good grief - bikes are tough - you should be too. I always snicker when i see people carrying their bikes. bikes are meant to take abuse. i say dish it out. if the parts break, replace them with something mor reliable. if you fall off, pick yourself up and get back on. let's not be sissies.

My bike is pretty tough, but my tires are no match for this

Grass - I try to stay off it and I don't smoke it - Its just the stems and seeds I am worried about...

Exactly. I made a BIG MISTAKE shortly after mounting up some Conti Cyclocross Plus on my hybrid. They're heavy as hell wire bead tires with multiple puncture protection belts. Unstoppable, right?

We were riding a MUP and I went through the grass to go around a pack of six joggers. I looked down and saw multiple thorns going round and round. Did I stop? No, I rode on.

This was at the end of the ride and I was sure I had these incredible, neigh-invulnerable tires. As I rode, most of the thorns were scrubbed off.

I got to the truck and picked out a few thorns that hadn't fallen off. The tires were still holding air. YES! These tires are friggin awesome, I thought.

Mounted the bikes on the rack and went home. Unloading bikes, I immediately see my front tire is flat. Damn. Check the rear tire-- it seems fine. Go inside and change the front and I'm done. Except I'm not.. the next morning the rear tire is flat too.

And the tires on my roadie are nowhere near as tough as that cross tire. I'm also not dumb enough to do this again... joggers or not, I stop instantly and pull thorns out of the tire in the hope that they haven't pierced the casing or tube yet.


TL;DR - Ahh, puncture belt, I like him very much, but he no help with goathead.

sissies

Did these riders have super-skinny tires? If so, maybe they were concerned about reduced traction, etc. Wet grass can be somewhat slippery, but other than that, it's really not a big deal.

Bicycles are stronger and more versatile than people (are lead to) believe. If you're even just a little bit careful, you can ride a modern road bike on dirt on gravel in addition to pavement. In fact, even a decent-sized slick will fare decently off-road.

Not sure why the bikes had to be carried across the grass. I admit that I don't like to ride clipped in across grass, gravel, or sand.

You have no idea what you can do on / too a road bike till you've raced cyclocross.

Sure beats cleaning crap out of your cleats after walking. Probably quicker to ride around it though.

Dirt don't hurt.