bikes are expensive

remember how i'm always saying how awesome are the wheels on my bike on account of how i ride crappy roads like crystal springs and ECR and suffer no wheel damage despite hitting massive potholes?

well, i just wasn't looking close enough.

on saturday i noticed some pretty gnarly cracks near the spokes in my rear wheel. we continued with our planned ride, but on the way home, stopped at our bike shop. i had $40 with me and little else. i've been in there often enough (i was there the day before to exchange beer for shoes) that they gave me new wheels on the promise that i'd tele them my cc info when i got home. they bumped me to the front of the queue, put on the new wheels, adjusted the derailler, fixed my bent right brifter, straightened the headset, and set me on the way. the new ultegra wheels make me feel much faster -- they didn't have my crummy low-end wheelset and wouldn't break up a pair for me, so i now have an additional set of ultegra parts on my bike. not quite dura-ace, but it will have to do for now.

total cost including tax and labor was a good 1/3 of what i'd paid for the bike. argh.