I have been riding Coast Highway one evening a week and every time I or a friend have flatted from a thorn. There are trees with thorns as you are coming north from Encinitas Boulevard up the the hill. There is a sort of "bike path" along the tracks that I never take because it is filled with debris but, the trees there have thorns and cause flats even when staying on coast highway. How many others have noticed this? I see people all along that stretch constantly fixing flats.
I'd like to get the word to Kathy Keehan to see what can be done about it. I don't think it's a matter of only sweeping the road. I don't think it's a good idea to have thorn trees in a bike route.
Ideas?
Judy
I have flatted 3 times between Leucadia and La Costa this past month.
Found these in my tire and within reach of my bike.
I think they were gathering for the kill.
I have been retreating to Neptune to avoid this tiny army.
(http://filelibrary.myaasite.com/Content/1/1762/33897176.jpg)
yes, I took neptune today too.. and passed a bunch of people in with flats in Carlsbad who did not.
Stupid Nature....Stupid Landscaping.....G&*!!!!!
Seriously though, I feel for you both. We can't leverage landscaping laws but we can put out the word to all other cyclists and hope for the best. Big thanks out to both Judy and Jeff for letting the rest of us know what areas to avoid. The only advice I can offer to you both is to bust out the wallet and invest in the "Gatorskins". They are heavy, kind of spendy, and seriously lacking in the cool factor, but they are definitely freakishly resistant to the dreaded drought resistant thorny softscape clippings we all encounter while riding.
Cheers
Dave
Nope.. Gatorskins are NOT impervious to these thorns.. They don't help at all!!!
J
There're some pretty bad bumps there too. I hit one and it made me drop the big bag of thorns I was carrying.
good one.. so while they are cleaning up the thorns they can rip out the roots to the thorn trees that created the bumps that caused you to drop the thorns.
After reading about these thorns, I've decided that they really aren't that bad after all. And now I know why Frank was riding home with a bag of them...
"Tribulus terrestris is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World in southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa, and Australia.[2] It can thrive even in desert climates and poor soil. Like many weedy species, this plant has many common names, including puncturevine, caltrop, cathead, yellow vine, goathead, burra gokharu and bindii.[1][3]
In traditional Chinese medicine Tribulus terrestris is known under the name bai ji li (???). According to Bensky and Clavey, 2004 (Materia medica 3rd edition, pp. 975?976) Tribulus terrestris is ci ji li (???). "Confusion with Astragali complanati Semen (sha yuan zi) originally known as white ji li (??? bai ji li), led some writers to attribute tonifying properties to this herb..."
Tribulus terrestris has long been a constituent in tonics in Indian ayurveda practice, where it is known by its Sanskrit name, "gokshura."[13] It is also used as an aphrodisiac, diuretic and nervine in Ayurveda, and in Unani, another medical system of India.
Animal studies in rats, rabbits and primates have demonstrated that administration of Tribulus terrestris extract can produce statistically significant increases in levels of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone,[14] and produces effects suggestive of aphrodisiac activity.[15] On the other hand, one recent study found that T. terrestris caused no increase in testosterone or LH in young men,[16] and another found that a commercial supplement containing androstenedione and herbal extracts, including T. terrestris, was no more effective at raising testosterone levels than androstenedione alone.[17]"
no not so bad... but.. tubes can get really expensive. Plant them at your house instead
I had a front and rear flat one Sunday switched to Detonators by Maxxis and so far no flats. Same tire I used to cross America and only 2 flats. Greg Pschaida at Village Vac may still be able to get some for anyone.