Well, last night's commute home kinda sucked.

Short version: 3 flats, only 1 spare tube, two miles walked in cycling shoes, big blister on the back of my heel.

Long version: I was feeling pretty good starting out for home. Right at the beginning, stopped at a light, I noticed a guy looking at my bike (a classic steel celeste Bianchi road bike) from the sidewalk. Turns out he was heading to fetch his nearly identical bike just a few meters away, and there was yet another one just around the corner. Kinda neat. I was feeling energetic, it was a beautiful day: 27C and just a breath of wind.

Half way home, I made a right turn, and something wasn't quite right. The back wheel seemed to be trying to slip out from under me. Stop to check: yup, tire was going flat. There was still some air; I wasn't riding on the rim yet, but it was low enough to be concerned. Fortunately, there was a nice shaded grassy spot nearby, so I pulled off the road and set to work. Checking the tube, it didn't seem to be leaking anywhere in the rubber, but the valve didn't seem to be sealing properly. In went a new tube (I only carry one, plus a patch kit). I pumped up the tire as much as possible with my little frame pump, but I knew it wasn't nearly the 110 psi that I usually run in those tires (23mm Conti Gatorskins). However, I did manage to get it almost as hard as my front tire, which meant that my front tire was a bit low on pressure too. My fault for not checking the pressure for a few weeks. I made a mental note to top up both tires as soon as I got home, because I didn't want to get a pinch flat! I phoned my wife to let her know I would be late, and off I went on my merry way.

I was actually still in a pretty good mood. I've had flat tires before, but never on a commute, and I saw this as a rite of passage in a way. It felt good to get that first commuting flat out of the way, and I was proud of myself for being self-sufficient.

Ten minutes later, riding on a particularly rough road, suddenly, boom: front tire was flat. Now I wasn't feeling so good. What to do? I still had that tube from the back tire with the bad valve, but maybe it would hold air long enough to get me home. Or, I could see if I could patch the flat tube. Or, since I was only about two miles from home, maybe I could just hoof it, and take the time to properly check and fix the tire that evening. I decided to walk. I hadn't at that point even looked at the back tire, but as I was walking, I eventually noticed that it too was flat, again. Gee whiz!

My cycling shoes are mountain bike style, so they can be walked in easier than some road shoes, but the soles are still quite stiff, and they're definitely not meant for walking two miles. I ended up with a nickel-sized blister on the back of my right heel by the time I got home.

Later that evening, after I put my kid to bed, I went out to the garage to survey the damage. Pinch flats in both tubes, probably incurred at the same time. The back tube had only one small hole, the front had the familiar two-hole "snake bite". I patched both tubes, but did a crummy job of the front one, because after I installed it and the tire and pumped it up to pressure, it was flat a minute later. Chucked that tube and put in a different one.

C'est la vie. It was good practice changing tires. Gatorskins are a pain to take off and put on, but I'm getting better at it. I'll also be more diligent at topping up my tires regularly, as at least one flat could have been prevented. I may also invest in a CO2 cartridge pump so I can get my tires up to pressure easier than with a little frame pump.

This morning's commute was, thankfully, very uneventful. 16C with a gentle breeze.