Finding Perspective

A few years ago a big guy came into the shop looking for a road bike. By big guy, I mean 6’ 350lbs big. His name is Frank. Initially, I didn’t want to sell him a roadie. I tried to get him on a hybrid. No way a roadie was going to hold up under Frank’s size. He was very polite but insisted on buying a road bike. He wanted to get into tri’s but in general just wanted to get fit. Ok, lets do it. I set him up with a Giant OCR2. Ended up working out well for Frank. He put some miles in. Dropped some lbs. Did some competitions. He really picked up a passion for it. So much so he convinced his wife to go the same route. He bought her a bike a few months later. He visits the shop a lot. He’s a very loyal customer. At times he had every opportunity to do business with another store but stayed true to Holmes. Good guy. I like Frank. Everyone at Holmes likes Frank.

Yesterday he came in to purchase a new tri bike. A Trek this time. I took charge of sizing him and getting him fit to his new rig. The whole process takes roughly an hour, give or take. Cleat position, seat height, seat fore and aft, stem rise and length. A breeze. We chit chatted about riding and what he was planning to do this summer. A few competitions, a few charity rides and then seemingly out of nowhere, bang! Frank tells me his wife passed away a few weeks ago. Shit. Leukemia. I remembered hearing she was sick but I honestly don’t recall it being serious. I felt crushed. As bad as I felt, I know isn’t even close to how he feels right now. Frank’s resolve now is to raise awareness and funds in an effort to fight the disease that took his wife. Makes sense.

So, Frank and I shifted gears because I know I didn’t want to dwell on it and I’m sure he didn’t either. We wrapped it up talking about how exciting this year Tour should be. Who will win. Podium. American hopefuls. Frank paid for his new bike and went home. He’ll pick his new bike up today. And I just can’t possibly imagine what my life would be like without the most fantastic wifey of ‘em all, Erin. Hug your loved one. Do it for Frank. Do it for me. Do it for yourself.

On to sunnier topics. The hockey regular season wrapped up last night. We hockey fans, all six of us, patiently and loyally watch from October to April just to get to this point. Playoff Hockey. Man are there ever some great first round match-ups. Unfortunately, the Flyers have a tough opponent and as much as I hate to say it look poised for an early exit. Buffalo has played them hard all year. Out West, Detroit looks like the cream of the crop although have seriously shit the bed in the playoffs the past few years. Dallas is also good. The hottest team has been San Jose and would be a good sleeper pick. Playoff Hockey is all about goaltending. Lots of teams have untested goalies. Therefore, Ottawa won’t do shit without The Dominator. Rookie goaltender. Carolina was good all year but…..untested netminder. By far the hottest team in the East has been the NJ Devils. They have maybe the best goalie ever, Martin Brodeur. Hard not to pick them. Whatever the case, it all starts Friday night. Predictions? Not really a stretch, Red Wings over the Devils in 6. Watch it you hosers.

House is the best show on TV not named CSI. Actually, I think I look forward to House moreso than CSI anymore. It’s a good serious medical show with a fare amount of one-liners to keep it amusing at the same time. Last night was no exception. I was giggling about the “six-foot hose up your ass” comment for at least 10 minutes. Hebe and I have talked at the water cooler about what shows get away with when it comes to those quick witty little one-liners. How much of that stuff slips through the cracks. The double-entendre. Priceless.

High-ho, high-ho, off to work I go. Payday. Sweet. Late.