Today was the day I was going to circumnavigate the Island. I left a little late but the wind wasn't blowing too bad so I gave it a go. Well wind can be a funny thing.. a side wind is like a headwind... no matter which way your going. At any rate I made it to the East end of the Island, a short 11 miles and then happily pedaled the 31 miles or so to the West end... about 1/2 a mile from the end of the Island the sun finally dipped into the Ocean and as soon as it did the winds shifted and a fog as thick as pea soup rolled in. I circled under the bridge at San Luis Pass and again headed back East to home, stopping for a couple of minutes to soak in the "An American Werewolf in London" atmosphere. I through on my fleece jacket, checked my rear light, and began the 20 miles back to home. About 5 miles later a psychotic adult woman (couldn't see her but she had a "whiskey" voice that vey few young girls have ) started hollering something about "hey motorcycle idiot" then it changed to something more vulgar but at least she finally noticed I was a cyclist. Then she yelled something about me being a moron and more obscenities. I had had enough. I let loose with a F&%^ You. In hindsight maybe I shouldn't have.... but it felt right at the time
So another mile goes by and what do I run over??? Yep, a broken beer bottle. Great. I brought all the tools and patches etc but, alas, no pump. I didn't notice anything fo a few more miles and then it started. The wump wump wump of a tire that has lost too much air. At first I thought it was something I was doing, maybe an off cadence pedal stroke but a check of the tire showed that it was loosing air fast. Mind you it's dark, cold, and as foggy as I have ever seen it. I also have on a new headlight from cateye that quite frankly SUCKS. BAD LIGHT
My old walmart next light is at least twice the light of this piece of junk. So I pedal my arse as fast as I can trying to eat up some yardage before I begin the VERY long walk to the nearest gas station. The West side of Galveston is all country.. very few houses or stores. Thankfully my leisurely stroll across the countryside was limited to about a half mile. A very nice couple in a large van stopped to give me a ride. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
Should I have hollered at the psycho??? Probably not
Should I have brought along an air pump??? uhhh yeah
Do I now have to re-ride 48 miles in order to say I've properly ridden from one shore to the next in one trip?? yep
Should jerks in cars drinking beer and then throwing the empty bottles out onto the road be beaten within an inch of their life?? Yes
Is it just chance that the old Tioga street slicks went well over a thousand miles on the road with never a flat... and the armadillo hemispheres have now gone about 200 with one flat??? Man I hope not:confused: :confused:
Doug

This is the light I use. Good Light As for the Hemispheres i've no idea I use thier Nimbus EX's and run over tons of crap when I ride. Could be a co-inky-dink.

Just out of curiousity, what is the island?

Godforsaken Galveston

Doug

I find that Cat Eye lights use a hell of a lot of power!!!! I have batteries on charge constantly trying to keep up with the bloody thing!!!

You must have a halogen light because the LED lights like the one I referenced run for a VERY long time.

I made my first commute today and had a flat on the way to work! I got to change it under a street light while setting on the frost covered ground!
To make a long story short, it was a thumb tack and I did make it to work on time!

If you get a flat from glass then you got the wrong tires on.

How about two flats in one ride. Thank God i carry two spare tubes with me. First the rear and then about 7 miles later the front.

Yes sorry it is a Halogen light!!!!

As for flats I took my bike to the LBS with a flat as I didn't have any tubes on me at the time so they changed it and I got a flat again three times on the trot 5 seconds after leaving the shop cause they failed to notice there was still a large thorn in the tyre!!! I am glad I didn't have to pay for those tubes they wasted but I did tell them the second time whatever is making the tyre flat is still in the tyre!!!

I have Specialized hemisphere with "armadillo" technology.
They are supposed to be petty tough... but I'm a big guy (lots of weight) and the beer bottle wasn't shattered, it was broken in half and me hitting it shattered it. I searched the tire for about an hour looking for any signs of the glass and there was none.
Doug

I have the nimbus ex armadillo on by hybrid,over 3000 miles on them and i run over everything and i'm 6ft.190.Guess i am lucky but these tires are bullet proff,so far.

Oddly enough I have the Nimbus on the font... it of course went over the glass first. I wonder if the slight tread in the hemisphere "grabbed" on to the glass??? THe Tioga city slickers are as smooth/smoother than the nimbus's. I never got a flat on them.
Doug

Sounds plausible

Umm....giant_racer-I wouldn't go back to that shop again! If the idiots there can't even find a thorn in a tyre, they obviously don't know ***** from shinola....