OK, more like a metatarsal really but I couldn't resist the Jimmy Buffett reference. I went riding last even ing and I wasn't feeling it. My legs were week. My emotions were off. I wanted to turn back. A few evenings earlier, at about the same time in about the same place, I was riding with my wife and family and she and I had gotten into a row. A couple of months earlier I was riding my Motorcycle in the same area, at the same time of day and it broke down and I had to push it home. There was something about vein on two wheels at this time of day in this general place that simply did not work for me. Perhaps the is an un-favorable intersection of Lay Lines near by, I don't really know.
What I do know is that I was riding my vintage Raleigh Marathon that evening and it had given my trouble in the past. Spokes on the back wheel had been breaking with some frequency. I had had it repaired some time last year but had been aprehensive about riding it since. My Tricross has been down for repairs though so the Marathon was called back into duty. I rode it a couple dozen miles over the last few days but I still didn't trust it fully. I was right! About eight miles into my 16 mile loop, sure as shit, one of the back spokes broke! I called my Lovely WIfe and, despite still being cross with me from the other night, she agreed to come rescue me when she got back in the sate. I started walking. I was making pretty good time and was actually considering the possibility that I might not actually need to be rescued when I ran into a friend who pulled over to chat with me and keep me company. Sadly, no rescue was forthcoming as her mini-van was being used for the "van" portion of the title and was full of ....stuff. We did, however, have a lovely chat until my wife arrived some time later with the Rescue Jeep and home we went. Now I have to decide what to do about this wheel. One of the things that I love about the bike is that it is all factory original. If I can't re-lace the hubs then I'll need new wheels and once I start going down that slippery slope who knows where I'll land!
What I do know is that I was riding my vintage Raleigh Marathon that evening and it had given my trouble in the past. Spokes on the back wheel had been breaking with some frequency. I had had it repaired some time last year but had been aprehensive about riding it since. My Tricross has been down for repairs though so the Marathon was called back into duty. I rode it a couple dozen miles over the last few days but I still didn't trust it fully. I was right! About eight miles into my 16 mile loop, sure as shit, one of the back spokes broke! I called my Lovely WIfe and, despite still being cross with me from the other night, she agreed to come rescue me when she got back in the sate. I started walking. I was making pretty good time and was actually considering the possibility that I might not actually need to be rescued when I ran into a friend who pulled over to chat with me and keep me company. Sadly, no rescue was forthcoming as her mini-van was being used for the "van" portion of the title and was full of ....stuff. We did, however, have a lovely chat until my wife arrived some time later with the Rescue Jeep and home we went. Now I have to decide what to do about this wheel. One of the things that I love about the bike is that it is all factory original. If I can't re-lace the hubs then I'll need new wheels and once I start going down that slippery slope who knows where I'll land!
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