It's all in the timing.

[jbsegal]

So, dancingdeer and I were riding home from doing a couple of quick errands after dinner on Friday evening. We'd just turned from Cedar onto Elm and there was a sound like a firecracker going off behind me and my ride gets soggy, for want of a better word.

Eventually it got through my consciousness that my rear tire'd blown.

Luckily, we were only about 2 blocks from Ace Wheelworks. Unluckily, it was 8:30, so they were closed. Ah well. We locked up the bike on the rack outside the store and went on with the evening.

The next day, we went back over there, I bought new tires and tubes and swapped them out outside.

The timing is in the fact that, had this happened 6 days earlier, we might well have been in the middle of the woods, between Bedford and Concord, on a narrow dirt track miles from a bike shop.

This was a much better option.

(The new tires are Specialized Nimbus Armadillos. They seem to have good reviews as being nearly bulletproof, which is important around here. :)

Comments

[cattitude.livejournal.com]

Do I want to know why bulletproof tires are good in your area? I mean, who aims for the tires?

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Bullets, not so much of a problem. Nails, glass, staples, caltrops, man-eating potholes, and so on, those are the real dangers.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Oof! I've taken to just keeping several tubes and CO2 cartridges on me wherever I go -- it means that I need to take a pannier everywhere, but the peace of mind of not ever really worrying about flat tires is so worth it.

My former boss was very big on Kevlar tires. When it's time to replace mine I may look into them.