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Ticks & spacers & 911 buttons...oh my!

It was sort of a wacky weekend here in the Newfangled household. We drove out the Arboretum to ride bikes as a family on Friday evening and ended up doing only one loop (the wrong one, it turns out, since only one side is closed to traffic). The bike shop had taken the seat post off the road bike and put it back so that the seat was way, way too high for Kelly. To the point where she couldn't touch the ground when trying to stop. Not the best way to try and get back into cycling. And here I am without a wrench in my saddle bag. Nope, mine is entirely flat-focused with patches, CO2, levers, tubes. So we only did one (very hilly) time around before heading back to the car...where I found a tick on my wrist. What? It wasn't attached but still hard to take off...I wasn't even in grass or off the road! Then you have that creepy crawly feeling on you the rest of the day and we had to check the kids really well. It was a whole lot of gear to get ready, too, by the time you do the usual kids stuff, plus our bike stuff, plus the bikes and trailer and rack.

At some point, I think I also snagged on wire on my hybrid's cadence sensor putting it on the rack. That's my theory anyway. After the Farmers Market for fresh strawberries (picking our own next weekend hopefully!), I rode up to the new shop up the street to fix it or see if I'd just killed it. I was waiting for the worst give that it was just hanging there on the wire with only one plastic tie. The mechanic couldn't figure it out either until he realized I was missing more than a couple zip ties. The spacers had fallen out so the sensor wasn't close enough to get the data. But he ended up pretty much installing the whole thing over again because the speed sensor was loose, too. Like whoever did it (ahem, reputable bike shop) didn't do it correctly to begin with. I was about to lose my distance/mph. Fixed it for half off (10 bucks) and certainly made me think about coming back there to get my bike fit on the roadie eventually. Not having such great luck with "usually reputable" local bike stores though.

Got my long ride in on Saturday though cut it short since it was over naptime and I'd already spent 30 minutes getting the cadence sensor fixed. That was it though. Peak training for my first triathlon. Come and gone. I'm not cutting back a ton this week, but we've got an otherwise busy schedule so we'll see what happens. My wetsuit rental is due to arrive today. And I'm due for a transition practice. I don't know that I'm going to go the full "getting wet" route to practice changing while damp. But I definitely want to lay all my gear out and develop an order to it. Bike stuff here. Run stuff here. Put this on then this.

Kelly was looking for a book at the library yesterday so we all went and the kids got to go to the nearby playground in a freshly renovated playground. Which is ok, but I totally don't get why it's so crowded there. It incorporates elements from Frank Lloyd Wright (home & studio is nearby). But we have 2-3 playgrounds near us that are just as nice, never that crowded, and fenced...this one is not. Anyway, we were getting on the elevator to go from the parking garage to the main lobby when Cole pushes the 911 button. Which, like a moron, I hit again trying to cancel it. Instead the little red light comes on anyway. Who puts the emergency call button 2 feet off the floor without anything protecting it...in a library!?