Olivia

When I headed out for my ride this morning, I had some vague idea that I would ride 100 miles and complete my August century. After all, the weather has been unseasonably cool (relatively, of course, we are in the desert). This morning it was in the mid-seventies, dry, really nice morning. I missed out on riding Cool Breeze, and I don’t know when I’ll have another chance without heading west for nicer weather.

Even with cooler weather, though, the temperature would heat up to around 104 , so when we didn’t get started until 6:25, I knew my chances for a century were slim. It’s one thing to head out for a short ride in such weather, but to try to complete 100 miles…well, it wouldn’t be fun. And that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?

It was a beautiful morning, though. The sunrise was stunning, the sun a red globe low in the east (my pictures don’t do it justice). The new plan was to ride about 50-60 miles along our usual route, east of La Quinta. There is very little traffic and lots of open roads and lovely views.

About 10 miles in, we pass the SilverRock Golf Resort, which is where we will be holding our 11th Annual Turkey Trot 5k Run/Walk. I cruised in for a minute to take a couple of photos. It is not complete yet (the golf course is, but the resort part is not), which actually makes for a better location for our race. It is a beautiful setting, definitely worth the photo ops.

From there, we took one of our regular routes. As we were heading toward home, I suggested to Alan that we take a slightly different route, that would take us past some calves that I have been watching grow up. He is as nutty about baby animals as I am, so we headed up a different street. We were riding past the cattle, side by side when he suddenly pulled over. I thought that maybe he had a flat, so I stopped and turned around.

I looked back and saw Alan bent over trying to get a small, scruffy dog to come to him. I have blogged before that my husband should be called the dog rescuer, so it was no surprise to see this little dog lower itself to its belly and shuffle toward him. I held back a little, not wanting to startle it, but as soon as Alan starting petting the dog, I joined in. In fact, I picked her up and tucked her into my arms.

We were in a very desolate area. The closest house was about a half-mile down the road, but there was nothing else there, just empty desert on one side, palm trees and cows on the other. Fortunately, my husband and I see eye to eye on many things, including this: There was no way we could leave this little dog out there, where if she didn’t get hit by a car or eaten by coyotes, she would surely die from lack of water or food.

The only question was who would go get the car. Alan nicely suggested that I do it, but since he is the faster rider, it made sense for him to go. We were about 10 miles from home, so he rode hard all the way, got the car and came back for us. Olivia (for that is what I named her while we waited) and I stayed behind, tried to find some shade, and barked at the cows (she did the barking, I just took pictures of them).

Alan arrived fairly quickly, we packed up the bike (I briefly thought of riding home, but it was getting hot, and the momentum was gone anyway). We drove home, where we introduced Olivia to our family: Sassy, Penny, Sydney, and Goldie.

We also gave her a bath, the poor thing was filthy. Shortly after, we headed out to Petco, where she was a hit. The gals at Petco believe she is a Brussels Griffon (or partly anyway) and after looking at pictures of that breed, I agree. We picked her out a pretty pink halter and some puppy food (not sure how old she is, but she is young and very skinny). Monday we’ll take her to the vet for a check up and shots.

She looks very cute in her halter, doesn’t she? I think she’s found a new home.