Date:    Tue, 16 Sep 1997 11:10:32 PDT

Flat tires are caused by beer in winter and by cigarettes in summer.
As odd as this may seem, there is a direct link.

Glass is visible on roads by its shiny splinters and shards as well as
not being the same color as the road.  When wet from rain, these
characteristics vanish and leave glass looking like any bit of gravel.
Not only is it "invisible" but it is lubricated and cuts through
rubber effortlessly.  A convincing experiment is to cut a thick rubber
band with a razor, first dry, then wet.

In summer flats are caused by puncture vine thorns, a plant that grows
only on barren soil.  There isn't much of that around except
peculiarly on roadsides that have been sprayed to prevent grass from
growing, grass that when dry presents a fire hazard for cigarettes
discarded from cars.  Puncture vine grows on these barren roadsides
that have been created for safer cigarette disposal.  If roadsides
were not sprayed, puncture vine would be a rare occurrence along roads
where bicyclists most often ride.

http://www.cwma.org/puncturevine.html
http://www.or.blm.gov:80/Prineville/weed/puncture.htm
http://tinyurl.com/d0xo

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:

Name:

E-mail:

Show my email publicly

Type the code shown:

Public Comment:  (50-4000 characters)

Archived related questions and answers