Le Cascade

AND THUS BEGINS THE CASCADE CLASSIC.

WITH THUNDER AND LIGHTNING AND POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE.

Who doesn't love the Cascade Classic? Here at GliderBison, we've got a rich history of covering the race. In 2008, I crashed a bunch, and hallucinated things like unicorns and alpacas. Last year's coverage was filled with famous octopus prognosticator Oracle Paul, who, fresh off his series of brilliant World Cup predictions, trained his crystal ball at yours truly.

Last year's race was also marred by what is now known as Landisgate. Famous Floyd showed up, sporting a flapping grey tee-shirt, and a chip on his shoulder. He and I quickly became friends, on and off the bike, sharing nutrition advice, legal advice, and much more.

Well the 2011 edition of the Cascade Classic should be every bit as action packed as years past. For starters, I'm staying at a beautiful home stay way out on the Aubrey Butte Circuit. This house is awesome for four reasons, and their names are:

Patches

Reggie

Congita

and Tucker

These four fabulous pooches are all certified therapy dogs. They're sweet, obedient, and playful. Reggie has taken to sleeping on my bed. Congita loves to lick my arms while we watch the Tour. Patches enjoys eating pine cones. Tucker really likes Eric Slack:

Tucker is less of a dog and more of a mythical beast. He's a bull mastiff who, were he a member on our team, would slot in as our fifth heaviest racer (read: he outweighs Eric Slack, Matt Cooke, and Chris Hong (by a solid 30-40 lbs.)). Tucker has splendid jowls, as seen in this video:

And this one:

All in all, things couldn't be better.