Well, as it always seems to now, summer has arrived in May in the Mid-Atlantic. We opened the pool last weekend, and the water temperature is already pushing 80°. By Sunday, it’ll likely be up to 82 or 83. Amusingly enough, we had the cover off the pool at 9:30am and the kids were in the pool by 1:30pm.. a new record. They didn’t stay in for too long, as the water was a little cool. I have a feeling that that will change this weekend. This year I was a little more proactive about keeping the pool chlorinated during early spring (the salt water generator really helps with that) so I didn’t have to do much cleanup, which helped to get the kids in the pool sooner. I doubt they would have been as eager to jump into a green swamp.
I’ve had 4 extremely sweaty rides to and from work this week. That’s par for the course around here in the summer, so I guess the sooner my body gets acclimated to it, the better.
The problems with the rear tire on my single speed bike just keep coming. I went to ride it last week, and noticed a large bulge in the sidewall. I deflated and re-inflated the tire, to no avail, so I pulled the tire off to see what was up. It turns out there was a 1-inch patch where the rubber on the edge of the tire had separated from the wire bead, so the tire would no longer seat properly on the rim. I’m guessing that I may have damaged the tire in my (fruitless) efforts to reinstall it after fixing a flat. This weekend I’m going to take the tire back to the LBS and hope they’ll have mercy on me and exchange it, or at least give me a discount on a new one. I’ve since acquired a “bead jack” tool that will get the tire on the rim without damaging the tire, the rim, my thumbs, or my blood pressure.