Soooo Lucky Am I!

Went for a 56 mile ride today to try out my new Selle Anatomica saddle (it's red). Forced myself to periodically stop and fine tune the saddle (fore and aft position and tension). I think I've got it the way I want it. When I got home, Stella's shifting was abit off. I put her up on the stand to do some rear derailler adjustments. The chain and cassette were pretty dirty, so I decided to clean them first. Of course, grime splatters all over so I had to wash the rear wheel. That's when I noticed there were cracks in the rim of the rear wheel. They were around two spokes. I called Old Town and Chris took care of ordering me a whole new wheel. Why not just a rim and spokes? Two reasons. One, he couldn't find a 36 spoke rim in stock in any of the three stores. Two, the whole wheel (rim, spokes and hub) has 14,000 miles on it. Clearly time for a whole new wheel! The wheel will be in Tuesday; just 3 days before I leave. I'm so glad Stella was not shifting well! This is one of those things that could be a catastrophic failure on a tour. I am soooo lucky!