A Winking Lizard, Pink & Purple Sparkly Flames, and Goofy Bunnies

Even though Sunday (4/6/08) was the best weather we have had this year, no bike for me. Instead, I enjoyed a pleasant day with the family in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We drove down to Peninsula and took a short stroll on the tow path. Following that, we had a nice lunch at The Winking Lizard. I felt obligated to leave a nice tip, due to the disaster zone that my 11 month old left under our table (cheerios, mac ‘n cheese, placemats, napkins, puffs, etc.)

After lunch we walked over to Century Cycles to browse the store. We were about to leave when I noticed a few kids helmets. I thought to myself, this is perfect timing. When Lily is 1yrs old, next month, I can start taking her on bike rides in her trailer (industry recommends all children to be at least 1 year old before going on any rides – their neck and neck muscles aren’t strong enough to support their noggins before 1 yr.). So the Century Cycles dude helped us determine which would be the best helmet for Lily. She laughed and smiled at the store clerk, until….he tried to put the helmet on her. I couldn’t see my daughter’s face because I was standing behind her, but when the store clerk’s face went from all smiles to “blank – uh oh, what did I do?” I knew what was coming. She wasn’t happy about the helmet at all; I’m not surprised because she never was a big fan of her winter hats, either.

So the dilemma was: do we go with the pink flames or the goofy bunnies design? I opted for the flames, of course, but my wife was all about the bunnies. Lily didn’t have a preference, she just smiles and laughs and points at everything and calls everything doggie. I insisted this could define her cycling style forever, let’s go with flames! But even when my wife changed her mind and opted for the flames, the store was out of the flames. Darn. So it is goofy bunnies I’ll have to look at for the next how ever many years until she grows out of that helmet.

More importantly, I will be tuning up our tandem, with new pedals, toe-straps, & mirrors.
I’ll be picking up the trailer this Saturday (4/12/08), and adding a new flag and lights. I should have the whole rig set up and ready to go for Lily’s first ride.



Now, if I can just get my wife to wear a helmet...