POST MORTEM - FLAT

     I almost always do a fact-finding mission when I have a flat.  While flats are few and far between, I want to know, if possible, the actual cause.  Several times I've had valve failure, several times a vicious staple did me in.  I'll start at the beginning, which was the first Tuesday Night group ride out of the Bicycle Sport Shop Research store.  This is an intermediate group, which means I need my A game to keep up.
     The "highlight" of the ride is the Strava (I don't "do" Strava but merely mention it descriptively) strip on Spicewood Springs Road.

 While not in full competitive mode, I stepped it up a bit, and unfortunately hit a few potholes (small) that I normally would have avoided.  I cannot say for sure what caused the tire to lose air.  And, truthfully, it may not have been there or on Loop 360 as we headed back to the store.  In any case, at 360 and 183 I stopped to change the front tire, waving on the group since we were only about a mile from the end.  I quickly (for me, about ten minutes) changed the tube, used the compressed air cartridge to speed me along, and rode to the store.  Everything got tossed in the car.
     This morning, I brought the tire and the old tube to the kitchen to see the cause of my problem.  A sink full of water revealed the leak site.  I had not seen this type of failure before.  While it was a single pin-hole, it appeared as though something had scraped the tube before the actual puncture.
     As everyone knows, compressed air seeps through the tubes quicker than air-pump air, so I pulled out the new tube and did a thorough study of the tire, both inside and out, finding nothing out of the ordinary.  Tire and new tube are back ready for our noon ride.

I'll take the opportunity to repeat what I've written several times before: when you have a flat and are changing out the tube, take the extra time to examine the inside and outside of the tire before installing the new tube.  It only takes a minute and can save you puncturing a new tube because the wire or piece of glass is still in the tire.  By the way, I recommend a visual exam before blindly running your fingers around the tire.  Putting a hole in your finger is a bad idea.