“Decided to do my final recon for a gravel race I’m directing this summer, and couldn’t have had a better spring day to do it. Roads were good, temps were good, little bit of wind, but a huge improvement over my last entry.

Headed out north and east, on some of my most familiar roads. Pretty uneventful, but with having familiarity with the surfaces, it allows one to be able to enjoy the scenery just a little more. In the first 20 miles, I passed at least 5 little cemeteries, 3 really cool bridges, and 4 school buses that had become farm lawn ornaments.

At around the 20 mile mark, I heard a loud ping come from my back wheel, and assumed I had thrown a rock into it. It wasn’t until mile 30, after a brief stop to fiddle with my Garmin, that I realized I had broken a spoke. I didn’t have any experience with this situation, but have seen a couple YouTube videos. First step, secure the spoke. Check. Second step, adjust corresponding spokes to straighten wheel. No spoke wrench. Check. I figured a wobbly wheel wouldn’t make that big of a difference, since I was running disk brakes. Heck, I didn’t even notice it the last 10 miles. I decided to push on.

The rest of the ride went on without incident. More bridges, more busses, not as many cemeteries. I kept thinking about the wheel, and considered cutting my ride short a couple of times, but I really couldn’t even feel it, so I kept on.

Just as I was approaching the edge of town, I made what has become a customary stop, at Alluvial Brewing for a root beer. From there, it’s just 3 miles home.

Took the wheel into the shop, and got chastised by my mechanic for riding 50 miles with a broken spoke. He kept going on and on about wheel stress and such, but I think he really just wanted to sell me another wheelset.

Great to get another 100k in the bag.”

https://www.strava.com/activities/541546879

-Josh M.