I'm not getting any better at this, keeping up the blog, that is.
Stef and Aaron left the morning of the 12th and were back before me on the 14th. I did a 300k on the 14th and was due back around 9:30 pm after a slightly-sub 14 hour 300k (that's good). 9:30 turned into 10:30 due to a flat.
Yes, a flat. I was on I4 when I heard a sound like a stone had hit the underside of the car perhaps, but it was my left rear tire blowing. Since I've got run-flats, I really didn't notice it in handling but all the warning lights came on.
Run flats are great. I slowed down and got off the highway at the next exit. I would have been risking my life stopping at the side of I4 in the dark. Run-flats also saved my rim. Unfortunately, as the tire place told me the next day, a) the hole was too big to patch and b) they don't fix run-flats anyway. I expect that's because they assume some sidewall damage due to driving on them. BMW told me that there isn't any road hazard insurance on the tires either. Dang.
Pulling into a big Racetrac gas station, I looked at the tire, could see that it was slightly low. It was also warm. Google told me that I could drive on it, which I did around the block and then decided to come back and mount the donut. Crossing my fingers that the donut would clear the calipers (that tire came from the 2011 X5), I jacked up the car with the little scissor jack (only want to do that on a flat surface !) and mounted the donut successfully. The next chore was getting that humongous wheel into the back of the car under the bike, which I did.
The donut only had 20psi. It needed 60psi. Thankfully I wasn't doing this at the side of the road without my little tire inflator !
Back on the road, I called Sandy, who had assumed that I'd stopped to snooze. I drove 10 miles on I4 with the hazards blinking (I was doing 50 mph; traffic was doing 75), and then 20 more miles along SR 44 and home.
I did my research the next day and ordered a new tire. In the meantime, since Stef and Aaron were doing some driving around, I popped off the donut and mounted a snow tire.
Moral of the story - very happy that I've got run-flats. With the size of the hole, a non run-flat wouldn't have been repairable. At 75mph, a regular tire would have been destroyed anyway within seconds. I'd have been taking my life in my hands to stop on I4. 2nd moral of the story, I'm so happy that I invested in the donut for the 2011 and transferred it to the 2015. I "might" have been able to drive home on the run-flat but I might have destroyed both it and the rim along the way. The donut was probably cheaper than that rim.
Stef and Aaron had a blast in the Keys. Great weather, great SUPing (at night, in particular, with LED's under the board), good memories. A few years ago I'd asked Stef about coming to Florida and the response was "why would I want to go to Florida ?". I guess that's changed :).
Jim and Sheryl joined us for dinner last night so the six of us actually ate in the dining room.
Onward !
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