Tour de Belleville (195/366)

Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah
Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race

”Bicycle Race”. Jazz. Queen, perf. EMI/Elektra. 1978.

TIME:  8:31 PM
PLACE:  Downtown
SUBJECT:  Dad & StellaDella

We had our big bicycle adventure this evening – the Tour de Belleville.  A 15 (or 6) mile nighttime ride through our fair city.  SD and HH did the 6, while Dad, MonkeyBoy and I continued on and completed the 15.  There were over 2,000 riders in this year’s annual event.

Go Speed Racer, Go! (139/366)

“Shake and bake!”

Ricky Bobby, Cal Naughton, Jr., Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Sony Pictures, 2006.

TIME:  7:29-8:37 PM
PLACE:  Belle Clair Speedway
SUBJECT:  At the stock-car races

I volunteered to help at the “Battle at Belle-Vegas” that my work sponsored at the Speedway this evening.  We signed people up for a raffle (Cardinal baseball tickets) from 5-7pm then we were able to stay and watch the races.  I was given extra tickets, so DQ, SD and several of my cousins joined me.   We were able to sit in the enclosed VIP viewing tower.  The speedway gave us t-shirts and also served us chicken, beef and shrimp kabobs, baked potatoes and water – it was all good!

 
They had late models, midgets plus 600cc micro sprints.


It was still loud inside the tower! 

Of course only I would go to the races and come home with a picture of stacked milk cartons.

At The Finish Line (028/366)

“The true runner comes to the finish and receives the prize and is crowned.”
 
Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.), Greek philosopher. Republic, 613 C....

TIME:  9:30-9:46 AM
PLACE:  Lindenwood College
SUBJECT:  MonkeyBoy & DramaQueen

The kids participated in the 2nd Annual ChiroMed Winter Luau 5K Run/Walk this morning.  DQ’s friend, Erin also ran in the race.  It was much colder than the race they did in December and that made it a little more difficult for them.  They made it though.  Way to go guys, I’m very proud of you!

Horse Hooky (229/365)

 
“I bet on a horse at ten-to-one.  It didn't come in until half-past five.”

Henny Youngman (British-born comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", 1906–1998)

TIME:  1:04 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack
SUBJECT:  Horse & jockey

Being the good mothers that we are, my sister and I took the kids to the racetrack this afternoon.  We consumed $1.00 hotdogs and 0.75 cent sodas; I bought a tip sheet and proceeded to lose each and every race where I placed a bet.  Heck, I couldn’t even pick the right window to place my bet ~ I always seemed to get in the one queue that had issues.  My sister did win once, on the first bet she made – she received a whole $2.40 on her $2.00 bet.  Oh yeah, we are the original high stakes gamblers.

A Night At The Races (211/365)

 
"The only decent people I ever saw at the racecourse were horses."

James Joyce (Irish novelist, 1882-1941)

TIME:  10:17 PM
PLACE:  Fairmount Park Racetrack
SUBJECT: Race 7 start (One mile on the dirt)

My cousin’s (and BFF’s) birthday is tomorrow (the 31st) and we celebrated tonight by going to the horse races.  It poured down rain prior to the 1st post time and rained during the first couple of races.  The track conditions were sloppy.  I didn’t place any bets, I’m not a big gambler and the horse I *really* wanted to bet on, “Greattobeabeaver,” was scratched in the 7th race.  (Because you have the mind of a 12-year-old boy, you giggled when you read that, …admit it). 

On Tuesday afternoons, they have a 1:00pm post time and “Horse Hooky Specials”: $1.50 admission, 75 cent soft drinks, $1.00 hotdogs and $1.50 draft beer.  Hmmmm, maybe I should take the munchkins.  I really think they’d like to see the horses run. 

Dragon Boat Races (157/365)

 
From yonder o'er
The high seas, fast encroaching:
Here Come The Dragons.

Jess C. Scott, Viking Longship, Dragonsinn, 12 Dec 2007/6 Jun. 2009, <http://www.dragonsinn.net/Poetry/haiku.htm>

TIME:  10:09 AM
PLACE:  Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis MO
SUBJECT:  Racing Dragon Boats and StellaDella

Well, I survived the races today!  We were losers...4th place in the second to last consolation division to be exact!  But it was a good time, the weather was beautiful, the kids behaved and I'm not too sore.  I've posted more pictures at my other blog if you have a hankering to see more from the day.  Now it's late and I'm off to bed!