Got my problems taken care of, hopefully for at least the rest of the year (crossing fingers, knocking on wood, tossing salt over shoulder). I took my bike into the shop over lunch break on Friday and talked to one of the techs about the issues with breaking spokes to find out what would be the best route to take. There had to be a better way to deal with this instead of just replacing spokes all the time. He suggested replacing the wheels. That's always a way to deal with a problematic part. He told me that once you start breaking spokes that it will continue to happen because of the stress that is being put on the spokes. I don't think I explained that correctly, but anyway I got some new wheels. It's even an upgrade, so I was okay with it since I was thinking of upgrading my components next year anyway. I'd really like to have a good race ready ride.
Got out yesterday morning for a nice long ride, and what a difference! The wheels were responsive, stiff and smooth throughout the ride. The old wheels felt sluggish and soft by the end of a long ride, and I thought it was just me getting tired. I think now that they were warped in some way that was causing the wheel to stress over the course of a ride and breaking spokes throwing the wheel out of alignment. So, a big thumbs up to the new wheels!
I took the same long route to Bethel and around to Owensville and back. I am really loving this ride. It provides a nice variety of hills and flats, as well as the advantage of being a loop so there is no out and back. I always disliked out and back routes. I added a few miles on by taking a little side road to the bottom of the spill way at East Fork. It adds mileage as well as another 1/2 mile hill to the course. Just thinking about it makes me itch for another run at it.
Stats:
Odo: 950.2 miles
Dist: 54.79 miles
Time: 3:15.56
Avg: 16.7 mph
Max: 39.1 mph
Looking forward to the milestone of breaking 1000 miles for the first time this week!
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