Tan Candle Fitness Regime

The way to make coaches think you're in shape in the spring is to get a tan. - Whitey Ford

When we were kids up at the cabin, my mom took us into town one day and we got to dip candles into wax. This was the best photo I could find online that shows how you can dip them to get bands of progressively darker colors (it's similar to the technique you'd use to make striped Easter eggs). 

Anyhow, this time of year, particularly this weekend, this is what my legs look like (although they're a slightly lighter hue). The top band is the light part that rarely makes a public appearance, due to the infrequency that I wear a swimsuit as an adult (when you're a kid you'll swim in ANY weather). The lighter brown color is from when I wear my shorter shorts (like on yesterday's nearly 50-mile ride with Kim in Scott County), the darker color is from my longer shorts down to the ankle (like from today's nearly 60-mile ride to meet Matt and go to scenic Grey Cloud Island).

It was good to get out two days in a row since I'm doing a 100-mile ride next Saturday and I suspect that my work trip to the mothership in ATL this week will involve a fair amount of sitting in addition to the inevitable eating out for most meals. (This time, I packed breakfast foods in my luggage. We'll see how it goes.) 

Looking at a ton of unsuitable candle photos on Google made me realize that the candle dipping tourism industry is faltering, unfortunately.