In my good friend Vinny Muoneke's house, there are several K-Hound awards all lined up. Each of the many times I've stayed with him before a Seattle ride (I live in Oregon), I looked at these awards and wondered if I, too, could manage to earn one. This year, I decided to go for it. I started off on New Year's Day with a group 200K in Seattle and finished with a solo 200K on Christmas in Oregon's wine country. It would have been nice to finish with friends, but at least I got to start with them and ride with them more than once along the way.
That said, riding the K-Hound has entailed a lot more solo riding than I've ever done before. It was sometimes quite lonely and I envied riders in Texas and Seattle who are close to big communities of K-Hounds and seem to always post photos of big groups drinking post-ride beers together. I made it up to Seattle whenever I could, but it's hard to justify the time and expense to travel that far for permanents.I don't know that I'll pursue the K-Hound again any time soon. There are other goals that I'd like to achieve: PBP 2015, the Cyclos Montagnards R60 Honors, and an SR600 all come to mind. But I'm glad I did it and I'm proud to be in such good company. Yippie Ki Yay! ... Theo Roffe
- First-Time K-Hound: Theo Roffe (RUSA #4988)
- Date: December 25, 2014
- Where: Beaverton-Hagg Lake-Carlton 203K (Perm #1401)
- Moment: The ~10,000K mark was the penultimate control, in Hillsboro, OR (some meandering looking for an info control threw off distance a bit).
- Ride Partners: none.
Self-portrait at the ~10,000K mark. [Editor's note: So serious!] |
Congratulations, Theo! Welcome to the Klub.
[Yippie Ki Yay! -- you've clearly been exchanging emails with Dan.]