Broken Glass causes us Flats!

There is nothing like it! Everyone that rides a bicycle has come to face with a flat tire at least one time. Most of the times something like this happens is due to broken glass. 

The first time I got a flat tire was three and half months ago. I was returning home after work on a cloudy day. As my bicycle was rolling I was hearing a "fff" sound but is was discontinuous. At first I thought that my tire might had got water because there was a lot of rain previously in that day. But after a couple of kilometers I looked down at the front tire and saw that is was completely flat. 

Needless to say I walked my bicycle home that day. You should never ride your bicycle when you have a flat tire. The rim will either bend or broke and the replacement of one is pricey. 

The next day I got the flat tire fixed in a bicycle shop and paid 5 euros for a new inner tube. I asked them what was the cause, a nail or some other debris, but they said they didn't find anything. I thanked them and took my bicycle back. However, as I was walking my bicycle to get to the main road and looking my front tire while doing so, I saw a piece of broken glass still pinned on the tire. With the help of my key I managed to pulled it out. Immediately I thought that they didn't even bother to search the inside of the tire, they just replaced the old inner tube with a new one. That was the moment I've decided to never leave my bicycle unattended when even the slightest repair is being done to it.

Two weeks later I got a flat tire again. I then took it to an another place and asked for a patch and not a new inner tube. It costed me 3 euros, which was a really small difference in price, but I was frustrated and the particular bike shop didn't have an inner tube with the valve type that I wanted, so I went with the patch option. The bike shop owner warned me that this was only a temporary solution and that my bicycle tire sooner or later will get a flat again, especially because of the heat as summer was just in the corner. I said that I would take my chances and also I told him to inspect the inner side of the bicycle tire. He said OK and he later found a really small piece of broken glass. (My tire is still OK in case you're wondering. The heat didn't affect the patch at all.)

"So broken glass again" I thought. Furthermore, after discussing it with other people too, I reached in the conclusion that the number one caution for getting a flat tire is broken glass. In my case, it might have been the same piece from the beginning, as in the first bike shop they didn't search the inner side of the tire, or it could be a totally different piece. It doesn't matter. What it matters is that you see shattered glass all over the roads. Is something you cannot avoid from running into. On the roads, is the outcome of road accidents or car robberies. But in the bicycle paths is the outcome of what? 

I took a picture for all of you to see it. I think that someone is doing it on purpose. This is clearly a broken bottle that was left there by someone. Not the cause of an accident of any kind. Realising that makes me sad, because now I understand that there are still people out there who think bicycles are just toys and us (by us I mean people on bicycles) getting a flat tire is a joke to them. 

The good thing is that the majority of people don't share the same ideas as this particular person. More and more citizens every day choose the bicycle usage over the car in our little city and when I'm crossing paths with others also riding bikes, I just smile.