Cars and Bikes

My day started at the garage today.  The radio in our van was replaced after it stopped recognizing ipods and phones that were plugged into it.  A few months after that it stopped working altogether and made a popping noise every few seconds whether or not the van was turned on.  A computer reset fixed that.  The radio stopped working again recently and started popping again and then ceased to do anything at all.  So this morning I took it in to be repaired again.  I told them I would wait as I needed to drive my bikes to the bike shop this afternoon for repair and fitting.

It was a humid, overcast morning so I took my umbrella and walked about 30 minutes to the nearest Starbucks where I had a coffee and read the paper for an hour.  News of Robin Williams’ suicide took up pages of the news and entertainment sections.

I returned to the garage a couple of hours after setting off to discover they still had not figured out the problem.  Just as I was reaching the point where I had to leave in order to get lunch and get to the bike shop they finished.  It turns out it was a loose wire.  Hopefully, that will be the end of the problem as the van won’t be under warranty much longer.

My bike fitting took a couple of hours for measurements, adjustments, installation of a new stem and seat and purchases.  I bought shoes and clip-in pedals, socks, a seat, a new stem to raise the handlebars, a bag (for the seat post rack that I have ordered), gloves and non-polarized sunglasses as I couldn’t read the display on the bike computer with my polarized ones.  I also left the bike for a tune-up.  I can’t wait to get it back tomorrow evening to practice clipping the shoes in and out and get out for a ride.

Alun is having a sleepover at a friend’s house and Trystan is still away at the cottage so we went out for dinner as a family of four at Lone Star.