Am I playing dental assistant? Two or three Tours de Cure ago, I had a checkup with the dentist shortly afterwards. Before I actually saw the dentist, the oral hygienist was chatting with me. I told her about the ride, and how there were rest stops with snacks and drinks, and how good a shot of dill pickle juice was after an hour or so of riding in the hot sun.

She was quite astonished, and wondered aloud why we\’d drink pickle juice. I said, probably for the sodium. Enter the dentist. The hygienist told him about us cyclists drinking pickle juice; and he told us about finding dried-up pickles in the fridge because his beach volleyball-playing son drank the juice, saying it helped his cramps.

A week or so ago I got a box of Pickle Juice Shots. I thought that drinking one halfway through a long ride might help keep the post-ride orthostatic hypotension at bay. This past Sunday, I tried it. I\’m not quite sure how much it did help,  because I\’m taking medication for low blood pressure, too; but the \”OS\” didn\’t seem as bad as usual.

For some reason that exchange with the dentist re: pickle juice stuck in my mind; goodness only knows why. Today I had a follow-up with the dentist for my implant work, and I brought the empty shot bottle with me. I asked the dentist whether his son still drinks the pickle juice, and the dentist said, yes.

Voila! I presented the shot bottle for him to take home to show his son. Maybe now the dentist won\’t have dried-up pickles, and my playing dental assistant will let me wear a Dental Assistant badge!