Flats and Tires on Tour
With my 1st multi-day tour (7 days riding GAP/C&O) quickly approaching I've become a multi-level contingency planner. How much is enough?
I typically use CO2 as a peace of mind answer around town. Haven't had a flat in 5 years so in one sense it's worked. But given the advice I've gotten here, I've added a Topeak Road Morph G pump to my on-bike arsenal. And I've used it to inflate a tube on my bike. So I've got redundancy on air.
I started with reviewing changing a flat, have practiced several times on my bike and yesterday I had a real live flat to fix on my daughter's bike. I've got this down, and did this sitting on my porch in about 10 minutes in 100+ heat index weather. So if it takes me 15 - 20 minutes on tour it's a delay, but not a day-ruiner. My wife and I are both riding 700x35 so we had 4 spare tubes (now 3 because I used 1 yesterday). I'm comfortable starting off the tour with 3 spare tubes between us.
Now I've progressed to worrying about what if I get a flat that involves a tire hole or cut. So I've gone to the FedEx store, got a Tyvek envelope, and trimmed off the self-sealing strips into would-be tire boots. They measure about 1 inch x 3 inches. If I get a hole/cut I peel off the boot cover to expose the adhesive and hopefully use it to seal the tire so my tubes don't bulge out. If this happens I'm looking for the next bike shop to buy a new tire.
Have I done enough or is more planning needed?