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@|³|MA3K
I quite enjoyed myself. As said above the emphasis was more on the social due to all the stopping.
Apropos Punctures:
I couriered for quite along time and would find that in the summers I would rarely get a single puncture but come the winter time, riding 80 to 100 KMs a day I would still only get on average 1 puncture a fortnight.
A lot of the times the majority of punctures can be avoided by simply:
Buying decent tyres(I was on Armadillos)
Inflating them to the correct pressure
Periodically removing flints and glass from the tyres
Road positioning
When riding in sketchy locals, paying attention to where you are putting your tyres
If you haven't the skills to put your bike over a curb, get off and lift it over and avoid that pinch-flat
As for the for the repair failures, technique is learned with practise.
It is worth taking the time to do it right the first time as the seconds you save will cost you minutes later on:
Ensure you remove that piece of glass, while you are at it check the whole tyre
Do not use levers to put the tyre back on
Seat the tube properly, check both sides twice
Be gentle with that valve!
Loosen the little ring when you are inflating the tyre, tighten it down when you want to remove the pump-head
Failing all that, opt out of the whole sordid business and get yourself some Schwalbe Marathon Plus, never have a puncture again in your natural life.