My new ride

Between a hurt knee and the NHL playoffs our couch has seen a lot of my ass the past few weeks. We've had a lot of Friendly's ice cream in the house lately, so the ass in question is getting bigger too. This Sunday will mark two weeks since any sort of ride for me, and now that I'm out of the ironman I can't say that I'm anxious about it. There's plenty of time until cross season, and taking time to heal completely is my new objective for the spring.

That's a training program anyone can get used to. Most people have gotten used to that plan I suppose, too many really.

The ass getting bigger line is an exaggeration, the scale has been pretty kind to me and I'm only up 3-4 lbs over my "fighting weight," but I have virtually no appetite. I can't loose weight when I exercise a lot and can't gain it with lethargy.

I'm having a heated argument with a co-worker as to which college sport is more popular nationally... Men's hockey or Women's softball. I was reluctant to agree when he suggested that Men's baseball was more popular than hockey, but since he's from Oklahoma and I think that is where the College World Series is I figured he knew something I didn't. But when he tried to push hockey down below women's softball, I had to put my foot down. He was going to have his dad who was in Vegas to ask someone at the sports book which sport got more action, but he forgot. That was going to be the thing that settled our debate.

This guy's dad heads out to Vegas (from OK... no big deal) once or twice a year. Ten years ago or so my friend approached me saying that his dad was looking for someone who knew hockey to give him some picks. I was deeply involved in a fantasy hockey league at the time so I handed over 20 or so predictions. I got something like 18 of them right and every year since I get a call from my friend and know exactly what is coming. I'm always promised a little "something special" if the guys wins big, but I don't follow the league as closely as I once did and my picks have suffered from it. I don't think I've broken the .500 mark with my picks since that first year, but the guy seeks out my advice nonetheless. I think I was 3-12 this week. I thought defense won championships, but apparently not this year.

The wagon search continues, but it's not like looking for a house where you know that the right place must be out there somewhere. There are only so many mfgrs that I'd buy from, and all of the models that they make are fairly well documented. The Subaru Forester looks nice, but is 15% beefier than it really has to be. On my last ride I stopped to ask this guy who was working on his lawn mower how he liked his 1991 volvo wagon and he thought I wanted to buy it. He owns an old farmhouse in Douglas with a huge old barn on the property and he used the wagon for dump runs only. The thing was a beater, but clearly had many good years ahead of it. Dan's right... those old volvos are bomber. The guy was pretty chatty, every time I tried to leave he'd find something else to ask me about cycling, cars or living in Sutton. He took a look at my bike and then asked if I was interested in buying a "serious" bike off him. I said no thanks, but then thought that perhaps he had an old Masi or a Pogliaghi in that barn. No such luck, some sort of late 90s alu trek with an ultegra 6700 group... triple. There surely are some treasures in that barn, but a classic bike isn't one of them.