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Sheep are on the other side of the wood fence.

I went to the velodrome Saturday night for Championship Games Weekend #3. Watched several races over about 3 hours. This was my first time watching track racing live. The races are one after another w/o break, so the action is non-stop. A couple I ride with bought a suite for the night (which holds 10 people) and invited me. Their son who is 15, raced in three races. His highest place was 2nd. I also ride w/ him...he's freaky fast. I'm looking forward to watching more races. It's nice having this venue 20 miles from me.

The race that we (Griffin's team) put on in conjunction with U of L cycling went off great! It was a very hard weekend for all of us. A lot of collegiate teams showed up. The road race and TT were held at Huber's Farm up by my house on Sat. The Crit was held in a park in Louisville Sunday. Weather was COLD and slightly rainy sat but warm and sunny Sunday. We had over 600 people register for the event. Not sure how many racers actually competed. For the races Sat G was one of two in his category. He finished second both days to a very strong kid named George that is on his team. George is an absolute monster. G was off of his pace about 2 in in the TT (9 miles). I call this a huge win for Griffin, to only be 2 min off a 9 mile TT pace for George. I think that Griffin still would have finished second even with more kids in the category. He rode very strong. Griffin finished second again Sunday to George. But he absolutely smoked another junior in his category on Sunday. Probably by 4-5 minutes on the crit course. 3 second place wins in all 3 races gave Griffin an overall 2nd place in the Omnium. Which was amazing. G was all smiles. He was proud to have podium'd all races. I told him that he rode strong and finished well, but to remember that even though he podium'd 3 races, he also finished DFL on 2 of his 3 races, so don't get complacent

lining up for crit. start of ITT behind George. he likes the helmet. trying to to warm up after ITT

Here.

Ouch, It hurts just to look at that. We now have proof that schralphing is so dangerous that it should be banned. Everyone should put training wheels on their bike and only ride on smooth padded surfaces.

So the "house cat" has energy to burn now that she has moved indoors. She has some toys. There are some little mouse like things. They have a plastic shell covered by some kind of skin, about the size of a ping pong ball. She likes to pick them up and throw them around. Ultimately, she lays down and peels the skin off of them. There are some larger mouse looking things but she doesn't want to tangle with them very often. I'm thinking she's worried they might kick her ass. Her two favorite things are string and my legs. She'll tear into my leg without mercy. I don't get it. She hides behind my leg to get the string, capture it, and maul it while clawing the crap out of my leg. So anyway, I got her some nice little woolen balls, about the size of ping pong balls, at the store. Came home and threw them out onto the floor. She sat there for a good ten minutes studying them. A little tap to the left a little tap to the right. I suspect she will sleep while she plans their murder.

Simple cat toys that will keep them coming back for hours can be made from a ball of tin foil about a half inch in diameter. Of course at that size they will quickly disappear.......until sometime later you move the furniture around or look under the stove. An equivalent fun toy would be a puff ball, a fuzzy ball that you can buy a bag of at a fabric or craft store. These things are much less expensive than anything labeled "cat toy" in the store. At one point a couple of cat sets ago I had one cat who would chase a thrown tin foil ball across the house and then pick it up and return it to my feet. I always wondered if there were dog genes in that line of cats. The bad part is that I don't remember the chain of events that trained the cat to do that and I've been unable to train any others. Cats tend to be unique in the games they like to play. The only reliable "command" I've ever come across that seems to work with all cats is the word "what". I must use it a lot when they seem to want something because on that command they will usually indicate what they want by running to a door or giving some other clue. I've used the laser pointer, but it suffers the same problem as other "uncatchable" toys. Eventually the cat realizes that it can never really be caught and looses all interest. Good cat toys must be caught and murdered every now and then because.........well, that's what cats do.

Ouch I hope it's not sprained.

Smokey is often waiting patiently on the hay bales for his playmates to arrive. Here is a sequence of photos of Smokey and the kid.

Where will you be when your diarrhea comes back?

So you actually send that stuff back by UPS? Better double box it!

Bimbostatus.

...word. Unless it was an electric bike.

Did he catch it on a doggy gate?

kids on cannondales...today's youth are not lost

Now you know why I call him "Tom the Usurper".

Cool doggy, ..and a chick whose husband refuses to dance.

I used to like that port wine/cheddar cheese spread. That is all I have.

Sorry. It wasn't bloody though. I figured y'all would know that a consequences thread carries consequences.

Tawny is aged in barrels. The process gives it a robust flavor and dark 'tawny' appearance.

The Ohio trail system is good but with flaws. I rode from Cincinnati to Xenia to Dayton and back to Cincinnati (108 miles) mostly on bike/MUP trails. I saw a trail from Xenia to Columbus, but in Columbus the trail jumped from one system to another without clear signage. From Columbus to Erie, it looks to be more of the same. This trail ends here, ride over there and join that trail. Their plan hopes to unify those trails but money is scarce for projects like this. I would like to see the Erie to Pittsburgh trail completed and ride the Erie Canal trail, the GAP and the C&O in one long trip.

It is mutual, and she is back in the same spot napping. She has decided humans are OK.

Your advice was the reason I did it. You told me I’d get lucky at every campsite. Roadfrog told me I’d be the worst father in the world if I went. I took your advice. While I didn’t have any luck, so to speak, I’m still glad I did it.

...don't ask me, ask the Portuguese. It was created as a fortified wine product to endure shipping under bad conditions, IIRC.

I'd be buying a new bike.

...DC now has SCOOTER SHARE!!!! Surely, that is one of the signs of an impending apocalypse??? Tom

You have to pull the string to start it.

Does the smell of melting electronics appeal to you? If so, Chris' race would likely have been a place to smell that. A poor ebike would die in that mud he talked about. Tom

Maybe an ebike?

I suspect an abuse of mod powers has just occluded the sun for a brief moment.

She is out there feeding and clicking as I type. She feeds the small square bales in the barn, and I feed the rest and keep her supplied in small squares. Periodically I bring straw, so we can provide fresh bedding. I had to come to the house and feed the lamb a bottle. She insisted that was my next chore that needed to be completed.

Hope you have a good one.

There is great anticipation among the people commenting about egg laying.

Watching is not required. And this year it has already been proven that you do not need to know anything about basketball or follow the season action.

The Carson Velodrome is about an hour from me and I've been wanting to check out the action. They have rental bikes too which would be fun.

That sounds cool.

I wonder how many races this Aesop dude won? TTs, Crits, gravel?

From ABC News about my alma mater: UMBC's improbable run through the NCAA Tournament was brief. The statement the Retrievers made and their place in history is forever. For one weekend in March, the tiny commuter school from Baltimore known for its academics and championship-winning chess team captured the hearts of the college basketball world and beyond. UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1 in March Madness, a victory over Virginia that made the Retrievers the ultimate Cinderella. The fairytale came to an end Sunday night in a 50-43 loss to No. 9 Kansas State — heartbreaking because it was a game UMBC could have won, but still satisfying because the Retrievers touched so many people by accomplishing what many thought was impossible. "We put our name on the map. We gave hope to teams that come to the tournament with lower seeds," said senior guard K.J. Maura. "I think we gave hope to guys that are not even that tall like me. People that feel like they are underdogs in their life, I think we gave hope to everything they want to do in life."

I have heard any port in a storm.

In the correct place this time (thanks LJ): A bit of deja vu. Definitely wasn't "feeling it" today, but after a week of crummy weather and then an upcoming week of crummy weather, I knew I had to get out TODAY. Still, nice ride, just tiring. And the wind felt stronger than 4mph (again!), and yes, there were a ton of walkers, runners, and cyclists out this afternoon. Tom

Did you blow the keyboard yet? Tom

She came in a bit cold and hungry yesterday afternoon.

Lovely-- so cute

Yeah I thought about whom...but then I thought about the who's down in whoville

I had that toy for a cat I used to have. Trouble is that toy requires an operator. BTW, she lived to be 19 years old.

Great job building memories! Job well done. Glad to be a roadie after reading reports like this.