The Hound Dog is a Big Softie after All

My big ol' Hound Dog.  He was not a very affectionate dog.  We were worried he'd always just be a spaz, knocking everything over, chewing everything up, but never warming up to us.  Things have begun to change lately.  

He's been laying on top of us when we lay down to read or watch tv.  This is something Rex would jump at the chance to do, but Remi never has.  Remi is a bit bigger than Rex, at least 80 pounds, so it's very noticeable when he flops on top of you!

He also gives me some love when he's in the mood.  I'm a sucker for this big behemoth.

Here he is, getting ready to lay a big, sloppy Hound Dog kiss on me.  Either that, or he's trying to figure out what I had for dinner.
 

Mountain Biking and Driving Go Hand in Hand

The beautiful Mrs. K and Eli are my main mountain biking crew (Team Kakouris!) these days.  Just last Sunday Eli and I drove to St. James to ride the Route 66/Forest City course.  We've driven tons and tons of miles over the last couple of years to ride in our favorite places, as well as explore new ones.  Kind of ironic that something as healthy and pollution-free as riding a bike takes driving a smoggy car to get to the cool places to ride.  

This brings me to my point.  I live 2 miles from work these days, so the only real mileage my car gets is driving to places to mountain bike.  This also means it's been quite some time since I've had to change the oil.  After Eli and I got back from our extremely enjoyable ride on the Forest City trails, it was time for an oil change. I still brag when I don't spill a single drop of oil.  So I'm bragging.  72,000 miles on the Focus, and I want to make sure it's still running well for Eli when he comes of age next year.

Since it's been a while between oil changes, I decided to put in a new air filter as well.  Good thing.  The old one looked as though it was well on it's way to having black lung.  And can I just say that modern air filters are a BITCH to install??  Whatever happened to serviceability?? Nevertheless, it's changed.  I was still not completely exhausted, so I went ahead and rotated the tires as well.  My smartwatch said 25,000 steps that day, and I believe it. 
 

Ever wonder where your Weekend goes? I sure do.

My first Saturday off since we bought South Side.  It's been a looooong run.  So it was extra awesome that I was able to spend it with Eli at Broemmelsiek for the practice race weekend that the NICA organization put on.  There were tons of people from all over the metro area.  Not sure why Eli is giving me "the face" in this pic.

After a learning lap with the South City team, I was asked to help the kids with the starting line antics.  It's never easy to line up with a bunch of snarling, competitive people and have someone say "GO!" The team has come a long way and it's nice to see how much they love to ride their mountain bikes.

After a few mock starts, Eli and I did another slightly hotter lap on the full course.  I'm impressed with his improvements over the last year.

The second day of the NICA event was canceled due to the forecast.  It was supposed to rain cats and dogs.  When it didn't, I suited up and did some hot laps of my own at Greensfelder.  Yep, it was that kind of day.

When I got home, the Beautiful Mrs K was ready to start her recovery.  She's suffered quite a bit with her injury.  Her surgery last week put in a titanium metal plate and nine screws where her plain old clavicle used to be.  Yikes.  But she is no whiner and onto the trainer she went. Go baby, go!

What did Remi the Hound Dog think of all of this?  He thinks we ought to be throwing the frisbee for him, of course.
 

Greensfelder Mountain Bike Race

Greensfelder is near and dear to my heart, as most of my friends and family know.  It was the scene of my very first mountain bike race in 1988.  And today, the Greensfelder Challenge (hosted by DRJ and GORC Trails) was Eli's first race, too!  He's much younger than I was when I started, 15 years old and in the Junior class.  He is a fantastic bike rider and he can ride pretty much any trail.  We are incredibly proud of him.  He's #359 in the center of this photo.

And I was pretty happy myself, snagging 4th overall and 1st in the Old Man's class. I haven't raced in a couple of years, so I'm just as surprised as you are.  The course was fantastic and the racing was top notch.  Kudos to Bob Arnold, his DRJ crew, and GORC Trails for a wonderful event.

Since we had to splash through 4 creeks at the bottom of the course, I had to get the bikes cleaned up when we got home.  Eli laid down for a nap, poor guy.  But the bikes are buffed and they are ready for our next adventure.  Thanks also to the Beautiful Mrs. K for dragging herself out to the races even though she's obviously not feeling great after her shoulder surgery!