Ballet Mécanique

[ Dakhla, Western Sahara ]

Greetings from Morocco-administered Western Sahara! Where to begin. I’m holed-up here as planned, getting some much needed rest, taking antibiotics for an infected tooth, editing photos, and otherwise trying to catch up with my to-do list. As part of that, I had to decide how to parse out my images and tell the various stories unfolding as I go. So many things have happened since leaving TanTan, but many of them were the same thing, repeating again and again and again: broken spokes. About 15km out of TanTan my rear wheel started wobbling like crazy, rubbing the frame. I didn’t even know what happened. And so this post features this one intensely bothersome mechanical issue.

I should make clear that I had never in my life broken a spoke before this moment. But in a matter of about 5 days, I would go through nine spokes and four sets of mechanics in four cities. Only in Laayoune did I decide enough was enough, finally replacing the entire set and having the wheel rebuilt by Mr. Hero Mechanic Wheelbuilder Man—coming soon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m sure.

Since the rebuild? No more broken spokes. Hot damn.

A Spate of Spokes