The opposite of Sunday
Sunday I had a long ride that started a little rough but ended well. Today I had another long ride that started great and ended badly.
It actually started very well in that I left work early to get in a nice long ride on a day that was truly great. I headed out for a nice long that usually takes two and a half or three hours to get in some hill work prior to joining the evening group for a club ride.
I rode my pre-ride and set a pace faster than I had anticipated so I added on an additional loop to kill some time. Even the chip and seal climb on Highpoint was great today. This is one of the longest climbs in the area (1.2 miles and 260 feet of steady climbing on rough chip and seal). As I rode this climb I was thinking about how nice it will be to finally get some new tires (I have been shopping for a while now).
So I finished up my pre-ride and was waiting at the park for the group to show up when I got a call from my wife that my new tires had come in. That is great, I will finish this ride (perhaps 30 more miles) then re-tire (nyuk nyuk).
Long story short the group showed up and I was feeling pretty beat from my extended pre-ride. As we rolled out I took a position in the back of the pack. I was boxed in by a few other riders when I noticed broken glass everywhere on the road. I was a little shocked that no one called it out or made any effort to avoid it, and there was no way for me to avoid it either. I started to tell Ryan (on my immediate left) that there was glass everywhere. I did not quite finish the word "everywhere" when I heard that truly horrible sound of glass slashing through a perfectly good front race tire.
Sure, I was going to replace it, but it would have been nice to take this one off to keep as a spare.
I noticed a portion of the light blue latex inner tube actually blew out of the cut site and flew through the air. I suppose if there was anything neat about this, that would be it.
So Ryan and I pull over and fix it. I stuck a boot in the tire along with a new butyl tube. Inflated it, stuck it back on the bike and made it *may be* 12 feet before I heard a slightly different sound. I guess butyl tubes sound differently when they explode through a hole (as the boot failed)...Who knew?
That is it! My third flat this week. Someone once told me that flats come in threes, so with any luck I am done for a while.
I called for help to come pick me up. I really hate to not finish a ride, but I was out of CO2, tubes, boots, and patience. All in, I guess it was actually a pretty good ride. Three solid hours of fast paced riding through some hill country is not a bad thing!
Hate to say it....
but I'm long overdue for a flat. Haven't had one in some time. As a matter of fact, I think the last tire problem I had was the blown off tire during the C'Wood race last year. Of course, that was epic enough for a season of tire failures.
Yeah
I was going to do some follow ups here on twowheelblogs and elsewhere regarding my tire choices (PR3s with Latex tubes). I was hesitant for the longest time to state that I was wearing these tires to the cords without incident for fear that I would earn myself a handful of flats for bragging.
Now that I have destroyed both PR3s and the associated Latex tubes I can safely conclude that the setup is acceptably durable (I have heard many complaints that the PR3 was overly fragile). The rear wore to the cords without a flat, and the slice in the front would have killed any tire IMO.
Flats are highly variable and I hesitate to ever claim a tire is "resistant" or "fragile" because the right sharp will puncture any tire. If your durability expectations are in check with what a race tire provides, I would recommend the Michelin Pro Race 3.