Flats No. 13 & No. 14

You might look at the numbers in that headline and wonder what kind of fail magnet I am for so many minor misfortunes, but in dealing with the amount of cycling I’m doing, my philosphy is simple: Flats Happen.

Some of them are not my fault as in this what-are-the-odds 3/8ths-inch metal splinter no thicker or stronger than an eyelash or a dog brush’s bristle that I chanced to roll over yesterday morning in the only way to allow the flimsy thing to impale my rear tire and puncture its tube (that’s a slice of nickel on the left for scale):

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And some are almost entirely my doing (albeit exacerbated by the cheap materials used in cheap tubes) as in the dismemberment of my front tire’s innertube stem when I attempted to top it off with a few extra PSI after patching the rear tire’s tube before leaving the office yesterday evening:

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I know some people who live in heightened fear of flats and I know some people who’ve gone years between them. With me averaging better than two a month year-to-date — or one every 316 or so miles pedaled — they are nothing more than minor and inevitable annoyances. And with all the practice I’ve had repairing them, pretty quickly resolved.

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Will

Will Campbell arrived in town via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in OneNineSixFour and has never stopped calling Los Angeles home. Presently he lives in Silver Lake with his wife Susan, their cat Rocky, dogs Terra and Hazel, and a red-eared slider turtle named Mater. Blogging since 2001, Will's web endeavors extend back to 1995 with laonstage.com, a comprehensive theater site that was well received but ever-short on capital (or a business model). The pinnacle of his online success (which speaks volumes) arrived in 1997, when much to his surprise, a hobby site he'd built called VisuaL.A. was named "best website" in Los Angeles magazine's annual "Best of L.A." issue. He enjoys experiencing (and writing about) pretty much anything creative, explorational and/or adventurous, loves his ebike, is a better tennis player than he is horr golfer, and a lover of all creatures great and small -- emphasis on "all."