IF someone tells you this is (semi) normal, will this result in despair or relief?

Roses and asparagus are very similar in their tendency to snap very tender and crisp new growth with very little effort needed. What you are experiencing is very normal with thick stemmed, fast growing basal growth of just about any class or variety within a class of roses. Young lateral growths are also 'snap-able' early on, but toughen to the 'bend' stage as they extend and age. This is especially true of roses which have large blooms. Their husky, crisp young growth snaps easily.

Moses

Ha, if someone said if was not normal, I would then maybe skip the 2nd feed thinking I overfeed and produced a long weak shoot