The Slice: A little extra padding will ride a long way

Here’s your Bike to Work Week pep talk.

If your bicycle seat seems comfortable, it could be that certain body parts have gotten numb.

If, while riding your bike, you wonder if the saddle has come off and perhaps you are sitting on an exposed metal post, relax. That’s a typical sensation. Chances are, the seat is still in place.

If, hours after you have gotten off your bike, you continue to feel as if you had been kicked in the nether region by someone wearing a heavy boot, don’t worry. Consider it a metaphor for life and keep pedaling.

If any of that is true, imagine how much fun bike riding must be if people still do it voluntarily.

The shedding champion: Anne Webb told about a long-haired family dog named Rufus that spent a winter in Fairbanks, Alaska. He romped around outside in some mind-blowingly frigid temperatures and slept in a garage that was cold enough to virtually freeze engine oil.

But he adapted, turning into something of a woolly retriever.

Then Rufus came back to balmy Missoula, Montana, for the summer.

“You can probably guess,” said Webb. “He shed buckets of hair.”

Slice answers: More people said they would choose a hotdog with just mustard over a hotdog with just ketchup.

Warm-up question: What’s the most common way people get your name wrong?

Got to wondering about that after a friend in Pullman, Sylvia Hutton, told me she has been called Cynthia, Sheila, Shirley, Sarah and Olivia.

Today’s Slice question: What’s the most you can hope for from a special pre-summer haircut? A) You will magically be younger and more fit. B) People will begin addressing you as “Gidget” or “Moondoggie.” C) Suddenly, you will be carefree. D) You will find yourself having to fend off a certain category of social advances. E) Once again, summer will be a time to discover what makes you happy. F) Your life will be indistinguishable from a beer commercial. G) Your perkiness level will go way up. H) Because of its shorter length, your wet hair will dry more quickly. I) Other.