Normally tubeless, but last week I had an issue at BPW (not enough spiff in my rear!), and ended up putting a tube in.

Today I punctured half way down Jacob’s Ladder, at the turn… Made the descent a bit less enjoyable than normal…

Worse place you’ve had a puncture?

My lung.

My lung.

Boom. End of thread…

Between Achnashellac & Coulags on a tubeless, sidewall, didn’t fix itself so kept trying to put more air in all the way up to Bealach na Lice. Couldn’t undo the lockring on the valve to put a tube in either, it was so tight. Had to push down the descent to Annat, gutted. 😥

Done it since though. 😆

Jamie wins though!!!

Wales, in the rain and bitterly cold. 15miles from home got a flat. checked the tyre but my hands were so cold I couldnt feel anything. tube back in rode about 100m before being flat again. found a small thorn sticking through and had to resort to patches, which I thankfully had but doing a patch (this was a long time ago so had to do the glue etc) when your so cold your shaking was not fun. That ride was the lowest, most rubbish ride I ever had!

Back wheel.

February, loads of Hawthorn cuttings under the melting snow. Fixed four punctures and ran out of patches, hands were virtually useless with the cold by then anyway. Ended up calling my eight months pregnant wife to come and get me as I was six miles from home. Borderline Hypothermic by the time she got there.

Back wheel, same time, two weeks running in winter 2012. Farmer laid Uber Thorns out under puddles for us. Everyone else had marathon plus… My Racing Ralphs lost.

Long walk salvaged by M & S petrol station posh Nosh on a long walk home.

Spare tube used day before, despite working for a bike distribution company, no tubes available that sad day.

Got home 2 hours late, 6 sausage rolls, 1 bag of nachos & 2 bottles of White later.
Silver Cloud.

8.9 miles from home! Was a lo g lunch break I can tellyou

6miles from home,I was only out for a quick blast so no spares with me. Had to walk

20 yards after the previous one, just after I’d put in my 2nd and last spare tube on the road bike. 3 frigging punctures on a 30 mile ride – couldn’t find the flint in the tyre when I got home so binned it (it’s ALWAYS flints round my way, that’s why I use tubeless now)

Rode 10 miles to stainburn. Rode round stainburn till knackered. Left stainburn. Puncture. No repair kit, tube or pump. Walked 10 miles (mostly downhill) home.

I pack repair kits now.

At the roundabout coming out of the start of the Paris-Roubaix randonee. Just the way to start a 167mile ride. The French watch everyone leave were very amused.

Annoying yet good.

One winter out in the wilds of Essex, minus degrees, snapped my tyre lever, couldn’t feel fingers, bike was about to be launched into the hedge when an old roadie, 70+, stopped and offered to help. He had metal “tyre irons” but my fingers wouldn’t work so he got the tyre off for me. Said he had to get going as the cold played hell with his rhumatism, so left me a “tyre iron” and went on his way.

Middle of Salford on the way into work on the day of the riots in 2011 at the start of an afternoon shift. That was an interesting last half mile walk to the nick!

lands end to john o’groats on a tandem self supported. First day and we’d never ridden our tandem before nor ridden a bike with a pannier nor packed our tested weights if kit (we laugh about how stupid we were at the time). Turned out the weight at the rear was too much. 7 punctures on the first day in heavy rain meant we finished our very first day at 1 in the morning with just a little head torch. Not a happy time. Remember fondly after getting through our last patch me jogging 5 miles to nearest bike shop to get a new tube, new patches and wider tyre to spread the weight. £8 tyre lasted the 1017 trip with no more issues.
We were do demoralised we almost fave up our ride.

Tubeless, tyre rip on the last DH section on Innerleithen (Make or brake?) and the steep straight chute a few corners for the end saw my tyre getting it’s side wall sliced open and Stans spewing on my leg like i’d got over excited….

Had to walk down Caddon Bank.

I wasn’t pleased.

I always carry a spare tube these days.

Snake bite in the rear wheel on the edge of RAF Fylindales on a drizzly september afternoon on a cross bike. Forgot to mention this was ~75 miles into a attempted dirty 100 mile ride and I had thought I had broken my ankle shortly before this point and was seriously bonking. Damn the ride back was really tough.

Slime filled inner tube (utterly useless) punctured and the patches wouldn’t stick to it. Was running 35mm tyres on a 29inch Crest rim, so a total nightmare to get off. The spare tube had a removable valve core and the new bike pump had a adaptable threaded connector with a tendency to de-cores presta valves.

3 layers of redundancy (slime/patches/spare tubes) brought down.

Dalbeattie, probably 7 or 8 years ago. I was absolutely covered in clegs (horseflies). Bitten stupid by the time I got it sorted, horrible.

Road ride, spare inner tube had a short valve stem. Had to repatch the original two more times. In the dark.

Yesterday on the Red route at Fort William. Half way down, clipped the edge of a rock and my tubeless came away from the rim. Took 10 mins of furious pumping to get it back up. Then carried on scaring myself silly

Last month after spending 2 days trying to get my magura Louise’s sorted out I woke up at 5am to catch my train from Clapham junction to catch my lift to Wales. A few days before I had set up a Hutchinson cobra onto a stans flow rim tubeless, a combination I had used the previous year with no trouble. On the final hill to the station the rear tyre blew off the rim with a huge bang. I slammed on the brake and skidded for a few meters on the rim. Had a very depressing 45 min walk home. My rim was ruined and my bike was covered in sealant the quickly got very dirty 🙁

Here

About 9pm one freezing wet night, on a solo night ride.
I’d picked up one of the 20″ tubes for my lads bike.
Actually managed to stretch it in to a 29″ wheel.
Fingers numb, & shivering from cold.
Lasted about 20 metres.
Ended up stuffing the tyre full of grass to get me home.

Most annoying punctures come after you’ve changed the inner tube ride half a mile then get another thorn.

Less than 1/2mile into first ride on brand new RR – unfixable gash (so to speak) and one angry rider…

Last year’s endurance downhill at fort william, tried an optimistic line for an overtake and just hammered the rear wheel into a rock- flattened the rim more than the tyre 😆 Only about the third ride on that rim too, it took a tube for the rest of the day but was junked. Cost me my 14th run too which would have been a pb, ah well. Oh and it was one of those expensive Eclipse tubes too!

How about best punctures? Innerleithen 2 Days In May enduro, riding the Classic, picked up something spiky and got a slow puncture in the early section, banged on the brakes for a rock garden in the black route, and boom! Tyre spins round rim, rips valve off, straight into rock section at speed of light, luckily I was going fast enough that my crash carried me right over the rocks into a nice soft bit. So what can you do but carry on? Rode (most of) the rest of the black and down the steeps on the classic with the tyre spinning madly on the rim. Wasn’t fast but man it felt heroic.

Condom. Costly puncture.

6th one coming down Ben Lomond, probably.

Second ride on my Langster. The worst tyres ever fitted, specialised shitbangs or something.
Entered a roundabout, shitbang rear lost traction. I go down hard and slide across the road. Car behind me too close, brakes hard and sounds his horn because that will help matters you fricking moron. I slide for a while on my arse and back with cars nearly killing me. Once I stop I stand up and my shorts fall off. Not much fun. They’ve worn out completely in one strip.

I cover myself up and pull my shirt over my arse and crotch. Never again will I only wear lycra shorts or use specialised tyres.

I get home by wearing my shirt like a skirt and putting my waterproof on.

Busy day at work, looking forward to a ride, I get in the house at 6.45, my mates due to pull into the drive at 7.30. Just enough time to read 2 stories to my little girl before bed, grab some food and get changed, mate pulls up I’m still faffing, go to get bike……..Ahhhhhhhhhh basted

Last time I was at innerleithen a couple of our group decided to push up and do the last bit of caddon bank again. It was a warm day so they left their packs with the rest of us. My mate set off from the top and almost immediately punctured so had to push back down again. Nobody took the piss. Much.

End of the day in Les Arcs, the missus was ahead of me 3rd rear flat of the day, last emergency tube when I found that the wire bead was sticking out and causing the damage. Improvised fix and the blown up with a low volume shock pump as she had the proper one and a long slow careful ride down a fun trail.

Winter night rain.had quite a few.
and a 25m TT Glyneath bank course just after the turn.front wheel 25mph managed to hold it though.

double front and back tubeless puncture on penmachno was having a great ride too really flying (for me 🙂 ), luckily I always carry 2 tubes though I pinch flatted the back the next day a cyb.

forest of dean on my roady – drafting behind a car at about 40mph around a slight corner, hit a rock which caused explosive loss of air from front tyre sending me straight ahead across the front of an oncoming coach and into a huge bramble bush (probably saved my life) – plus side, coach driver made me a cup of tea and a lift back to my car!

For Danny Macaskill, it could be when on top of a phone box ,
at 2:40

Pinch flat at bike park wales on my 2nd run of the day. I’d left my bag in the car so I had to walk all the way back down to fix it, then my pump wouldn’t work. I was right near the top when this happened as well.

At the Cornwall national XC round a few weeks ago.

First my chain dropped off on the 2nd lap when I was sitting in 6th, and a few people that I knew I could beat came past. So I got all annoyed and pushed too hard on the descent, and put a hole in my rear tyre. So I blasted some gas in it, which got me around to the tech area, where I changed the wheel. My other wheels had heavier, tougher tyres on, so I thought I’d be alright from then on.
But I punctured again, in the same sodding place, going through a bit of water with some submerged rocks. I decided to put a tube in that time, as I only had one gas canister left. The time that this took threw any hope of a good result out of the window, but at least I’d be able to finish the race.
Nope. I hadn’t managed to get enough pressure in the tube, and pinch flatted the bastard. So I kind of gave up there, and ran back to the finish, coming in second last.

Saturday Morning. Offspring was showboating and got a snakebite.Was lucky not to total the rim.
Stopped to fix it and the mosquitoes descended. I rushed and ballsed up one of the patches somehow. Got about 100 meters and had to do it all again. One day soon it will be everyman for himself and no longer “Daaadd, can you help me”

We both look like John Merrick today. But through the itching he managed to get a first place in the Victorian Trials series(novice cat with adults in too). Proud Dad time and I expect my days as the resident bike hero of the household are numbered.