Flat Resistant Tires & Riding Alone

[azfiddle]

Featuretile, I put Continental gatorskins onto my bike last fall after getting 4 or 5 flats mainly due to goat's heads. I'm sold on them. I've only had two flats with over 3000 miles since then.

As far as riding alone, I sometimes enjoy them- it gives me time to think or listen to music, but usually my solo rides are 10- 25 miles. Can you do some shorter but more challenging rides? I know the Santa Cruz mountains have a lot of hills.

I completely understand that frustration you have about being too slow for the club rides. I've only been riding a little over a year. I've improved a lot, but I still fall off the back a lot. I went to a couple of sessions of interval training, where everyone put their bikes on trainers and a cycling coach ran us through the intervals. I think that was really helpful and I plan to do more.

[lauraelmore1033]

I used to run with the gatorskins and was happy with the feeling of invincibility for at least 3000 miles, but then I got a new bike with something different and lighter which has been just as effective (but not any cheaper..). So I'm thinking anything designed to be "puncture resistant" is going to be good.

[jobob]

We have a lot of goathead thorns in Northern California right now; I had 2 flats this week alone, with relatively new tires.

It would be a good idea to learn how to change flats if you want to ride alone.

[Catrin]

I enjoy riding alone - I am not very fast so always wind up riding by myself on group rides anyway (as soon as we get to a stop light or steepish hill). There are a couple of people that I ride with on an occasional basis - they know I am slow so that helps.

Of course the chicken-egg element is the best way to get faster is to ride with someone faster than you and to do intervals. The first happens occasionally, the latter happens a lot.

I do long rides - >70 miles solo. I generally try to plan them so that I am rarely more than 25-30 miles from my car and generally have someone to call for a ride if needed.

I started out on rides < 10 miles and I remember being nervous about riding solo - but it passed as I gained experience. This was just in March, so things do change.

+1 on learning how to change a flat and so forth. I've been fortunate so far, no flats, and I love my Continental Travel Contacts - they are great tires and after putting more than 1000 miles on them they look almost new!

[Crankin]

I hate riding alone for this very reason. I have only had 3 flats in 10 years, mostly due to fanatic checking of tires and pumping them to the highest pressure I can. People can tell me to take a class all they want, which I have more than once, but once I have to do something, I forget it all (and I have a good memory, but not for mechanical things). My last flat was just a couple of weeks ago. I was with Pata, so she guided me... I probably could have done it alone, as it wasn't the rear. This was from an obvious source, as I had ridden over glass earlier in the ride.
I truly get anxiety attacks over this. Since I can barely button my shirts or tie shoes, using tools is something akin to nuclear physics to me. One of my former colleagues used to laugh at me because I had trouble separating sheets of paper when I passed stuff out to my students.
As far as finding a group to ride with... I am sort of like the OP. Too fast for the slow groups and definitely not for the fast. I am happy with my speed, though. I did find a group, but now the "main" group is a little slow for me, so sometimes I try and ride with the "spirited" group, which I can usually hang on with. I like the people and it's social, so that makes a world of difference. I have 3 people I ride with, besides DH. Two are much slower than me. Pata and I are very compatible riding together and I thank this list for helping me find a riding partner I can actually ride with!

[Selkie]

I ride alone and prefer it, but that's just me. I've had great luck with both Conti Gatorskins and Specialized Armadillos -- both are hard to put on/take off, but since they are very puncture-resistant, you don't have to worry about it.

Sending you lots of "no flat" karma.

[bunny_ninja]

If you have flatted that many times in a month, it could simply be a foreign object in your tire. I had a tire, with what seemed to be a dust-sized piece of glass in the rubber, and I kept flatting! I needed a new tire...

And there are ways to change the rear tube without taking the wheel off the bike... heh... I have done it so many times it is sad. My hands just get so dirty touching the rear derailleur when I am cranky!

Anyway, tires last a long long time, unless something makes them unhappy (like an itsy piece of glass or wire). It takes a long while or a trainer fly wheel to wear them out significantly.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#replacement

Don't sweat it. And getting more confident with changing flats (even if you leave the wheel on like I do for the rear), will make you so much more relaxed. I like to ride alone...

As for puncture resistance... those tires make changing tubes an absolute PITA! ouchie to my fingers and tire irons! i'd rather change tubes slightly more frequently than deal with those. I inflate before every ride anyway... 115-120psi...