Simultaneous flats, 7+ punctures per, a story with some lessons

Quoted message said:

Well well. Having not had a road flat in about 2 years, imagine my

Omission: 700x23 road tires.

Doug

About the only thing that would have worked for you in this situation, Doug, would have been tires
from www.airfreetires.com

I run them on some of my bikes and they are great for me.

Lewis.

***************************

Doug <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hey all,

Well well. Having not had a road flat in about 2 years, imagine my horror when I had simultaneous
flats coming out of the Malibu hills. Riding down Latigo Canyon Road on a curve, I went through a
patch of nasty prickly stickers that had blown onto the road, apparently, and been washed or blown
into a patch. My fault for not seeing them I'm sure.

After pulling some out of the front tire and musing about the severe leaking, it dawned on me that
the back may have some. When I checked, sure enough, many were there too. Out of cell phone range,
late on Sunday, with little traffic, I started contemplating walking the 6.5 miles down to the
Pacific Coast Highway to phone home. Yikes. (Not one single car passed me on the way down the hill
in the next hour or so it turned out, so visions of hitching down would not have panned out. A
handful did pass going up.)

I carry one spare tube, a glueless and glued patch kit, and about 12 patches total. I replaced the
front tube and carefully checked the tire for thorns. I decided to leave the thorns in the rear,
not wanting to use virtually all my patches on the tube. Never mind that I probably couldn't
locate all the punctures anyway.

I pumped the rear every few mins with the micro hand pump that fits in my saddle bag. I made it
down and rode the 30 odd miles home, pumping every 5 mins or so, or when the rear started
squirming.

Lessons and thoughts:

1. I carry an ultralight tube as a spare, owing to the smaller size and consequent ease of
stuffing in a small saddle bag. Good thing I did, I used to carry patches only.

2. I missed 3 very small thorns in the front tire and of course punctured the new tube I put in
it. I had no tweezers, though, a glaring oversight in my patch kit.

3. I'm happy with a micro hand pump over a CO2 inflation gadget, for the unlimited air. CO2 for
races sure, but not here.

4. A cyclist who passed me on PCH recommended I get Armadillo tires, of course. That I would be
loathe to do. But perhaps a more modest kevlar protected tire now. Although when I tested a
borrowed pair some time ago I was not impressed with the ride quality. Yet I have to wonder if
kevlar would have helped in this case. Truly nasty, horned frog type stickers with razor sharp,
thin spikes. I have to do some dejanews research now.

Doug

Sounds like you ran across puncture vine (aptly named Tribulus terrestris), also known as goathead
vine. It's common in some parts of the world. Kevlar lined tires would not protect you from flats,
the spines are sharp enough to slide between the warp and weft threads of Kevlar fabric.

barbwired.comPunctureVineOpen ↗

or.blm.govpuncture.htmOpen ↗

faqs.orgsection 23.htmlOpen ↗

kaweahoaks.compuncture vine.htmlOpen ↗

Count yourself lucky - first flat in two years isn't too bad a rate. Just like the song says, "Mama
said there'd be days like this..."

"Doug" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey all,

Well well. Having not had a road flat in about 2 years, imagine my horror when I had simultaneous
flats coming out of the Malibu hills. Riding down Latigo Canyon Road on a curve, I went through a
patch of nasty prickly stickers that had blown onto the road, apparently, and been washed or blown
into a patch. My fault for not seeing them I'm sure.

After pulling some out of the front tire and musing about the severe leaking, it dawned on me that
the back may have some. When I checked, sure enough, many were there too. Out of cell phone range,
late on Sunday, with little traffic, I started contemplating walking the 6.5 miles down to the
Pacific Coast Highway to phone home. Yikes. (Not one single car passed me on the way down the hill
in the next hour or so it turned out, so visions of hitching down would not have panned out. A
handful did pass going up.)

I carry one spare tube, a glueless and glued patch kit, and about 12 patches total. I replaced the
front tube and carefully checked the tire for thorns. I decided to leave the thorns in the rear,
not wanting to use virtually all my patches on the tube. Never mind that I probably couldn't
locate all the punctures anyway.

I pumped the rear every few mins with the micro hand pump that fits in my saddle bag. I made it
down and rode the 30 odd miles home, pumping every 5 mins or so, or when the rear started
squirming.

Lessons and thoughts:

1. I carry an ultralight tube as a spare, owing to the smaller size and consequent ease of
stuffing in a small saddle bag. Good thing I did, I used to carry patches only.

2. I missed 3 very small thorns in the front tire and of course punctured the new tube I put in
it. I had no tweezers, though, a glaring oversight in my patch kit.

3. I'm happy with a micro hand pump over a CO2 inflation gadget, for the unlimited air. CO2 for
races sure, but not here.

4. A cyclist who passed me on PCH recommended I get Armadillo tires, of course. That I would be
loathe to do. But perhaps a more modest kevlar protected tire now. Although when I tested a
borrowed pair some time ago I was not impressed with the ride quality. Yet I have to wonder if
kevlar would have helped in this case. Truly nasty, horned frog type stickers with razor sharp,
thin spikes. I have to do some dejanews research now.

Doug