Originally Posted by
sherbornpeddler
1. Dmann and I were on an imaginary ride?
2. How do you manage to "half full", wonderful 4th, bask in LBS compliments, coach a broken wheel through a 75 mile ride and dodge T storms. I'd have cursed the glass, complained my half-empty was smaller than your half-full and not known to loosen adjacent spokes.
Were you fuelled by New England roads, ingenuity, the Pops
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pzCoyhanEk ?
As was the case virtualizing Wachusett, tell us of your adjacent spoke strategy, your decision to press on and your rim falling like Phidippides approaching Athens?
Hi SBP,
Nice reply, great prose. No thunderstorms on the fourth as I recall; it was a miracle.
I actually broke my spoke on the way to a 24 hour CVS at 6AM to buy a cycle computer battery because the computer was acting up the day before and I thought the battery might be failing. I was out to do 75 miles according to my Century training schedule and I wanted to be as precise as possible (I'm very goal-oriented). After the spoke broke and the rim was significantly rubbing the brake I was concerned if my repair would hold up. I thought about just riding tight loops around town but that seemed too boring so I went way out west, with out any significant wobble after the quick fix.
I always carry a spoke wrench that fits the spoke nipples. All I did was gradually loosen the spokes on either side of the broken one, about a quarter to half turn each time, and checked the wheel postion relative to the brake pad until it centered pretty well with each revolution. The trick is to know which way to turn. The rule is "Righty tighty, lefty loosey" as you face the spokes with the bike in the upright position, but since I set it upside down to fix the wheel, the opposite directions apply.
I didn't notice any problem the entire ride and felt pretty good. I was slowly riding on the sidewalk of my block in Kenmore and the front tube suddenly exploded with a loud bang and I was riding on the rim with a collapsed tire. Fortunately I unclipped in time and shuddered to think how the bike would handle if I was zipping downhill.
(There was a thread on this subject sometime ago. As I recall most correspondent said they were able to handle it OK.). There were some strips of metal protruding out of the rim and at first I thought the tire bead had worn through, but in fact they were shards from the edge of my rim. The shop is building me a new wheel and tuning my bike for this Saturday's century attempt.
Nonetheless, it was a glorious Fourth besides the bike ride. I walked through the teeming masses on the festive Esplanade that afternoon, and that night I watched the concert and fireworks on TV, while I could still hear the bombs bursting in air simultaneously in Kenmore Square.
Best wishes on the Prouty this Saturday. I had been invited to a dinner that Saturday by a colleague who has a summer home up there.
Jim