What, we're going home already?

This post is long overdue, and since we're already three weeks into CX season, i figured i better get my Paracycling Worlds update done before too much longer.  So first, just let me say, Worlds was a great experience.  I didn't place as well as i hoped, but had a great time racing with Sam and Jon and felt good about the teamwork we did to get good finishes for both of them.  And considering I was competing in Paracycling Worlds only 13 months after my amputation, i can still be proud of my performance, and i come into the next year with even more determination to train smart and hard and do even better next year with an eye on the 2012 Paralympics in London. 

We got to Roskilde the Sunday prior to our road race.  Racing actually started on thursday, but the C4 RR wasn't till Sunday, and each country only gets two slots for the TT in each classification, and since i was 3rd at Nationals, that means i was not on the start list for the friday TT.  We traveled with about 21 athletes and 8 staff, so you can imagine getting that many bicycles, handcycles, and all the necessary equipment, including four massage tables, left us with quite a bit of luggage.

We made it to our hotel in Roskilde without too much lost luggage, got our bikes put together, and set out for a ride of the course, a 15 k lap that goes out of town, through some beautiful countryside and a couple of small villages, then circles back into town.  The course had a few short hills, but nothing over 200 meters and nothing very steep, but what struck us all was a) how narrow it was and b) how tight some of the corners were.  Overall though, it was a great course with good road conditions through some nice scenery.  Over the next week, we all rode the course countless times as we prepped for our races.  Tuesday and Wednesday the weather was terrible: windy and rainy. There was no clothes washer or drier in the hotel either, so we all had to hand wash and hair drier dry our kits each night so we'd have something fresh for the next day.  Fortunately by thursday when the racing began the wind died down and little and the rain stayed away.

By the time everyone started racing thursday, i was ready to go, but still had three days till our sunday race.  The hardest part was the waiting and getting a little psyched out by the unknown.  I've obviously never raced against any of these guys, so i didn't know what to expect.  I knew the competition was going to be hard, but i didn't know how hard. I didn't know who was a factor and who wasn't.  Fortunately Sam has been racing these guys for a few years now and could point out some of the different riders as we saw them riding around town, but i was still dealing with the big unknown factor.  And then just getting antsy.  I watched for 2 days, then 3 days as everyone else raced, just dying to be doing more than easy laps as i tapered for sunday.

Finally Sunday rolled around and we got up at 4:30 for our 8:30 start time.  Our race was five laps of the 15k course, so just under 50 miles.  Most of my recent races here in Utah had been more in the 75-100 mile range, so i wasn't too worried about the distance, but shorter distances usually means more attacks and an overall harder pace for the duration.  As the race started, Sam got the no. 6 callup because of his UCI ranking, but because it was the first race for Jon and I, we didn't get called up until the very end, yea, we were starting at the back of the pack.  We were a bit nervous about being able to move up on the narrow roads, but the race started out a moderate tempo, and we were both able to move up pretty easily.  But then the attacks started.  And as i had imagined, they kept up for the duration of the race.  For the first three laps i was staying near the front and marking some of the attacks, but i'm afraid i exerted a little too much energy chasing down attacks that i shouldn't have been worried about.  Again, since i didn't know all the racers, i wasn't sure who to be concerned about and who not to worry about.  It took me about half the race to figure out who the players were and what i should be watching.  On the fourth lap an italian and a german opened up a small gap about 5k from the start/finish.  I saw them getting some ground, so i jumped from the group and bridged the gap.  We rode hard, but got caught by the group on one of the hills just before a hard right turn that led to a 1.5 k straightaway into the finish line.  As soon as we got caught, i attacked again, and the german went with me.  This time, however, a bunch of other racers jumped started to close our gap immediately and we were soon reeled in.  Sam and Jon were right in the group that caught us, as a group of C5 racers passed me and moved up the road (they race the C5 and C4 classifications together. Theoretically you are supposed to be able to tell the difference because C5 racers are supposed to wear red helmets and C4 racers wear white helmets).  I paid very close attention to all the racers who passed us and noted that they all had red helmets, because i didn't want any C4s to get ahead of our group.  Sam rode up next to me and confirmed they were all C5s and we didn't need to worry about them, so we settled in with the rest of the group and the small pack of C5s opened up a gap ahead of us as we started into the 5th and final lap.

As we crossed the start/finish and made the first turn out of town, i knew my legs were getting tired from my efforts, so i sat on the back and tried to recover a bit. Because everyone realized no attacks were going to succeed and we all thought the C4s were all together, the pace eased up a little.  Eventually i moved up to the front of the pack again just to be in a better spot, but as we moved through a section with a cross wind, i dropped back with Jon to give Sam some cover so we would be fresh for the sprint.  We paced Sam into the final hill when the pace picked up and i knew my legs were done.  i hung onto the back of the group, barely managed to stick with the group through the sprint out of the corner, and then gave it my all for the last long drag to the finish line even though my legs had nothing left.  Jon gave Sam a great leadout, Sam was in good position for a podium finish, but had to scrub speed when another racer moved into his line, and crossed the line in 3rd.
It wasn't long, however, before we found out that an Italian C4 had snuck into the pack of C5s that had gone up the road on us, and he had come across the line a minute ahead of us, putting him in 1st, and bumping Sam into 4th.  We were of course bummed that Sam barely missed the podium, but pleased overall with how we raced and that Sam got 4th and Jon got 6th  (i came in 15th).  It was the best finish for US in the C4 classification for some time, and we are looking forward to improving on that in the future.

Allison Jones, Me, Sam Kavanagh, and Jon Copsey

So now, i had raced, i loved it, was disappointed i had no legs left for the finish, but was ready for more.  And then we got back to the hotel, and immediately started packing to go home.  "What?" i kept thinking, "we're going home now? Really? I just started racing?  can't we race some more?"  But unfortunately the racing was over and we had to come home. Like i said, it was a great experience, and i can't wait for more.  I love racing the local scene in Utah, but there's certainly something to be said for the international experience and being able to compete against riders from all over the world.
Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported me over the past 13 months that helped me get there and continue to offer support.  I'm looking forward to an even better, stronger 2012.

Most of Team USA taking in a skate park on a group ride before the racing started.

Danish podium girls wearing gowns that had some kind of recycling/energy conservation theme.

Italian rider Michele Pitacollo in the World Champion rainbow jersey. He won the C4 division. Note his legs, he has two of them and they are both very strong!!

Sam in the start house for the TT. 

Our gold medal handcycle relay team.  Overall team USA brought home 14 medals and led in the gold medal count.

And prior to the relay, Oz, Muffy, and Matt warming up.

A short little incline on the race lap, about 3k from the finish. Pre-riding the course here with Jon and Sam. 

Some of the narrow country road we raced on. 

My post race pizza, yea, i ate the whole thing.

 

Roskilde Cathedral

Great bike shop in downtown Roskilde that had the derailleur hanger i needed.

It was awesome to hang out a bit in a country where bikes are a part of everyday life and everyday transportation. Living in Italy a few years back i saw this, but the Danish take it to a whole other level.

I loved all the tote cars and kid carriers and seeing moms and families riding around doing errands with everyone on bikes. And even with the lousy, wet, windy weather, they keep at it.

Course marshal volunteers headed out to their stations on the race lap.

Hats off to our team of mechanics.  It takes a lot of work to keep a  30 bikes and handcycles in top working condition, especially when each rider has his or her own special adaptations because of the variety of disabilities, but Myke, Eric, and Kimmi were great.

There's a reason they call these Danishes.  Overall i found the Danish cooking rather bland, but oh my goodness, i think i ate about half a dozen of those raspberry danishes every morning.

For a few more photos from Joe, visit the gallery on the DNACycling FB page. 

Good bye Colo Springs, Hello Denmark

After a week of training here at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, we are just about to depart for Roskilde, Denmark for Paracycling World Championships.  It's been a great week, kind of like hanging out in a dorm full of lots of really fit people.  Actually it's interesting to see all the different athletic types: everything from massive weightlifters to the tiniest of gymnasts.







The schedule here was great, but it took a little getting used to.  We'd start the day with some type of intensity work out, motorpacing race simulation or TT intervals, then head back and have lunch.  After lunch we would rest.  Yes, just rest.  Do nothing, but rest.  Actually that's not completely true, we could also head over to the recovery center and get a massage, use the compression space legs, or do hot/cold plunges going back and forth from a hot tub to a cold tub.  Then rest some more.  Then late afternoon we would usually do a recovery spin, then some dinner, then more rest.  Rest until bed, then get up and do it again. 

The recovery compression "space legs"

The "radilac": part caddy, part el camino, with a lift kit for good measure. Like one of my friend says, nothing says "USA" like an el camino with a lift kit.

Refueling after some intervals.

Dessert at the OTC cafeteria.

Out for an easy recovery spin.

Went over to the CoSprings velodrome one night to watch the track racing. I think i'd forget their is no freewheel and rip my legs off if i tried track racing.

Coach Durner packing for the trip.

It's been great to get to meet some of the other team members,  an interesting assembly of individuals to say the least, from a variety of backgrounds. I look forward to racing with them in Denmark and cheering for them all in their different race categories. In an hour we head to the airport for our departure.  Can't wait to race!!

getting some form back

Well, first of all, i have to say "Wow!!" i did not expect that the voting would overwhelmingly favor wearing the "Amputees need love too!" T-shirt on a first date, but you, the people, have spoken, so as soon as i get that first date, i will in fact wear the T-shirt. I'll let you know how it goes (and i'll also hold you all accountable if it ends miserably)!

Photo: Chris See

Alright, having addressed that, time to move on to other more interesting stuff, like bike racing. It's been almost a year since my amputation, and i'm starting to feel like i'm getting some form back and can actually be competitive in a race rather than just getting shelled out the back as soon as the racing really starts. In fact, this last weekend i took 6th overall in the Bikes4kids stage race, with a 3rd place in the TT. And last weekend i didn't let the hill pictured below take me out of the race.


I know it doesn't look like much from this angle (hills never look as steep in pictures or on TV), but the last little kicker is 8-9% and goes on just long enough to really hurt. At the state championship Road Race we did 5 laps of this course, with a rollout starting across the street from the hill to make for a total of 6 times up the hill. Since climbing is definitely a weakness since losing my right calf, i was afraid i was going to get dropped on the hill when the inevitable attacks started. But lap after lap i was able to hang on. On the 3rd time up the hill i made a strategic attack about a mile before the hill to get a head start. This worked out perfectly as the rest of the group caught me just as i was cresting the top, but this was also the time they took the hill the hardest and dropped half a dozen other riders. Fortunately my strategy paid off and i jumped back in the group for the rest of the race. Of course the last time up the hill the field splintered since the finish line was just past the crest of the hill and the attacks were furious. i got passed by most of the other racers, but overall i was happy to have stayed with the lead group for the whole race. At the beginning of the season i was unceremoniously dropped from every race as soon as we hit any incline, so it's gratifying to be able to stay in till the finish now.

I'm looking forward to Worlds in three weeks, and then after Denmark time to gear up for the 2011 CX season (is it ok to say i may even be a little more excited for CX then worlds). And i'm just going to put this out there. It may be pie in the sky, but i'm starting to entertain the idea that i may have it in me to upgrade to a cat 2. I've never thought this possible, even before the amputation, but with some hard work and dedication i think i can get there. I know i'm not there now, but am sure going to give it my all going into the 2012 road season. By making it public, that puts the pressure on to follow through, right?!?

stranger than fiction, riding the emotional roller coaster part 2

Ok, just a warning right here at the beginning, this is a long post. I thought about breaking it into two, given that the attention span of all of us raised on MTV and similar media is rather limited, but decided to keep it all together since for me the experiences can't necessarily be separated. That being said, here we go. That phrase "truth is stranger than fiction," has been recurring to me a lot lately, more and more as the year has unfolded. This last week has been no different as the pattern of pain and joy and good news and tragedy all rolled into a matter of a few days has continued. As i look back at the last year and contemplate all that i have both lost and gained, it all seems rather unbelievable; you couldn't make this shit up, as they say. So let me start about a week ago as i departed Salt Lake City for Augusta, GA to compete in the paracycling national championship races.

I have been preparing for these races since my amputation. Of course, it's awful hard to really train with only one functioning leg, but before i got my prosthesis i tried to keep on my bike as much as i could just to keep up some basic level of fitness and T-dub kept me on a pretty strict diet to help me keep my weight down. Once i got my prosthesis i immediately started riding my bike, which was actually a little easier than walking since it's not weight bearing in the same way, and preparing to race cyclocross again. I put on a few pounds over the holidays, but afterwords started taking the weight off and increasing the intensity of my workouts, trying to build up the fitness i had lost after not being able to train for six months on account of the two foot surgeries and then the amputation.

I slowly have seen progress as my fitness has improved since january and was excited and ready, a bit nervous, but mostly excited to go to Georgia to compete. I was not looking forward to the heat and humidity, especially since it had been so cool in Utah all spring, but tried to mentally prepare. The time trial was the most important event because it was also the qualifier for the national paracyling team and was our first race on thursday.

Pre-race meeting with paracyclists and handcyclists at Paracycling nationals in Augusta, Georgia.

Start and finish of the nationals TT at the Thurmond Dam.

I prerode the course on wed. then headed out thursday morning to get ready. It was hot and windy. I got there just in time to watch T-dub start and then bring in the fastest time for the Under23 women and become the U23 National time trial champion. It was an amazing accomplishment and i was incredibly proud of here because i have seen all the hard work she has put into reaching this goal.

T-dub in the start house of the TT.

T-dub just across the finish line of her U23 National Champion TT ride!

Our race wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, and fortunately a storm rolled in which brough the temps down to about 85 (as opposed to 97), and caused the wind to die down. It rained during our TT, but i didn't mind since it cooled things off a bit. If you haven't done a TT before, let me briefly describe how it works. The TT is a race agains the clock, rather than other riders. Cyclists are started at 30 or 60 second intervals and then ride the course and the person with the fastest time wins. Basically what that means is for the duration of the race you are at your lactate threshold, pushing yourself as hard as you can maintain for the given distance. It's painful. Your mind is screaming at you to quit. Your legs are screaming at you to quit. The saying is, you know if you did it right if you feel like you wanna throw up (and i did see quite a few riders throw up as they finished). I didn't throw up, but i put everything i had into those 20K. Two of the fastest riders were starting behind me, and i know i didn't want to get caught by either of them. Fortunately i didn't. As i crossed the finish line i felt good about my ride. I had buried myself to the very end and pushed myself hard across the line. Of course, i had no idea what kinds of times the other riders where posting and didn't know, since i have never raced against these guys, how i would stack up. As we all congregated at the finish line i got a sense from some of the other times and knew that Sam K. had beat us all by a good 40-50 seconds, but that my time was right in there with some of the other guys. It wasn't for an hour or so, however, that we finally got results and i found out i had podiumed with a 3rd place. I was happy with that, not as good as i wanted to do, but certainly happy with it. Given Sam's time, however, i was not confident at all i had made the time cut to qualify for the national team and was a little discouraged and a bit nervous about this since results wouldn't be posted till later in the evening.

Handcyclists racing the TT in the rain. Photo Dave Gaylinn.

Now let me backtrack a tiny bit and say that wednesday night as i was getting a last few things done to get ready for thursday, my dad called me to tell me that my mom's health had taken a turn for the worse. My mom has suffered from a rare neurological disease called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), for the past 8-9 years. PSP is a terminal disease that slowly causes the brainstem to degenerate, causing a slow loss of both mental and motor functions. It started out with similar symptoms to Parkinson's or Alzheimers, but as the disease progressed, at least in my mom's case, she slowly lost motor function and the ability to walk or speak, although her brain still functioned and was more acute than in a patient suffering with Parkinson's or Alzheimers. My dad told me that my mom had not been able to eat since sunday (the last time i saw her when i went to my parent's house for sunday dinner), and that she was getting weaker. He told me he had talked to her Dr. who told him that she probably had about another week to live, but that her body would gradually start to shut down since she wasn't able to eat. The Dr. recommended letting her live out her last days at home rather than take her to the hospital and stick her full of IV tubes, so my family chose to do that. I talked to my dad for a few minutes, then hung up thinking that i would be able to get home after the weekend in Georgia and have a few days before she passed on.

I took this with me tucked it away as i raced on thursday, and then thursday night went to the podium ceremony where i got my bronze medal and got to see T-dub get her Gold and national champion stars and stripes jersey. After the ceremony Sam K. grabbed me and said he looked forward to racing with me because he had heard that we were going to have a strong team of C4s (C4 is the handicap classification level that i fit into with a below-knee amputation; there are 5 levels from C1-C5) on the national team this year. I hadn't heard anything yet about team qualifications, so i found my coach Mike and asked him if he knew when they were going to post the qualification times, and with a big grin he said, yes, in fact, he had a copy of it right there. He pulled it out and showed me that i had placed 5th overall (out of about 100 total para-athletes) based on the formulas they use to determine team standards based on different levels of disability (don't ask me to explain how this works because i don't understand it). I was starting to get excited, but still wasn't sure what it meant, so i asked Mike, "so what does this mean in terms of the national team?" He just grinned again and responded, "what are you doing in september? Interested in going to Denmark to race at paracycling worlds?" I was ecstatic. T-dub was with me and gave me a big high five and hug and i grinned from ear to ear. I hadn't done quite as well at the TT as i had hoped, but my main goal was to qualify for the national team, so i was elated. I shot a text home to the artist and mentioned that i didn't think i would be able to do Lotoja this year because i would hopefully be in Denmark racing with the national team instead.

T-dub in the stars and stripes champion jersey with Gold medal!

Podium for C4 TT with Sam K. (gold), and Jon C. (silver).

My phone was dying, so T-dub walked back to my hotel room to charge our phones real quick before we set out for a celebratory dinner. When i got back to the hotel room i noticed the artist had called a couple of times, so i plugged my phone in and got a charge to call him back. While my phone was charging he called again. "Wow," i thought, "the artist never gets this excited about anything, but he's called me three times, that's weird." After our phones charged for a minute we walked out to the car and i called my brother as we were pulling out to go get dinner.
"Congratulations," he told me, then asked, "why didn't you answer your phone?" I explained that my battery had been dying, and then he let me know the news, "mom died about an hour ago."

I asked a few questions and he answered as much as he could. This was obviously much sooner than any of us had anticipated. T-dub sat next to me and held me while i talked to my brother, then i hung up and sat there in a little bit of shock. Even though i had known this was coming for 4-5 years now, and even though with my dad's call from the night before i knew it was imminent, it had happened much more quickly than i anticipated. Within the space of an hour i had gone from great news about the achievement of one of the goals i had been working towards all year to the news that my mom had died.

Kathleen Linebaugh Bradley, 1947-2011

T-dub and i got dinner, and then i called my dad and talked to him for a while. I asked him if i should change my flight and come home the next day, but he encouraged me to stay and finish the races. "Mom would want you to stay and finish, and if i was the one who had passed away, i would certainly want you to stay and finish," he told me. So I stayed and raced the next two days before packing up and heading home on Sunday. At nationals I got another podium 3^rd place at the crit, but then at the road race I went on an early attack when I eased off the front without a chase, and hoped someone would bridge up to me. I knew if no one made the bridge it was an all or nothing deal with the odds much more strongly favoring nothing. Unfortunately no one could get away from the main group to bridge, so I got caught with about 15 k to go. I was a little spent from doing just shy of half a lap on my own, so I didn’t have as much at the end as I would’ve liked and finished in 5^th.

My two bronze medals.

Coming through the start/finish of the RR on the first lap when i had opened up a gap of about 15 seconds. Photo Dave Gaylinn

I wasn’t too pleased with that finish, but I knew that was a risk when I went on the attack and put in the best effort I had. All in all it was a great weekend. The racing was hard, but it was great to meet so many other incredible athletes who make adaptations and figure out how to keep racing their bikes irrespective of the challenges or disabilities that life has thrown at them. I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to train and race with the national team, now I just gotta figure out how to take the first couple weeks of the semester off so I can make it happen. I also want to give a big, public shout out to my coach Mike Durner as well, who despite my impatience and frustration, kept me on track and has steadily helped me improve my fitness and get back towards race form. Thanks Mike!

After the road race Saturday I started to pack and get ready to come home. I had been able to bump my flight up a little, but still had to wait till Sunday to fly home. I got home Sunday afternoon and went straight to my Dad’s house where I spent the rest of the afternoon with my family. My mom’s passing has been bittersweet. PSP took my Mom years ago in the sense that it had stripped away so much of who my mom was. Of course, she held on till the end with the same kind of strength she had always exhibited, but the woman who was bright and well read and loved to garden everyday and walk every morning had been gone for years. Her quality of life had declined so much in the past year that it was a good thing for her to go, to move on and leave the body that had betrayed her. Of course, it is always hard to lose a loved one, especially your mom. As I reunited with my family and had the chance to look through old photos and over the next few days as I heard stories from family members, neighbors, and friends, it was a wonderful opportunity to remember my mom for who she was, not what PSP had done to her.

My mom and I didn’t always agree on issues. In fact, more often than not we disagreed, but I credit my Mom with giving me and helping me develop two of the loves that are a central part of my life: education and gardening. My mom was always involved with education, from the time she started teaching 2^nd grade after she and my dad were first married, to her years of involvement with the local and state PTA, to her time volunteering in classrooms. She was also adamant that we, her children, took full advantage of the educational opportunities that were available to us. I remember one particular instance that highlighted both her commitment to public education and her commitment to her own children’s education. I was finishing up my 7^th grade middle school year, literally it was the 2^nd to last day of school. Practically no one was at school. It was “senior sluff day,” but of course, that meant sluff day for all. People went to school, met up with their friends, then left. I did just the same. I went to school, met up with a few of my friends, and we left, but luck would have it that as we were walking down the street my very own mother would drive by and see me. She immediately pulled over, ordered me in the car, and summarily drove me back to school. See, my mom not only wanted me in school, but she also knew that the way the schools got their money was based on attendance, and no child of hers was going to sluff school and cause the school to lose even that little bit of funding. I remember my mom sitting with me in the worst of my teen, grumpy, hate-everyone-and-everything years and make sure I got my AP European History done. I hated the homework. In the moment, I hated my mom, and it was certainly not easy for her to sit there with me seeping my bitter resentment, but she did it, and I got my homework done, and I passed that stinking AP test, and it was in great measure because of my mom’s dedication, patience, and willingness to deal with a moody and broody teenager. I also fondly remember sitting at our kitchen counter reading through the newspaper and being able to have conversations about just about any issue in the news with my mom as she was cooking dinner. She always knew what was going on, and she was always willing to engage me with the issues. We talked about everything that came up, but I remember most distinctly the many conversations we had about education and specifically vouchers. Even though my mom was overall rather conservative, she was adamantly opposed to vouchers for the very reasons she supported public education as a whole: my mom was a staunch advocate of educational opportunity for everyone, and from her perspective, vouchers and any sort of privatization of education set up a system that would leave lower-income or those without the necessary cultural capital behind those who could afford to use public money to supplement private education. This is one of the few political issues on which we agreed.

I also fondly remember walking with my mom through her garden in the morning and learning so much from her. Of course, like any kid, I hated weeding. I hated weeding the garden, I hated weeding the flowerbeds, i hated weeding. But as I got older, I grew to appreciate and love gardening, and many summer morning I would walk through my mom’s flower beds with her as she taught me the names of plants, the difference between annuals and perennials, the blooming periods of the different perennials, and so much more. I specifically remember my Mom’s war on snails and slugs, something she engaged in with an animosity that I rarely saw in her. I remember her walking through her hostas every morning plucking snails from the leaves and unceremoniously depositing them in the big blue trash can outside the garage. This is one place where my mom and I found common ground, and I cherish the time I was able to spend with her under the morning summer light at the foot of Lone Peak learning the names of plants and picking weeds and snails with her.

My Dad and Sofia at the burial.

The grandsons looking at photos of my mom and some of her horses.

Despite the sadness of a funeral, it's a good time to be together with the family.

and with my brothers, will certainly result in many awkward moments.

So now I’m home from Nationals, my mom is buried, and I’m trying to return to some sense of normal, though I’ve long lost any notion of what normal is. This last year has been such a mix of both pain and loss and accomplishment and joy that I’m not really sure how to ground or center myself. I’m a little lost regarding what to expect for the future, as many of my expectations and basic perspectives have certainly changed. I’m certainly more cynical about a lot, but on some levels continue to be hopeful and excited. I’m angry at times, but that doesn’t serve me or anyone else too well, so I try to focus my energy on other activities that will bring about some sort of positive outcome. Hopefully i can find a way to revisit some of my values and priorities because everything feels just a little up in the air or scattered on the ground at the moment.

On a hopeful note, a note marked by the beginning of new life and all the potential it entails, this morning, just a few days after my mom’s passing, my sister-in-law brought twin girls into the world. Congrats to the artist and the epicure and the newest additions!