Went out for a 60 mile training ride with a group of local trikers today.   During a 30 MPH descent down the Santiago Canyon, I start to hear a strange “Thwick”,”Thwick”,”Thwick” sound with every revolution of my right front wheel. That can’t be good……

I stop the bike and check it out. I found an American flag lapel pin embedded completely into my tire! You have all seen these things – they are a little bigger than a postage stamp, with a small nail sticking out the back to hold it on your collar.

I pulled it out of my tire fully expecting to make an emergency tube change on the side of the road.   But amazingly, the tire did not instantly deflate. I could hear a very faint hissing, so I knew it was losing air.  But it was late in the day, I was losing daylight, and I wanted to get to the end of the ride. I elected to ride on the tire, and it held pressure for the next 4-5 miles to the end of my ride. The tire wasn’t completely flat until the next morning!

This is the very first flat I have gotten on the Marathon Plus tires. Clearly, they are not fully flat-proof, but I don’t think any tire could have prevented this. And I think it amazing that it didn’t completely deflate instantly.