Well, it appears the bright side has been brought to your attention. Glad
you didn't pave the road with your face.

Bob C.
As they say in rodeo ... "Some days it just don't pay."

"Arthur Shapiro" wrote in message
news:H%DQc.24050$Oi.7697@fed1read04...
Nothing profound here, but let me grumble a little.

A group of us were near the beginning of tonight's club ride. We were in
the
bicycle lane on a fairly major street. Someone in front yelled that there
was
a big branch in the road. One lady clipped the very end of it, sending it
flying - right into my rear wheel. Sheared four spokes at one of the
buttings; don't think I've ever seen a spoke break in the middle before.
They're DT 14-15s on that side. I skidded to a stop with the wheel
jammed
against the left chainstay - all four spokes were on the driven side.
Everyone was impressed that I didn't pave the road with my face.

Two police cars pulled up - they had had reports of brats throwing
"something"
into the road. From the amount of branches and leaves over about 1/4 mile
of
road, I think it was more likely to be a spill from a gardener's truck.

One lady rode back to get her car, while three others waited, although I
was
begging 'em to do the ride; I could easily carry the bike that far. It
took
quite a bit of effort, once back, to get the rear wheel out of the
dropouts.

Drove over to Performance - there is one 3 miles away. Got eight spokes,
just
in case. Went home, and couldn't find my Campy tool to remove the
cluster.
Looked for a half hour. And I'm always very conscientious about my tools.

So tommorow I hope the local pro shop has the tool in stock. I won't know
if
I've trashed the wheel until I can get it partly apart. And Saturday is a
pretty strenuous, hilly route - I'd prefer to give the wheel an easier
first
ride.

Some days!



Art
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