I came home with pizza, then put it in the fridge to warm it up

I'm from Arizona. It is 36 degrees in Flagstaff right now, which is about what you'd expect for the beginning of January. Not warm, but livable. 

You know what it's like here in Farmington? -5 degrees. -15 with the wind chill. That, combined with the couple feet of snow we got over the past ten days, which make the sidewalks impassable, makes it really hard to motivate yourself to go for a ride.

I rode in to work today wearing my complete spandex outfit under my shirt and tie. On top of that, I had my grandpa's wool trench coat from the war. On top of that I had thick gloves, a scarf, and earmuffs. The ten square inches of exposed skin I had left was screaming the whole time.

After work, I needed to work out for a while, and was thinking about riding a 15-mile loop with a lot of rolling hills. I suited up, rode one mile, then called myself an idiot, and went home. There's a nice, heated gym that I can use for free not two minutes from my front door, and I was going to give myself frost bite at 8 o'clock at night for posterity sake? Hell, they'll even let me ride my freestyle uni in there after 7. What am I doing in the freezing cold?

Thursday nights are apparently "bring your douchebag friend to the gym" night at the UMF fitness center. Just walking through the weight room to get to the locker room, there were a dozen guys pumping iron. It's like they have a bizarro world version of anorexia. They look in the mirror, and say, "This part of my body doesn't bulge enough! More weight!" There was one fellow there with enormous bicepts, 17 tricepts, shoulders that would dwarf a Buick, a neck that was wider than his waist, and tiny little bird legs. Evidently, he refused to flex any muscle below his belly button. In his defense, though, the weight room mirrors only reflect from the belt up, and I'm not sure if he was capable of bending over far enough to see himself.

So, I ran a couple miles, did 15 minutes on the most uncomfortable exercycle in the world, and did a lot of core exercises. Uni magazine publishes a good work out in each issue, and they stress core work.  Okay, and it makes me look good. I also worked the leg press for a bit. I did s 5 reps at 250 pounds, but I was starting to cockroach, so I dropped it down to 200, and did another 15. I think that works my climbing muscles, but I'm not sure. I suppose I may have to train those on actual hills.

The salt and sand from the roads this winter have taken their toll on Captain Pasquale. I brought him inside to clean him up a bit. I don't want him to get all rusty just in time to meet a hundred other top-notch riders from around the world. That will be the rest of my night, me thinks.

One of the biggest distractions I've had lately has been  www.watchthesimpsonsonline.com. I imagine before too long, it will go the way of TV-links, so if you're a Simpsons fan like me, enjoy while you can.
 

Cheers!