I'm fortunate in that we don't have thorns on the roads in NC and for the most part the roads I ride on are very rural with not a lot of debris on them. The roads are pretty well maintained (we have one of the highest gas taxes in the US) so pot holes are fixed reasonably quickly (depends on the county). So, I usually don't have that many flats unless there are mechanical issues with my wheels, like the tape moving off a spoke hole. I run a high enough air pressure where pinch flats are usually not an issue.

I did manage to hit a raised seam on a bridge yesterday really hard. I was just coming off a descent and going 30+ mph and the bridge was in some shadows. I hit the seam really hard with all my weight on the saddle. It felt like the front wheel caught most of the blow. I was thinking man I sure was lucky I didn't pop a tire.

A climb starts immediately after leaving the bridge. As I was going up the climb the back wheel went flat very quickly. I thought I had escaped a flat but not so. It just surprised me that it was the rear wheel---I guess I need to lose weight!

I was on a road riding solo in the NC mountains in a very rural area. Spring is in full force and there was a nice grassy shoulder to sit down and replace the tube. I found the split in the tube and looked at the tire in the area of the issue but saw nothing so good to go. I had really been nursing the rear tire for tread wear. In fact this was going to be the last ride on that tire. I had fully expected to see cloth and possibly a tube pushed through the tire but fortunately just a pinch flat.

Everything went just like clockwork on the tube replacement. When I went to put the wheel back on I noticed that the skewer nut was missing. Uh oh... I didn't think I'd completely unscrewed it and here I was in a nice tall healthy field of tallish fescue. I got really, really lucky and eventually found it. I was miles away from the car so if I hadn't found the skewer nut getting back home would have really been interesting.

Otherwise an incredibly gorgeous picture perfect day to ride on one of my favorite routes.