Before I start today's entry, there's something you'll need to understand. I, Toad, have fallen under the spell of The Gym. I used to be a non-believer, brushing the Gym off as a mere haven for human-sized gerbils. Turns out that I love it. I love going to the Gym, I love thinking about going to the Gym, I love watching the TdF on the flat plasma screen TV that's attached to the ARC machine that my trainer has assigned to me for my warm-up at the Gym. But I don't yet consider myself a gym rat, as I still ride every day that weather permits, and while I am not a great endurance road cyclist or anything, my rides average around forty miles, whether I go to the Gym or not.

My love affair with the Gym started in Texas a few weeks ago, when, stranded at a Motel in the Desert without my trusty Bianchi, Salt Peanut, to abate the itchiness of Cabin Fever, I started working out everyday in the crummy motel "gym." It was dull, there were only three machines, a stationary recumbent bike, a treadmill, and a busted four-in-one weight machine. Most days I would wake up and think, 'Enh, I'll just ay in the sun by the pool today, that gym sucks." But, try as I might to spend an entire day lounging, after a few hours I'd wind up twitching with nervous energy, and, in shame, I'd sneak away to the gym room to take a seat on the stationary recumbent. When I returned to my hometown in Upstate, NY and was greeted by nothing but torents of rain and massive flooding, I soon began to feel the familiar twitches and itches. To my horror though, it was no longer just faceless cabin fever; it was a craving. For Gym.

I joined a gym around here, rationalizing that this way I'd have something to do on the days when I couldn't get out on a ride. I was worried that there'd be no way I could afford it, but, happily, I get a student discount that brings membership down to about forty dollars a month. Now, only three weeks later, I spend over two hours, four or five days a week at the Gym. Most of those days I've already gone for a long ride, but I just can't help it. It's-- It's just so cool. I mean, there's just so much stuff. I like stuff.

There's all these different cardio things you can climb on, each of which is equiped with a personal flat screen TV with basic cable. There are weights, classes (from Yoga to Ninjitsu), a room called the Cinema, which is basically a theater where they've replaced the seats with treadmills, ARC trainers, and stationary bikes (so cool), and, ahem, a sauna. Oh sauna.

The coolest thing though is probably that I've got a personal trainer, Colette. Gym lessons don't come with membership, and they're pretty far outside of my budget, even with the student discount, but I'm only going to do one lesson a week during the summer, and then one every other week once school starts. Basically, the way a personal trainer works is the same way a studio music instructor works. The first lesson is more or less a consultation to find your strengths and weaknesses, and then the instructor gives you a series of exercises to do to improve yourself as a well rounded musician, or, in this case, human. So I dunno, I'm just pretty excited.

I guess that's all for now. I need to practice some new stuff for tonight's show. With my trusty coleague (a flutist who was covering the first violin part) gone to have her wisdom teeth out, I now am covering both Violins I and II, Bassoon I, and Celli I and II... On flute. Gah... so. totally. over. this. musical.

LANCE ON... Being so totally over a musical.

Well, I can't say that I've ever been particularily "over" a musical. You, uh, you know that before I retired I was a professional cyclist, right? Won the Tour de France, like, mad times.... Right.

....

There was this one instance where somehow, Johann wound up booking the entire US Postal team as a last minute substitute pit orchestra for the podium ceremony in Paris. I think that must've been in 2001? Yeah. 2001. Sheeze... That was pretty hard, because I was on lead flugel horn, so George, who was on second, covered my part while I presented, and then I had to leap off the podium and dive into the pit. Hahaha... good times.... good times.