I rode for a long time on a broken spoke . I don't even know when it broke (although the time I took my commuter downhill offroad might be a good candidate) but I was at the LBS for something else and they went to true my wheels and noticed it. At the time (I think it was right at closing or something) they couldn't fix it so they zip-tied it to another spoke just to keep it from getting caught in the chain or anything, and I rode it for I dunno, at least another week before I got back in there to have 'em change it.

I can't remember if it's a 32 or 36 spoke wheel, but I think it's only 32. So it's definitely doable, although not recommended .