come on down to the Mermaid Cafe

We've barely crept out of the weather where I have to bike in the garage due to rain or wind, and now we're into the stage where excess heat gets added to the mix. :( By August, a 90- to 94-degree day will not stop me from going outside, but this time of year? I just can't do it.

I managed to get out yesterday (and hit another snake!), and I got out 3 days last week. The first two days went well, Friday not so much. I got a flat tire, and discovered that I could not change it myself! In fact, I had to get help from two different guys working together just to get tire irons under the beaded tire rim to get the inner tube off and replace it with a new one. /o\

This is bad. Everyone knows that Continental tires run tight, but this is on a whole other level. My current ride is a gravel bike that used to have 32c tires on it. I had the shop put on 28c tires a few months ago, because I don't go off-road at all and I'm using it like a road bike. BUT... I now remember that the reason I stopped using 25c tires and went to 26c on my previous road bike was because I couldn't get the 25s on and off without breaking the tire irons. The wheel rims should be the same circumference for ALL of these bikes--only the width should be different. But I wonder if Continental applies some different kind of logic, and shrinks the tire slightly with the decreased width?

I really like the 28s. I'm able to ride faster on them than the 32s. In fact, I had a ride this past month that averaged 16.9mph, and that's the fastest I've ridden in YEARS. Am I going to have to go back up to a larger tire size now? Or can I buy a wire-beaded 28 from a different vendor and see if that works?

My son and I went to Scandia Fun Center and played a couple of rounds of mini-golf before it got too hot. We were both unpredictable and relatively bad, as usual. He got a hole-in-one and shot a few holes under par, but also got a 7 on a couple of them. I managed par or under on a few, but also got 9 on one of the holes, so he managed to beat me. Putting is my nemesis. :O

We were done outside by about 1pm, and went inside to use the free arcade tokens that came with admission. Then we came home, and I got caught up on a couple of chores. Late afternoon, HalfshellHusband and I watched The Proposal, and then all of us watched Moana and ate takeout Thai food for dinner. Our son was the only one who'd seen Moana before. "Meh" to all of the main character's songs, but The Rock's "You're Welcome" was fun and catchy and I loved the crab's Bowie tribute number, "Shiny". Also, the deranged chicken sidekick was hilarious.

Our daughter called in the evening, and it was nice to talk to her (she lives about 12 hours south of here). Then I opened presents, which included a LEGO-style set titled Dwarf Cabin. It is actually a hobbit house, but you have to love the technically non-copyright-infringing name choice. I hope to start it today!