About a month ago, I posted an update discussing my thoughts on bicycling in Springfield. I had lived here for about a year, so I thought a look back at the last year might be beneficial to put some things in perspective. It was mostly a positive review of my experiences thus far, and I don't think that will be changing any time soon. But I may have failed to mention one thing: flats.
Over the years that I spent commuting by bicycle in Columbia, I never once had to change a flat. I may have just been overly lucky, to be sure, but then again I don't remember any of my cycling comrades ever flatting either. My first flat tire occurred a little over 3 months ago. I was able to extract a fairly long needle-like object from my tire, change the tube over a big ass beer at Dublin's, and move on with life. The second flat was just a couple weeks ago.
Is this the beginning of a longer-term trend? I hope not. I've been fortunate so far in that neither flat was a huge setback - I wasn't running late for an important meeting or going to pick up my kid. But it would be a real bummer if that changed.