You would think this would have happened to me sooner, with about 1000 miles logged on my hybrid last year, but anyway...

It was a beautiful day, and I skipped out of work (cuz it also happens to be my birthday ) to go for a longer ride on my new road bike. About 15 miles in, I heard that ominous phhsshhh sound. My first thought was "oh, great, that's the end of my ride", but then I got rational, and didn't panic. I just pulled off the road into a nice grassy area, and went ahead and changed it!

My two hang-ups were 1) getting the piece of shrapnel out of my tire and tube (it was a long piece of metal, sort of like wire, that wrapped itself around really strangely), and 2) figuring out where the chain is supposed to go.

I must not have been that hung up on it though. The whole process only took me about 20 minutes. I figure that's not bad for someone who has only read about changing a flat.

So, I have a question about the tire... The piece of shrapnel left a couple tears about 1/8-1/4 inch long and about 1/8 inch apart. Is the tire still usable? I rode it the rest of my planned ride, but being a beginner I am not too sure about these things. I know I could always use this tire on my trainer in the winter instead of wearing out a new tire.

Any of you ladies have some advice for me?