'll do the elite women's national road race in Seven Springs, PA. It'll be tough - hopefully I feel good! It will likely be my last big race of the year since I decided not to do the Tour de Toona afterall. No matter what, it should be a fun trip!

More Races on the Horizon

Just last week I decided to do the national championship road race in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. It was a very spontaneous decision, which was largely due to the cancellation of the women's race at the Cascade Cycling Classic; I'm still highly disappointed with the race organizers for their choice there.

I was also searching for a team for the Tour de Toona, which is a 7 day race in Altoona, Pennsylvania. I've done it the past two years and was hoping to do it again, but I had pretty much figured I wasn't going to find a team. I just got an invitation this morning to race Toona with a team, so it turns out that I'm going to do it afterall. July will be a bit hectic, but it'll be fun to do these races.

Poor pooch

It's been a stressful week for the Hitch man... and for me! We were scheduled to leave around 8:30 am on Saturday to go to Olympia and race, but Hitcher was still having severe stomach issues, so we made a trip to the vet around 9. A fecal test didn't show anything, so we decided to go ahead and go on with our trip; unfortunately, we got to Olympia too late for Ted to do his race, and barely in time for me to register for mine. With no warm-up, my legs weren't ready when the ladies starting pushing the pace off the line.

We bought some Pepto Bismol for the pooch, and fixed him a bland meal of rice and boiled beef... yummy. When he was still having problems on Sunday morning, I was starting to get worried. My concern only increased when the afternoon had arrived and he had refused to drink anything all day, so I bailed on my race and we headed to a vet clinic (thanks to Suz and Eric for the recommendation). Ted did get to race yesterday and had a really good crit, so that was good.

The vet in Lynwood did some bloodwork, did another fecal exam, put him on more antibiotics and an anti-parasitic, and gave him a bunch of subcutaneous fluids. He walked around with a giant fluid-filled hump on his back for a few hours! The poor guy wasn't too happy, but he had a great time playing fetch with Ted's niece and nephew for a little while before we headed home. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home, which was around 1 am, so we slept in a bit this morning.

Our local vet clinic had called this morning to do a follow-up, so I filled them in on everything from the weekend, along with the fact that Hitch hadn't pooped in over 24 hours. That made them a little concerned, so he went back to the vet here again this afternoon. He got more subcutaneous fluids, another fecal exam, and lots of pokes and prods. The vet here says she doesn't want to get into any expensive diagnostics at this point, but if he's not significantly better by Thursday, he'll be getting more work-ups done. I think he's on the up-and-up. I sure hope he is because the past few days have been horrible for me!

On another pet note... Shamus turns 14 tomorrow, so he'll be getting some catnip and extra belly rubs tomorrow. He also got a dog-free afternoon today, which Ted says is the best gift you could give him.

The plan is to race in Boise this weekend (as long as Hitcher is doing okay), where it's supposed to be over 100 degrees. Yikes! I haven't been to Boise since 1998, so it'll be fun if we can make the trip.

Sick Hitch

Hitcher's not feeling so well today - he has what we affectionately call "race stomach." We awoke to a sick dog this morning and a major "accident" in his crate. After a bath, a walk, and a major crate washing, he spent the day napping before going to the vet this afternoon. They're guessing he picked a bug up from another dog in the kennel last weekend, so they didn't charge us for the visit.

He's on antibiotics and a probiotic now. I asked the vet if Pedialyte would be a good thing to get him since he's not a good drinker, and she said it would be fantastic... if I could get him to drink it. Since I knew he liked Fuzzy Navels, lemonade, and Gatorade, I figured it wouldn't be a problem. Sure enough, he's had a lot of orange Pedialyte tonight!

helmet for wine

I hopped on the trainer for a cool down right after my Elkhorn TT and was approached by a guy with a charming Kiwi accent. He asked if he could borrow my TT helmet. I was hesitant to loan it out because it's new, but the guy explained that he was the leader for the 1/2 men and didn't have a helmet. He seemed nice, so I decided to let him use it. My helmet must be lucky or fast because it was used by both Tuckerman and me, and we ended up being the G.C. winners for the 1/2 men and 1/2 women.

Later that day, when he gave the helmet back, he handed me a bottle of wine from a local Oregon winery. Very nice of him, and the wine has received very good reviews, so it'll be fun to try it here soon.

Racin' and such

Another stage race is officially complete. The Elkhorn Classic took place over the weekend in Baker City, Oregon: http://www.elkhornclassicstagerace.com/ This was the 6th year for the race, and I believe it was also my 6th trip to Baker City. The course for the first road race was different this year, due to road construction, so no one really knew what to expect. Heat and 40 miles of climbing with a severe crosswind were what we got. I really wouldn't say that I had fun in Friday's race, as I was plagued with severe abdominal cramps early on (thankfully they subsided a little bit). A breakaway went about half-way into the race and I simply could not respond, so I ended up in a good-sized chase group. Thankfully, my teammate Kari was with me and she pulled us along, letting me rest until my stomach felt better. A frustrating chase ensued, as only a few of us would pull through, and no one was putting much effort into keeping the pace high. I became incredibly frustrated, as I was not content to let the race just ride up the road. After several attempts/urges to get people to work, I attacked the group and decided to go the last 10 miles solo. I certainly questioned my decision a couple times, as I thought I was going to blow up, but it ended up being the right move. I caught some stragglers from the lead group who had blown up and moved into 3rd place for the day.

Saturday morning was our time trial, which I was excited about after Friday's suffer fest. Once again, I was not able to maintain the wattage goal I set for myself, but it ended up being a good enough effort to take the win. My teammate, Michele, took 2nd place, so it was a great stage for the team!

A local Baker City gourmet shop sponsored the women's criterium Saturday afternoon, matching our prize list to that of the category 1/2 men. This is pretty much unheard of, so it was awesome of Bella's to do that for us. Carrie was the only one from our team to get a prime, even though I tried a few times. The woman in 2nd place got off the front in the crit and managed to stay off, with the rest of the pack finishing together.

Yesterday's final 101 mile stage began early and stayed mild until the final climb. Right after we rolled away from the start, a woman informed me that I was the new leader since the women who had been in first and second places did not show up. While it's nice to hear that you're the leader, it's not ideal to gain the lead because the people ahead of you don't show up! Rumor has it that one of the women cannot race on Sundays because of her religion, so she was never planning on starting the final stage. The other woman? Not sure, but I heard that she was concerned about the distance. Who knows? Tia's fiance, Andy, was very kind to go to the feed zone and give us all bottles, which I definitely needed. Thanks Andy!

On the final climb, the woman in 2nd to me started pushing the pace, so I just sat on. I knew I had over 3 minutes on her, so I was going to be defensive, rather than aggressive. Plus, I was having stomach problems again. Note to self: Do not eat a Lara Bar in the middle of a race. Yes, they're tasty, but dried cherries, dates, and nuts are not a good idea. Hmmm... too much fiber. The top of the hill, complete with porta potty, could not come quickly enough!

The girl in second got away from me and all I could do was try to minimize the losses to her. Thankfully, she only gained a portion of what she needed to overtake me, so I kept the lead. Carrie had a great finish too, coming in 4th up the climb.

Ted had some problems with his lungs in yesterday's race, coughing very hard and having a tough time breathing. He has had this same problem a couple times in the past, and especially in dry, hot climates. He had a chest x-ray done once before, but nothing showed up. Time to see someone again. He's very frustrated and not sure what's going on, so hopefully he can figure something out with his doctor this week.

We picked Hitcher up this morning and he was super excited to be home. He's had a lot of time in the kennel the past couple weeks, so he's been a stressed pup. He shouldn't have to go back for a while now, though, as he should be going with us to our next few races.

Our friend Ben, a vet student, just came over to show me how to take care of Hitcher's anal glands. Fun, fun. Apparently, they're just a problem for some dogs, while others never have a problem at all. Now I know how to do it myself, so hopefully we'll have fewer vet visits.

Rusty comes home for a super quick visit tomorrow to help Mom and Dad with their move, so I'll head down a couple times in the next couple days. Dinner time!

Methow recap

We're back from our weekend of racing in the Methow Valley of north central Washington. It's a beautiful area, known for its cross-country skiing in the winter, and its hiking and camping in the summer. Ted and I drove over with our friend Ben from Pullman, and met up to share a room with my teammate, Carrie. Our hotel was a cute "mom and pop" place that had one of the best breakfast spreads I've seen, and they went out of their way to have breakfast out early enough for all the racers staying there.

Ted had his best time trial effort of the year, finishing 8th and putting him as the top rider on his team, so that was a good start to the weekend for him. I had an okay time trial too, but it was definitely not my best effort. While Ted put out his highest wattage for the season, I was way off from where I have been recently... and where I should be. A little disappointing, but at least my leg wasn't bothering me, which I had been worried about.

There wasn't much time to relax before we had to head to the crit. There were some ominous-looking clouds and some thunder, but thankfully the rain held off for all of the races. My crit was tough, as I got in a break off the front with four other women. Two of the women were teammates and were working hard against me. For a while, I held my own pretty well, but eventually they got the better of me and one of them got off the front on her own. Since this race is based on points, rather than the accumulated time, it didn't really matter how far off the front she got; it was more critical for me to finish highly and get the most points I could still get, so I stopped chasing. I ended up 3rd, so that was okay.

Ted's crit made me nervous, as I heard the horrible sound of a crash and then didn't see Ted when his pack came around the next time. Thankfully, he had not actually gone down, though he had gotten stuck behind the crash. His teammate wasn't so lucky and hit the ground pretty hard. We all came home with all our skin, and that's what really matters!

We woke up to lots of wind for yesterday's final stage - the 71 mile road race. The course was sort of an out-and-back course, with a little loop thrown in the middle. We had a stiff headwind for most of the way out, and it was a super fast return trip. The women's race was pretty slow and inactive, especially for the way out, but the activity picked up for the last 15 miles or so. There were several hard attacks, which saw the field shattering.

My teammate, Carrie, ended up off the front with two teammates (the same two who were beating up on me in the criterium). I didn't think I would be able to bridge the gap up to them, so I told Carrie to go for it, but they slowed a little and I was able to join them. Carrie and I were on the defensive, as the other team launched a steady stream of attacks for the last 5 miles. It became pretty obvious that they weren't going to go anywhere, but they still kept attacking, which was fine with me since I was hoping it would wear them down a bit. Carrie and I worked well together, chasing down alternating attacks. We saw the sign for the final kilometer and then suddenly saw the 200 meter sign (the final kilometer was definitely short!). Carrie and I sprinted, with Carrie taking the win and me taking second. It was fantastic for us to finish 1 & 2, and I think it showed that we raced smart. Carrie was riding super well, so that was great to see.

Carrie was concerned that she had kept me from taking the overall win for the weekend because she got the top points for the weekend, but it would not have mattered. Even if I had won, the woman ahead of me would have had to have placed several places back for me to pass her. Carrie, on the other hand, was able to move up in the final results, so that was wonderful. Overall, it was a good weekend of racing, and our team is starting to show our strength.

Busy Summer

As part of the moving process, I've gone through a lot of my stuff, and decided to try putting some of it up on eBay. Amazingly enough, a lot of it has actually sold, and it's stuff I don't even want! Most of it is cycling clothing and components and they seem to be fairly hot items. Who'd have thought?

I received the rough concepts for my business logo yesterday and they look very cool. I'm excited. My logo will definitely be unique and will stand out, thanks to Ted's friend Daniel. He also has a lot of marketing ideas. For now, I just have a very basic web site: www.uspca.net/wa/personalpala

I just finished looking at a calendar for the rest of the summer and it's going to be busy! The next weekend at home appears to be 8 or 9 weeks from now. Yes, there is a lot of bike racing ahead, along with a trip to Chicago, a move to a different place here in Pullman, a trip to San Antonio for Ted, and more. Busy, busy, but that's how I like it.

I've had a problem with my leg this week, so I'm hoping it treats me okay for racing this weekend. My left quad became sore on Monday and it's been bothering me when I ride, and especially for hard efforts. I'm just resting it now, with hopes that it'll feel fine by Saturday. This weekend's racing is in the Methow Valley of Washington, which is supposed to be a beautiful area.

That's all for now!

Old house near Hood River.

Friends?

Miss P

Hood River and the new place

We're back from our busy and hard week of racing in Hood River. It was so hot there! I'm actually not minding our 50 degree weather here today after spending the last week sweating.

The racing went pretty well for both Ted and me, with both of us having our best races there that we've had there. I had my best showing at an NRC (National Race Calendar) race ever, so I was very excited about that. I walked away with two top 10 finishes in individual stages, which is something I've never done at an NRC race. Too bad I completely blew up in the final two stages, or I could have left with an overall top-10 finish. Oh well. I still walked away with 20th. I have a fantastic coach this year who is really helping me to come around, so many thanks go out to him.

The time trial stage in Hood was probably the coolest TT I have ever done. For starters, at 18.5 miles, it was longer than almost any TT in a stage race. Then, to make it tougher, it included almost 2000 feet of climbing, a stiff headwind, and it ran through the historic tunnels of the town of Mosier. Very cool!

We signed a lease for a new place right before we left for Hood River. We pretty much stumbled on a small house that suddenly became available. It's probably about the same size as our current apartment, but it has a big fenced yard that goes all the way around it, which will be fantastic now that Hitcher is here. Plus, it'll be nice to be in a house, rather than an apartment. We'll move at the end of July, so there's a fair amount of stuff to get done before then. It's forcing me to go through all of my stuff - I just put a bunch of cycling gear up on Ebay. We'll have to have a party once we get all moved over.

Making ice cream with Ted's family's ice cream machine.

The Hitch man is feeling a bit under the weather and moping around a bit. While Ted admits he likes this calmer version of the pooch, he also says it's too bad that the guy's a bit sick. Anal glands... we think they're the problem. We'll know for sure tomorrow, as Hitcher and I have a vet appointment in the afternoon, but the internet seems to think he needs those pesky (and smelly!) glands expressed. Too much information, I know.

Instead of racing last weekend, we filled our time with a visit to the new wine bar in Moscow, homemade ice cream, burritos for dinner, and of course a couple bike rides. It was the first weekend at home in about 6 weeks, and I almost didn't know what to do with myself. During the summer, I get so used to leaving every weekend that it is strange when I am actually home. We'll actually be home next weekend too, though that will be followed up by a full week in Hood River.

Mom and Dad are the official owners of their new house, so they are very busy with planning their move next month. After two years of looking for a house, they finally found one that would work, and jumped on it before it was too late. They've never been very fond of the house they're in now, so they're very happy to have found a house with the things they want... a nice, roomy kitchen, open floorplan, small yard, and a deck with a fantastic view. Of course there will eventually have to be a big housewarming party with lots of wine, food, and people (not necessarily in that order).

Anyone have any tips for how to keep dogs out of kitty litter boxes? We have two boxes, one lidded and one unlidded, but that is necessary because Shamus is particular about his box. We can't put a cat door in since we are renting this place, and can't shut the door because the cats need to get to the box. Do they make baby gates with built-in cat doors?

Going to really start advertising locally for the business here soon. Hopefully it works!

When Hitcher's out, he's out.

Nap time.

Wenatchee recap

The racing in Wenatchee was good for me. I felt the best I've felt on the bike this year, so that was very encouraging. With all the forced time off I've had this year, it's exciting to finally be coming around.

Boy, was it a windy weekend. I think most peoples' time trial times were about 1.5 minutes slower than in years past. It was just a horrible headwind on the way back, making you feel like you were crawling home. I had my best time trial of the year, coming in first. Unfortunately, Tricia Bailey missed her start time by a large margin, so I don't feel that I can honestly say I beat everyone - you cannot ever count Tricia out. Still, it was a good TT for me, in any case.

I did not manage to get a single point in the crit, so it was tough going into the road race. One woman was in first place with 17 points, while 3 of us were tied for 2nd with 15, leaving the road race to decide the overall placings. This road race is totally centered around its 10+ mile climb, as the fields shatter every year on the climb. Sure enough, as soon as we started going up, some of the women started pushing it hard. I hung with them for a while, but realized quickly that I would not be able to maintain their pace on such a long climb. I backed off and watched a group of about 10 leave me behind. I thought to myself, "Well, the points are all up the road. Hopefully I can pick off at least a couple people before the top."

I was shocked when I began passing woman after woman. I got in my rhythm and just kept it steady. I caught the two leaders right at the top of the climb, and then we started the long descent. I started out leading, and turned around to see that I had a gap over the other women, so I just decided to attempt to increase my lead. I time trialed down the descent (very windy!) and was told I had over a minute when I reached the bottom. Thankfully, it was a fast tailwind for the last section to the finish, so I was able to fend off the chasers and take the win. I truly thought I had lost the overall after the crit, and then surely when I backed off on the climb. Who knew?

A friend of Ted's is kindly helping me to design my company logo, so I am very excited about that. He works for a major company in Chicago that works on designs for major national companies, and here he is helping out little ol' me. This part should be fun!

Pazza hoped she could make the trip to Memphis too, so she could play with Rusty's "kids," Pitot and Charlotte.

Shamus says: "Drying rack? No, it's a kitty hammock!"

Dinner tonight - avocado and lime soup with green chili salsa.

It seems like turnouts for some NW races are going to be a bit down this season. Not sure why really. The start lists are up for this weekend's omnium in Wenatchee and the fields all seem smaller than in years past. Since there really is no other northwest racing going on, all I can figure is that people aren't up to driving 2 1/2 hours to Wenatchee from the west side of the state. Most teams in the women's field only have one or two people so far, so that's really too bad. Cheers to my teammates for all coming over, as we have 8 already registered for the 1-3 women's race.

The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic also appears to have decreased registration so far, especially in regards to northwest racers. It's a great race, so I really hope more people opt to do it. Yes, I know I don't yet show up in the registration (I put mine in the mail several days ago), so I'm hoping there are many others whose registrations simply have not yet been received.

I walked Hitcher up to campus a few days ago because some more of Ted's co-workers wanted to meet him. Plus, more walking = more peace for me when we get home! It was a warm day - the hottest one we've had here yet, and all Hitcher wanted to do was lie down on the grass when we reached our destination. That was, until he met a friendly (and much larger!) Labradoodle to play with.

Next up, Ted and I walked Hitcher over to Ferdinand's (http://www.wsu.edu/creamery/ferdinands/ferdfront.htm) to pick up some cheese. If you have not tried Cougar Gold cheese, it is absolutely wonderful. Consider ordering some, as it is definitely worth it. Ted bought a scoop of vanilla for Hitcher, and Hitch loved it. The problem was, Hitcher seemed set on taking a nap then and there. Soon after we left Ted to walk home, Hitcher laid down on the grass and refused to get up. I tried everything to get him up, including pulling, pushing, lifting, and waving cheese in front of his nose (too bad it was vacuum-sealed, or that one probably would have worked). I seriously could not get him to budge and was not sure what I was going to do. Right about then, a man came over and asked if we were okay; apparently, this man had seen us and thought Hitcher had maybe been hit by a car since he was lying so still on the grass. I had to explain to him that I simply had a stubborn pup and could not make him move. A little embarrasing. Thankfully, Hitcher jumped up to greet the guy when he came over, so that got him on his feet... and I did not let him even think about lying down until we reached home!

No photos yet from Memphis, as they're all on Rusty's computer, but hopefully I'll have some eventually. We saw most of the Memphis standards - Graceland, Beale Street, the ducks at the Peabody, barbecue, etc. We packed a lot into our time there and had a lot of fun.

Since we got back, I had my first cook date for a client and we did the state road race championship on Sunday. It wasn't a great day for me, but I'm fine with that. I put in a bit of a tough week last week since I took so much time off for Memphis, so I was pretty much expecting to be tired. Sure enough...

This weekend we'll be in Wenatchee. It'll probably be too hot for Hitcher to come along, so he'll be staying back in Pullman. He and I went to the dog park yesterday, which was really amusing. I had not been to a dog park before and it was fun to watch the dogs interact. At one point, there were 7 dogs all playing together and Hitcher loved it. The dogs ranged from a 2 1/2 month-old Bloodhound puppy to a huge black furball... and Hitcher loved every one of 'em.

Here's a photo of Hitcher playing with his friend Truly.

Ted and I are heading to Memphis this afternoon to visit Rusty for a few days. We're not taking bikes, so it'll be a true vacation, which will be kind of nice. Hitcher is being boarded at the kennel for the week, and the kitties are enjoying their own dog-free vacation.

I got home from Walla Walla yesterday to discover that someone had gotten a hold of my credit card # and charged ~$2500 to my card yesterday, so it's been a bit of a hassle to deal with that. All in all, I've called three different customer service numbers and talked to about ten people, but I think I've gotten it all taken care of now. These people definitely need to work on their customer service skills. It seems to me that it should be easier than this.

women's racing

I finally got some racing in my legs this past weekend, although both races were very frustrating, in different ways. I really wasn't surprised when I had no snap in my legs on Saturday, as it has been about three weeks since I last raced, and most of my time since then has been off the bike. I fell off of the pack early on and rode in with two other women. It was a good training ride in nice weather, so it was still a worthwhile race to do. I can't be too frustrated since I was sick for a week immediately after Redlands and then threw my back out immediately after that.

Sunday's race was more fun for me overall since I felt better on the bike and was actually able to "play" a little bit, rather than just trying to hang on. I found the tactics of some other teams a bit shady, so that made the race frustrating. At one point, I bridged up to a woman from another team who was off the front. I looked back and we had a good gap, and both of our teams were slowing down the pack, while the other teams weren't chasing at all. I told this woman we should go and work together because I thought we could have stayed off. She, however, would not work with me and we were both caught. I really think our teams would have gotten first and second, or at least had a good chance of it, if only she would have worked with me; instead, neither of our teams won. Why did she refuse to work with me? Not sure honestly. She said it was because she wanted to go for the prime. Hmmmm... I'd rather try to win overall than walk home with a new pair of socks, but I guess that's just me. This is the problem with women's racing (or women in general, really) - cattiness.

I have new confirmation that I am getting older, in the form of glasses. My eyes have finally gotten bad enough that I need correction for things like driving and watching tv. When I made the appointment for the opthamologist, I also made an appointment for my family doctor for the same morning; I really don't like going to the doctor, so I figured I'd get it all done at once.

I had the eye appointment first and then went to the other appointment. I had the impression throughout my second appointment that my doctor was looking at me strangely, so I decided to make a comment when I was leaving about how bright the lights are after you've had your eyes dilated. He said, "You know, I was wondering. I noticed your pupils were dilated, but I was thinking you couldn't possibly be a drug user. I'm really glad you said something." So am I. Otherwise, my chart would have a note about my possible drug use. I'm still surprised that he didn't ask me about it, especially since he's been my doctor for years.

Sleepy hound dog.

The Cats and the Hound

My back is slightly better today, though it has tightened up as the day has gone on. I'm not sure about racing this weekend, but we'll see how much better I am by then. If all else fails, I'll dogsit while Ted is racing.

Hitcher is doing pretty well. We took him to the vet for a check-up this afternoon. He's still a bit underweight and the vet thinks his growth was stunted from being so malnourished as a puppy; he has very big paws for his size, so he probably would have been bigger if he had a proper puppyhood. She guesstimates that he's about a year old, as he has all of his adult teeth, but we're going to keep him on puppy chow for a while to give him more calories. As of now, he weighs about 32 or 33 pounds, so while he's long/tall, he really is very skinny. Poor little guy. He also probably has tape worms right now, so I just gave him his worm treatment with his dinner. I'm guessing he'll feel better in the next couple days. I'll just try not to look when he poops for a couple days; given my violent gag reflex, it could get ugly.

He met the resident pregnant cat at the vet clinic and really reacted pretty positively to her. He definitely wanted to get closer and meet her face-to-face, but his body language was not aggressive. She managed to swat him across the nose when he got really close and he looked completely perplexed.

Both Shamus and Pazza ventured down to the bottom of the stairs last night, so I think they are becoming a little more curious. It honestly seems like they talk it over upstairs and take turns coming down to check things out. Pretty funny.

Hitcher also met mom and dad's Schnauzer, Gretel, yesterday. It didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped. It began with Gretel barking at Hitcher and then Hitcher began barking (really howling since his barks are howls). It was hysterical to see the two of them barking at each other. People walking by in the park were getting a good laugh over it.