Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1772:

You know how sometimes you hit things and immediately know you're going to have a flat in a few hundred feet? I had that happen this afternoon as I rode across town to a client. I think it was a rock or a branch hiding under the leaves. Felt the impact, heard the noise and immediately knew. About 1/4 mile later my rear tire was flat.

There was a picnic table nearby, so I used that as a workbench. Pulled the tube out. Inspected the tire, and couldn't see or feel anything stuck in the rubber.

Installed the tube, remounted the tire and was about to pump it up when I noticed a folded tube sitting on the picnic table. Like an idiot, I had re-installed the blown tube instead of installing my spare. So I had to change the tube again.

Got the correct tube installed and pumped up. Put the wheel back on my bike, and packed up my tools. Happily resumed my ride to the client. The whole ordeal only took 20 minutes, which I didn't think was too bad considering I had to do it twice.

Then, about 1/2 mile down the MUP my rear tire went flat again. So either I missed something in the tire that punctured the spare tube, or the spare tube also had a hole in it.

I only carry one spare tube, so I wound up walking the bike about 2 miles. I thought about calling my wife for a ride home after work, but she's been slammed busy and I don't want to add yet another thing to her list. I remembered that I can catch the bus about 1/2 mile from the client location, throw my bike on the rack and take the bus to about a mile from my house. So I'll go that route instead of bothering her.