{"id":257026,"date":"2025-11-11T15:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/257026\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:44:10","slug":"i-got-my-first-puncture-in-years-i-think-i-probably-deserved-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/257026\/","title":{"rendered":"I got my first puncture in years \u2013 I think I probably deserved it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The truth is, perhaps I\u2019d become a bit complacent, a bit too relaxed. You see, I hadn\u2019t had a puncture in a long time, maybe two years, and stopped considering it as a possibility. I ride on the road, mainly, and don\u2019t use tubeless<\/a>, relying instead on tyres in good condition<\/a> and the kind of luck that perhaps I could have bottled and sold. Not that my luck extends much beyond my tyres.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been that person saying quite loudly how I never got punctures anymore, laughing in the face of fortune. Touch wood? No thanks. Well, fortune\u2019s wheel span against me last week.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

My complacency was punctured when it finally happened. I was riding along, in my own little world, when that sinking feeling came. As cyclists, we all know it, that slight change in ride quality as we start to notice the bumps a bit more, and the inevitable disappointment is there. Sometimes, this is a false diagnosis, the result of paranoia or a really rough road, but a quick squish test usually reveals the truth, the doom. It\u2019s always more obvious when your front tyre goes, but with your rear one, there is a lot more hoping that your senses are slightly off.<\/p>\n

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\"AdamAdam Becket<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/a><\/a>News editor<\/p>\n

News editor at Cycling Weekly, Adam brings his weekly thoughts on the goings on at the upper echelons of our sport. This piece is part of The Leadout, a newsletter series from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here<\/a>. As ever, email adam.becket@futurenet.com<\/a> – should you wish to add anything, or suggest a topic.<\/p>\n

Good news, schadenfreude fans: I had a puncture<\/a>. The culprit was a thorn, picked up somewhere along the Bristol to Bath Railway Path<\/a>, found once I\u2019d turned my bike upside down, taken out my thru-axle, then prised my tyre off with the levers I\u2019d thankfully packed, and then felt my way round the rim. That stupid thorn. Stupid autumn.<\/p>\n

There is something quite humbling about standing there, in your lycra \u2013 which off the bike returns to its ordinary state as \u2018not enough clothes\u2019 \u2013 fumbling around with an inner tube and a mini-pump<\/a> which you hope still works. Maybe I\u2019ve never got the right one, but there\u2019s always a bit of a palaver around clipping it onto the valve, and then you can never inflate the tyre to a satisfactory level. What always helps, in this moment, is other cyclists or pedestrians passing and trying to be funny about the situation. It really helps.<\/p>\n

This is, in some way, a bit of a mea culpa. Just a couple of months ago I was positing to friends that we potentially lived in a post-puncture reality<\/a>, much to their chagrin, because we demonstrably are not. But I was in that reality, with thousands of kilometres ticking by without issue; not thanks to anything clever, but just because I have a good pair of tyres and I try not to do anything stupid. I didn\u2019t need tubeless when I wasn\u2019t getting punctures.<\/p>\n

I maintain, as my colleague James wrote earlier this year<\/a>, that punctures are decreasing. It\u2019s rarer than it used to be for a group ride to be interrupted by the constant need for a new inner tube, especially if you ride with clever people who look after their bikes.<\/p>\n

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However, they still exist, and I think I deserved this puncture. It\u2019s good to be reminded that you are fallible, and also a good exercise in checking you ride with all the right stuff. Fortunately, I had the tyre levers<\/a>, the inner tube<\/a> and the mini pump, and I even remembered how to change the tube, and it didn\u2019t take me too long. Well, hopefully, I didn\u2019t time it. The main thing in my mind, though, was how this was the inevitable outcome of thinking I was past punctures.<\/p>\n

The puncture isn\u2019t dead, but there are absolutely increasingly better ways to mitigate against it. This slip-up for me might be the sign I\u2019m on the way to needing new tyres, or maybe my luck just ran out.<\/p>\n

My flat tyre<\/a> wasn\u2019t ride-ending, and it shouldn\u2019t be. I found a nearby bike shop to borrow a track pump, and went on my merry way. Next time you go on a ride, make sure you have the ability to fix a flat on the go, and check you have packed all the right tools. Don\u2019t get complacent, like me, and accept that a puncture is a possibility. Now, I just have to follow my own instructions.<\/p>\n

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com<\/a>, or comment below.<\/p>\n