A funny thing happened on the way to today's ride

[lph]

"go oft astray".

Gah, that tire is SCARY!

[Mr. Bloom]

melissam: many of us who live in less developed areas often don't understand how serious and treacherous a flat tire can be for "city folk". It's great that you were able to get off and get help safely!

What could it be?

• Road hazard? - there may be some evidence of that upon inspection of the tire
• Product Flaw? - tread separate was a serious problem for steel belted radials 20 years ago and that's what they looked like

I'd investigate a bit more if the tire is still around...I've never had this happen like this. Probably shouldn't have unless you had driven on it for some distance at high speed.

[sfa]

Yikes! That's a bad blowout--I'm glad you got off the road safely and got the professionals to help.

The ending of the quote is "gang aft agley" but no one knows what that means unless they're a Scot so mostly you hear "go oft awry" or some such variation. If you want to read the whole poem (because who has anything better to do?) it's here: http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml

Sarah

[melissam]

sfa & lph, thanks for the info on the literary quote. "Gang aft agley" sounds like something I'd mumble after having a few too many post-ride beers!

Now, about the tire...true confession time. I've been really, really slacking on my car maintenance habits. The last time I checked my tire pressure on the TSX was a couple of weeks ago. My tires were holding their pressure well, so I wasn't dilgent in checking them. Yesterday I was in a rush to get out of the house, get to the starting point, and get on my bike & out to the beach -- I don't even think I glanced at my tires.

My driveway had a slight trail of rubber where my right tire would have traveled. I'm almost positive that the tire was dangerously low when I left the house. Not only did I not see the problem, I didn't even notice issues with handling problems on the way out to the freeway. As someone who considers herself a car enthusiast, this is more than a little embarrassing.

Well, it's a good wakeup call to do a better job on car maintenance.

Also, I'm really, really grateful that:

• I was able to get over to the shoulder without hurting myself or anyone else on the freeway
• I had really great help from the CHP and AAA
• My wheel was not damaged
• It happened when it was time to replace the tires anyway
• I have the $$ to replace all four tires
• And yes, most importantly, I STILL got to go for a bike ride!

[Tuckervill]

You can check to see if your tires were recalled at this website:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm

We had a Ford Explorer with the exploding tires. The replacement tires were not any better. Worst tires EVER. But I didn't have to buy them..Firestone did.

Karen

[Geonz]

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley.

That's a tired tire. Glad you didn't get creamed!!

[melissam]

You can check to see if your tires were recalled at this website:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm

We had a Ford Explorer with the exploding tires. The replacement tires were not any better. Worst tires EVER. But I didn't have to buy them..Firestone did.

Karen

That's a great website! Thanks for the link!

I have to ask, though, what kind of tires were on the Ford Exploder...er, Explorer? I've had a couple of tires that I haven't been too fond of, but nothing that I absolutely hated.

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley.

That's a tired tire. Glad you didn't get creamed!!

Yeah, I really dodged a bullet on this one! I'm still thanking my lucky stars, believe me!