Grounded

On the way back from Seattle, the bike picked up a staple in the rear tire.

I took it down to CycleWorks in Renton as they said they could patch it. I ride about 20 miles down the freeway. The shop seemed really disorganized as it took over 20 minutes to get one of the service managers to even look at my bike. The tech pulls out the staple and the tire is not leaking too badly. GREAT win. However, they pull the bait and switch and then tell me that I need a new rear tire.

Frustrated, I take the bike back to Andy and Raissa’s and start working on plan B, getting a new set of tires. I decided on the Michelin Anakee. The problem with changing the rear tire to a new brand is that it’s good sense to change the front tire as well. So I head down to EastSide Motorsports in Bellevue to order the tires. The folks there are good folks. The shop seems well run and the parts people actually know what they are doing, even if you have to pay a bit more than mail order.

Thursday night the three of us head over to The Slip which sits on the water in Kirkland (man… I keep thinking Costco). It’s a great local burger joint that serves excellent food and drink. It’s the last night in Seattle before I head off to Atlanta, so it’s nice to be out on the water. As usual… I delay packing to the last possible moment and finally crash at midnight… to be at Sea Tac airport at 6:20 am the next morning.

Karen has left for Romania on a missions trip with her church, Peninsula Bible Church, Cupertino. She’s going to be gone just over two weeks. She comes back to San Francisco the same day I fly back to Seattle.