Uncontrolled Burn

Day 39
Distance: 145.52 km, Top Speed: 56.4 kmph

Not even an hour outside of Seville, I was struck with flat tyre number 5. Frustrating, but easily manageable by now. Come Spanish siesta time I ended up the little pocket of civilization known as Lora del Rio. Lo and behold, flat tyre number 6!

Two in such quick succession seemed to be far too coincidental, so I checked my tyre and rim, finding no obvious sources of the abrasion. Puzzled, I began to look at the punctured tyres themselves. They both had the exact same puncture pattern...? In another stroke of bad luck, the tube of glue in my puncture repair kit had run dry. I was forced to hang around until the nearest bike shop opened later in the afternoon.

The mechanic was quickly able to solve my puzzling situation: apparently, if a tyre isn't pumped to a high enough pressure, it can fold in on itself and rip open. Lesson learned!

I ended up leaving at about 1700 with another 67 km to my next stop of Córdoba. I ended up cycling well into darkness, but thankfully the roads were smooth so my progress was quick. The only slight hindrance came from the traffic jam caused by the smoke from this out of control fire. I only stopped long enough to grab a picture and see the police arrive.