2009-09-14

A few days ago as I was descending a 7,200ft pass into the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan my rims heated up, as they do, to the extent that I blew a tube...frustrating, but no big deal.  As I change the tube, I noticed two sections of the rim sidewall that have developed cracks about 3 inches long.  The rest of the sidewall is heavily worn, this is a result of braking and is basically a normal process, but I hadn't realized the rims had worn to the extent that in two places it had lost integrity and cracked.  Luckily the rim, a Velocity Dyad, was still holding the tire and the cracks were not affecting the tube.  However, I know that the problem will only accelerate, especially with more braking.  I finish descending the pass with only my front brake and take a break every few hundred yards to let the front rim cool down...a tedious process.  Gingerly I make my way east about two hundred miles over flat land to Osh, Kyrgyzstan.  Here I wait for two replacement rims from the good folks at Wheel & Sprocket's Internet department.  So far it's been four days since DHL picked up the package in Wisconsin and currently it has made a flight into the country and is now en route to Osh...with any luck it will have taken only five days from door to door, pretty good if you ask me.