Getting stuck 40 miles from home because of a flat tire that you do not know how to repair is no way to accomplish your training goals. In this clinic we'll learn how to change a tire (i.e. replace the tube with a new one), patch a tube and how to prevent most flats in the first place.

I could try to spell out all of the steps to changing a tire and/or patching a tube, but others have already "been there, done that", so why should I "reinvent the wheel". A few of the better web pages on this subject that I've come across are:

• How to fix a flat tire, by Ken Kifer and John Andersen
• How to fix a flat, by Tom Kunich

As everyone knows, you need a pump to repair a flat, right? Wrong! I never carry a pump. So how do I inflate my tires? With a CO₂ gun, that's how. What's a CO₂ gun, you ask? (Boy, this paragraph sure has a lot of questions in it, doesn't it?)

They are great and make life much easier. You install a normal CO₂ cartridge in the gun, push the button, and in less than 5 seconds your tire is inflated. The guns cost about $15, the cartridges are about 99¢, what a deal! For example, Performance sells the gun pictured above (which is the one I use) for $18. They also have guns for as low as $11.

You should be aware on one thing, however. CO₂ will leak out of your tubes faster than air will (yes, air will slowly leak out of a tube, even if there are no holes in the tube). So, if you use a CO₂ gun on the road, be sure that when you get home you deflate your time and use a good floor pump to reinflate it.

If you follow a few simple principles, you can drastically reduce the number of flats you get. As above, I was planning on spelling out everything I know on this subject right here, but then I just found a web page that says it all:

• Avoiding Flats, by Mike Munk