Farewell to Ashley

We said good-bye to our greyhound, Ashley, after 12+ wonderful years yesterday. Ashley left us too soon after complications from a broken leg she suffered this past weekend. Racing, arthritis, and a chronic neurological condition wore Ashley down and we did not want to see her suffer any more pain after a major injury. She was a wonderful, sweet (and unbelievably gentle) dog and we loved her very much. Ashley's original home was Oklahoma and she raced in New Hampshire. We adopted her early in 1998 and she spent many beautiful years in our Somerville NJ home and this year in our new home in Readington. Ashley was the perfect compliment to the Jack Russell Terriers we had. Just the right balance of personalities! She was also the ultimate coach potato (or professional sleeper as we called her). We all wish we could be greyhounds - 3% body fat, a few short sprints, and sleep all day. The end result is that you lose weight. The metabolic rate of a greyhound is off the charts!

While Ashley moved a lot slower and gingerly in her later years, we vividly remember her lightning speed in her younger days as she sprinted "laps" around our yard in Somerville. Greyhounds can run 43 miles per hour and she would chase our Jack Russell, Oliver, around our dining room table at least a dozen times with both blinding speed and perfect coordination. We tried hard to protect wild life in the yard, but Ashley could catch a rabbit in stride before it knew what happened. Fortunately, she thought they were toys and would usually (though not always) drop them upon command.

Ashley ("Stretch" as my mom called her) was loved by all including the family, friends, and others who came to the NJ Greyhound Adoption Program (NJGAP) "meet and greets" that my wife, Fran, attended to support greyhound adoption. We both would like to thank Ashley for all the wonderful times we had together, her loyalty and support for us, and just being there for the 10 years she lived with us through everything. We will never forget her and are just glad that she is now back with her buddy, Oliver, enjoying her sprints, milk bones and naps in heaven! Good-bye Ashley.

Team Somerset Cyclocross - A Season in Review

Team Somerset is a local bicycle racing team with most members in Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. The team is well known for legendary famous cyclists such as Joe Saling, Brooke Wilson, and Elizabeth (Betty) Terrell. Our women's team and 35+ men's team have enjoyed great success over the years. This past fall season brought a new element to the team's accomplishments within the discipline of Cyclocross. Cross (as it is known), is generally a 40-45 minute race and spans mostly off-road terrain including grass, dirt, various trails etc. It also includes periodic barriers and run-ups where a cyclist must dismount the bike and then remount smoothly without losing a lot of time. While not as technical and rugged as mountain biking, cross can be done with a mostly road bicycle frame (with some exceptions) and has been used by road cyclists as a great "cross" training option in the fall to keep fit and sharp for racing.

This season (September through December) brought success, excitement, and quite a bit of fun to the members of the team that tackled cross. The NJ race season consisted of 10 "cup" events, and several larger regional events, with various venues throughout the state including races from Bridgeton to Augusta, including the former Craigmeur ski resort. The team finished second in a tightly contested cup schedule out of a large contingent of racing teams. For much of the season, however, Team Somerset led the NJ Cup and several of its members actually won their individual categories for the season including Dag Anderson in the juniors 10-14 category, Martin Jones in 45+, and Larry Dudek in 55+. Dag was also a NJ State champion.

Some highlights of the season included several wet muddy contests at Thompson Park in Jamesburg, the NJ State Championships at Augusta, and a snowy excursion up in frigid Skylands Park (Augusta). The early part of the season also included a rugged steamy event up in Mahwah at the Westwood Velo race where temperatures reached 90 degrees. Perhaps the most treacherous event took place in Kansas City at the CX Nationals where Joe Saling and Dag Anderson took the trek out to the midwest in freezing temperatures and icy conditions. In in all, however, it was a great season and included lots of challenges. There were several members who tried Cross for the first time (including myself), as well as others who returned to it after a several year absence. We look forward to an even larger contingent next year as the sport has grown in terms of races offered and overall interest.

We are quite proud of our efforts and just wanted to share this information with the local community. The Team enjoyed the holidays and we are now beginning our base work for road racing season in March/April.