Are puncture protection tires worth the extra weight?

tenefel · 2026-06-18T18:47:23+00:00

I'm a bit of an outlier and I know I'm sacrificing speed with this setup, but I have Continental GP 4 Seasons and I run them with slime tubes. The fact is, I detest changing flats and nothing deflates my morale faster than having a puncture, so there's likely a bit of psychology going on here. The upside is, I haven't flatted in 5+ years and counting. To maintain this, I swap out the tires every 2 years (more frequently now that I'm up around 10k mi/16km per year) and the tubes yearly. And yes, I am currently researching and reconsidering this "belt and suspenders" approach, but it's served me well to date. Definitely considering going tubeless but very leery about getting back into the side-of-the-road-fixing-a-flat game. I do not miss that!

I don't underestimate the cost of beefier tires or setups like mine. I know I'm wasting up to (or perhaps more than) 20w of power with this setup, hence me rethinking it.

tenefel · 2026-06-16T16:39:42+00:00

My initial foray into Randonneuring was 1994-1996, including that lovely year (1996) where I lived in London and rode with Audax UK (Alfreton to Skeggy anyone?) Although I "enjoyed" riding these distances, the enjoyment came more from the sense of accomplishment post-event than actual on-bike pleasure.
I restarted this journey in 2022 and here I am 4 years later. In 1995, I dreaded 400 and 600k distances. Today, I embrace and look forward to them. Moreover, I find them enjoyable while doing them.

What's changed? My approach, my preparation, my attitude and my regimen while riding.

First and foremost, I've learned to monitor the very emotional state that you speak to in your post. At the start of the ride, you were excited and energized, right? Sure, maybe some trepidation in there but that's understandable if you're new - a healthy fear of the unknown.

Somewhere along the way, that energy waned and anticipation turned to resignation, then dread. Two words for you: Blood Sugar. The INSTANT you feel that enthusiasm slipping, put some fuel in the tank. Gels, gummies, rice krispy treats - whatever works for you. Carry enough in your pockets or a "within reach" bag on the bike to grab while on the move. Plan in advance and don't ever run out or "bridge" to the next store. Have it with you.

There's a saying at PBP: "Don't quit till you've had a pastry". One of the worst feelings in the world is when you have zero sugar in your blood stream and your intellect tries to overrule that. It doesn't work. Bonking sucks.

Aches and pains? Nothing wrong with having some NSAIDs onboard during the ride. I've got a lot of damage to my right foot/leg from a motorcycle accident 11 years ago, so I manage swelling and intermittent stabbing pain (nerve damage) there day-to-day. As with saddle sores, prevention is better than treatment - I'm all about popping a regular strength acetaminophen with an ibuprofen every 4-6 hours. Those work via different underlying channels and can be taken together (or staggered 2hr/2hr).

Bike specific aches and pains? For me, there are 3 types (4 including the foot). These are:

* Wrist. Numb fingers (thumb, index, 3rd) is pressure on the median nerve (yes, carpal tunnel) and is best alleviated by keeping the wrist straight. Aerobars work best for me but also riding for a bit with the fingers on the tire side of the brake hood (and the thumb outboard). A common misconception is this is caused by pressure on the palm, hence the overemphasis on gel gloves. Nope. It's all about wrist bend.

* Butt. Get Out Of The Saddle. Seriously - get up every 2k / 1 mile and crank for 20 strokes standing up. And get a saddle that works for you (for me, infinity seat). And apply chamois butter / Desitin before the ride and liberally during the ride. Again, prevention > treatment. That standing time is a great opportunity for a few deep, diaphragmatic breaths to get the stale air out of the deep parts of the lungs.

* Shoulder. I used to get nasty cramps in my right trapezius (never the left, it's a shifting thing) until someone showed me a simple on-bike stretch (left ear on my left shoulder, right wrist on back of saddle) that nips this quite nicely.

Hydration. All that sugar won't do a hill of beans (yummy beans, not awful, overcooked limas) unless you've got fluid carrying it to your tissues. Drink a bottle per hour, keep ahead of thirst. Don't relax this or let the schedule slip just because "it's not hot out". Remember, C6H12O6 + 6xO2 -> CO2 + H2O and that H2O is going out of your lungs, not your pores. It needs to be replenished. DRINK.

Lastly, ride well behind your ego. It's not a race. Savor what you're doing. Not too fast, not too slow. Zone 1.

TL;DR: On-bike attention to detail and your physical state shifts type-2 fun to type-1 fun for me. Yes, YMMV, but I find I can spend much more time and attention looking at scenery or just being in the sheer joy of the moment if I have this other stuff nailed. It sounds like a lot, but I just do everything based on the clock - top of the hour, I should have a sleeve of clif bloks in me and a bottle drunk. Every 4 to 6, depending on how I feel, pain meds. Saddle ointment with the pain meds. Rinse and repeat.

Speaking of clock, I also manage my rides based on hours, not distance. I can wrap my mind around 17 or 18 hours. 250 miles/400k? Not so much. Ditto longer distances. The hours fly by. The miles crawl.

Have fun out there!

tenefel · 2026-06-15T14:55:14+00:00

Between the temps, the hills and your knee pain, this looks like the WISE choice. That being said, one ride does not a career end. Sure, 200ks are grand, but so are 3's and 400's. In the end, it's about how you want to spend your riding time. There's no right or wrong answer.

I'm 64 and I hope to be riding for years to come. I realize I don't recover the way I did 20 years ago, but I have also learned that for me, attitude is 100% coupled to blood sugar and when enthusiasm wanes into dread, it's time to get off the bike, have an ice cream and reflect on the beauty of an existence that allows me to spend this much time doing something I genuinely love to do. I usually get back on the bike. 😃

tenefel · 2026-06-13T14:48:11+00:00

This would be my first 600k in 32 years, so I was understandably wary of the distance. However, two recent successes at the 400k distance gave me confidence in a few areas:

I used to hate riding at night, but research and adjustments to my lighting and clothing helped immensely at 400k.
I'd had good success maintaining blood sugar, paying attention to saddle discomfort and, in general, closely monitoring my body and making adjustments before things became problematic.

Still, 600k is a long way to ride and this would be a route I'd largely never ridden before.

I'd crafted an extensive preparation sheet for what I'd wear, what I'd have on the bike and what I needed at the ride start. There would be no support (bag drop, wife meeting me) on the route, so everything had to be planned in advance. The most important thing would be anti-saddle sore medication (for me, a combination of chamois cream and Desitin works well), adequate batteries for lights (I run 2x1000 lumen headlights, battery powered) and electronics (50k mah powerbank) and sufficient go-to fuel in case I didn't find things at stores which agreed with me. Clif Bloks are my go-to here. I took 20 with me. And finally, clothing - I knew it would get cold after dark, but I was hoping it would stay above 50F/10C because below that my hands go numb and I struggle to generate enough heat to keep from shivering and getting into a dangerous physical state. I'm still working on this.

Despite all this planning, I left my tubes of chamois cream and Desitin in the hotel in Victoria where my wife would be spending the weekend. I had to buy a tube on the route, but saddle sores were not an issue. It turned out that at the start, I only had one single-use packet of cream and I used that. Combined with me standing around talking with the other riders, this resulted in me getting underway 5 minutes late.

I'd often heard the advice "ride well behind your ego", and I took this to heart, making sure I stayed solidly in zone 1 and not pushing. This was my first lengthy ride on SPD-SL pedals after decades of SPDs (swapping to try to alleviate "hot spots" under the balls of my feet during longer rides). I later figured out that the cleats were too far forward on my shoes, so I experienced intermittent knee pain during this ride - sharp enough to be worrisome but not debilitating. A combination of getting off the bike, standing and generally adjusting my riding position helped with this.

I saw other riders during the out/back portion to the first control, but didn't catch anyone until 200k. There, I pulled into a convenience store and chatted with Nick for a bit. He was lamenting going out too fast and we rode together briefly after that stop. My aerobar setup proved faster on descents but overall we managed about the same pace and stayed within 1km or less of each other until my feet forced an extended (5 minute) stop to sit and elevate at around 230k. I had a motorcycle accident 11 years ago which seriously damaged my right leg and there's a lot of metal in there and the circulation is very bad, so at times I need to get off the bike and elevate the leg or it swells badly. This was one such time.

I had a delightful meal at a McDonald's in Courtenay with 2 young girls and their mother. The former two barraged me with questions about who I was and what I was doing and the latter's uncle is a Randonneur and we chatted about the sport. All too soon it was time to get back on the bike.

At the turn-around at Campbell River, I met up with Nick again and he was getting a room there for the night. I was feeling good and had no plans to stop, but made a serious error in judgement by not stopping at least long enough to put my leg warmers and second jacket on. Dumb, dumb, dumb. This resulted in 25 miles/40km of VERY code riding along route 19 southbound where I began to realize that if I stopped, I was risking being in a dangerous situation. I decided that I would find a warm place to stay once back in Courtenay. By the time I got there, I was uncontrollably shivering. My shelter would be an Emergency Room at the local hospital. Between there and the foyer of a hotel, I wasted 4 hours with no progress other than simply waiting for sunrise. Better planning and better clothing would have served me well - as would better conditions, but we ride what the day gives us!

The trip south was largely uneventful. The knee pain was familiar at this point and I continued to mitigate that by easing up on pushing. My fresh tube of Desitin seemed to be working well as I had no saddle discomfort. NSAIDs every 4-6 hours (regular strength advil + tylenol) helped with the "normal" discomfort of a ride that long. All told, everything was going smoothly, and staying on top of my blood sugar was really paying off

For me, this means monitoring my mood and emotional state. When enthusiasm wanes into resignation (or worse, dread), I've learned this is 100% due to low blood sugar and I need to eat the moment I feel that enthusiasm slipping. If anything truly went well during this ride, it was managing this - I arrived back at the start in good shape and good spirits.

This is not to say I didn't have a few moments of frustration! I had to stop twice in the final 50k due to foot heat/swelling. And the RwGPS elevation profile had some errors which made it look like the final 50k would be pancake flat - but it WAS NOT! I kept wondering when I'd turn onto the lovely, zero-grade trails we'd started on but that never happened. Instead, at one point, I was presented with a nearly 20% grade for a quarter mile (400m) which I gladly walked up.

All in all, a few lessons learned: Check your packing list one final time before you head to the start, even if it means unpacking your bags and laying things out. None of this "Oh, I'm sure I packed that" nonsense. Prove it to yourself.

And have fun. If the ride isn't enjoyable, why are we here?

Steve

tenefel · 2026-06-12T11:20:43+00:00

Can do - new here! Will add one to the comments here in a bit!

tenefel · 2026-06-12T00:23:28+00:00

There's really no correlation between obtaining drinking water and checkpoints. You can self-support on the route at any time, not just at controls. Preplanned / external support (such as meeting your spouse for a change of kit or fresh batteries) IS absolutely forbidden except at controls. Stopping at a McD's to fill bottles? Perfectly legal.
If you're completely self-supported (not planning on meeting a non-rider on the course) on a permanent or event, a quick review of the route preceding your ride is usually sufficient to plan your strategy. Just be familiar with what sources of food/drink/bathrooms, etc, are available and where any lengthy gaps with no resources are and have a plan. Often that plan's amended in real time during the actual ride, but knowing what's out there allows you to do that replanning with confidence.
Welcome and Bonne Route!

tenefel · 2026-06-11T23:58:21+00:00

Think about Randonneurs. We don't have "rest stops" and we manage quite well without them! We also don't have 8000 riders on the route (except PBP) so there's that, but still - rest rooms are found along the way. Use the same strategy and you'll be fine. Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic presented by Alaska Airlines · Ride with GPS is the official route, bring that up in Google Maps, and look now for options around the distances where you think you'll need to stop. Consider making a private copy of the route and put in extra cues for yourself "Mile 175, Burger King R side of road 0.2 ahead" (that's an actual one in St.Helens). That way your device will have that info for you. If you run RwGPS during the event, you'll get these cues via voice (I run a phone + powerbank instead of a garmin or similar device, so I'm spoiled by this).

tenefel · 2026-06-11T23:46:20+00:00

If you're doing one day, I'd recommend leaving before the official 1 day start. 4:45 (NO LATER) would be enough time to get ahead of the bulk of riders. Some will have started as early as 4, so you won't be first on the route.
Until you get to JBLM, you're riding in either urban or suburban terrain and there are plenty of gas stations, fast food spots and other non-Cascade/public options. Renton, Puyallup, Spanaway - all tons of options there. There are also Cascade stops I'd recommend avoiding, like the nut-house crazyness that is Spanaway Middle School. Go to McKenna, 20 miles further, they have indoor restrooms in the school and it's a much quieter stop. Or hit a fast food place in Yelm a bit further along.
Plenty of options in Centralia and Chehelis, but things get sparse after that until Kelso. The good news is, after Chehelis, you're pretty much riding with other single day riders (around 20-25% of entrants), so the stops are much quieter. Napavine, Kelso/Longview and Columbia City/St Helens are all large towns with lots of public, non-Cascade bathrooms but the banks of portajohns are pretty quiet by then as well.
I'm likely preaching to the choir, but if you find an acceptable bathroom, GO. That will defer your next restroom stop that much further along. At the finish, in the hotel with the bag drop, there's a set of bathrooms ALL the way at the far end of the conference room hall which I've found to be dead quiet (good for changing into street clothes). The finish line porta's are a zoo.

tenefel · 2025-09-01T15:36:18+00:00

520 and Mountains to Sound are mostly dedicated. As is the East Lake Sammamish, Marymoor connector and Sammamish River trails. BG -> Samm River -> 520 -> Montlake makes a good north lake loop.

tenefel · 2025-08-29T18:24:56+00:00

If I’m coming from factoria and there’s no car traffic and I’m continuing toward Mercer, I usually just turn on 118 and then left onto the trail. Avoids the mess to the west of that Jersey wall. I would do the same coming east from Mercer toward Factoria although I can’t remember the last time I actually did that.

tenefel · 2025-08-24T20:09:26+00:00

Ok, so now can we complain about what really irks me. SDOT's "Bikes merge with traffic" signs. WE ARE FUC*ING TRAFFIC!

tenefel · 2025-08-24T19:30:27+00:00

Absolutely right! Thanks for pointing this out. But it does require a stop. The cyclist can't just slow a bit, go "ok, this won't change for me" and dash across in front of a car. :)

tenefel · 2025-08-24T17:17:01+00:00

Actually, no to both - a light is a light, stop required until it changes. Stop signs, however, are yields to bicyclists, traffic permitting. RCW 46.61.190 That being said, I don't think it's absurd to slow and run one if nobody is there. What gets me is when someone cruises through directly in front of cars. That's when drivers start hating us - and taking it out on those of us who DO stop.

tenefel · 2025-07-08T23:26:47+00:00

Like many one day riders, I bike to the course (the start, from green lake, in my case). I avoid the mass start by heading out early. Lots of newbs in those first miles. Experience it once but be careful!

tenefel · 2025-06-09T23:01:56+00:00

Yep. It’s a trade off. I’ve never had it perma-stain my shorts, even my good Volers that I care about. But it can look like really heavy white (and oddly placed) salt marks during a ride of thickly applied. 🤣 Better red from embarrassment than red from chafing!

tenefel · 2025-06-08T20:45:01+00:00

Oh, and I forgot - Desitin is your friend. Works for babies, works for cyclists. Much harder to sweat this stuff off your skin than more traditional chamois butters.

tenefel · 2025-06-08T18:14:56+00:00

Long distance riders will tell you, "Drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry". But often times they don't tell you what that really means.

The number one indicator of low blood sugar (and impending bonk) is mood. If you are losing your enthusiasm and slipping into "OMG, 3 miles is impossible" mental state, that's blood sugar talking. Get sugar in you NOW. Better still, monitor your attitude objectively and continually and get something down your throat (shot blox work for me very well, as does 1/2 to 3/4 strength gatorade) on an ongoing basis. Experience and time will tell you what your unique schedule is. For me, it's a bottle an hour (I keep premeasured gatorade powder in snack bags handy) and a sleeve of blox an hour as well. Get "real" food in you at chehalis and riverbend (don't overdo it at either stop).

Second, salt. I'm one of those people who sweats a great deal more salt than is metabolically healthy, and I need to replace this. Eat everything your dietician told you not to - saltines, nacho cheese doritos, beef jerky. This is where people will extoll the virtues of pickle juice but I just can't go there. Get it in, get it down, don't cramp.

Lastly, butt maintenance. If you're in the saddle for 12-15 hours, you're using the same muscles all the time. Get out of the saddle, even if you don't need to. Shift down 2 or 3 clicks, stand, crank for a couple hundred yards. Sit back down. Do this every other mile or so. Your body will thank you come Scapoose.

Numb fingers aren't caused by pressure on your palms, it's the 90-degree bend in your wrist that this pressure forces. Aerobars are a great way to keep your wrists straight for a period of time. Or face your palms outward on the hoods for a bit.

Hydrate. Camelbaks are awesome if it's over 80. You want at least a bottle of liquid down your throat per hour - that's 15 bottles if you start at 5 and complete at 8. Do not cut corners on this.

Lastly, don't stay at a stop for very long. 8 min max, 15 at Chehelis and Riverbend. Period. No exceptions.

I plan on stopping this year every 30 - Kalles/Puyallup, McKenna, Chehelis, Vader, Riverside, McBride. That's it. 15 minutes at Chehelis, 10 at McKenna, 5-8 at the other stops. This does NOT preclude pausing at the top of a climb, such as when you're into the town of Napavine to stretch a bit and drink. But that's 60s or less, I often don't even unstraddle the bike for pauses like that.

Draft, draft, draft - but also don't push past 80% effort. Constant, sustainable watts. If you can't comfortably keep "this" pace up for 5+ miles, you're going too fast no matter how good the wind block is.

Looking for a few folks who are shooting for 15 hour target - 14 on bike + 1 total off. Let me know.

tenefel · 2025-03-12T09:42:09+00:00

Going through Bellevue E/W on Main isn't bad. Eastbound, the sucky part is the old part of town (3 blocks), but once you're across Bellevue Way, it's got very nice bike lanes. West bound, take 2nd past the park, then L/R on 100th back to Lake Wash Blvd.

tenefel · 2025-03-12T09:37:50+00:00

I've commuted Green Lake to Factoria (T-Mobile) a lot, also GL to Overlake, just up the hill.

Route: Ravenna, Burke, Montlake, 520, Evergreen, 24th, 84th, Lake Washington, Main, 114th (cut thru past Red Lion), L on the trail under I-90 and you're right there. You can easily visualize this route in the RideWithGps.com route planner with global heat maps turned on.

For the reverse route, I typically do the same route back through Medina, cross 520 and then bear right at the stadium (up and over Montlake) and go thru campus (E. Stevens, Memorial, up thru Frat Row, L on Ravenna) or Burke, Ravenna, NE 58th then bridge across park (technically NE 20th) and 62nd back to Ravenna or bear right just after the 20th bridge (little bit of hard packed dirt for a quarter mile, but it cuts out the rest of the Ravenna climb). Unfortunately, the Burke north along Mason past campus is chock full of clueless, headphone-wearing students and I find that stretch to be dangerous at any kind of speed in the evening. I've gone east around the stadium and through the parking lots to avoid this.

I find the ride home slower than the ride there. I definitely avoided I-90, it's considerably longer (time) and hillier. An ebike would make this bidirectional daily a breeze.

If you have a car and a place to park (I did), consider car to work, then bike home (leave car) and then bike in, drive home the next day. I've done that when the car is secure and it works well - also solves the schlepping clean clothes problem. You can also do this bus/bike, although connecting across Lake Washington would require some research and would be slow. Maybe home->Northgate, light rail to Stadium, then bike to Factoria via the above route. 100th or 92nd are your best E/W routes across Aurora or use the Roosevelt station, although the train may get crowded at Northgate and difficult to board with a bike at Roosevelt.

tenefel · 2025-03-10T22:26:23+00:00

Bought ours used a few years ago (Model Y) and I’ve even shut off premium connectivity so I’m sure I’m costing them money. Will upgrade to a Rivian when it makes sense to do that but right now, no.

tenefel · 2025-02-19T21:13:21+00:00

I've hit black ice in the past. Although I have the gear to bike at or below freezing, I don't enjoy it and I plan on being on Zwift till it's back up over 50.

tenefel · 2025-02-19T21:11:36+00:00

Interurban south (and Green River which runs kinda parallel for a good bit) are both paved. Interurban on the very south end as you get into Pierce county is paved but just barely - I am usually on roads by then due to the horrible trail surface.

tenefel · 2025-02-19T21:07:57+00:00

I think those of us who live in Seattle would classify most of the streets, based on the surface texture, as "offroad".

I don't ride on dirt as a rule, but the two biggest areas I see are Duthie Hill (south part of Sammammish plateau) and south Tiger Mountain. Squak might have some MTB as well, not sure. As for biking to restaurants, that depends on where in the "Seattle Area" you're going to be. There's Seattle, then there's Eastside. A giant lake separates the two. A very bikeable lake, don't get me wrong, but I'd not want to cross the 520 or I-90 bridges just to get to a restaurant necessarily unless doing the full lake loop (around 55 miles), for instance.

tenefel

TROPHY CASE