La Vuelta Stages 7 to whatever

Stage 7 turned out to be a pretty exciting stage, with a fair share of heartache and disappointment. There was Fabulous Fabian who was at the very front of the peleton pulling when he front-flatted. THAT was bad luck for sure...he ended up riding and waiting forever for his team car to FINALLY get to him...by the time they changed his tire he was 3 minutes back. He worked like a maniac but never caught the main group sadly. I did not know that once a rider holds his hand up indicating a mechanical, his team car (wherever back in the group it is) needs to get permission from the race commissar (sp?) to move up to their rider for support. Fabian kept riding as he was dropping back...and finally he was WAY off the back when he got his tire.
 
And then there was the 4 man break with Garmin's Ryder Hesjedal in it and looking VERY good for a stage win...it was hot, and none of the men in the break were poised to damage the GC aspirations of the hopefuls....and none of the teams seemed to have much interest in shutting it down. THEN...with just under 50k to go Hesjedal CRASHED out of the middle of the remaining 3 in a very routine looking left turn...(they front dropped the 4th off the front at that point) and the other 2 had no real idea what happened or why other than he went down..they briefly sat up waiting to see if he'd rejoin...however POOR Ryder...I could see it in the original video. As he slid his bike was spinning om a ccw circle...and just as he was grabbing it to leap back on and rejoin the break the rear wheel spun in front of the camera moto...and they RAN OVER IT. Being a rather pricey and delicate deep-section aero carbon wheel, I have no doubt it was broken..you could see the bike jump as the moto drove over it. I can't BELIEVE they weren't able to stop, or go a bit further away to the left of the crash...they had obviously slowed almost to a stop already...it's like the driver didn't' even notice.I bet Ryder was FURIOUS..he was THAT CLOSE to getting right back in the break.

What that did was to knock Ryder COMPLETELY OUT of the break and any chance of the stage win...of which he had GREAT odds...being as he was obviously the strongest man in the break. Demarchi and the other man waited briefly for Ryder, then he sped away from the other rider in a solo attack. Neither of them had any idea how far back Ryder was...and it turns out that was a great decision to go, as he was a LONG ways back. Ryder eventually got a new bike, and was able to stay in front of the peleton and regained contact with the other 2 from the 4 man breakaway...and even finish 2nd on the stage. And then TODAY I learned that he was fined and relegated for motor-pacing after he got back in the race! We never saw hide nor hair of video of him after the crash, so have no idea how egregious his drafting was...but sheesh...talk about insult to injury...poor Garmin can't catch a break thus far into the race. And Demarchi held on to win his first Grand Tour stage ever...good for him...he surely worked for it and earned it...but had Ryder been able to rejoin I think it might have been different....but that's water under the bridge...the history books show Demarchi won and that's it. Bad luck is all it was...for the crash and then the ruining of his bike by the moto.

Stage 8 was a flat stage, and had ho-hum written all over it...however it seemed to be a rather famous are for crosswinds....and the teams were all waiting for it knowing it was coming. And right on cue, right at about 30k to go BAM! The road turned, the trees melted away.....and the teams were all over it. For a brief bit both Fabian and Boonen were on the front driving HARD! Valverde, Froome, Quintana. Contador  and Rodrigiuez were all up in the very front....and the splits started forming right quick. It reminded me of that Tour stage LONG ago (back when we thought Vino was a hero taking back time, riding injured with bandages flapping in the wind). Today's stage had some priceless aerial views showing the damage a good crosswind can wreak.

And then the front group under a very hard pace from several teams working at the front split yet again...and this time both Quintana and Degenkolb (Giant Shimano's prized sprinter with hopes to win today) missed out in the chaos. Very quickly there was about a 15 second gap between the front group and the sub-group. Quintana looked rather calm about the affair (considering Valverde was IN that front group)...but he smartly latched onto Degenkolb's wheel and hung in there tight. And lo and behold, after a HUGE amount of work by Giant Shimano and a few other teams the 2nd group caught back on with just around 5 or 6k to go. The last few k had lots of turns and narrow roads...and the front end yo-yo'd from single file to a bunch more than a few times....until the final turn with about 800m left to go. Boonen was up there, Degenkolb, Bouhanni (trying for his 2nd win), Matthews,...and surprisingly, so was Cannondale's Sagan for the FIRST time this race! The sprint finish was looking GREAT! There was almost no leadouts...a few sprinters had maybe ONE guy due to the madness of the crosswinds...but all the teammates seemed spent and the sprinters were pretty much on their own.

The ensuing sprint started almost as soon as that last turn...Boonen went out quite early but faded...Sagan was working but didn't seem to have the legs. Bouhanni was the favorite of the lead group and didn't disappoint. HOWEVER. IMHO, I think he should be relegated. As they neared the line Matthews was up in his slipstream, and had pulled left to go around him, still accelerating. Bouhanni had his head down watching between his legs, and as Matthews was making his move he veered HARD left into his line, effectively shutting down the attempt. He won the stage and the adulations...however just a few stages ago HE filed a complaint against another sprinter for a far LESS obvious offense. I thought his move today was totally on purpose, and might very have stopped Matthews from winning as he had timed it near perfectly. We shall see overnight what the officials do....I thought it stunk to high heaven...but some say it's "just sprinting". Maybe...but he CLEARLY deviated from his line intentionally at the opportune moment to stop from being passed. Either way it was a rather exciting stage from what looked on paper to be a text-book LONG (the longest in this years race) boring day. The heat wasn't as much a factor for a change...as it held around 90F for the day.

And then we had Stage 9 today (Sunday). A real summit finish on the 3rd rated climb of the day.It was a much better test of the GC men than stage 6...and I think MUCH more telling. Early on there was a THIRTY ONE man breakaway...that is quite rare to have one so large escape. They were over 8 minutes up at one time with Anacona in the virtual lead...and only Movistar had their guys working to contain it (yes, I know it falls to the GC leaders team to contain the days break...but SOMETIMES others will have to help, especially if/when it might affect THEIR GC hopes down the line). When it was apparent that Movistar's guys weren't bringing them back, finally Sky came to the front and started doing the work. They did bring it down substantially...but the announcers (especially Gogo) were wondering about the tactics...he thought all the other GC guys best play was to let Movistar destroy their guys so Valverde and Quintana would quickly be isolated in the big climbs to come. But I couldn't help but wonder why Froome had his guys go forward. I was wondering if MAYBE he wasn't having such a great day and was worried a bit about the break getting out of control....there were a LOT of guys in it. Also of note: it was raining on the peleton in the final third of the stage, and about 40 degrees cooler than the prior 8 days riding.

All of the "heads of state" were in the front of the peleton, about the most dangerous man in the break (IMO) was Ryder Hesjadal...I'd think you do NOT want to let him get back a big chunk of the time he's lost thus far in the race. I don't think they were TOO worried about Anacona...however he's an up and coming star...and it might be very unwise to let him have the lead and give him some huge dose of confidence....he'd be a real unknown and might end up being very dangerous. With about 20k to go the 30 man break started to fracture. Anacona broke free with 2 other men...one from Movistar....but it appeared he was helping the break, which seemed rather odd considering his team had been working to contain the break with their guys sitting 1 and 2 in the overall lead.

The final climb wasn't especially steep nor long at only 8k...but it was enough. The front of the peleton started to grow thin, as they chased Anacona (who had broken free from the other 2 and was going for the win. It looked by all accounts that not only would Anacona win the day, but that he'd take the overall lead for his troubles. But Sky kept chipping away at his lead, and considering he was just a bit less than 3 minutes off the lead they did a great job (for Movistar I mean). With about 2k to go it was Contador of all people who lit it up from the diminished GC group....and it was only Quintana and Rodriguez (with one teammate)( who could follow. But Contador had a nice little gap and was pushing it, trying to gain time on his rivals. Froome and Valverde stayed back unable to follow. It appeared Alberto had timed his attack to perfection...his gap looked unsurmountable to Rodriguez and Quintana, who was sitting on the back of Rodriguez and his teammate while they tried to close he gap.

Anacona crossed the line for his first Grand Tour stage win...and then the clock was ticking. Alberto was killing it trying to maintain his gap, but the Katusha riders had different ideas about how the stage would play out....and with a heroic push just before the line Rodriguez (who had now lost his teammate and was pushing on his own) closed the gap to Alberto...with Quintana sitting pretty right there on his wheel. The three crossed the line with no gaps...Valverde had lost his red, and the real winner today was Quintana who was now the overall leader. But it was Contador who looked great...his attack was perfect, and if not for Katusha I don't think Quintana would have made it....but we'll never know. MAYBE he (Quintana) is biding his time, waiting for the proper moment to strike. No matter though...it was a great stage and it was wonderful to see Alberto looking back in top form.

As to the GC shootout that's pending...I think we have a real pressure-cooker awaiting us! Valverde did look great the other day (Stage 6 I think) on the first summit finish...he was pacing Quintana (much to my surprise) and near the end he went for it, leaving Quintana behind. I can't tell if he (Quintana) let him go on purpose, or if he indeed didn't have it in the legs to stay with the front. Froome looked vulnerable today for the first time, and maybe that was why he had his team help contain the break. Maybe he just had a bad day...the rain and cooler temps might have played a role in that.....but I don't count him out by any means. Contador looked quite good and seems ready for a fight. And Rodriguez....I wouldn't count him out either. He showed he still has the legs and the spunk....and also still has GC aspirations. For now at least I think the amazing race we were hoping for is still in the cards. Tomorrow is the first rest day, and after that on Tuesday Stage 10 is an ITT.... and should really let us get a glimpse of who's who this year. We'll see just how good Froome is or is not feeling....he could very well end up in Red if he has the kind of day that everybody knows he's capable of. Quintana isn't known as a top TT'er, so we'll just see how he does giong in as the last rider of the day. I'm sad that Talansky isn't looking to be in the mix...I really thought he might be a player in the Tour...after crashing out like other GC contenders he's made it here, and I thought he was looking to be a contender...but it appears I was wrong. He's nowhere to be seen in the front during the first week, and has lostway too much time to have any shot at this point. Same for Hesjedal....his GC hopes have surely been dashed to the rocks. But we still have plenty of racing left in this years Vuelta...that's for SURE!

Have a GREAT Labor Day weekend everybody!

Cheers!

Goodbye Tour of Colorado, and HELLO La Vuelta!

For the first time EVER I will be watching the Vuelta! I'm rather jazzed, as it has probably the best class of GC riders of any Grand Tour that I can recall. Well, other than this years Tour, which turned out rather badly for that GC shootout the world was waiting for. But because of that, they are all at the Vuelta, and hopefully in good form.

But before I go into La Vuelta, we MUST cover the end of Colorado! First thing....what the HELL NBC Sports??? I recorded the stage (and actually the entire race) and have been quite busy all day doing chores and such (Jeannie comes home tomorrow from her vacation back east)...so I finally sit down to watch it tonight with a beer and some tasty ravioli's....and YES! Jensie is out on his LAST BREAKAWAY EVER! I'm loving it...eeking out ever millisecond of Jens attacking that I can.

And THEN!

SUDDENLY!

There he is....Jens is descending Lookout Mountain after cresting it FIRST, headed for Golden, and NBCSports FREAKING SHIFT THE FREAKING CHANNEL IN THE FREAKING MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING RACE TO THE FREAKING REGULAR NBC FREAKING CHANNEL!  (do I sound upset?) THAT FREAKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How on earth was my DVR supposed to know THAT? I obviously didn't know that was coming...and I've been watching the race EVERY FREAKING DAY! So quickly I scan the NBCSports channel (at 7:30pm'ish) and NO, there are no more broadcasts of the final stage! YOU'VE FREAKING GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME! I'M FREAKING MISSING THE FREAKING LAST FREAKING STAGE WITH JENS FREAKING EVER!!!! (yep, still a eensy teensy bit upset here).

And then...Universal Sports Network comes to the rescue! Lo and behold, on the channel I just subscribed to on FREAKING FRIDAY is re-broadcasting the NBCSports broadcast of the final stage (it even has the little NBC peacock in the lower right corner!) Phil and Paul are even doing the call (was Christian there today? I don't recall hearing him). However, when I switch to the USN channel they are now already inside Denver on the 2nd to last circuit (and it's not in HD either...but I guess beggars can't be choosey). Jens is still in the breakaway, but now only with one other guy. I'll take it.....cuz it's far better than the big ol' steaming mug of CRAP that NBCSports gave me!

So....I got to see Jens hang in just past the bell for the final lap...of course he was going to get caught, but Jens doesn't care....he gave it his best shot. The cycling world will be a much sadder place with Jens sitting home with his family...but I can't begrudge him that...way to go Jens! You will be missed more than you can imagine! Only Fabian and Horner of my fav three are still racing (and Horner got yanked from possibly HIS last race ever! Yada yada yada...I hear the 'reason'...another big steaming bowl of crap that one. The UCI gave him clearance...he had a TUE for the cortisone...he OBVIOUSLY had something wrong, and everything was on the up and up. And now he doesn't even get a chance to defend his Vuelta title, even though he did nothing wrong. THAT REALLY SUCKS! Sorry Chris...enjoy your vacation with your wife I guess (she had flown to Spain for the race)...and I hope and pray you get a ride next year.

As to the final GC standing...I SO wish TommyD had been able to pull something magical out of the hat.....for a brief minute or 2 yesterday during the TT I thought maybe he did...when he came thru with the FASTEST time at the half way point I was yelling at the TV, and then came across the line in FIRST, I was STOKED (saying things like "take THAT TJ!"). I truly had a moment there where I thought MAYBE, just MAYBE he will be just about even with TJ going into todays final stage....wouldn't THAT have been something. But no....it wasn't to be. TJ beat his old record, and took another 40 seconds or so off of Tommy....can't fault Tommy for that...he rode the TT of his LIFE! And I will give TJ a tiny bit of credit...he seems to have lost some of the "uhms" from his speech...however, he's replaced the "uhms" with "I mean"...he said that about ten times in the interview back on Saturday. ARGH....why does he bother me so much? I JUST CAN'T LIKE HIM! Today after the race was over I even fast-forwarded thru his interview...just can't bare to even hear him talk right now. I guess I've got the newly diagnosed TJ-WIN-N-SPEAK-A-PHOBIA.

And so....on to La Vuelta. The TTT was pretty interesting...what a surprise from Movistar! However I will call their move to suddenly bring Valverde (after NOT bringing Quintana to the Tour so Valverde would be the sole-team-captain there...and Quintana was promised the Vuelta) a BIG STEAMING MUG OF CRAP for Quintana. I hope Valverde gets his...and the young'un rips his LEGS OFF in the mountains! Do they seriously think Valverde will be in the top FIVE even? PLEASE! NOT GONNA HAPPEN (unless Froome, Contador, Rodriguez, Talansky, Basso, and Quintana ALL crash out). OK...yeah...in the heat of the moment I threw Basso in there with those actual contenders.....HE has about as much a shot of winning as Valverde (IMHO).

I've got Stage two of La Vuelta on the telly now as I type...it's a flat stage, so ho-hum...BORING. (if only Jens were there!)

Stepping back to Colorado for a moment (my mind wanders when I'm watching a flat stage) I was a bit upset that they didn't do ONE MORE SPEECH from and one more cool presentation for Jens...they did give him the most Combative Rider award again (obviously)....I just can't believe we won't be seeing him any more. Thee UCI needed to have some "most combative LIFETIME rider" award for the guy who's been out front the most (I find it hard to believe there's anybody who has more miles out in front of the peleton). I wonder if there's any way to add up all the breakaway miles he did...I bet it would be impressive.

In typical wandering brain syndrome...I do recall from the TTT this morning that the announcers said an Italian rider (can't remember who) is racing his 30th GRAND TOUR in this Vuelta! I wonder if THAT is some kind of record....how many did Jensie race overall? THIRTY is a LOT of Grand Tours...that's a lot of pain! (Paul Sherwin today in the final Colorado Stage said watching Jens race towards Denver out in front made him think of Stings song "the King of Pain"...and said that's what Jens is....how true. The King of Pain. If Rebecca Rusch can be the Queen of Pain, Jens is certainly qualified to be the KING of Pain! In fact, THAT would have been a cool award...a nice crown, a cape, a chair, some kind of thing to hold, and they could have anointed him as THE King of Pain. It's certainly how I'll always remember him.

OK...I need to get back and fly thru Stage 2, then get to bed...it's been a BUSY day! (I'm not saying the house was a wreck or anything since Jeannie's been gone for 2 weeks now...but I did have some 'catching up to do'....AND we have a house-guest coming in tomorrow night for the week also...thus I did NOT go mt biking today like I had planned....(did a 74 mile road ride on Saturday...and was really thinking about going out today also being the last day of Jeannie's vacation...but that would be rather selfish....babies need baths, sheets, bedspreads, towels, darks and whites all needed washing, entire house needed vacuuming, spare bedroom sheets needed washing and bed made, clean up spare bathroom suitable for houseguest, clean the REST OF THE HOUSE suitable for houseguest, run some errands (costco, home depot, albertsons), take the babies to the park (syd in her wagon)....water the plants, and I'm sure I'm fogretting stuff....sheesh...now that I read what I've been doing all day I'm beat).

Oh...and Susie...I was rather disappointed w/ the Hincapie interview. Mostly I think cuz it was Hummer doing the interview. And sadly (IMO) he's about as good an interviewer as he was a cycling commentator. And I hear the book is much the same (he wrote it for Geroge). I think they touched on some good stuff...but all in all it could have been SO MUCH MORE. If I can figure out a way to get it from my DVR to my PC I can burn a copy to DVD (supposedly it's possible....I'll look into it).

Good night folks...it's coming up on 9pm (I turn into a pumpkin or something around 10pm on work nights....get up at 4:15).

Enjoy the race!

USA Tour Pro of Challenge Colorado

Yeah, whatever. I hereby state for the record that I HATE the official name they gave this race. But other than that it's great! And we have DAILY COVERAGE (and I get it!). However, I won't possibly be able to watch THREE HOURS every evening...we're working late pretty much every day right now...my weekday bike rides are a thing of the past for the last 2 weeks, and likely this week too. Next week? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, it's all about "America's Bike Race" (yes, I've heard that said a NUMBER of times now). So what are the Tour of California and the Tour of Utah? South America's races?

Anyway...Stage 1 is in the books. P&P are in the hot-seats with the play by play....and I miss Todd, Bobke and CVV already! It's shaping up to be a GREAT race, with serious roads to race, and serious contenders to do it. TJ is of course the reigning champion and odds on favorite...but Tommy D is looking pretty good and I'd LOVE to see him step up and take this, hot on the heels of his win at Utah. And hey, how about Jens today! LOVE it that he took his flyer, just as Taylor predicted (love that they kept up the 'guest commentator' that they were doing at the Tour this year...great hearing from Taylor and glad to hear he's back on the bike looking forward to next season). Gosh I wish I was up in Colorado to thank Jens in person for all the awesome memories he's given us....he will be missed  more than any other cyclist I can think of. He's SUCH a class act..but surely the entire world wishes him well, and a happy retirement with his family. I did my best to wrangle a trip to Colorado Springs, but that's not on tap until October darn it....and nothing I could do to get it moved up (I'd say everybody was onto my ploy, knowing there was a bike race coming up).

Not too much else to say about this race just now...we'll have to wait and see how it shapes up, who's got the legs and lungs to work at some serious altitude for 7 days, and how it all plays out.

Otherwise, the only thing I wanted to touch bases on was Robin Williams. How utterly sad that he took his own life....having been fortunate enough to have never suffered from depression, I can't fathom how a person who seems to have EVERYTHING going for him can think that's the best option. And to HANG yourself? Just tossing in my 2 cents worth here, that's NOT a pleasant way to go. For one thing, SOMEBODY you love will likely be the one to find you....and I believe THAT is not a nice thing to see and deal with. You'd have to be SO far down into a black hole of depression that you don't realize that (or you simply don't care due to the depths of your hole), OR possibly you want it to be that way to hurt that person. Of course, I have NO IDEA whatsoever if any of that is true...it's just my thoughts. No matter though...what's done is done, but for absolute certainty the world lost a major talent who had us laughing for decades. He was quite original, and even a huge proponent of cycling....showing up at many races around the world. He will certainly be missed, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, and also I hope he found whatever peace he was searching for. I still can't believe it though....just seems like a bad dream and we'll see him any day now on some show ripping off jokes in his totally unique style.

Jeannie is back east on her annual 'family' vacation....rotating between Ohio and Virginia....so I've got the furbaby sitting duties. Everybody is doing fine....even Syd....I've been giving her extra attention, and getting her to walk whenever I can...also upped one of her meds (since we took her off the steroids) and she seems to be doing pretty good all in all. She crashed and burned on the driveway just yesterday as I was wheeling the "Furbaby Flyer" out into position...she was attempting to get in while I was wheeling downhill...and she didn't quite make it. When I say crashed and burned, I mean that I couldn't stop the wagon in time, nor stop her from attempting to get in...so she tumbled and rolled on the cement. But she falls down a lot lately, so this wasn't a huge deal...and she was just fine when I got her situated in the wagon and let her out in the park to mosey around.

OK...off to bed for the Mattster....it's late (9pm) and I turn into a pumpkin at 9:02.

Later gaters...enjoy the race!

Furbaby Flyer

Well...first things first. Last night I wrote up and posted a brand new topic (very inane, which fits in quite well here at the Asylum!) with a bunch of pictures...and then this morning (at work) I was briefly on my page and just about to edit a few typo's I had found (seems 1 or 2 always slip in there somehow)...and magically the entire post was suddenly deleted, with no way that I've yet found to bring it back (stupid blogger)...so here it is again (to the best of my pathetic memory).

Surely you've all heard of the "RADIO FLYER" wagons we used to have as kids...in fact, you probably HAD one, or at least knew somebody who did. I believe it was a Federal law back in the 60's that all kids have access to a wagon. We used them to haul stuff around, and even to ride down hills in them like a go-cart (with their incredibly precise steering...NOT! It's amazing we're not all DEAD!) Anyway, they were useful for so many things as kids. And you know what? They're still useful now.

As you all know, our four-legged child Sydney isn't doing so well. When we left for Hawaii 3 weeks ago she had been on steroids for a few weeks, and had made some nice improvements...she wasn't falling down on every blade of grass or dust particle, and her head tremors were pretty much gone. Then we went to Hawaii for a week (well, Jeannie stayed 2 days longer with another couple, but I had to get home due to limited vacation time). When I got home late one night I found that Sydney could barely stand, let-alone walk, I was devastated. I had to carry her pretty much everywhere for the first 12 hours or so that I was back....I didn't tell Jeannie as I was afraid I might have to put her down before she got home and didn't want to worry her. But I also did not want her to see HER baby Sydney like that.

But then she started getting better...maybe just having her 'family' home. All I can think is that when we left she just laid around for 23.9 hours a day (instead of the 22.9 hours she lays around when we aren't on vacation). But just having us home again, making her get up every now and then and try to walk did her wonders. By the time Jeannie got home she was much improved (though still nowhere near where she was when we left for Hawaii). I think the secret is to keep her moving around as much as we can. So with this thought in mind, I figure I need to get her over to our little park a few times a week. All the babies LOVE the park...tons of new smells...they fan out and just smell and smell (and tinkle and poo)...but the park is about a block away and Sydney can't possibly walk that far...she'd take all day (and fall over a bunch of times in the process).

So I decided that I need a wagon for her...that way I can haul her to the park and then let her walk around.....and PG and Sweet Pea can walk on their leashes like normal (while I pull the wagon). I looked in Walmart and you know how much a RADIO FLYER wagon goes for these days? The plastic version (can you say chinsey!) was $80 at Walmart...and online the steel version like we had as kids was $100 plus shipping.

In case you don't remember what they look like, THIS should refresh your memory:

 I considered it, but realized that it's too high off the ground....I recall tipping over in ours many times....but I can't have Syd being dumped out of her wagon....she's got enough problems as it is. So I decided to build her a custom Flyer. I have a bunch of misc lumber...I picked up 4 wheels and the big bolts for axles at Home Depot, and the rest I mostly have lying around. A piece of 1/2" conduit for the handle, some 2x4"s for the wheels to mount to, and a hinge or something to attach the handle to the steerable front wheel assy. And various bolts and screws. Also a piece of wood for the bottom, and a long piece of paneling for the sides.

It took me over a week of my spare time on weekdays and at least one full weekend day, but I made my wagon! Then I had to name it..."RADIO FLYER" Is taken, besides, this should be something to do with the babies. So I named it the "FURBABY FLYER". Also I needed a logo...so I played around with fonts until I had one I liked, and made an 11x17 print of that...then I had to search the internet for a suitable icon for in-between the words (the real version has a kid in a wagon swooshing along...look close, you can see it). I finally found a cute little flying dog that I figured I could adapt for white and red, printed that out about 6 times (trying to get the right size to go between my words). THEN I had to cut out the letters making a spray-paint template, and also cut out the flying dog and insert that in the middle, all held together by scotch tape. After giving the wagon body the nifty red paint job inside and out, I sprayed the logo on both sides. I had to do a 2nd white-spray to add the swoosh-things from under the F and R (first and last letters)...then a clear-coat job and the body was done. Then I sprayed the wheel axles and the bolt heads (axles are black, bolt heads are red)...the wheels were already white with black tires thankfully. Put it all together finally, and then added a memory foam pad covered by a little blanket, to finish it off. THEN It was time to grab Syd and do a Fit-check.

 Here's Syd during the fit-check. I made the entire thing as low to the ground as I could (including the smaller wheels....the larger ones would look cooler, but put her up higher). It's also significantly wider than the original, also on purpose to make it more stable. I bent the side wall paneling with my steamer, and the top of the walls I used a long piece of refrigerator water tubing cut all the way down the middle, and then hot-melt glued it to the sides, along with throwing a bead of hot glue on every seam and joint. I think it turned out pretty good!

 To finish the fit-check I took her outside and wheeled her around our sidewalk and driveway. She tried to stand up more than a few times, so I quickly realized that I needed a restraint system. So I added 2 cords with little tiny carabiners that can clip to her harness and keep her from standing up. We are now park-ready I believe!

 With Jeannie as my official photographer, we worked our way to the park. This shot is just moments after I let Syd out of the wagon to start her wandering.

 After they'd run around for a while (or in Syd's case, mosey'd/stumbled), I was able to gather them for a group shot. This is one of the RARE shots of Sweet Pea....typically she's like a secret-agent, or a Federal Fugitive....or even a Witness Protection Agency customer...as soon as she even SMELLS the camera she's off like a shot. Can't tell you how many awesome shot's she's ruined in the last few nano-seconds before the shutter went off.

THIS is what a typical Sweet Pea shot looks like. See what I mean? This shot wasn't touched-up or altered in any way...she is just very good at NOT getting her picture taken! In this shot you can see the hair still growing back on her rear leg after her last bout with cancer...along with part of the large scar that went over 2/3rds of the way around her knee. So far so good...she's doing great, not a hit of the cancer coming back. We're keeping our fingers crossed on that one.

Here's a quality shot of HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, EMPRESS OF THE UNIVERSE, and QUEEN OF ALL SHE SURVEY'S: Miss PG. She has a pretty long toungue apparently. She's also the one who lost a leg to cancer 2 years back...but you'd never know it! She's a total MONSTER to her sisters...(she's still the Alpha btw). All losing the leg did is slow her down a bit from her VERY fast whippet-style run that she used to have. You'd never know she's coming up on 13 years old...(she's the only one we know for sure, as we got her as a puppy in Hawaii. Sweet Pea and Sydney came from the shelter).

And then it was time to head home (Syd can only do so much before she's just plain whipped). But it was  GREAT to get back to our park...they SO love it! You can see Princess PG out front saying "hey Daddy...what are you waiting for? Let's get going! note: going TO the park we walk them on the leash, as they have WAY too much energy and excitement...I have to restrain them until I can let them off at the park to run. But going home they are all pretty tired and stay fairly close, and they even mind pretty well when they're tired.

And AWAY we go....Syd is quite content to ride in the wagon at this point...with PG and Sweet Pea leading the way. On the way TO the park it makes her absolutely CRAZY to be behind PG, even in the wagon!

And here we are back in our driveway. Syd looks up at me and says (I swear I heard it):  

Thanks for the wagon Daddy, I LOVE it!

And one final shot I thought worthy of posting: This is Syd last weekend...she's stuck behind the feeding station (I custom made a three-baby feeder, and they each have their picture by their bowl...that's so when we have babysitters they don't feed them from the wrong bowl...that would be catastrophic! Anyway, I had to pick up the entire station so she could get out (it's filled with water-bottles btw to make it heavy enough so they don't move it around when they ATTACK their meals, and it also has a rubber bottom glued to it to help in that respect). Poor Syd...she no longer has a reverse gear, but that doesn't slow her down one bit from vacuuming the entire area for any stray food molecules. She is a QUITE the happy and loving furbaby! And we will certainly do all we can to make her feel loved, and we will hope and pray that she can stay with us for many more years.

Friday evening update: I tried a "solo" mission to the park...my first attempt to manage two on leashe's and Syd in the wagon. Jeannie took this shot just as I had harnessed up PG and Sweet Pea, and was ready to start pulling Syd.

  I think it worked out pretty good (gotta love that shot of Sweet Pea...you can see that she noticed the camera, but she has an evil 'grin' on her face...she can be quite fiesty when she wants to). Syd has already figured she's getting a free ride, and now mostly just sits there looking around...while Sweet Pea and PG think they are the bee's knees being out front (Syd seemed ok being behind the other two tonight...didn't expect that).

I did have to make some mods to the wagon after last unday's 1st attempt....I had to totally re-do the steering...the Mark I unit failed miserably (I used a gate-hinge to attach the handle to the front axle , turns out they aren't made for the lateral torque that was being applied by my handle)...but the Mark II upgrade seems quite robust. So after tonight's walk I declare the Furbaby Flyer is a success. I then took the entire 'front end' back off and made a few more mods that I've been thinking about...(I don't want the handle to be able to flop either into the front of the wagon or all the way to the ground, AND I needed a sturdier steering 'stop' to keep the wheels from hitting the side of the wagon when I'm turning, which is just like applying brakes to one side. Both mods are now complete, just waiting for the fresh black paint to dry to re-assemble, and it will be ready for another park-run on Sunday.