Earlier today I pulled off the side of the road and filled both tires with the nastiest thorns I've ever seen. I only realized this a minute later when both tires went flat. Fortunately I was near a church with grass and a tree so I pulled off there, made some lunch, and prepared to do battle with these thorns.
It took about 15 minutes to pull them all out of the front tire. The big ones were easy but there were tons of little needles that I needed pliers to pull out. Once I felt I had found them all I checked out the tube - I found and patched one hole, but once inflated it slowly lost pressure - it might have several slow leaks, so I pulled it out and put in another tube, which held pressure (meaning I had removed the thorns successfully!)
The rear tire was a complete loss. Many more thorns than the front, both big and small (I'm talking about DOZENS of them). The rear was also just about worn through, which was disappointing - the tire is a Pasela TourGuard, I'd expect a tire with the words "Tour" and "Guard" in the name to be a little more durable. So, I threw away the rear tire and tube and went to the backup I had used when I had some tire problems back in Crater Lake. That, and a new tube, also held pressure. Phew! 90 minutes later (including lunch), I was back on the road. Pretty crappy but at least I was able to get everything fixed up.
The lesson, as always - never get off the pavement to pee, just find a decent shoulder!
No comments:
Post a Comment