534 days.

534 days. That's how long I went without a flat on my commute. Sure, I've had flat tires in that time period but none when heading to work.

Sure, I could credit last year with riding some Hardcase 700x28 and then switching midseason over to the Conti Ultra Gator Skin 700x25 on the fixie. Both great tires but surprisingly the Conti does provide a bit more comfortable of a ride.

Or maybe credit should be given to the flat yesterday and the fact that I was stretching the limit [see picture below] to what my Maxxis tire could do. I mean a full winter of riding, pavement and such. I had worn a good smooth patch down the middle and was planning on changing it out for Trans Iowa next week.

Whatever the blame...er... credit needs to be given did not change the fact that I had to walk my bike in. Granted, it was a short walk but I do blame myself on that.

Like many riders, I do carry with me a spare tube, tire levers and CO2. I did make the mistake of not switching all of that out between bags. My go to bag lately has been the BD2 but since I needed to carry more and haven't gotten ahold of the BC3 I had to revert back to my Timbuk2. Guess who forgot to keep all the essentials in both bags... that's right. THIS GUY.

So I walked. It was an interesting walk though. I normally go along one of the busier streets here in Grand Rapids and yesterday I did get to see a moped crusing down the road with a Burley attached. Yes, the childcarrier. I was scrambling to get my camera out to get a picture of it so I couldn't see if there was indeed a child in the back but regardless, it was crazy.

I ended up switching out the rear tire with the Kenda Small Block 8. It's been a fairly popular tire for cross and seemed to be a good neutral tire for whatever might be thrown at me in a short few weeks. We'll see how it works on gravel hopefully this Sunday and also how my beefer 700x35 front will handle with the 32 rear. Since I haven't had the pleasure to ride on the B-level and worse Iowa gravel I'm hoping this will add a little control. Thoughts?