It was Thursday night and I was hoping to get to bed in time for a Friday morning ride. I was looking at my bike and realized the rear wheel was a bit out of true, so I got out my spoke wrench and got to work.

Two hours later I had broken and replaced two spokes as well as removed and cleaned the cassette–not by choice. Needless to say I missed my morning ride.

Today I also really need to rewrap my handlebar tape, and for quite some time I’ve needed to change my brake and shifter cables.

I don’t mind working on my bike; I like it. It’s fun. But it also takes away from training time. Unfortunately, a poorly maintained bike–like the one with the two broken spokes–ends up costing as much time as anything else, and the time it takes away is… training time.

I need to find a happy medium on this one.