A flat; what do I do?

I have not had many flats over 61,000 miles of riding in the last 13 years.  All of those miles are with tires that use tubes.  Being on the road and "old school" I still feel very confident in my tubes, but on today's ride I got a flat on the rear tire.    Now I am thinking about flats and I better write about about it today.

What do I take on my ride to deal with a possible flat?

The first thing I ask myself. How much will I have to walk?  Today I was planning a route that would take me about 10 miles from my car at the furthest point.  I am looking forward to riding my bike, not taking a hike.  How convenient is it to get picked up if I have a breakdown?  Today, my wife was going to lunch with a friend.  She is my dedicated rescue person.  I try not to pull that card. I did it once in the last four years and I don't think that is too bad.

       Today meant that I would bring the following:  tube, pump, tire levers.

      Once you realize that you have a flat tire, STOP!  You do not want to cause rim damage. You also do not want to destroy the tire.

OH NO!   I have a flat.

     Take a look.  What do you think is the cause of the flat?  I could not see anything.  Think for a minute or two.  Weigh the options.  I am about 2-3 miles from my car.  I have the things I need to change the tire, but do I want to take the time.  I even have the patches to fix a hole.  I decided to see how well it was holding air.  I got out my pump and filled it up and decided to head back to my car.  My route was fairly smooth blacktop and level.

       Pay attention to what is happening during the ride. I stopped after about a mile because I could see that the tire was too low.  I filled the tire again and went further.  I covered about the same distance.  I stopped.  Looked my map to see how much further to the car and decided to pump up a third time.
        The last half mile was  a walker path with deep wood chips and I knew this would be good for walking the bike with a totally flat tire.  

Repair the flat at home

My tire liners helped protect my tubes for many years. These are now trash.

 The walk was not too bad and I made the correct decision for the situation. The tube was totally shot and the air quickly escaped whenever I pumped it full.  If I was further away from home or the car, then I would have replaced the tube in the field. 
      My new tire is holding air.  I will see what it is like in the morning and take a test ride close to home,  I want to be sure that I can count on this repair.

​Why didn't you use a patch?

A new tube gives me more confidence than a patch repair.  Finding a hole in a tube can take time.   I keep a couple of tubes in my inventory.  The patch is your plan B to get you home. I have used them and they work. I keep patches in my tool roll that I take on the rides.  This tool roll also has a CO 2 cartridge for air in case I lose or forget the pump.

​Final thoughts.

I always top off my tire pressure before each ride.  When I was filling the rear tire today, it did not feel right because I could not get the pressure up after a certain point.  I bet there was already a hole.  I will be sensitive to that sort of feeling in the future. 

If you have not changed a tube before then practice it at home.  Repair practice at home is always less stressful.  The first time I replaced a tube on the road, it was a disaster. I needed to call my son to pick me up because I was 15 miles from home. Be prepared for the unexpected.  That is why you bring a phone with you and why I learned about dropping a pin to show my location.