My calc teacher in college--the one that taught me that math is about concepts, not symbol manipulation--had an odd catchphrase. Instead of "you bet", or "you betcha", or "yes, that is well-reasoned and correct", he would say "you bet your sweet bippy!" I always assumed that phrase was equivalent to the more colloquial "you bet your posterior region", though I never did verify that.
Today, after living in Cedar Rapids for six years plus two summers (seriously? man, so much for my two-years-in-CR-then-move-back-to-northern-Wisconsin plan), I visited the local high-quality mountain bike trail. I didn't ride for long (*), but was impressed with what I saw.
Plus, it reminded me of my calc teacher's catchphrase.
The trail is called "Sugar Bottom", which is clearly pun-equivalent to "sweet bippy". And so, as my legs got their first taste of real, hilly, off-road riding (**) in years, my inner dialogue kept coming up with variations on a theme: "Is this fun? You bet your Sugar Bottom sweet bippy is fun! Pardon? I meant, you bet your sweet bippy Sugar Bottom is fun!"
I'm not sure how often I'll get out there this summer. I have a lot planned for the summer already. I'd like to get a few good rides in this summer. And if it turns out that my family lives in the Cedar Rapids area for a few more years, the Iowa River right next to it looks like a beautiful place for some family canoeing or kayaking trips.
* As it turns out, the guys I was going to ride with didn't make it out. Because it was Mother's Day, I figured I shouldn't linger on the trails, but instead should spend time with my wife to let her know that I love her.
** When I was growing up, we just called it "riding", but now I'm in Iowa, so the hills have to be specified. And cornfields don't really count as off-road, so I feel like I need to specify that too.
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