As I ascended a fairly tall hill earlier this morning I got to thinking, "What do I want to write about today?" I couldn't come up with a thing. After reaching the summit I commenced the twisty descent, in which about 3500' of elevation is lost. "Maybe I'll write about a new product," I thought as I coasted around this corner and that. "Or perhaps write a piece on it being 9-11," but so many others will write and speak eloquently on this anniversary (I remember thinking), I probably wouldn't have much of value to add.

At one place, after a few tight left and right hairpins, the descent straightens out and allows the rider to reach 40 miles-per-hour, or perhaps 45 if one pushes it. Whammo! A flat. I don't like getting flat tires, and when I do I really prefer them when I'm going, say, 15 or maybe even 10. But you can't choose when you're going to flat (or else we'd all choose never to get one, except maybe after a bad bonk midway through a long race).

After getting my flat, though, and before I'd slowed the bike down, I remember thinking, "If I survive this with all my skin still attached I know what I'll write about today." And so I did.

Fortunately, most flats don't occur while riding at high speeds. I suppose that is because when you're at a high speed you're more likely to be away from the road's shoulder, where most of the flat-causing paraphernalia sits. I'll also hazard a guess that when your tire passes quickly over a sharp object, that pointy thing might be less likely to become embedded, versus when you ride over it slowly (but I don't know if that's actually true). I only know that it's a rare case when I've flatted on a descent.

But it does happen, and I've been witness to a nasty crash or two (or three) when someone I've been riding with flats at high speed.

It's scary as hell, but knock on wood I've survived every case, and I'll tell you how I've approached the problem. Before I do, however, I'll broach the subject of whether riding a flatted sew-up (tubular) tire is safer than riding a flatted clincher. I've flatted on a descent with both types of tire, and I don't guess I can tell the difference. On balance, I suppose it might be slightly safer on the sew-up, because that kind of tire will always stay between the road and your rim if glued properly. Should a clincher tire ever blow off the rim, that would be a problem. It would be very hard to keep a bike upright if you were riding on metal instead of rubber. But I've never blown a tire off the rim, and I don't think that's anything but a very rare occurance. I will say, however, that I suspect a wider tire, like 23mm or 24mm, might represent a better "flatted" riding surface, though it might feel a bit more disconcerting as your rim moves back and forth across its larger flatted surface area.

The single thing that I feel has done most to keep me upright is my realization, when I flat, that I don't have to stop quickly. In this morning's adventure, for example, I'll guess that it took a quarter of a mile for me to come to a stop. The only time I'd try to stop any more quickly is if I heard my tire hissing, and I knew I had a brief interval of time before the rim was in direct contact with the road (through the tire). Once there is no cushion of air on which to ride, better to take plenty of time in slowing down.

I'd much rather have a rear flat than a front flat. But you can't choose. If you do flat out your front tire, the two things to avoid are braking with the front brake, and riding on a slanted surface. I would brake gently, slowly, with my rear caliper only, and avoid riding on the side of the road if the shoulder has a cant to it. Keep the wheel pointed in a straight line. Don't steer anywhere but straight ahead (more or less) if at all possible.

If I knew for sure that my flat was on the rear, then yeah, I'd brake gently with my front caliper. This morning, however, I couldn't determine which tire it was. So I only used the rear, and took my time. When I stopped I realized why I couldn't tell which tire I'd flatted. I'd flatted them both.

But I wasn't bummed. I'd rather lose tires and tubes than skin and teeth, and so far—knock on wood—that's been the case.