Dec 3 - north and south

It was a beautiful day for a ride but it had its oddities ...

As we rode north into what was basically zero wind.  We had a light breeze in our faces once we left Tomoka Park, a very slight headwind.  As we approached our turn on US 1 we could see fog ahead of us.  We turned east and the wind was building.  For the last five miles, north on A1A we had a very strong headwind and fog.

Harris likes to sit down and eat so we found a little Diner at the turnaround point in St. Augustine Beach, probably spending 40 minutes there ordering, waiting for and eating a wonderful Panini special with turkey, bacon, avocado etc.  Back on the road, we were screaming south, mostly at 21-23 with the tailwind, still in the fog.  We stopped at Flagler Beach; Harris needed a Gatorade, and then rolled on.

South of Highbridge .... twang ?  Ping ?  Did I ride over something ... no, I broke a spoke.  I was riding the Rolf Prima Elan Aero wheels; these are the wheels that I rode across the country in 2007.  Since then I'd had the rear wheel rebuilt by Rolf Prima and don't really have that many miles on them since.  The spoke broke in the middle -- these are very strong flat spokes; truly weird.

So ... with these paired spokes and not very many of them to boot, a spoke missing really gives the wheel a wobble.  I opened the rear brake all the way and then had to twist the wheel in the dropouts so that the tire didn't rub against the chainstays.  30 miles to go, I was nervous that I'd either rub through the tire sidewall or have another spoke go due to the uneven tension ... but I made it.  I backed off the speed to about 20 mph and Harris didn't follow quite so closely ... because if something happened, he'd run right into me !

I've got some spare spokes for this wheel somewhere -- I carried them with me on the ride across the country along with the tool to get at the nipples, which are recessed in the wheel and only accessible by removing the tire and tube.  

A little before my spoke issue, we had to stop to fix a flat that Harris developed in his rear wheel.  We never did find the source of the flat but he made it home. 

Leaving at 7am; we were back at 4pm, in spite of our long lunch, extended stops and bike issues.  We did the 132 miles in about 7 1/2 hours rolling time.  That's pretty decent.

Debbie had come out of the house just as we rolled into Harris' driveway and we stood and chatted for a while ... "we have to get together", kind of chatting.  "What about Sunday ?" ... "What about tonight ?".  Sandy walked out of the house at that point and we agreed to meet them at the restaurant beside The Hub on Canal St. at 5:45.  Debbie had an appointment at The Hub for 7pm, thus the timing.

Another day finished; we're one day closer to travel into the Great White North.

Onward !