Alaska has the Iditarod, that famous dogsled race, but Saint Louis has its own version of this race too, the Idiotarod. The Iditarod is billed as the last great race. It kicks off today and will go for many days and miles. The Idiotarod kicked off yesterday and concluded today. Yesterday’s Idiotarod was for corporate contestants. Today’s race was open to everyone. We biked downtown to watch today’s race. We should have been able to catch the noon start of the race, but instead we managed to catch every red-light along the way. By the time we made it downtown, the race had already commenced and contesting teams seemed to be headed every which way.
Saint Louis’s Idiotarod is a charity fundraising event. They raise money for local food banks. This explains the substitution of shopping carts for dog sleds. Each team comprises five members, four “dogs” and one musher. Sorry, but no canines are allowed, humans only. The rules specifically prohibit whips, but cycling around downtown, I did overhear one of the “dogs” whimpering, “no whipping, no whipping”. Finally, costumes are required.
Missing the start of the race, we rode over to Rosalita’s Cantina, the finish line. It was warmer inside than out, so we enjoyed coffee at the bar, cups three and four for the day, just in case you wondering. About one o’clock the winning contestants began to arrive. They had been shot-gunned to the four corners of downtown and now they were coming home to roost. Win, place and show went to “Words with Friends”, “Trolling in the Deep” and “Race of Thrones”.
After the first quarter of the 32 contestants finished, we decided to beat feet and head for home. Even with a stiff headwind, we were a rocking and a rolling, but with all of the coffee that we had drunk, we ended up stopping and a-going. We stopped at Cafe Ventana, for another cup of coffee, which didn’t help. The barista there gave Anne “mad props” for riding on a day like today. Whatever.
Eight months from Election Day, and cats and dogs are already quarreling like well, Democrats and Republicans. I give you Hank, a Maine Coon. Hank is running for the US Senate from Virginia, but Hank has his detractors, and they spawned their own attack ad.
We’re listening to the Prairie Home Companion’s annual joke show. My favorite joke from the show’s first hour goes like this: A woman’s brain cell finds itself lost inside a man’s skull. Looking around, it sees only a vast empty cavity. The brain cell calls out, “Is there anyone here?” After a pause, comes the response, “We’re down here …”
Thank you for posting this! Love the photos and the humor involved. Sounds like fun was had by all 🙂
Anne’s favorite PHC joke was, Cross-country sking is way easier in small countries.