MAY 04, 1996

SPOKE BREAK

At the east edge of Waverly, TN, I heard the non-pleasant sound of a spoke popping. The spoke didn't break in the rear as I thought it had but up front. I had never had a spoke pop in the front or in that manner.

I started walking through town on the business road, to see if I could find a minister who would let me camp out near the church for the night. I got stopped by some people who were remodeling a house. The next thing I knew was that I got offered a motel room for the night, twenty-seven dollars in green handshakes, an offer to be picked up for church the next morning, and the possibility that I might get the bike wheel fixed.

Around 8:45 p.m., my new friend Dave picked me up and took me out to one of his friends in the country who was also a cyclist. It turns out that there was just fifteen avid cyclists in the whole county. Another coincidence was that the guy who we were going to see was riding a '92 Schwinn Criss-Cross.

Roger had seven spokes that might fit my wheel and it was great that one of them was the right 700CC size. We got the spoke put on and tightened up as best as we could without a truing jig. It should hold up till I get to Jackson where there is supposed to be two bike shops. One of them is supposed to be a Schwinn dealership.