Back when I weighed 145, I had a job one summer fixing flat tires on log trucks. The wheels were two piece rims you separated using a wedge and sledge. After you put one back together, you aired it up inside a cage, and we stood around the corner of the building and peeked out at the pressure gauge.

I figured I'd have no trouble at all fixing flats on my road bike. Wrong. Damn patch came off, rim tape punctured the tube, then a bad stem, and lastly, a tube that seemed to get a new hole every day. After 3 patches, I threw it away, replaced the rim tape again, bought new tubes from a different store(I thought I was getting a bad batch from the first place).

What seemed to solve my problem was getting a saddle bag with tube, patch kit and tire levers. Since then, no flats at all.

"If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me."