The Kizzer

This story really begins a few weeks after Katrina. Staci and I volunteered to go to the St. Barnard Parish district in New Oreleans to help the ASPCA. This was, I think, 2-3 weeks after Katrina. The flood waters had dropped enough to start search and rescue missions. We mainly stayed at camp, taking care of the animals/people. Staci worked closely with the Vets in charge of the dog side. There they made sure all dogs were walked three times a day and generally played with throughout. Many animals came into the campsite skin and bones. Their habitat, (homes) were destroyed. It was total destruction everywhere. Nothing was spared. My job, with 3 others, was to make the humans feel human. We did various tasks from setting up work stations with lights (run on a generator), to shelving. We even found running water, which was contaminated but, still running water. We made a shower by using garden hose and a kiddie pool. It even had walls for privacy.

After our tour with the ASPCA, we started driving home. 1100 miles if I remember correctly. It was pouring rain when we decided to stop at a Motel 6 in Virgina. Staci was driving (we switched every 2-3 hours). She pulled into the spot, we opened our doors and, in hops the little black and brown guy in the pictures above. Seeing as we were at a Motel 6 (pet friendly) we decided to at least give him a warm/dry place for the night. We asked the clerk if he was somebodys and she said he showed up about 4-6 weeks earlier. As the night went on though we decided that we would take him home and put him on PetFinder.com. So Staci went to a local store and bought some real cat food (we were giving him whatever we had available), litter box, and litter. He was so skinny so we didn't want to overfeed him but he did eat well that night. We all fell fast asleep. Kismet (we later named him) slept on our heads. We knew we did the right thing.

In the morning we gathered up everything and headed for PA. It was a 7 hour car ride back to Lancaster. Kismet slept under the seat the whole way. I'm sure he was scared but I think he knew he was safe, finally. We took him to the vet. They determined he was about 9-10 years old and in good health. We put him on PetFinder.com like we knew we should but no one answered. That is how we ended up with him.

He lived with us for a little over two years but in that time he was friends with everyone. All the others in the house and anyone who walked through the door. He most certainly was a lover. He was the one that made everyone (other cats) stop hating Skellington. He loved Skellington as much as Mayari, Serendipity, and Malificent. He was the one that tought the girls (other cats) how to clean dishes and Skellington to dig in garbage. He also tought Skellington how to make a nest to sleep in.

After Thanksgiving, Kizzy was wheezing so we took him to the vet. They took chest x-rays and basically told us to make him comfortable. There was nothing they could do for him. He knew we did everythng we could and last night we had to make the hardest decision of our lives. We had to put Kizzy down. The cancer in his lungs made it almost impossible for him to breath. His kidneys were twice the size they should be. Pushing his other organs out of place. He was a trooper. It wasn't until last night that he showed any signs of pain. We didn't want him to suffer. As hard as that decision was, I'd hate myself if he were still here in pain.

We will miss you Kismet. We love you.

States

Phew! A long season finally over. PA states were a mess. Recent snow/rain/ice mixed with a slightly warmer temperature combined to make it an absolute mud fest. Running about 200 yards in 4 inches of the stuff, 3 barriers, 2 run ups, and a sand pit (ridable but clogged your brakes with sand). That equals a lot of running. Not my strong suit. I never did get my legs yesterday. I just kept losing ground to the leaders until I finally hit ice, went down, and called it quits. I only had one lap to go but I was done. Shawn did awesome. He took 9th and was the 5th PA rider to finish. Not bad. He even broke his helmet when his bike slammed his head on one of the run ups. It looks like the slop is where he shines. I knew he would do great because of the way he handles a bike. He's just technically sound. Great balance (usually haha!) too. Hats off to Shawn.

We had a nice crowd to race for too. Three other none cross team members (along with Katie, Roger, and a lady that I forget her name) were there in the muck cheering us on. It was really cool to hear those guys yelling for Shawn and myself eventhough I was going slower and slower every lap. Thanks guys.

I'm not sure exactly how many races I did this season but it was 9 months long. I had a blast but was definitely fatigued from Mid-October on. I didn't manage one decent finish after Iron Cross and that was with a concussion and a saddle that was stuck at about a 30 degree angle. Not comfy at all. I made a lot of new friends being my first year racing on the road. I learned that next season I have to be more prepared to finish the season as strong as I started.

It seems like we are really coming together as a team. Our roster is full. We will have a good road and 'cross team, and an awesome mountain team. I can't wait for next season. Our focus on the road will be to target specific races. Obviously, the ones we feel we can win or will get our sponsors names out the most. 'Cross our goals will be high finishes in MAC. Mountian will see us going for an overall team (under 10 riders) podium in the MASS. We will also be doing some other endurance races not on the MASS calander. Our two man downhill team will do what they can, when they can. They are free to do as they please since their participation is a bonus to the sponsors.

Carlizzle

Shawn and myself braved the brisk winter air that is rolling in to race the Carlisle Fairgrounds. #9 in the MAC series. I'd like to say we won but Marc, Ethan, Jeff, and about 10 others that finished in front of us said no. We both had good starts and I was in the top 10 for a good portion of the race until I took myself out pushing a corner harder than I had to. I was trying to build momentum for the uphill coming up so I was really railing the corners. My luck ran out. I hit a nice sized rut in the course and lost the edge on my front wheel. From there it was blurry masses passing me. My bike was fine so I attempted to catch up to what was chase group #2. I was alone and it just never happened. Every barrier it felt like my feet were cinder blocks from being so cold. As chase group #2 started dropping riders I was picking them off. All said and done I was about a minute behind the winner. Shawn not too much further behind me.

We were pretty frozen so we packed up and left. We didn't stick around to see where we finished but it was another mid-pack day. Next weekend is Wonderland which is actually states. Hopefully we are feeling good for that one. It has been a long season (since mid-March) and for as much as I love racing, it will be nice to have a break and just have fun with it again.

A Ripper in Honor of "The Dude"

This is Andre. The story I am about to tell you was all his fault. The night started off innocent enough. A little music, chips, salsa, hummus, pizza, beer, and of course Caucasians (aka White Russians, "The Dude's" favorite beverage for those not in the privvy). From a few drinks to bowling (we used designated drivers) at Leasure Lanes.

The young man you see in the background was our ringer. He brought his own ball and shoes. While he hasn't bowled much lately he was still putting up scores in the 160-170 range. Me, well let's just say I agree with "the dude". By nights end though I had managed one game over 100. I was too busy pretending I was in a mix of "The Big Lebowski" and "Kingpin". Probably the two best bowling movies ever. After every roll I would make some sort of celebrative motion. Much like the one Staci is making up top. Now if only I had some hair that I could comb over.

Still zipped up in our hoodies but...

We are a bit cozier in this ice box now. Our new storm door is finally installed. Yes, it took a week to fit it, stain it, varnish it, and then finally install it. It looks pretty nice though. Being a pipefitter I know how to do many things construction related but doors, not really. I enlisted the help of Staci's moms better half. He crushed it. I mostly just watched as he fit the door and notched little coves for the hinges. The sucker is pretty air tight. No more drafty front door. We never were ones that did the before and after photos so all we have is an after. Oh well.

Yesterday, I went out for a ride in the 20-30mph wind. Talk about some resistance training. Boy howdy! I road directly into the wind for the first 23-24 miles. Basically, I road RT.23 to 441 (with some other roads to break up the straight shot). This took about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Horrible. What is that, like 15-16mph average? When I turned south on 441 the pace went super high. The last 21-22 miles of my ride took 50 minutes. It felt like I was a pro just humming along on a flat stage in the Tour de France. All said and done, not a bad day on the bike.

In team news...Our uniform designs are done. We are submitting our templates to Champion Systems and by late January they should be in our hands. They have a thing on their website that lets you dress up a guy in their clothes. It's a good chuckle. Click on the title of this entry to check it out.

Cool as a Cucumber

In our efforts to have a smaller carbon footprint, we, at this household, for the past few years have been setting the thermostat at 63 degrees. You may say, "That's a bit chilly." I will tell you this, you are right but, think of the positives. Our house which is 100+ years old is inefficient so, we reduce our heat bills. Also, we get to snuggle with our family and furry friends. Even when they are mad at us. See pictures as proof.

Today, we get a new storm door. The old aluminium one will be given away via letting on the sidewalk or to our neighbor Butch. No picture of him will even be placed on this blog. I'm pretty sure he would kill me. Seriously. Butch scraps metal, which the price is up so he may get $2 for the door. I say way to go Butch. The new door will be a wooden one. It should look nice. Staci's mom and step-dad are coming down to install it. Well, her mom is really coming for the good times. Normally, I would help with such a project but, no one would switch days with me at work. Yet another reason why work is for suckers!

Skellington and Serendipity are mortal enemies but with the 63 degree mandate they've quickly become close "friends". Skelly is the one that is just a head. Dippy is the one using him as a bed. T and Staci are the ones with grumpy faces. They have been wearing these grumpy faces for a few days. In their defense, I've had one on too.

Well, another set of business cards came in the mail. These were from Chad. Thanks.

Not so Fairhill

Shawn and myself made the trek to Fairhill today. It was wonderful 'cross weather with temps in the mid 50's and a nice stiff wind. A little chilly actually. When the gun went off we pedaled like mad men. Unfortunately for me, I appeared to be going backwards. I've never really been a strong starter but this was backwards fast and I never really got into a rhythm. The two of us raced the whole race pretty close to each other. Shawn having mechanical issues. His chain dropped twice and he went down and broke his left shifter/brake lever. Me, I just had dead legs. It wasn't until the 4th lap that I finally felt "fast" but by then it was far too late. On the 5th lap though, the legs were dead again. I haven't been training much this 'cross season, about 45 minutes on the trainer each week. I've been relying on what I built up all spring/summer. This week though I did put about 6 hours in because I didn't want to lose what I worked for all summer. Maybe it was too much. Maybe it was the stiff wind that seemed to always be a head wind. All I know is that we didn't even bother to see where we finished. That's bad.