Just a little story I wanted to share.
Lesson learned: GET A EMERGENCY PLUG KIT!!!!
A couple weeks ago, I was riding home from work. It was a beautiful day in the mid 90's, so I decided to take the short scenic way home (only about 14 miles instead of 10). I was on a two lane highway (55 mph max) and made a right turn onto a side street that would take me through some country roads along the vineyards. As I made the right turn, I felt my rear tire to seem a little 'squirrely'. I pulled over and noticed my tire was a little low. (it was fine when I left work) At this point, I was about 4-5 miles from home.
I decided to ride real slow on the shoulder to get up to a little side back road and off the main road. After doing about another 2 miles at 15-20 mph on backroads, I pulled over and noticed it was almost completely flat. I sent my wife a text telling her where I was and what was going on, I decided to slowly limp it down the road the remaining 2-3 miles I had to go. I made it home without any damage to my bike. The tire stayed together and didn't shred off or get cut by the rim. I was afraid the rim would eventually slice the deflated sidewalls and the main tread would come off...but, it didn't.
I understand that this wasn't the best thing to do, but I was the best choice at the given the location and time. I don't have tow coverage on the bike, don't have a plug kit, and it would have been a few hours to get someone to go to my home and get my truck and ramps and then help me load it. So, I didn't have many options and I wasn't going to leave it on the side of the road out in the country.
Anyways, I think I picked up a nail in the middle of the tire tread and with the high heat that day, it worked itself loose quickly. It was kind of lucky that it happened where it did. Had I not taken the scenic route, I would have been on the freeway when the tire lost air....and, that would have not been fun.
What sucks is the tire only had about 3-4K miles on it and plenty of tread left. Oh well....new tire came in today, so off to get it mounted tomorrow...yeah.
Lesson learned: GET A EMERGENCY PLUG KIT!!!!
A couple weeks ago, I was riding home from work. It was a beautiful day in the mid 90's, so I decided to take the short scenic way home (only about 14 miles instead of 10). I was on a two lane highway (55 mph max) and made a right turn onto a side street that would take me through some country roads along the vineyards. As I made the right turn, I felt my rear tire to seem a little 'squirrely'. I pulled over and noticed my tire was a little low. (it was fine when I left work) At this point, I was about 4-5 miles from home.
I decided to ride real slow on the shoulder to get up to a little side back road and off the main road. After doing about another 2 miles at 15-20 mph on backroads, I pulled over and noticed it was almost completely flat. I sent my wife a text telling her where I was and what was going on, I decided to slowly limp it down the road the remaining 2-3 miles I had to go. I made it home without any damage to my bike. The tire stayed together and didn't shred off or get cut by the rim. I was afraid the rim would eventually slice the deflated sidewalls and the main tread would come off...but, it didn't.
I understand that this wasn't the best thing to do, but I was the best choice at the given the location and time. I don't have tow coverage on the bike, don't have a plug kit, and it would have been a few hours to get someone to go to my home and get my truck and ramps and then help me load it. So, I didn't have many options and I wasn't going to leave it on the side of the road out in the country.
Anyways, I think I picked up a nail in the middle of the tire tread and with the high heat that day, it worked itself loose quickly. It was kind of lucky that it happened where it did. Had I not taken the scenic route, I would have been on the freeway when the tire lost air....and, that would have not been fun.
What sucks is the tire only had about 3-4K miles on it and plenty of tread left. Oh well....new tire came in today, so off to get it mounted tomorrow...yeah.