Many of the Irish back roads I’ve been riding have been hard on the Eagle. On a positive note, they expose chinks in the Eagle’s armor sooner than if I were training on US roads. Palo Alto readers will remember the meltdown a cracked rim caused me two years ago. Well back on San Francisco Bay Area roads, the bumpy ride this caused got worse and worse over a matter of a few months. Here in Ireland, I had a near destroyed wheel, from one metal tear to two, six inches apart, in a matter of one 90 minute ride. Better to know about these things now than on my upcoming ride across America. Toward which end, I will be hard at work looking for probable causes…

Blacksmith Pawel to the rescue!

Pawel did such a fine tig weld, you probably cannot see it in the picture I took of the rim after the Eagle and I just rolled 12 miles..